Right now i have When U were mine on repeat in my cd-player. And i am enjoying it so much!

Some observations / thoughts / feelings:
- Why didn't he release this as a single? it screams for it... lol
- That raw telecaster guitarsound is so splendid
- I hear a lot of delicious venom in Princes drumming on this track
- Those background vocals are just brilliant
- This song belongs in the top 10 of new wave-songs
- This song even belongs in a list of top-25 songs from the eighties.

This song is just so damn great, a real classic and probably belonging in the top 5 of essential Prince songs.

A classic Prince song.

one of his best, from one of his best albums...

My fave!

When I heard this song for the first time, I was like "WoW!" When I finally decided to get the album, I had no idea it'd have a song like this. It was just so beautiful and it automatially became my favorite on the album.

It deserves much praise indeed

I loooove this song. I love it.
But, you know what always throws me off? How poppy and bright it sounds. Yet the lyrics and delivery are still so harsh and venemous. And its so matter of fact. God, I luvs it.

This is one of my all time favorite songs, by any artist, ever !

And I love how he´s changed it around over the decades. All versions sound different and yet great, and the details are fascinating . My favorite version is the one from that Aug.3., 1983 First Avenue show albeit it is a bit short but I LOVE the rawness of that version ( " I´ll kick his ass baby, you know I ain´t to yella.." )..and the guitar...wow...simple and effective, one of his catchiest songs and melodies ever, and great lyrics that a lot of folks can relate to...and that´s what makes this gem of a song so great.

Riverpoet31 said:

Here's a 2007 performance of the song from one of Prince's contemporaries.

one of myfav 2

Masterpiece!!!

KoolEaze said:

I love the 1st Ave 83' version too. I listened to it today. And I never knew what the hell he was sayin' after he said "I know that U're going with another brotha".. I now know from reading your post that he said.."I'll kick his ass baby, U know I ain't 2 yella".. That's some funny shit

Tame said:

it!

Love it. When I first got Dirty Mind, it took a while to get into it as a whole. But I like "When You Were Mine" right away. The way that keyboard solo starts, even though it's only two notes, just has some kind of haunting quality to it....

Even sweeter when you consider that it was a "demo". As was the rest of the Dirty Mind album.

Classic Prince! And it has that New Wave sound to it!

Apparently Prince was inspired by The Beatles when he came up with this song.

Love it. Have it as my ringtone

Couldn't believe it when he did on 21st...brilliant.

sweet tune! reminiscent of heady teenage lurve!
absolute gem!

Also have it as my ringtone, and was blown away when he played it on the last night.

Rinluv said:

Yeah, he´s not "too yella", he can be real ghetto too and kick his rival´s ass.
I wonder if he had any problems not only for being black but also for not being "black" enough. He said in one interview that he used to be a pretty good fighter, and I heard it elsewhere , too.

KoolEaze said:

Yeah, with Prince being Black and livin' in an mostly all white state. Also for guy with his size, you have to be tough. Otherwise you would be picked on all the time.

1983 performance of the song from Cyndi Lauper. WYWM starts at -4.50 but really catches fire a minute into the song when she suddenly starts singing an octave higher. From that point onwards she wrings every ounce of drama out of the lyric, and the audience is loving it. Prince would have loved it too.


[Edited 11/20/07 13:30pm]

Easily the best P song never released as a single.

midnightmover said:

i always liked her version of the song....hits more on the melancholy aspect of the song.

My favourite Prince song at the moment.....

Infact the whole Dirty Mind album has ben played to death over the past couple of weeks. And the 21st show, final encore Wen U Were Mine i thought "can't get no better" and then like a punch from Adam West "POW".....Girls and Boys

I started to sing this about 4 hours ago. Like...outta nowhere without the slightest hesitation in knowing the words. Weirrrrrd. It's that good of a song. It's really one of my favorites. I gotta play it right now!! It's a fast song but it really calms me down for some reason.

sexxydancer said:

Yeah me too.