TOP 5 PRINCE TRACKS OF ALL TIME (RANKED)
I don't think it's hyperbole to suggest that Prince was the Duke Ellington of Pop given that enough time has now passed since his untimely death in 2016 to review the situation of his quite miraculous legacy.
Not only was he an insanely accomplished multi-instrumentalist (27 in total) but also an incredible singer, dancer, producer and self-stylist. In a word, I believe he was the Mozart of Pop and could create and perform endless miracles with his abundant talent just like that most famous Austrian prodigy in classical music.
Something I've been enjoying about writing these top 5 (ranked) lists of late is that it forces you to choose and focus on the very distilled essence and core of the chosen work(s) of artists and art forms in an especially honed way. Of course, on occasion, I've slightly cheated where I've twinned two things together (call it a draw) as they're sort of inseparable to my mind in the ranking which you'll see is very much the case below.
5. Under The Cherry Moon/Slow Love
Prince can do two types of night-time tracks; eerie, vampy strides like 'Under The Cherry Moon' or slow languorous sex tracks like 'Slow Love'. Together these two songs sound like they could be sung at different stages of the same night with Prince the protagonist sounding like a Byronic figure in search of someone to share the world and his bed with, horny little chap that he was.
4. Nothing Compares 2 U
Although it was Sinead O Connor who enjoyed all the plaudits for her 1990 cover version of Prince's song, I actually prefer the original 1984 unreleased version enjoying the less traumatized, more soulful approach to the track with screaming saxes and Prince's musical wailing a perfect duet.
3. Little Red Corvette
80's materialism meets sexual promiscuity in one of the best one-night stands songs of all time. Even with Prince's famously considerable libido, he sings of struggling to 'keep up' with a mysterious beautiful woman who he compares to a sports car. If he hadn't died, he would surely have been canceled retrospectively for this shimmering pop masterpiece though there's still time, for not even the dead are exempt from being extirpated from history these days.
2. Sometimes It Snows In April/Condition Of The Heart
Writing a musical testimony for his fictional character of Christopher Tracy from the bizarre follow-up movie 'Under The Cherry Moon' (1986) to the more well-received 'Purple Rain' (1984) Prince as the narrator of the song sings in the hope of being reunited with the figure in heaven.
Since Prince's demise, 'Sometimes It Snows In April' has taken on extra meaning and significance seen as a haunting foreshadowing of the artist's own tragic and premature death and was one of the most popular songs played around that time by fans across the world as way of remembering their musical hero.
'Condition Of The Heart' from the 1985 album 'Around The World In A Day' seems to be a perfect companion piece to 'Snows In April' where the artist sings of the inherent suffering that comes with the transience of love regardless of wealth and material status. From the opening piano ornamentation to the final thud of the timpani what we have in this nearly seven-minute composition is a musical death and an utterly beautiful one at that.
1. I Would Die 4 U
There's no such thing as a perfect pop song said no one who's ever heard 'I Would Die 4 U' which is as immaculate a three minutes of music as has even been produced as Prince inhabits the forms of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit singing:
You're just a sinner I am told
Be your fire when you're cold
Make you happy when you're sad
Make you good when you are bad
I'm not a human, I am a dove
I'm your conscience, I am love
All, All I really need
Is to know that you believe
Perhaps it's easy to forget that for all the sexually charged content in many of his songs and albums Prince was also a deeply spiritual and religious person which is best reflected in certain key songs such as 'Die 4 U', 'The Cross' and 'Holy River'.
In this sense, he shares this path of faith-led music-making with other such famous artists as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and (breathe), (Kan)Ye West.
And because of his commitment to the eternal, his music will now undoubtedly live forever.