Maybe some of you have been down this road before, but this is what I have always thought.

It has EVERTHING you want from a song. I could write a 20 page essay on the song breaking it down from the story-telling beginning, to the angelic falsetto crescendo at the end. Simply amazing at every level.

They know this is serious, I ain't f%ckin' just for kicks. Amazing at every level. (And if you read the lyrics, it says "playin'" just for kicks. I always thought I was getting away with something because I realized that radios were playing a song with the "f" word in it. Prince just kinda slipped it in. (No pun intended.)

I just want your thoughts. I know many of you like it, but what do you all think is the GREATEST song of all time... whether it be a Prince song or not?

It's subjective, but definitely a great song...

NOT

It's a classic!

I always compare it to Pink Cashmere (when was this song recorded?), just like the Dirty MInd/Controversy kind of brother-sister relationship.

SenseOfDoubt said:

Most compare Adore to Crucial... but Pink Cashmere is ANOTHER song that doesn't get the respect it's due!

Dreamy!

Adore is average.

Militant said:

To you maybe. But for me, it's one of my favorite Prince tracks of all time, and definitely my favorite slow song of all time.

This was a breakthrough track for Prince who, at the time, was more known for telling a girl how much he wanted to fuck her rather than how much he loved and adored her. For those of us who were teens when it first came out, those were lines we were crooning to our girlfriends. And they were melting to those lines.

"Until the end of time
I'll be there 4 U
U own my heart and mind
I truly adore U
If God one day struck me blind
Your beauty I'd still see
Love is 2 weak 2 define
Just what U mean 2 me

From the first moment I saw U
Ooh, I knew U where the 1
That night I had 2 call U
I was rappin' till the sun came up
Tellin' U just how fine U look
In a word, U were sex
All of my cool attitude U took
My body was next
U made love 2 me
Like U where afraid
Was U afraid of me?
Was I the first?
Was I your every fantasy?
That's why

Until the end of time
I'll be there 4 U
U own my heart and mind
I truly adore U
If God one day struck me blind
Your beauty I'd still see
Love is 2 weak 2 define
Just what U mean 2 me

When we be makin' love
I only hear the sounds
Heavenly angels cryin' up above
Tears of joy pourin' down on us
They know we need each other
They know U are my fix
I know, that U know that I ain't cheatin' baby
They know this is serious
I ain't funkin' just 4 kicks, no
This condition I got is crucial, crucial baby
U could say that I'm a terminal case
U could burn up my clothes
Smash up my ride, well maybe not the ride
But I got 2 have your face
All up in the place

I'd like 2 think that I'm a man of exquisite taste
A hundred percent Italian silk imported Egyptian lace
But nothin' baby, I said nothin' baby could compare
2 your lovely face
Do U know what I'm sayin' 2 ya this evening
I'm just tryin' 2 say
I'm just tryin' 2 say
That until, until the end of time
I'll be there 4 U
I'll be there 4 U
On my heart, on my mind, (truly adore U)
I truly adore U (darlin')
U don't know what you're mean 2 me
Baby, (until the end of time)
Baby, (I'll be there 4 U)
Baby, (U own my heart and mind)
'Til the end of time I'll be there 4 U
(I truly adore U)
Adore U (adore U)

Can I talk 2 U? {{chorus repeated in background}}
Tell U what U mean 2 me
Every time U wander
I'll be your eyes so U can see
I wanna show U things
That I show no other, I wanna be
More than, more than your mother
More than your brother
I wanna be (like no) like no other
If U need me, I'll never leave
I know, that U know, without U there is no me
There is no me
Without U there is no sea
There is no shore
Love is 2 weak 2 define how much I adore
U, child
U, child
The last words U hear
The last words U hear

(until the end of time)
I'll be there for you, baby
(until the end of time)

Be with me darlin' til the end of time (until the end of time)
I'll give U my heart
I'll give U my mind
I'll give U my body (until the end of time)
I'll give U my time (until the end of time)
(until the end of time)

4 all time I am with U
U are with me
(until the end of time)
U are with me, U are with me"

That's just a beautiful song, period.

A GREAT song!!!

It's ok, but GREATEST!?!? it's not even in Prince's top 15! never mind all time greatest!

This is simply the most fully realized r n b ballad produced in the 80's. It's like a symphony of devotion, every word, inflection, note and sound expressing blissful love at so many levels in such an intricate way. It is everything a true ballad should be.

I love this song sooooo much.....!!!

One of the main (and there's loads more than this !!) reasons is the reversal of male and female sterotypes.

SHE made love to him....!!!!!

That's a first in rock and roll music culture!

Isn't it usually the big macho bloke who makes love to the women ?

This is what I find so refreshing about Prince. He sings about vulnerabilty and insecurity.

He knows that the relationship is at it's peak but who knows what the future holds. Whatever happens this person is firmly wedged in his heart.

It's a powerful song, I really love the bit at the end, where Prince songs " You don't know what you mean to me ".

But I know other Prince fans who just don't get it.

TheBigBang said:

-----
Co-Sign When he does this song in concert people lose their minds. I have never seen this type of reaction to a ballad at a concert. The song is in absolute gem and your one smart fellow if you knew to use it on the ladies.

Aerogram said:

it's a prince classic.

LOL... To call Adore "Average" is ABSURD! lol...

But everyone's entitled to their opinion.

If Adore is average, Purple Rain is a piece of shit.

This again? I still don't understand why people swoon over this song. Before I was addicted to Prince's music, guys used to say, "Oh that's my jam right there," or "that song is SO great," etc. When I heard it I was unimpressed. It's a nice song and all, but too over the top and dramatic, and therefore, insincere, in my opinion. I wouldn't even categorize it as a love song...to me it's all about a guy saying the right lines to get play. (You know how some guys will drop tired lines to try to get in a girl's pants. I'm not saying Prince is like that, I'm just sayin'...)

There was a thread on here a while back debating Forever in My Life v. Adore as the two songs at the end of each side of SOTT. Someone stated that Adore was the song to play to get the action...but Forever in My Life was the real deal-- once the guy realizes he's found the one; and I thought that pretty much hit the nail on the head for me. The lyrics to Adore are sweet and beautiful, but too sappy and seem fake/insincere to me.

And before you all start hating on me, I never said it was a BAD song, just that I don't think it's all that.

Nonsense. Though it IS a great song.

jone70 said:

Yeah but it's a lot more imaginative than when a bloke says "Eh love you've got a great pair of tits!"

I do agree with what you've said though. Maybe Prince is playing the sensitive vulnerable soul to win the girl over...??

You can't blame him anyway. We all try every trick in the book when we fancy people.

Women are just as calculating....All in the name of lust !!
[Edited 1/15/06 15:15pm]

jone70 said:

Co-sign.

I freaking LOVE this song. It just goes right through me and when I saw him do it live, man I almost fainted and I'm a guy! Just a beautiful song from start to finish.

This song is in my top five. Adore is the greatest. I dont think anyone can reach Adore's music, lyric and overall status. Not even Prince himself can do it again. Adore is completely untouchable.

ACTUALLY this song is better. Adore is so fucking cheesy. I like to hear P sing about fuckin'.

I like the song but it is not the best song ever. It's not even the best track on sign of the times.

jone70 said:

I agree with this entirely.

To me "Adore" sounds extremely plastic, like too many other "soul ballads" out there at the time and still today. Songs like this have never done a thing for me and I find the whole thing completely artificial, the lyrics sounding like some guy going completely over the top talking to a woman after a night of passion but meaning none of it. I always get flamed for saying this, but it is how I truly feel - "Adore" is hugely overrated and is one of the weakest tracks on "SOTT" for me.

My opinion. Not wrong, but my opinion all the same.

Nasalhair said:

But I think that's all it's supposed to be.

It captures that moment in time perfectly where you just want to savour it an you don't want it to end.

When you fall in love with someone the world does seems a happier place and you walk around with a stupid smile on your face.

And at that moment in time you think that everything is going to stay perfect forever.

And I guess you do write over-the-top love songs!!

pepper7 said:

Actually I don't. I don't write any songs at all, just books.

My problem with "Adore" is that as I mentioned in my original post it just sounds so plasticky - as all "soul ballads" do to me - and it comes over as being completely soulless. I've never liked R&B or songs like this, so whenever Prince does them I always switch off. "Adore" has never done a single thing for me, and it never will - it just isn't my cup of tea.

Nasalhair said:

I disagree because I think that it's not plasticky. It maybe sentimental but it is genuinely romantic.

It's not "Hey baby..you really do it for me...lets get it on"

It's got a spiritual and emotional depth to it. "You own my heart and mind".

"If God one day struck me blind your beauty I'd still see". Thats a really beautiful sentiment. Prince is telling her it's more than just physical attraction. He sees the real person.

Whether you believe what he's saying or not is up to you. But the fact that he's trying to express himself is what's truly lovely about this song.

You don't know that he doesn't mean it. The fact that the song goes on and on suggests that he's at great pains to get his point across.

He keeps saying "I'm just tryin' 2 say / I'm just tryin' 2 say ". He really is trying to emphasis his point here !

You're wrong. The greates song of all time is clearly Mental Destruction's "Into Nothingness".

pepper7 said:

When I say "plasticky" I mean in terms of the sound of the music and the production. I dislike the synthetic tone of the music, and the fact that it seems so overproduced, adding to its plastickyness, and making it stick out like a sore thumb on the comparatively raw-sounding "SOTT".

If "Adore" means something to you, and if you think it sounds sincere, great. It just does nothing for me in the slightest.