Trying to find some depth in Rave, and was wondering whether the following songs were written about any 1 in particular:

Greatest Romance - Mani / Mayte?
Hot Wit U - Mani?
Tangerine - Mayte?
So Far, So Pleased - Mani?
Sun, Moon, Stars - Mani?
Man O War - Mayte?
Baby Knows - Mani?
Love U But Don't Trust U - Mayte?
Silly Game - Mayte?
Strange But True - Mayte?
Wherever U Go - Mayte?

Also, is that gap between Greatest Romance and Hot Wit U in anyway dedicated to Miles Davis? Strange, it's silent...

Finally, I'm assuming Prince arranged Crystal Ball but who choose the songs and sequence for The Vault - Old Friends for Sale? Prince or Warner Bros. It's arranged very well.

Good question... I've wondered that myself.
I would agree with the way you have them listed, being that Prince has been kickin' it with Mani for years supposedly.
Interesting...

Blue
"Don't Play Me"

Sexy MF is about a hamster, btw

Anji said:

I think Baby Knows might be about Ananda Lewis. The song doesn't seem to fit what we know about Mani.

I think some of the songs are simply not autobiographical. They were just written at Clive's request in an attempt to gain commercial. Others, especially those at the end about Mayte, clearly seem to be based on real experience.

Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do is surely a positivity song directed at the listeners. I always listen to that thinking it's a Prince "philosophy on life" song.

Yes, the silent track 4 is out of respect for Miles Davis (read that in an FAQ either on this website or NPG music club).

What about Beautiful Strange (why did he leave that out of the original album, it's so wonderful?) - who do you think that may be about?

Who's the Amanda character - was she the dancer in The Greatest Romance vid who he reputedly had a bit of a thing with?

And what's all this about him going on with Mani for ages - was this common knowledge or do you have inside knowledge????

.
[This message was edited Fri Apr 19 5:43:39 PDT 2002 by luvy]

Ananda Lewis was an MTV VJ and now has her own syndicated talk show.

The Miles Davis dedication for track 4 appears in the booklet of the promo copies of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic but for some reason it was omitted from the booket that was wide released in November 1999. It says something like:

Miles Davis 199?

And one other line of text I can't remember (Sorry - I'm at work).

I read a report from the Rave listening party that said the original CD featured a few moments of Miles' mumbling. My guess is that the legal clearances to use his voice were unobtainable so it was omitted from the release. It's not on the promo copy either, but oddly enough the silent track is shorter on the promo copy.

I've always felt that "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold" was about the love between him and his fans.

I'd bet "Strange But True" was about Suzzanah(sp?) Melvoin.