Lady cab driver appreciation.

Lately, I can't get enough of this song. It's facinating. Everything is perfect, I love that bass. I adore the lyrics, the little story in it, that nasty part in the middle with Jill.
Is anyone else in love with this tune.
I wonder what inspired him to write this?

Took me a while to get into this song.

And it was part of the reason why it took me so long to like 1999 as much as I do now.

When I listen more closely, I like the experimental nature of it and the vocals are fun to sing along to... very easy to sing along to, I should say

The instant I heard Gold’s first note, it became Prince’s mark on my soul: a tattoo I wear with pride.
Prince is Dreamy, gives my Life that Pop and 2 the industry, he’s Royalty.

One of my favorite tracks off of 1999. It has some emotion and frustration in it. I like it.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

ToraToraDreams said:

The instant I heard Gold’s first note, it became Prince’s mark on my soul: a tattoo I wear with pride.
Prince is Dreamy, gives my Life that Pop and 2 the industry, he’s Royalty.

one of the greatest songs ever written, i was 14 yrs old listening to this for the first time, but i only ever heard about the rape thing at prince dedicated sites (about 2 yrs ago), and it was something that shocked me, that someone would be stupid enough to think it is a rape scene, to be honest it took alot of the enjoyment of listening to the track away and it still to this day bothers me, that narrow minded people can find dirt where ever they want to find it.

But these are the same people that adore pictures of a human nailed to a cross

Whitnail said:

*Taxi! ...Taxi!*


this made me a Prince fan best part of the song is 5:05 minutes into it.. it's musician's delight

CLASSIC!!!! Excellent raw funk, glorious-desperate lyrics, amazing guitar solo...

Easily his second best 80's song not released as a single (When you were mine is the nº1 )

ToraToraDreams said:

The Drums are astounding. Beautifully played, perfectly recorded.
Oh, that snare drum... To die for...

"ba-bam ! ... Lady, don't ask questions..."

And this is another song that clearly states that Prince is maybe the best rhythm guitarist in the world.

A little disturbing, but I kind of like it!

What bothers U, the toilet flush sound ?

Great,great song! Love it!

Hot song.

HOW CAN IT BE THAT NO ONE MENTIONED THE KILLER GUITAR SOLO?????

on of my all time fave solos in a P song . very raw in contrast to the production in the rest of the song .

While I can't really decide which is my #1 one favorite Prince song, this one as always been in the running.
Its competitors for the top spot are When Doves Cry, Erotic City, Something In The Water, Sexuality, Do Me Baby, 17 Days, & Joy In Repition.

All I have to say is.....

Literally.

I built this short story around, "Lady Cab Driver." I'll post it again.

Nineteen Ninety Nine.

A lady cab driver parked her limousine curbside, outside of Club 1999.
At 11:50pm, A Royal International Lover, escaped the venue.
The driver popped the Automatic lock, and the lover hopped into the backseat.
All the critics in New York were dusted by the smooth getaway, as the D.M.S.R.,
License plate faded out of sight.
The Lady glanced into the rearview mirror and asked the Lover how he was.
“Delirious,” he told her. “Must be something in the water.”
The driver parked alongside of a little red corvette at the end of a dirt road.
Words were exchanged.
“The Fare?,” the lover glared.
“Free,” the driver stared.
“I’ve got to make the plane,” the lover said.
“Sir, Please, enjoy the flight in bed.” T

Tame said:

I built this short story around, "Lady Cab Driver." I'll post it again.

Nineteen Ninety Nine.

A lady cab driver parked her limousine curbside, outside of Club 1999.
At 11:50pm, A Royal International Lover, escaped the venue.
The driver popped the Automatic lock, and the lover hopped into the backseat.
All the critics in New York were dusted by the smooth getaway, as the D.M.S.R.,
License plate faded out of sight.
The Lady glanced into the rearview mirror and asked the Lover how he was.
“Delirious,” he told her. “Must be something in the water.”
The driver parked alongside of a little red corvette at the end of a dirt road.
Words were exchanged.
“The Fare?,” the lover glared.
“Free,” the driver stared.
“I’ve got to make the plane,” the lover said.
“Sir, Please, enjoy the flight in bed.” T

JoeTyler said:

Tame said:

I built this short story around, "Lady Cab Driver." I'll post it again.

Nineteen Ninety Nine.

A lady cab driver parked her limousine curbside, outside of Club 1999.
At 11:50pm, A Royal International Lover, escaped the venue.
The driver popped the Automatic lock, and the lover hopped into the backseat.
All the critics in New York were dusted by the smooth getaway, as the D.M.S.R.,
License plate faded out of sight.
The Lady glanced into the rearview mirror and asked the Lover how he was.
“Delirious,” he told her. “Must be something in the water.”
The driver parked alongside of a little red corvette at the end of a dirt road.
Words were exchanged.
“The Fare?,” the lover glared.
“Free,” the driver stared.
“I’ve got to make the plane,” the lover said.
“Sir, Please, enjoy the flight in bed.” T

Love it!

"This is 4 the cab U have 2 drive 4 no money at all
This is 4 why I wasn't born like my brother, handsome and tall
This is 4 politicians who r bored and believe in war
This -- Yeah, that's 4 me, that's who that 1's 4
This is 4 discrimination and egotists who think supreme
And this is 4 whoever taught U how 2 kiss in designer jeans
That 1's 4-- That 1's 4-- 4 U have 2 live
This 1's 4 the rich, not all of 'em, just the greedy
The ones that don't know how 2 give
This 1's 4 Yosemite Sam and the tourists at Disneyland
And this 1-- ooh! Yeah -- That's the 1.
That's 4-- that's 4 the-- the creator of man
This is 4 the sun, the moon, the stars, the tourists at Disneyland
This is 4 the ocean, the sea, the shore
This is 4-- and that's 4 U, and that's who that 1's 4
This is 4 the women, so beautifully complex
This 1's 4 love without sex
This is 4 the wind that blows no matter how fast or slow
Not knowing where I'm going
This galaxy's better than not having a place 2 go
And now I know (I know)"

Illustrator said:

One of my fave Prince songs, its pure genius. Love the part in the middle with the girl.

Ive never ever once got the sense of any rape story whilst listening to this, and Im not really sure how anyone could..or maybe Im just to naive.

Illustrator said:

Illustrator said:

ToraToraDreams said:

Lately, I can't get enough of this song. It's facinating. Everything is perfect, I love that bass. I adore the lyrics, the little story in it, that nasty part in the middle with Jill.
Is anyone else in love with this tune.
I wonder what inspired him to write this?

As far as this song goes, it was always one of my faves from this album when it was first released. When I went to see him on this tour a day after my birthday in L.A., March 28, 1983, I couldn't wait untill he played this song live. That's the one I vividly remember waiting to hear him play live during the set. This cut is a tour de force, really. The arrangement of the cut, especially the musical section after he finishes doing Jill, points directly to his arrangements on the first Time's album. The little keyboard motif which leads up to the very Time like horn parts on the keys that's underneath P's blistering and excellent guitar solo. And P's state of mind to include all of those weird ass sound effects on this song. Seguls, an elephant roaring, bells, and some really strange sounding shit like someone gurgling. And on top of that, it all...works somehow. I was informed of the drums on this song and I agree with this; That P only actually played the snare and crash cymbals along with a programmed kick and hi hat. The fills he plays on the snare during the entire song are super tight and they never spill over onto the kick, which is rock solid and perfect. P is a good drummer, but....Forever, I used to think P was playing the full acoustic drum set like he is on Free. But after I was told this and being a musician myself, who also plays drums, and after close inspection, u can hear where this was done. Which is still very innovative. That's one reason that song is so tight. P's bass, keys and his guitar are so locked in. There is no looseness there that u naturally have when drums are played on a full set. And that has nothing to do with a good pocket. Fellow musicians on here know what I mean. Great ass song. And it's more about the music than the lyrics. The lyrics are kinda....ho hum, for me. Didn't sound like something P gave a lot of thought to. He just needed some words to fit a cool vocal melody on top of a vicious groove.

blackguitaristz said:

ToraToraDreams said:

Lately, I can't get enough of this song. It's facinating. Everything is perfect, I love that bass. I adore the lyrics, the little story in it, that nasty part in the middle with Jill.
Is anyone else in love with this tune.
I wonder what inspired him to write this?

Good pick. I agree with ya and I've stated this on here before; This song, along with the whole album, is all about showcasing P's vocal ability and his musicianship. One reason P was so good early in his career was that he felt he had a lot he wanted to prove. This was a driving force for Prince. His blend of desire, rage, anger and supreme confidence was an artform in itself and no where was this more evident than on this album. I like to think that all my 1999 album related threads that I have been running on here since 2004 have in some way "influenced" some folks on here to at least, talk about this album. Cuz
to be honest, before here recently, hardly no one, besides myself, ever mentioned anything about this album on this site. To the point that I felt many of ya'll actually didn't like the album. Or had never heard it. It was always the Parade album or Lovesexy. And everything else from the 90's of course. Sometimes ATWIAD. I was surprised about Lovesexy actually cuz Wendy and Lisa was gone and I always got the impression that many folks on here mainly dug P because of Wendy and Lisa. Judging by the posts people made, u know.

another great part of the middle, is you can actually hear the springs of the car seat, amazing the attention to detail P gave it, I would love to hear a live version of the song