Prince of course writes in his sleep, which makes me wonder...

...when a song is referred to as an outtake, does that mean that its a song which was originally intended for whatever album he was working on at the time, or just a song that he wrote at around the time of working on the album?

I ask because considering the rate at which he writes, surely not all of his "outtakes" were intended for the album of the time.

maybe it's the part when he knowz he climbed out of bed for 5 minutes during a dream and put it on tape.

What is called an 'out-take' in the "Prince world" is simply an unreleased track, or an unreleased version of a released track.

It doesn't necessarily mean they are duff takes, or discarded songs recorded for an album (though they often are).

Having said that, most tracks, specifically circulating ones, have a history behind them, attaching them to a specific project (released or unreleased).