Wow.

I never cared for this song much, but I just now saw the video on npgmc (I don't get over there much). Prince was cool as a cucumber, Michael B was kickin' butt, Tommy Barbarella was poutin' like Dr. Frankenfurter, Sonny was dignified, Mr. Hayes was... well... there, the spinning gobo on Prince's guitar was groovy, and Mayte was an absolute angel.

From now on, I'll just think of this awesome one-shot video whenever this number comes on, and I'll be diggin' it!

Yeah , i like it too , don't understand why so many people here are dissing the song

Dewrede said:

The lyrics.

Love the song.

PurpleKnight said:

They might be a little overdramatic but it could be worse

If this were anyone else's song, it would've been a big hit, but because Prince did it, somehow that didn't happen. Love the song and the video. NPGMC sounds really cool now...

This is the one song that kept me on an adrenaline high whenever
there was mention of "The Gold Experience" in those weird days
back in 1994/1995 when it was unsure wether it would ever get an
official release.

I carried around a casette tape with me on which I had the song
recorded from tv (i.e. I taped the clip on my vcr, then held my
casette recorder to the tv to tape the song!). I must have been
listening to that at least 4 times a day for about a year



Yesterday it came up on my mp3 shuffle player and it totally got
me on a high again. This song absolutely ranks among the top 10
song from the 1990's period.

Say what you might about the lyrics, this song is magnificent.
Even Prince seems to acknowledge it's coolness since he pulled
it from the album to be the second single (which sadly got lost
in the wash over all the Warners/Contract shite).

And ever since, I feel like he's been trying to write another
"Dolphin".

"Same December" being the first one and "A Million Days" being
the latest adition to the "Dolphin"-clones galery.

But imo, while those are all cool songs, none of them can come
even close to the perfection of "Dolphin" itself.

From the opening chords, the wavy guitarnotes and his soft soft
pleading voice

How Beautiful do the words have 2 B
B4 They conquer every Heart?
How will U know if I'm even in the right Key
If U make me stop B4 I start?



The guitar solo in this song is one of Prince's best imo. Not
that it showcases a whole lot of talent and not that it's such
a weird/orgasmic performance but it's simply a perfect little
solo that fits the song to a T.

I'll stop now but I could go on for another hour about how
much I love this song and why.

LOVE IT - When I was in my teeenage years, this song helped me alot. I used to blast it when my parents pissed me off. There's a great performance of this on Letterman, where Prince pretends to die and flees the stage before Dave Lettermam can talk 2 him.The lyrics ARE overdramatic, but look at that whole time period. It was very overdramatic.
[Edited 8/6/05 2:06am]

NPGDiva said:

I don't understand why people consider them to be so overdramatic.
Sure, it's Prince glam. lol. But overdramatic?

There are some very good lyrics in this song


How beautiful do the words have to be
before they conquer every heart
How will you know if I'm even in the right key
if you make me stop before I start


that's not dramatic at all, that's just very beautiful and questing
especially with the superb vocal delivery and the sparse guitarlick
that just floats beneath it.


if I'm under water will you find me?
will you shine a light and try to guide me?
it's happened before, I knocked on your door
but you wouldn't let me in


there is so much in these few lines. the going under water, can be
taken as a sacrifice or an ordeal someone is willing to go through
but he beckons to know if the one the line is adressed to will be
there to help and support "shine a light to guide me".

no sap. just heartfelt imo.

the next two lines affirm his doubt and the reason for asking the
question since he's been let down before by the same person yet
still has enough reason to believe in them and ask them to make up.

the guitar solo that follows it fits the lyrics perfectly with it's
beautiful notes and flow. it constantly seems as if it could erupt
into a violent spitefull solo, yet it doesn't, it just lifts to a
subtle hight and then surrenders again to the initial question of
the song

"how beautiful do the words have to be?"

or: tell me what to say and I will, just give me a chance and don't
stop me before I get a chance to explain myself.



To understand this song, it is also pretty vital to know that he was
reading Betty J Eadie's book "Embraced by the Light" and "Dolphin"
was directly inspired by it. It's not just sappy syrupie lovestory
but a lyric that underpins a central theme of "The Gold Experience"
which is death and rebirth. Other songs that mention it are:

At the start of the album:

Endorphinmachine
Your chance to die and live again


and again at the end of the album:

Gold
There's a lady, 99 years old
if she led a good life
heaven takes her soul
Now that's a theory
and if you don't wanna know
step aside and make way
for those who want to go


Now, with "Dolphin" sitting bang in the middle of the album,
this makes for an axis around which the album revolves, with
support of "Endorphinmachine" and "Gold", in exactly the same
way "Lovesexy" revolves around the axis of the title song
which carries the album's message most bluntly and is held
in place by the opening of "Eye No" and the closing "Positivity"
which both mention Spooky Electric.

I'm obviously ranting now, so forgive me, but that's the way
I've always taken the "Gold Experience" to be meant. "Dolphin"
is not just another song on the album, it's the very core of it.

And he re-did it beautifully for the 2002 aftershows.

"Dolphin" is a MASTERPIECE, period. It should've been a huge hit for him.

The video is silly with tommy and mr. hayes playing the bed!

i looooove dolphin.

The Letterman performance blew me away, the cheesy death thing at the end notwithstanding.

I love the video. ubercool.

I looooove the way he performed it at the one nite alone aftershows. More Santana like guitar, mellowed, and more depth felt.

for this song. It always was about more than WB record company 2 me.


ps edit: "dauphin" means "prince" in French. Kinda coincidentally (?)interesting.
[Edited 8/6/05 11:54am]

PurpleKnight said:

Yeah, don't nobody give a fuck if U cum back as a damn dolphin, Prince.

awesome song
and it's why "a million days" doesn't get any respect from me
"dolphin" far outshines anything similar Prince has ever done

IstenSzek said:

nice posts!
i love a good and impassioned defense of this song,
which should need no defense!

IstenSzek said:

I NEVER said that I didn't like the overdramatic lyrics. I love them! Sometimes U have to do that 2 get your point across! I was just agreeing with a fellow orger. This is one of my favorite songs, and it's not Prince glam. It's Prince writing a word on his face and writing music about it. That's overdramatic, but he got his point across.

I always thought that it was a direct message to "lost" fans.
The ones who weren't paying much attention to him anymore because of his musical evolution and/or moniker confusion. I took it as him saying he won't change for anyone else, but he will definately come "back" as a dolphin(dauphin[prince])

Don't know if that makes any sense to anyone, but it sounded about right the last time i sparked a fatty...

Schöne Grüße!

What I think about this song some one u care about so much or a friend but I don't know is he going to open the door when I need him the most. He going open the door or just leave it closed. If I turn to a dolphin would understand me or even look at me.

Didn't get this song originally. Always felt a little corny.

Then i heard a live performance of it at the Bataclan (whole lotta love 4 paris boot). Incredibly moving.

I'm still not into the studio version - think it's the production. But the song is an absolute gem.

nayroo2002 said:

interesting theory

cant stand the way the bass guitar and bass drum are not in sync when they come in at the start. apart from that its perfect.

i wish he did more songs like this (the sound, intrumentation - a rock setup - but not shite like a million days or baby knows). i wonder if he was influenced by the brit indie sound around of the time eg Oasis, blur, charalatans, ocean colour scene?

IstenSzek said:

YES! YES! YES! You get it. I'm so happy. I was trying to explain Dolphin to one of my friends too and how it worked in the album.

Thank You.

The lyrics are truly tack-o-rama on this song (despite the french dolphin/dauphin/prince thing which is pretty clever on Prince's part), but apart from that it's one of his greatest moments. It would have worked so well if it had been sold as a single. Many of my non-Prince friends who watched the Dolphin video VH1 launch absolutely loved the song.

Dolphin is another reason why The Gold Experience would have put Prince back on top commercially if things had been different.

Imagine if Dolphin had been the follow-up single to TMBGITW and the album had been released in the summer of 1994...