We all know that Prince likes to change the lyrics to certain songs, the most obvious examples being The Cross / The Christ or the censored version of Days Of Wild, but this thread is not about altered lyrics...which songs were drastically rearranged in the last twenty-plus years ?

I´d say Something In The Water, which also happens to be one of my favorite songs.
Since its release, this song changed from a short, icecold and dark little funk track into that infamous "piano" version one year after its release, then he stretched it into an almost 15 minutes long rock opus during those legendary rehearsals in 1984 and 1985 which was barely recognizable at first listen yet still mesmerizing and addictive ( at least to me ) and then he came up with it again in 2002 during the Celebration and the ONA tour with that breezy, airy new version, and after that he played an acoustic version of this much loved gem of a song during the Musicology tour.

Another surprise was that drastically different version of Sweet Baby during the European leg of the ONA tour.

Do you know of any other songs where the music has been totally rearranged as compared to the original version ?

Gotta Broken Heart Again on the ONA tour has a noticably different arrangement from the Dirty Mind album version.

Kiss's arrangement gets re-worked every couple of tours.

Yeah, I'd say The Cross/The Christ ... as well as the horrible inclusion of Sex & The City in the song Kiss recently.

He's also added the Go, Go, Go! to Let's Go Crazy (always irks me) and reworked the delivery of Purple Rain.

I wish I'd heard all those versions of Something in the Water you mention, but not knowing them, I'd have to say it's those cheesy Vegas-y versions of Take Me With U that depart so radically from the original version.

Se7en said:

Including the horribly dated lyric about a crappy ass nightime Soap- Dynasty- is not necessary nor essential to the song. I think Prince should keep this lyric topical, because it's meant to be funny and simply isn't if half the audience doesn't get the reference.

Se7en said:

Yes agree 100%

I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man at the 2002 celebration (same night as Something In The Water). Most of the crowd didn't realise what it was until he started singing.

The Other Side of the Pillow - from the acoustic album version to the jazzy ONA versions. Very different.

Purple Rain - played on piano with the band during the ONA tour (with no guitar) it sounded very different.

1+1+1 is 3 - the album and live versions couldn't be more different (to the extent where I don't like the studio version much at all but think that it's one of the funkiest things I've ever heard live).

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic - the small club version from 88 is very different to the studio version

Nothing Compares 2 U - although he hasn't changed it much live over the years, it's very different from the original

Alphabet St - more blues/country when he's been doing live the last few years.

That's it. I'm done for now.

skywalker said:

I'm with you - I think it's a very good move to the change that lyric to make it relevant and with the times.

When Doves Cry has also gone thru several changes.Most recently,one without a chorus.

leecaldon said:

I disagree - to me it's only one step away from Elton John reworking Candle In The Wind for Princess Diana.

Songs are not meant to be "reworked" like that. Kiss is a snapshot of Prince's writing at that time . . . 1986.

Se7en said:

Yes no need to redo any form of art just to make it relevant of the times. What redo the mona lisa, put CGI in The Wizard of OZ?????

There is a difference between performing the song live and on wax/tape/cd. On tape, the song should stay how it was. Elton John redid/updated/etc "Candle in the Wind" and released it new as Prince did "1999:The New Master". I don't really dig that. However.....

Live, the song is being sung live--in the the moment. It's about being there--the song is not stagnant in concert, it is a living thing in concert and should not simply be a retread/repeat of the album. If I wanted exactly the album I'd listen to it--you certainly have the choice to.




It's Prince's song and, ultimately, it's up to him to decide what is meant for it and he is the ultimate in interpreting/reworking it anyway he wants. I don't believe in going back an rerecording the recording of "kiss" because it should remain as a snapshot of 1986 However, like I said, live it is of the moment and all about right here, right now--not ecessarily 1986.

Bottom Line: Artists redo their work all the time. I don't like Prince editing or redoing his songs on record, however, live concerts are a different ballgame and I welcome the difference.

[Edited 4/10/07 20:06pm]

Kiss - He always changes the arrangement on this. The original recording was a classic case of serendipity.

Sign O the Times - During Musicology he turned the original sparse funk into a great classic soulful Stax rendition.

Se7en said:

No, the recording of Kiss as found on Parade - released in 1986 - is a snapshot of Prince's writing at that time. Concert performances are fluid and should be expected to change.... otherwise, Prince should strive to make each performance sound *exactly* like the original recorded version of every song, from beginning to end, and *that* would make for a very boring concert. He might as well just lip-sync to a recording.

jtfolden said:

You said it better than I did and in half as many words--thank you.

Sister was re-worked to a full on,kick ass rocker on the Lovesexy tour!