Let's Go Crazy
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| “Let's Go Crazy” | |||||
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U.S. 7" single
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| Single by Prince from the album Purple Rain |
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| B-side | "Erotic City" "Take Me with U "(UK) |
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| Released | July 18, 1984 | ||||
| Format | 7" single 12" single |
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| Recorded | The Warehouse, St. Louis Park, Summer 1983 | ||||
| Genre | Rock, Pop | ||||
| Length | 7" edit: 3:46 Album: 4:49 12": 7:35 |
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| Label | Warner Bros. Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Prince | ||||
| Producer | Prince | ||||
| Certification | Gold - (7 November, 1984) | ||||
| Prince singles chronology | |||||
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| Prince (UK) singles chronology | |||||
| "I Would Die 4 U" (1984) |
"Let's Go Crazy"/"Take Me with U" (1985) |
"Paisley Park" (1985) |
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| Purple Rain track listing | |||||
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"Let's Go Crazy" is a 1984 song by Prince and the Revolution. It was the opening track on both his album and the film Purple Rain. "Let's Go Crazy" is one of Prince's most popular songs, and is almost always a staple for concert performances, often segueing into other hits. When released as a single, the song became Prince's second number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the two component charts, the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Dance Club Play charts, as well as becoming a UK Top 10 hit. The B-side was the lyrically controversial "Erotic City." In the UK, the song was released as a double A-side with "Take Me with U".
The extended "Special Dance Mix" of the song was performed in a slightly edited version in the movie Purple Rain. It contains a longer instrumental section in the middle, including a solo on an apparently out-of-tune piano and some muddled lyrics, repeating the track's introduction.
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[edit] Musical style
The song was also notable for opening with a funeral-like organ solo with Prince giving the "eulogy" for "this thing called life." That eulogy ends with a distinctive drum machine pattern and then quickly becomes a full hard rock number with heavy guitar, bass and keyboards. The song's percussion was programmed with an Linn LM-1 drum machine, an instrument frequently used in many of Prince's songs.
"Traffic Jam", by "Weird Al" Yankovic, is a style parody of "Let's Go Crazy", while two segments of Prince's unaccompanied guitar solo in the song's coda were sampled into Public Enemy's single Brothers Gonna Work It Out.
The lyrics suggest to enjoy life while you can, while "Let's Go Crazy" can also work as a metaphor for the religious struggle against evil, with the "de-elevator" representing Satan.
[edit] Track listing
- 7" Paisley Park / 7-29216 (US)
- "Let's Go Crazy" (Edit) - 3:46
- "Erotic City" (Edit) - 3:55
- 7" Warner Bros. / W2000 (UK)
- "Let's Go Crazy" (Edit) - 3:46
- "Take Me With U" - 3:51
- 12" Paisley Park / 0-20246 (US)
- "Let's Go Crazy" (Special Dance Mix) - 7:35
- "Erotic City" (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive) - 7:24
- 12" Warner Bros. / W2000T (UK)
- "Let's Go Crazy" (Special Dance Mix) - 7:35
- "Take Me With U" - 3:51
- "Erotic City" (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive) - 7:24
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- "Lets Go Crazy" lyrics
| Preceded by "Missing You" by John Waite |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single September 29, 1984- October 6, 1984 |
Succeeded by "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder |
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