've never seen this video.



So what's in it

Haven't seen the video, but love the lyrics.

It's not a very good video. One of his many throwaway videos which he's recorded in his lifetime. I'd be fascinated to see them all. Prince doesn't really do very many good videos.

The live video from his letterman performance is terrific though. I watched it in a room with other folks who were non-Prince fans and all of them tripped out at his really short but very well delivered guitar solo. Some of them didn't even know he could do that

always liked it. It has cool hippy vibe to it

Orgbites 4 U!

Imago said:

It always surprises me when I hear comments from people who were clueless about Prince's guitar skills. In a majority of Prince's appearances he is playing guitar.

emilio319 said:

And during the solo, there's some swirly light on Prince's guitar/hands (might be through most of it). It's another quickie video from the time period. I've only seen it a couple of times myself.

He is sitting at the foot of a bed at one point....if I remember right.

moussemaker said:

Thank U!

Love this video!

I really dig how Mr. Hayes "playes" keyboard on the bed with his fingers touching the bed only. So cool, gives the whole song a somehow homely feeling.

I find it funny when it zooms into Mr. Hayes or Tommy Barberella (cant remember) playing the keybord but theres nothing there so there playing pillows

SCORPI09 said:

The "American Flag."

It's good.

SexyMotha said:

It's both of them, playing opposite ends of the bed. Prince sits rite in the middle of the bed. saw the video now.

I've seen the video and the Letterman performance. Not too crazy about either of them. The latter was kinda hard to see as a newbie I kept thinking "poor Prince..." he looked so depressed at that time.

But I'm listening to the song as I type
It's very nice.
And I'm not just saying that because I'm a marine bio major
I totally dig the song. Always have.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

It was already hard dealing with Letterman and his dumb jokes etc about the name change (but he was just another in a long line by that point).

Prince's face during those last couple of years on WB label really did show his angst and upset. He was disconnected during "Dinner with Delores" on Letterman at another performance too. There just seemed to be a sense of doom and despair around him. But again, as I've said before, when Prince is angry comes some of his best music. Exodus, Chaos, The Gold Experience, Come. An explosive set of music all around. Same goes for the mid 80's when he was in a tumultuous relationship with Susannah. It's when Prince gets his freedom that he blows monkey butt in his music. It's a weird dichotomy with him.

great video, in 1 camera shot only, no clipping/ editing or whatever it's called, just 1 long clip with the camera zooming into different musicians:

Prince is singing the song with the band "airplaying" in the background. Mayte is putting Prince to rest at the end..

Great video, great song, great look - short hair and dark glasses,

The guitar solo is just amazing.

Very strange marketing: I remember seeing this video on MTV around october/ november 1994 - and there were no single or album to buy, and it was before the internet, I was desperate to get the song, but it wasn't released until THE GOLD EXPERIENCE album was released almost A YEAR later.... in september 1995.

DOLPHIN is just amazing....


---
[Edited 5/5/09 2:05am]

So I have to ask:
What exactly do people like about this song?
I'm not sold on it - but I'm not writing it off either. I just wonder why others like it so much. The lyrics? The rock guitar thing? The whole "gold" visuals & style? Just curious.
Fill me in!

twistee said:

I like the "mess" that it is when listening to it with a superficial ear and the golden glittering love message that it is when you listen closely. The bass line, the heroic drums and, of course, the guitar solo. It's a great little pop song, converted into something very special with the arrangement, the lyrics and his low voice.

twistee said:

I just like what I like. It sounds good to me. The lyrics are corny. If Prince came back as a talking dolphin, then I would be a little freaked out. I would get over it though-- once I realize how much money a talking dolphin could make me.
[Edited 5/5/09 7:28am]

Dave1992 said:

Very well stated; I agree.
[Edited 5/5/09 8:59am]

Shawnt26 said:

If that's what you think the song is about, you're not listening close enough.

ernestsewell said:

Maybe I should add [joke] [/joke] language around my text for those who can't pick up the absurdity of it already

twistee said:

It's a good rock song. It's trippy in part, but a straight forward rock song in others. It's a plea, and it's heartfelt.

It always seems to me that people have totally missed the message of the song though.

Let's review: Prince was right smack dab in the middle of his war with WB. It wasn't heating up, it wasn't over. It was right in the middle of the fire. That whole album was full of angst, machismo, anger, and his hope of freedom to record what he wanted and release it when he wanted (the latter of which was his real battle, not the content).

"Dolphin" was a plea to be heard and appreciated. Not only had WB fell out of Prince's favor, but Prince had fallen out of the favor of the WB brass heads. He wanted their attention, not their vitriolic stagnation of his output. The 90's was also a huge time for the environmental movement to come to the forefront. People truly seemed more involved with saving the whales, or having dolphins safe tuna, or saving the seals, than they were worried about contracts in music. Prince simply said, "If I came back as a dolphin, would you listen to me then?"

His line about "How will U know if I'm even in the right key, If U make me stop before I start?" was a straight forward statement of "If you won't listen to the music, how will you know me?" The idea of cutting off the fins is a direct statement to the level of output Prince had compared to the once-a-year approach WB had with his music. (How many bootlegs do we have simply because it was a delayed release and Prince lost interest in certain songs and replaced them with something else?)

The line about his brother going hungry is a nod to the idea that people like Little Richard and others worked for years, yet when they left Motown or whatever label they were on, they had nothing. Their contracts put them in debt, despite making millions. (Berry Gordy was notorious for making contracts that always had the artist in debt to Motown, thereby always keeping them working...even when Diana Ross finally left Motown, she owed a huge amount, simply based on those contracts, not because she didn't sell millions of records.)

He also said that despite them limited his releases (cutting of fins), that he would NOT bend to what they wanted ("But to ur ways I will not bend"). "I'll die b4 I let you tell me how to swim" is really the same thing he's said for years about non-musicians running a record company. "How dare YOU tell ME how to play music, when you can barely play the radio!" The very opening line of "How beautiful do the words have to be, before they conquer every heart" is a straight out line saying "What do I have to do so you take care of me again? What do I have to say or do that will make you love me again, like you did years ago?)

Yes, the song is a big metaphor, but if you think about his struggle at the time, and the things he was talking about, the song is very clear.

Shawnt26 said:

I was more addressing your "lyrics are corny" statement. I know you didn't mean Prince literally wanted to come back as Flipper.

Wait..Skipper Flipper. LAWD. haha

The song has great melodies. Memorable.

I agree.

One of his best pop-melodies since, well.. Glam Slam.

I remember this girl on another Prince site that actually thouhgt this song was about a Dolphin and she coulddn't understand why Prince was singing about a fish!

[Edited 5/5/09 13:23pm]

ernestsewell said:

NICE