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Prince · S6 E1
Around the World in a Day
Paisley Park, Raspberry Beret, and a psychedelic left turn that confuses everyone who expected Purple Rain Part Two
April 22, 1985. Less than a year after Purple Rain sold 25 million copies, Prince releases its follow-up, and it sounds like he made it on a different planet on purpose.
"If I Was Your Girlfriend" (Prince, live on Oprah, 1996). The most gender-fluid song Prince ever recorded, performed live with the raw intensity only he could deliver. The creative experimentation that started with Around the World in a Day leads directly here: an artist who refuses to repeat himself, even when the whole world is begging him to.
The Anti-Purple Rain
After Purple Rain, Prince could have made Purple Rain II and sold 20 million copies without breaking a sweat. Instead, he walks into his home studio and starts recording an album influenced by psychedelia, paisley pop, and the Beatles. Warner Bros. executives hear the advance tapes for Around the World in a Day and reportedly panic.
Sources
Per Nilsen, "DanceMusicSexRomance"
Alex Hahn, "Possessed"
Rolling Stone
“Everyone wanted another Purple Rain. That's exactly why I didn't give them one.”
— Prince, on the direction of Around the World in a Day
TAP TO REVEAL: Why did Prince rush-release Around the World in a Day?
If I Was Your Girlfriend, Prince (1987)
Prince pitches his voice up to create Camille, a feminine alter ego who asks questions no man in 1987 pop was asking. The production is sparse and strange: a drum machine, a bass line that sounds like rubber, and his modified voice floating over everything. Listen for how intimate the vocal sounds despite the pitch shift, as if the technology is bringing him closer rather than creating distance. The song is about wanting the emotional intimacy that gender boundaries won't allow.
Sources
Pitchfork
Rolling Stone
Duane Tudahl, "Prince and the Parade and Sign o' the Times Era"
Around the World in a Day
America, Prince and the Revolution
From Around the World in a Day (1985). A nine-minute political funk track that nobody expected from the guy who just made the biggest pop album of the decade. "America" proves that ATWIAD wasn't just psychedelic navel-gazing: Prince was using his new freedom to say things Purple Rain's commercial machinery would never have allowed.
America, Prince and the Revolution (1985)
"America, America, God shed his grace on thee." Prince takes the patriotic hymn and rebuilds it as a funk protest, questioning the country's promises while never quite letting go of the hope underneath. The song runs nine minutes because Prince refuses to edit his ideas to fit a format.
What commercial strategy did Prince insist on for Around the World in a Day's release?
Around the World in a Day has confused the industry and delighted the risk-takers. Next: "Raspberry Beret," the single that proves Prince can be experimental and pop at the same time, and the video that looks like a children's book brought to life.
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