I was just listening to the song "Computer Blue" and realized that it is probably is the third best song in the album Purple Rain, but still hasn't gotten so much attention it deserved, that's a shame because I think this is probably one of Prince's best songs, especially the guitar solo, I get chills everytime I hear that solo!

I was wondering do any of you know why Prince never sings this song live? I would love to hear the guitar solo live!!
And also what do you guys think of the song?

diiinnnooo said:

Tony?
Yeah, Kirk?
Is the water warm enough?
You know it is!
Shall we kick it?
Let's do it man!....

He used to sing it lots of times during the Purple Rain tour and some of those First Ave. concerts shortly before the Purple Rain era ( Aug 83, for instance).
The last time he performed it live, albeit only a short version that was intertwined with Lenny Kravitz´s Are You Gonna Go My Way, was during the New Power Soul/ Jam of the Year tours in 1998 in Europe, notably at the Schleyerhalle in Stuttgart.
No full lyrics, as far as I recall.

NouveauDance said:

During the 2002 Celebration at Paisley Park, he started his acoustic set with those words...well, not exactly but he asked Kirk " Kirk, is the water warm enough?"

Oh yeah. I love that song, especially the guitar solo. It's probably my favorite solo of all time.

He did it live on the Purple Rain tour, but I'm not sure he's done it since.

NouveauDance said:

That's Class
P.S. Love your avatar,is that U

Too bad Prince doesn't bring this track out on recent shows...sure beats doing the hits and covers!

I just wished he would have released the full studio recording of this song. It kicks the crap out of the shortened one on the album.

It's okay.

housequake82 said:

Which one?

the 12:01 minute version
the 14:04 minute version
the 11:34 minute versin
the 13:29 minute version
the 11:57 minute version
the 12:27 minute version

And I totally agree
He wanted a full version for the movie but they said it was too long
probably so,
But it works out and the vibe is definately wild
I love the movie performance, the moves the dark naughty look they had
My favorite

ahhhhh!!!
Father!!
the son is gone

Should I got 2 church on Sunday
Should I stay at home and pray
Should I try 2 make her happy
Should I try 2 make her stay







the lady next 2 Jill seems 2 like it

You know what I think is even better than Computer Blue?? The part in the Purple Rain movie when The Kid heads into the cellar and finds his Dad playing the middle part of the song on the piano....such a beautiful piece of music. Makes me wish Prince had maybe made a separate song out of it alone, instead of placing it in the middle of Computer Blue.

By the by, Prince looks ripped in those pics from the movie...I hadn't really noticed it before, but it looks like he got his ass down the gym before filming began!!

diiinnnooo said:

Yes
Computer Blue
I Would Die 4 U
Purple Rain
are my top 3 favorites from this album

Computer Blue is a serious work out in it's full version
This is another song that Prince can do at his shows without having 2 alter the lyrics (the opening doesn't have 2 be done or could just be reserved 4 when Wendy & Lisa perform with him and it's not explicit either)

This is one of the songs that helps me understand why some reviews and authors have described Prince as Possessed during those years. Wild song

the Computer Blue extension
Fathers song:Computer Blue", written by Prince, Wendy, Lisa, Dr. Fink, John L. Nelson

recorded at The Warehouse in the summer of '83 by David Leonard & Susan Rogers:Lisa Coleman-Keyboards & voice

9.1983 Sunset Sound LA Prince Wendy & Lisa sound engineer Susan Rogers credit 2 John L. Nelson

"Computer Blue" is the fourth track on Prince and the Revolution's soundtrack album Purple Rain. In the film, the song represents Prince's angst at the budding relationship between the characters played by Morris Day and Apollonia Kotero. The song was composed by Prince, with credit to his father, John L. Nelson for the guitar solo based on an untitled piano piece by Nelson. Prince titled the piece "Father's Song" and recorded it on piano for the film, though on screen it was portrayed as being played by Prince's on-screen father, actor Clarence Williams III.

"Computer Blue" was originally recorded at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles in early September 1983. Prince along with Wendy and Lisa and sound engineer Susan Rogers set about recording what would later end up being placed on the album Purple Rain, albeit in a very heavily edited form.

The song begins with spoken lyrics by Wendy and Lisa which suggest a dominatrix-type relationship. The song then becomes a very guitar-oriented number with rock music screams. The released version only has one verse. The version of the song that debuted at the First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis, Minnesota had a second verse, as did the song as it was originally recorded.


Outtake
Originally conceived as a 12-minute opus, "Computer Blue" would later be edited down several times for inclusion on Purple Rain; the song was edited from a fully mastered 7:30 down to its current length when "Take Me With U" was added to the album at the last minute.

The full-length version of the song contains extended instrumental solos and additional lyrics. Also present is a repeated synthesizer segment with a sing-a-long phrase "nah nah nah nah nah", which was often often played in live versions of the song. The synth part, without the vocals, even made it into the film Purple Rain as The Revolution was rehearsing while waiting on Prince to arrive. The track ends with a full minute of screeching feedback, some of which formed the segue to "Darling Nikki" on the album version. Widely regarded by the hardcore fan base as a musical masterpiece, the original unedited recording features the infamous "Hallway Speech" (as termed by fans) about emotions likened to different rooms. The "Hallway Speech" contains the following lyrics:

He didn't like living alone
The house where he lived had many hallways
It was a long walk 2 his bedroom
Because 2 him each hallway represented an emotion
Every one vastly different from the next
One day while she was with him
He decided 2 name each one
She walked by his side, one hand on his thigh
No — she was sort of half a step behind him
Yeah, the grip on his thigh intensified
As they walked slowly through the corridor
He named the hallway "Lust"
And as they passed through the next one
He named it "Fear"
The grip she now loosened
So he walked faster
Her hands now trembling
She let dropped 2 her side as he wrote the word "Insecurity"
He looked into her eyes and smiled a demon smile
And quickly walked onto the next
Corridor after corridor
He named almost all when suddenly… he stopped
He picked up the word "Hate"
She was gone
So he picked up another — "Pain"














[Edited 3/10/09 16:06pm]

DaveT said:

you mean Fathers Song

yes that is beautiful, I liked the way that song lead into Computer Blue
I have a few of those pieces

Wendy?

Yes Lisa

Is the water warm enough?

Yes Lisa

Shall we begin?

Yes Lisa

Ow!

Where is my love life?
Where can it be?
There must be something wrong with the machinery
Where is my love life?
Tell me, where has it gone?
Somebody please, please tell me what the hell is wrong

CHORUS:
Till I find the righteous one
Computer blue
Till I find the righteous one
Computer blue

Oh

Where is my baby?
Where can she be?
Somebody please, please tell me what is wrong with me

Where is my baby?
Where has she gone?
Somebody please, please tell me what the hell is wrong

CHORUS

Yeah

The computer's on the verge of breakdown!

Come on
Oh baby, don't make me

Poor lonely computer
It's time someone programmed U
It's time U learned love and lust
They both have 4 letters
But they're entirely different words
Poor lonely computer
Poor, poor lonely computer
Do U really know what love is?

(Na, na, na, na, na)
Wave your hands in the air!
Now everybody sing it! (Na, na, na, na, na)
Everybody work out
Work out, work out (Na, na, na, na, na)
Everybody work out
Work out, work out (Na, na, na, na, na)
Everybody work out

He didn't like living alone
The house where he lived had many hallways
It was a long walk 2 his bedroom
Because 2 him each hallway represented an emotion
Every one vastly different from the next
One day while she was with him
He decided 2 name each one
She walked by his side, one hand on his thigh
No - she was sort of half a step behind him
Yeah, the grip on his thigh intensified
As they walked slowly through the corridor
He named the hallway "Lust"
And as they passed through the next one
He named it "Fear"
The grip she now loosened
So he walked faster
Her hands now trembling
She let dropped 2 her side as he wrote the word "Insecurity"
He looked into her eyes and smiled a demon smile
And quickly walked onto the next
Corridor after corridor
He named almost all when suddenly… he stopped
He picked up the word "Hate"
She was gone
So he picked up another – "Pain"

On the verge of a breakdown
What is life without love?
It's hell, Computer Blue!

Father, Father, the sun is gone
(Father, Father) The Dawn, the Dawn
Father, Father, where is the Dawn?
(Where is the Dawn, Father?)
(Na, na, na, na, na) {x2}
Na, na, na, na, na

Shall I go 2 church on Sundays?
Shall I stay home and pray?
Shall I try 2 make her happy?
Shall I try 2 make her stay?

Where is my love life?
Tell me, where can it be?

Narrow-minded computer
(Somebody please, please tell me…)
It's time someone programmed U
(Somebody please, please tell me what's wrong with me)
It's time U learned women are not butterflies
They're computers 2
Just like U Computer Blue
(Where is my baby?)
Chauvinistic computer
It's time someone programmed U (Na, na, na, na, na)
U fall in love 2 fast and hate 2 soon
And take 4 granted the feeling's mutual
(The feeling's mutual!)
We're computers 2
Just like U, Computer Blue

a one of a kind guitar solo, I loved also the piano version of the solo on the movie..really great

Purple rain still my favorite track on the album

Love the song. I feel that was about a lot of Prince's songs...many of them deserved more airplay on the radio.

Wow, OldFriends4Sale....you really oughta write a book about Prince
You have a lot of detailed info about just this one song alone...amazing.

diiinnnooo said:

Catch up, please! That song is at the core of the whole album like Anna Stesia is at the heart of Lovesexy, and when you hear the longer versions, you know why.

obsessed said:

I was thinking about it

I loved it when I was young, especially the 12" version.

By now I've heard it so much I'd rather listen to something else.

eaglebear4839 said:

I've actually been listening to the long version as well, but i still think Purple Rain and I would die 4 U is better and then comes Computer Blue.

I love love love love Anna Stesia! That song proves how good Prince really is.

OldFriends4Sale said:

As far as I know, there's really only:

The 14:04 version
The 11:57 version
The 13:29 version
And the 7 minute edit



If I remember correctly, one of those 12 minute versions was just an incomplete cut of the 14:04 version. Don't know about the other 12 minute version or the 11:34 version, though, but if I remember correctly, the 11:34 version is just a slightly speeded up version of the 11:57 version and I doubt that it was supposed to sound like that. Most likely just bad bootlegging with the 11:57 version being the correct version.
[Edited 3/11/09 8:35am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

The version I am talking about is the 7:29 edit that sounds like it was ready for the purple rain album. It was exactly what the album called for but it just sucks that it was not able to make on the album in its full form. It would have been nice to see this as a 12" single if it was selected as one.

OldFriends4Sale said:

I LOVE the 14-minute "hallway" version because it is the song in it's
true (full) form...outstanding! My favorite extended Prince track BY A MILE.

I actually think "Computer Blue" is the only weak song on Purple Rain. Everything else I love, but I could never get into CB for some reason....

bluefish said:

Uhm... The hallway speech version is 11:57.
[Edited 3/13/09 9:30am]

I hear people on here referring to certain versions of this song by specific names. i.e. the hallway speech version. Which version is the one with the really long guitar feed back at the very end. It last for like 2-3 mins. This version sounds like it was the demo since its very stripped down in nature compared to the others. I love the sound of his guitar in this version it was very gritty.

housequake82 said:

Both 14:04 and 13:29 have great guitar feedback at the end.

Cinnamon234 said:

wooooowwwww lol

I would say if it's the weakest it'b because it should have been longer
That is a powerful song

I can't find a week song out of the Purple Rain sessions or that album

obsessed said:

Um, as far as I can tell, most of what OldFriends4Sale said was copied from the Wikipedia article on "Computer Blue".