Princes version of What if God was One of Us. I think it's awesome. And I F'n hate original!

I like his version better than hers.


The mix is bad, but the guitar solo and spirit of the song is better with Prince than Joane's.

Of course the original, does have prettier vocals--it just lacks punch.

I love his version apart from the chorus which I think he ruins by shouting the words rather than singing the notes. When he did it live at Paisley Park in 96 I thought he sang it much better. I think generally there are a lot of overlooked classics on Emancipation.

I like it

I always dug the way he mixed the rhythm arrangement for "Love, Thy Will Be Done" with this.

Covers allow liberty with vocals and arrangements, I know, but I wish the mix were cleaner. It's a bit muddy.

Because I hate the lyrics. I don't like overtly preachy/religious/god related lyrics. (Ironically I do like Lovesexy, though.) I hated Joan Osborne's version too.

I loove it. i think sings like he means it. that's what i love about it. it's just has a rew feel 2 it

love it!!!!!

yeah dawg this song rocks totally betta than Joanes
i totally didnt realise it was on Emancipation as i didnt really think he had recorded this on an album. Oh how wrong i am! haha
Oh well at least i know he wrote it!

I think the third disc of the "Emancipation" set is tops.
defineatly one of my Favourites.

that said, I would have prefered that disc "solo" I don't think I've listened to I and II more than twice each.II in particular I found appaling.

So I'm putting EmanIII with "Come", there is some spanking tracks on these discs.

I love this track. One of the only tracks on Emancipation I go back to. Yes it's a cover but you can hear the emotion in it and the production sounds amazing to me imho.

This song ROCKS OUT!

kcwm said:

Did he? I didn't know that.

I like both versions but I sing it like Prince at karaoke bars!!

luv4all7 said:

No he didn't. It was written by Eric Bazilian.

I think the song won or at least nominated for Song of the Year; not Prince's version, of course, but the original version.

rainbowchild said:

Too bad the original sucks.

I thought P did a better job changing the Lyrics to..
"Just a slave, like 1 of us"

insted of Joanes.....
"Just a slob, like 1 of us"
i didnt like that 1 bit at all

Sorry I don't like Prince's version. I thought Joan Osborne's version was much better.

Krystal666 said:

Me too - by far.

I also (in response to mplsmike) have to express my hatred of the "just a slave like one of us" change of lyric, from the far better, and rhyming, "slob like one of us".

I also greatly prefer Joan's version...

Prince couldn't sing the chorus melody full-voice, so he does that screamed chorus with the keyboard doing the original melody, and it ruins the hook for me.

jone70 said:

Same. It's a corny ass song.

I like the guitar work in the song and I like Prince's version better than Joan's.

mplsmike said:

I hated that he changed it (well, hate is a strong word, but that's my least favorite thing about his version) - 'slob' makes it an 'everyman' song, while 'slave' makes it something else - how many of us walk around or sit on the bus honestly feeling like slaves?

ThreadBare said:

That always makes me smile; his vocal demo for "Love Thy Will Be Done" is one of my favorite outtakes.

He also rocked the muthafuckin house with this track live on the Jam of the Year tour in '96 ('97?). It brought the Boston Garden down.

luv4all7 said:

No.

i've never heard of anyone dissing it to begin with. me, i don't really care for either version of the song.

jpav said:

We agree, except when he did it live he did sing it full voice and it was GREAT!! It's a prime example of his need for an outside producer who could have pointed this out to him. Could have been a real classic.

whoknows said:

Just noticed we don't agree on your first statement. I thought Joan's original sounded like a Benetton advert. Prince's live rendition is by far the best.

Omadon said:

Yes I also prefer Bonnie Raitt's vesion of "I can't make u love me" rather than his. His isn't bad but her's is more emotional.