If I Was Your Girlfriend
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| “If I Was Your Girlfriend” | ||||||||||||||
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U.S. 7" single
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| Single by Prince from the album Sign “☮” the Times |
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| B-side | "Shockadelica" | |||||||||||||
| Released | 6 May 1987 | |||||||||||||
| Format | 7" single 12" single |
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| Recorded | Home studio, Minneapolis and Sunset Sound; March – December 1986 | |||||||||||||
| Genre | Pop, funk, Experimental | |||||||||||||
| Length | 7" edit: 3:46 Album/12": 4:54 |
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| Label | Paisley Park Records | |||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Prince | |||||||||||||
| Producer | Prince | |||||||||||||
| Prince singles chronology | ||||||||||||||
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"If I Was Your Girlfriend" was the second single off Prince's widely-acclaimed 1987 double album Sign “☮” the Times. While it is today considered one of his most notable songs, at the time of its release, the song did not chart well in the U.S., perhaps due to the record's androgynous vocal and gender-bending lyrics. The track was originally from the "Camille" project of 1986, which was to be released under the guise of a female named Camille, rather than by Prince. Regardless, the song is actually sung from a male perspective to a woman, wherein Prince explores the possibilities of a more intimate relationship if he were his lover's (platonic) girlfriend. Trouser Press names the song as one of the album's highlights, noting that it "redefines a relationship in a surprisingly mature way".[1] Musically, the song is based on a bass and drum machine pattern, punctuated by a keyboard line that evokes sadness. Prince's sped-up vocals are intensely emotional and heartfelt.
According to engineer Susan Rogers, a rare technical error on her part led to distortion-- albeit only on certain words. As recounted in Alex Hahn's book "Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince," Rogers thought Prince "was going to rip my head off" for the mistake. Yet, after hearing the playback, Prince loved the effect, which is featured on the released version.
The B-side to the track was another "Camille" track, "Shockadelica." The track was actually written in response to an album of the same name by former Time member, Jesse Johnson. Prince heard Johnson's album before its release, and commented that a great album should have a great title track. Johnson disagreed, so Prince recorded the track and had it played on a Minneapolis radio station before the release of Johnson's album. The public perception would be that Johnson was copying Prince's idea, and this caused some bad blood between Johnson and Prince.
When the "Camille" project was scrapped in favor of Crystal Ball, "Shockadelica" again made the cut, but was deleted from the tracklist when the set was trimmed to Sign “☮” the Times. The track was released as a B-side, and later on The Hits/The B-Sides.
"Shockadelica" is a pop-funk number using a drum machine pattern similar to "Housequake." A funky guitar riff is present throughout the song, as well as a few rock guitar solos. The song is much more upbeat than "If I Was Your Girlfriend," and Prince's sped-up vocal even sounds humorous at times. The theme of the song is a woman with a hypnotic attraction. The 12" single is the full version of the song, while the version on The Hits/The B-Sides is an edit.
[edit] References
- ^ Green, Jim; Ira Robbins. Prince (HTML) (English). Trouser Press. Trouser Press LLC. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
[edit] Cover versions
- "If I Was Your Girlfriend" was covered on the TLC album, CrazySexyCool, released in 1994.
- The song was covered by Eels during their tours of 1997 and 1998. Their version was made commercially available on their 2008 rarities compilation Useless Trinkets.
- In 2003, the Jay-Z/Beyoncé Knowles single, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (from The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse) used several lines of "If I Was Your Girlfriend," and Prince was credited as one of the writers.
- The song was played briefly in Demi Moore's 1996 film, Striptease.
[edit] External links
- "If I Was Your Girlfriend" lyrics
