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Thread started 10/04/16 6:30pm

Gustavm

What songs did Prince write about Susannah Melvoin?

What are all the songs he wrote about her?

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Reply #1 posted 10/05/16 12:12am

TrivialPursuit

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Presumably:

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Forever In My Life

Adore

The Beautiful Ones (although I swear there was a discussion on this recently)

Big Tall Wall

In This Bed I Scream

It's often thought "Nothing Compares 2 U" was about her, but I remember reading it was allegedly about a breakup Jerome Benton had with his then-girlfriend. Others say it was his assistant or something.

"Strange Relationship" dates to 1982, so that probably isn't about her, not with that message. It certainly fits their relationship near the end, however.

She inspired a lot, either from the relationship or just conversations, like "Starfish and Coffee".

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #2 posted 10/05/16 12:25am

SquirrelMeat

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Empty Room.

.
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Reply #3 posted 10/05/16 5:18am

luvgirl

Regarding The Beautiful Ones.

In an article, Prince was annoyed that people kept saying 'The Beautiful Ones' was written about Susannah Melovin. He refuted the claims and said that he specifically wrote the lyrics "Do you want him or do you want me" for the part where Morris and Apples were sitting around the table talking while he was performing on stage, and he alluded to other parts of the song being about Vanity. Also, in one of the Piano and Microphone shows after Vanity passed, he was very emotional and dedicated the song to her and said "She knows about this song" I think he's telling people loud and clear who the song was written for but no one seems to care, everyone is still going by whoever their favorite Prince girl is, which is fine... That's one of the beauty of being a Prince fan. falloff

This is what he said:

I was talking to somebody about “The Beautiful Ones.” They were speculating as to who I was singing about. But they were completely wrong.
If they look at it, it’s very obvious. “Do you want him or do you want me,” that was written for that scene in Purple Rain specifically. Where Morris [Day] would be sitting with [Apollonia], and there’d be this back and forth. And also, “The beautiful ones you always seem to lose,” Vanity had just quit the movie. To then speculate, “Well, he wrote that song about me”? Afterwards you go, “Who are you? Why do you think that you’re part of the script that way? And why would you go around saying stuff like that?”
[Edited 10/5/16 6:46am]
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Reply #4 posted 10/05/16 5:22am

OldFriends4Sal
e

luvgirl said:

Regarding the Beautiful Ones, In an article, Prince was annoyed that people keep saying the beautiful ones was written about Susannah Melovin. He refuted the claims and said that he specifically wrote the lyrics" Do you want him or do you want me" for the part where Morris and Apples were sitting around the table talking while he was performing on stage and he alluded to it being about Vanity. Also, in one of the Piano and Microphone shows after Vanity passed, he was very emotional and dedicated the song to her and said "She knows about this one" I think he's telling people loud and clear who the song was written for but no one seems to care, every one is still going by whoever their favorite Prince girl is, which is fine... That's one of the beauty of being a Prince fan. falloff This is what he said: I was talking to somebody about “The Beautiful Ones.” They were speculating as to who I was singing about. But they were completely wrong. If they look at it, it’s very obvious. “Do you want him or do you want me,” that was written for that scene in Purple Rain specifically. Where Morris [Day] would be sitting with [Apollonia], and there’d be this back and forth. And also, “The beautiful ones you always seem to lose,” Vanity had just quit the movie. To then speculate, “Well, he wrote that song about me”? Afterwards you go, “Who are you? Why do you think that you’re part of the script that way? And why would you go around saying stuff like that?”

the story of Prince writing that song to woe Susannah from a relationship had to have come from the camp though. Maybe the song has multiple inspirations...

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Reply #5 posted 10/05/16 5:38am

luvgirl

OldFriends4Sale said:



luvgirl said:


Regarding the Beautiful Ones, In an article, Prince was annoyed that people keep saying the beautiful ones was written about Susannah Melovin. He refuted the claims and said that he specifically wrote the lyrics" Do you want him or do you want me" for the part where Morris and Apples were sitting around the table talking while he was performing on stage and he alluded to it being about Vanity. Also, in one of the Piano and Microphone shows after Vanity passed, he was very emotional and dedicated the song to her and said "She knows about this one" I think he's telling people loud and clear who the song was written for but no one seems to care, every one is still going by whoever their favorite Prince girl is, which is fine... That's one of the beauty of being a Prince fan. falloff This is what he said: I was talking to somebody about “The Beautiful Ones.” They were speculating as to who I was singing about. But they were completely wrong. If they look at it, it’s very obvious. “Do you want him or do you want me,” that was written for that scene in Purple Rain specifically. Where Morris [Day] would be sitting with [Apollonia], and there’d be this back and forth. And also, “The beautiful ones you always seem to lose,” Vanity had just quit the movie. To then speculate, “Well, he wrote that song about me”? Afterwards you go, “Who are you? Why do you think that you’re part of the script that way? And why would you go around saying stuff like that?”


the story of Prince writing that song to woe Susannah from a relationship had to have come from the camp though. Maybe the song has multiple inspirations...



Yes, I think I heard that it was Susan Rogers that said it, but if Prince said it wasn't about Susannah, I'm gonna go by what he says, cuz you know, he wrote the song, lol. And he didn't have a problem with saying other songs were written about Susannah, like 'Forever In My Life' and he didn't refute any of the other songs reputedly written about her, just 'The Beautiful Ones.' Plus, I don't think he would have alluded to it being about Vanity in the dedication he made to her at the Piano and Microphone show if it really wasn't. I don't think he would have pointed out "She knows about this one" at such an emotional moment if it wasn't true just to flout Susannah Melvoin after thirty years. I agree that the song had multiple inspirations, he said so himself.
[Edited 10/5/16 7:19am]
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Reply #6 posted 10/05/16 6:47am

anangellooksdo
wn

TrivialPursuit said:

Presumably:


If I Was Your Girlfriend


Forever In My Life


Adore


The Beautiful Ones (although I swear there was a discussion on this recently)


Big Tall Wall


In This Bed I Scream

It's often thought "Nothing Compares 2 U" was about her, but I remember reading it was allegedly about a breakup Jerome Benton had with his then-girlfriend. Others say it was his assistant or something.

"Strange Relationship" dates to 1982, so that probably isn't about her, not with that message. It certainly fits their relationship near the end, however.

She inspired a lot, either from the relationship or just conversations, like "Starfish and Coffee".



Good list but Adore was about Vanity.

The Beautiful Ones was too, but more specifically written for that character one PR and also vanity had just left Prince in real life.
It irritated Prince that he felt someone else had said it was about them.
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Reply #7 posted 10/05/16 7:22am

iZsaZsa

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If I Was Your Girlfriend was inspired by Streisand and Redford in a scene from the movie The Way We Were, so said Prince at a show April 14 2016.
What?
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Reply #8 posted 10/05/16 7:46am

OldFriends4Sal
e

luvgirl said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

the story of Prince writing that song to woe Susannah from a relationship had to have come from the camp though. Maybe the song has multiple inspirations...

Yes, I think I heard that it was Susan Rogers that said it, but if Prince said it wasn't about Susannah, I'm gonna go by what he says, cuz you know, he wrote the song, lol. And he didn't have a problem with saying other songs were written about Susannah, like 'Forever In My Life' and he didn't refute any of the other songs reputedly written about her, just 'The Beautiful Ones.' Plus, I don't think he would have alluded to it being about Vanity in the dedication he made to her at the Piano and Microphone show if it really wasn't. I don't think he would have pointed out "She knows about this one" at such an emotional moment if it wasn't true just to flout Susannah Melvoin after thirty years. I agree that the song had multiple inspirations, he said so himself. [Edited 10/5/16 7:19am]

Weeellll Prince also said Morris Day fired Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis lol

I really do believe Prince said inspired things and wrote inspired notes that Susan Rogers was privy to

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Reply #9 posted 10/05/16 8:54am

luvgirl

OldFriends4Sale said:



luvgirl said:


OldFriends4Sale said:



the story of Prince writing that song to woe Susannah from a relationship had to have come from the camp though. Maybe the song has multiple inspirations...



Yes, I think I heard that it was Susan Rogers that said it, but if Prince said it wasn't about Susannah, I'm gonna go by what he says, cuz you know, he wrote the song, lol. And he didn't have a problem with saying other songs were written about Susannah, like 'Forever In My Life' and he didn't refute any of the other songs reputedly written about her, just 'The Beautiful Ones.' Plus, I don't think he would have alluded to it being about Vanity in the dedication he made to her at the Piano and Microphone show if it really wasn't. I don't think he would have pointed out "She knows about this one" at such an emotional moment if it wasn't true just to flout Susannah Melvoin after thirty years. I agree that the song had multiple inspirations, he said so himself. [Edited 10/5/16 7:19am]


Weeellll Prince also said Morris Day fired Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis lol



I really do believe Prince said inspired things and wrote inspired notes that Susan Rogers was privy to





Lol, In this situation though I think Prince was speaking from the heart, and backing up his comment with his statement from the Piano and Microphone show, due to the circumstances, solidifies the truth in it.
[Edited 10/5/16 9:07am]
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Reply #10 posted 10/05/16 9:08am

TrivialPursuit

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luvgirl said:

Regarding The Beautiful Ones. In an article, Prince was annoyed that people kept saying 'The Beautiful Ones' was written about Susannah Melovin. He refuted the claims and said that he specifically wrote the lyrics "Do you want him or do you want me" for the part where Morris and Apples were sitting around the table talking while he was performing on stage, and he alluded to other parts of the song being about Vanity. Also, in one of the Piano and Microphone shows after Vanity passed, he was very emotional and dedicated the song to her and said "She knows about this song" I think he's telling people loud and clear who the song was written for but no one seems to care, everyone is still going by whoever their favorite Prince girl is, which is fine... That's one of the beauty of being a Prince fan. falloff This is what he said: I was talking to somebody about “The Beautiful Ones.” They were speculating as to who I was singing about. But they were completely wrong. If they look at it, it’s very obvious. “Do you want him or do you want me,” that was written for that scene in Purple Rain specifically. Where Morris [Day] would be sitting with [Apollonia], and there’d be this back and forth. And also, “The beautiful ones you always seem to lose,” Vanity had just quit the movie. To then speculate, “Well, he wrote that song about me”? Afterwards you go, “Who are you? Why do you think that you’re part of the script that way? And why would you go around saying stuff like that?” [Edited 10/5/16 6:46am]


Yep, I knew I'd read that recently about TBO somewhere, but wasn't going to scour the web for it.

Back in the day, my buddy Steve thought it was about Vanity, then years later a lot were saying it was about Susannah.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #11 posted 10/05/16 12:16pm

BillieBalloon

anangellooksdown said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Presumably:


If I Was Your Girlfriend


Forever In My Life


Adore


The Beautiful Ones (although I swear there was a discussion on this recently)


Big Tall Wall


In This Bed I Scream

It's often thought "Nothing Compares 2 U" was about her, but I remember reading it was allegedly about a breakup Jerome Benton had with his then-girlfriend. Others say it was his assistant or something.

"Strange Relationship" dates to 1982, so that probably isn't about her, not with that message. It certainly fits their relationship near the end, however.

She inspired a lot, either from the relationship or just conversations, like "Starfish and Coffee".



Good list but Adore was about Vanity.

The Beautiful Ones was too, but more specifically written for that character one PR and also vanity had just left Prince in real life.
It irritated Prince that he felt someone else had said it was about them.



Wasn't Adore about that woman he had a crush on..what was her name? A singer, Patrice Rushen?
Baby, you're a star.

Meet me in another world, space and joy
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Reply #12 posted 10/05/16 12:36pm

TrivialPursuit

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BillieBalloon said:


Wasn't Adore about that woman he had a crush on..what was her name? A singer, Patrice Rushen?


I've never heard that. His earlier stuff was, like "I Feel For You", "I Wanna Be Your Lover", etc, presumably.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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