I know he released that version on the vault but I heard the original had a different arrangement and more personal lyrics. I was wondering what you can find that version on? and also what were the lyrics? I heard something about some of them referred to Morris and who else? Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks.

The original didn't have a different arrangement, it was exactly the same as
the released version except with different lyrics. There is an early mixdown
of the track circulating as well, which is missing Clare Fischer's strings
if that's what you mean. Anyway, here's the original lyrics...


Old Friends 4 Sale

The sun set in the west this mornin'
4 I know, I know L.A. is callin'
Bad news, Steve said, and people are talkin'
They say your kingdom is fallin', yeah
They say U lost your fire
When another musician U hired
Little do they know, U wouldn't have passed go
Unless they could take U higher, yeah

The sun set in my heart this afternoon
4 2 friends of mine got stuck in the snow
In Uptown when winter's alarmin', oh
Cocaine becomes charmin'
But U talk about things U don't know 'bout
I know, no matter how pleasant your past was
Green and white return 2 blue
U're happy as long as your last buzz
And then U think U want something new, yeah

The sun, the sun set in my mind this evening
4 someone who said they would die 4 me
Sold some, they sold some more pictures and all my little memories
Chump change is 2 unravel the mystery, ah ha
But life is no fun, life ain't no fun without fantasy
Some things are better left unsaid
And some people are better left untrusted
Maybe, maybe, maybe it'll all make sense when I'm dead
When I'm dead

Old friends 4 sale
Get'em while the gettin' is hot
Watch out, they'll kiss U until they get what U got
And they'll show U the friends that they're not
Old friends 4 sale

.
[Edited 8/16/05 10:05am]

The lyrics on the updated version were probably some of the most disappointing lyrics I've ever heard from Prince, with the possible exception of "Baby Knows."

Actually, this was a prime example of what Prince was willing to do to a song in order to screw Warner Bros. out of releasing a CLASSIC Prince tune while trying to finish out his contract.

TheBigBang said:

I personally think he re-did the lyrics because they were too personal and would be easily identifiable. Alan Leeds noted that Prince rarely released his most personal songs. I know he wanted to screw Warners but I dont think he wanted to address the issues that were bothering him so explicitly in the public eye.

the original is one of p's very best songs !

It is Prince and piano, like Ray Charles, in a way, but very Prince-like. Best lyrics he will ever write. Read the Musicology lyrics and start to laugh.

It would have been his best song, if it was released.

i have both versions..but the original then breaks into this 15 minute uptempo jam--what's that? (kinda sounds like all the critics love u in NY)

2freaky4church1 said:

Arguably the one of the greatest songs he's ever written. The original version is amazing!

meltwithu said:

No it doesn't! I think you must be confusing it with some other song.

TheBigBang said:

This had nothing to do with Prince wanting to 'screw Warners'. It was just
Prince being Prince and tampering with any songs that were lyrically too
personal (it's not the first time he's done it).

TheBigBang said:

Actually, the new lyrics were added to the song LONG before the Vault album was assembled. In fact, this version was, at one point, offered to Joe Cocker (he took "Five Women" instead). It wasn't an attempt to "screw Warners"

Basically, Prince felt the lyrics were too personal, as many of the things referenced in it were real events involving people he associated with. There are lines that take shots at Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Morris Day, Chick Huntsberry and others that Prince eventually reconciled with. I think he viewed the song as being too mean spirited.

Personally, I think the original lyrics are MUCH better, and Prince should have just released it as it was. I think his friends would have understood that he wrote the song over a decade before, and no longer felt that way about them.

BorisFishpaw said:

uhhm..yes it does...i just listened to it as i read the lyrics word for word ..not saying that this is it was originally recorded..of4s ends at 3:31 sec..and then it goes directly into this 15 minute jam..that starts mid tempo and ends up being really fast..all he sings is :do you like, everlasting do you like all night...then he says just the rhythm..i don't care what chord you play)
[Edited 8/16/05 14:08pm]

meltwithu said:

Oh I know what jam you're talking about now, but it's got nothing to do with
Old Friends 4 Sale, it's a completely different track.

BorisFishpaw said:

Boris what's the name of this jam/song.
This file is widely circulating on P2P networks. I downloaded it once and always wondered what the jam on the end was.

The original is a great song, but I suppose there are some songs Prince thinks are just too specific to release and perform. It would interesting to go back and check how long he performed certain "anger-based" songs.

MashedPotatoKid said:

It's just an untitled jam, mainly just Prince on bass jamming along with his
drum machine. Part of it is based on Erotic City, but it's really just a
random jam to work out a few ideas.

meltwithu said:

i know what u talkin bout. on file sharin networks its called old friends for sale (extended mix), man i was hella happy when i seen it cuz i thought it was some more of that sad hotness...NOT! got tricked big time, but the uptempo stuff is cool

BorisFishpaw said:

I soooo agree with that.

i think this song is GORGEOUS tho. first time i heard it i damn near cried...thats the only other prince song (besides sometimes it snows in april) that has ever done that to me.
its amazing. he should really release it. take that talking off the beginning. and clean the sound of up a bit (no other tampering at all!) that would be hot. and then he could make it go str8 into either visions or moments (i 4get which on is the one i reeeely like)

BorisFishpaw said:

Thanks for setting me straight. He fucked up one great song though, for whatever the reason.

I still have to wonder why he even bothered giving them the completely incoherent rewritten version when the original is such a great fucking song.

"Last night a stranger took my picture and then he, uh..
He asked if I'd buy it, huh
I said I guess I don't know how...OH!"

I scream like somebody stepped on my sack every time I hear that part. I. just. don't. get. it.

TheBigBang said:

ya know i just had a looksie at the rewritten version and while its def. not on
the same level as the original its still sayin some of the same things:

this is the original verse. and its really beautiful


The sun set in my heart this afternoon
4 2 friends of mine got stuck in the snow
In Uptown when winter's alarmin', oh
Cocaine becomes charmin'
But U talk about things U don't know 'bout
I know, no matter how pleasant your past was
Green and white return 2 blue
U're happy as long as your last buzz
And then U think U want something new, yeah

this is the new line. and while it aint as clever. or as pretty. its sayin the same thing. friend gets hooked on drugs

The sun set in my heart this evenin'
Cuz an old friend of mine got lost in the jive
Little did she know, when U're stuck in the snow
Nobody gets out alive

this is the original verse abotu a friend who betrays him for money

The sun, the sun set in my mind this evening
4 someone who said they would die 4 me
Sold some, they sold some more pictures and all my little memories
Chump change is 2 unravel the mystery, ah ha
But life is no fun, life ain't no fun without fantasy
Some things are better left unsaid
And some people are better left untrusted
Maybe, maybe, maybe it'll all make sense when I'm dead
When I'm dead

the rewritten verse is about a women who betrays him to be with is brother

Tears fall gently in my garden
As I wait in vain 4 my sweet baby 2 call
I guess what my own brother told me was true
He had been with my sweet baby and she never really loved me at all

A little of it remains the same but the stuff he took out makes it seem like its giving off a different meaning and also a much different tone. It makes me wonder what other stuff he's written about people he believed betrayed him but never released. I'm sure those with more access to his unreleased works than I have at this point could think of somemore probably.

BorisFishpaw said:[quote]The original didn't have a different arrangement, it was exactly the same as
the released version except with different lyrics. There is an early mixdown
of the track circulating as well, which is missing Clare Fischer's strings
if that's what you mean. Anyway, here's the original lyrics...

WHAT? the third version sounded like a re-recording of everything to me. With a much more "New Orleans" horn sound. Is it actually still the same core tracks? Let me check...

Yeah, that's what I thought when I read that - from memory (I ain't played either verson in a while) its re-recorded track, almost entirely. The horns replace a synth line and the drums certainly sound different. I'll have to dig 'em out and come back to this

Mindflux said:

Nope. Listen closely. Prince just layered a bunch more instrumentation on top of the original. It actually took me a while to notice that, as I too thought he had re-recorded it from scratch.

JediMaster said:

Exactly, all versions of Old Friends 4 Sale are built on the same original
24 track master tape.

that's why although the lyrics are more distant and unexpressive the later version still has the same beautiful musical feel to it with a lovely vocal performance

I like the prince only one the best. That one sounds like it segues directly into All My Dreams.....