Holy crap, I love this song - especially the long version on "Old Friends 4 Sale"...sometimes I think of that album as just one big glorified CD single for "She Spoke 2 Me", with all the other tracks being really generous b-sides.

Ok, I'm weird. So what. I love this song, so there.

I Like the horns

i like the geeetar in it, too.

yeah , the guitar in it is nice too

She only spoke to me because baby I'm a STAR...LOL

RiccoTheArtist said:

Do U Lie?

Anxiety said:

ha ha ha that was for Prince; not ME he he he

RiccoTheArtist said:

yeah,i like this,too.

I just got done jammin' to that song like 3 minutes ago....

I loved this song when I first heard it on the Girl 6 soundtrack. About peed my pants to hear the "full" version on "The Vault."

love it love it love it!!

sosgemini said:

It's a brilliant, jazzy piece of work but it ain't catchy.

I also love it and 5 women too.

I like!

dawn74 said:

then i must be listening to a different song with the same title, cuz the one i'm listening to is all kinds of catchy.

Absolutely a great song. I love it!

Doozer said:

For real. The extended version rocks my socks, bunches my panties, mashes my potatoes and waxes my legs. Get to that.

FunkMistress said:

love this one and "when the lights go down".

It's a nice track, and I kinda like the full version with the long instrumental section - but at the same time, it's painfully obvious that Prince's rhythm section aren't jazz musicians...

The swing feel is really stiff and awkward, and the instruments just doesn't sound right in this context, especially bass and drums.

I assume it's Sonny and Michael who are playing on this...?

YES! It is song like these that remind me of why I love Prince in the first place!

RealMusician said:

i don't have a jazz musician's ear, so i can't speak to any level of authenticity, other than to say that with prince's background, his take on the genre is what basquiat used to call "ignorant art".

all i know is that when i play it, it sounds good to my ignorant ear.

Anxiety said:

One important thing about it is that Prince (or his band) have never claimed to be jazz musicians, or labelled their own music as "jazz" - therefore, we shouldn't really judge it from that viewpoint either...

But I'm pretty sure that any true jazz musician who listened to the second half of the song would either laugh or simply just shake their head...

Anxiety said:

You're not alone. That's exactly how I feel. I'm often thinking "ooh, I gotta put on that CD with 'She Spoke 2 Me" on it!".

I've said this before and I'll say it again - "She Spoke 2 Me" is up there with "Purple Rain", "Kiss", "Adore", "Joy In Repetition" and "When Doves Cry".

RealMusician said:

What do you think a true pop musician would do?

Anxiety said:

Actually, I don't like to discuss music in such terms.

Prince has made some music over the years that I guess could be called "jazz-influenced" - or maybe even "jazz", depending on your definition of the word. Being a jazz musician myself, my opinion is that Prince has never been really close to the genre (by my definition), although he frequently uses some of its elements.

However, I must say that the extended version of "She Spoke 2 Me" is one of his most obvious efforts to actually create what is traditionally referred to as "jazz" music. When I listen to it, as a musician, and compared to other works in that genre, "She Spoke 2 Me" sounds a little bit stiff and clumsy..like they're pretending they can play jazz when they really can't.

On the other hand, if I listen to it as a pop record, r'n'b or whatever, I think it's pretty good, and the "jazz influences" are actually quite charming...so that's what I prefer to do!

"Maybe they can fool the untrained mind, but nobody I know gon' bite!"

RealMusician said:

whenever i hear prince trying to make jazz sounds, i always think of it from the perspective of someone who makes pop music creating a homage to jazz. i never really consider the possibility that prince is actually trying to pass it off as 'legit' jazz, or that he even cares to. it's just the product of how he processes what he hears and who he's been influenced by. does that make any sense?

Anxiety said:

Yeah, that's reasonable. It's just that being a musician myself, I can't help but notice such things...and I suspect other musicians would, as well.