I know this song is very popular with a lot of people and I just wanted to ask them - why? I don't get it myself. Not putting anyone else's taste down, just genuinely want to know what it is that makes this song so special for you. Is it the melody, the meaning, did you see it live and it changed your mind?

a perfect song, the Linn and Prince's vocals.....

(only too bad this wasn't played in the SOTT movie)

I don't really get it either, often I skip it.

I like the song because it's a nice ballad with a bluesy mood.

thedance said:

Now [/i]that[i] would probably have changed my mind! Love every single song in that movie!!
[Edited 6/30/09 13:58pm]

I forgot it was an amazing song live at Jay Leno...

feat. that Madhouse song, just excellent

"Do u mind if I turn on...."?

"- the radio"

I LOVE those lyrics as well as the music. Sweet and funny.

Different strokes for different folks...
To me it was the end of Side 1 (yep those were the days of lp's), a wonderful and hypnotizing journey through music.
Secondly the lyrics sounded mystique and good - he is leaving his pants on because he is seeing someone... is that the same Prince who was most times called "His Royal Badness"???
And it was the closest to a Sly & The Family Stone tune he had put on records by then.

that's why for me... cheers

The lyrics are among his best, for one thing. His lilting reference to Joni playing on the radio is clever and thoroughly charming.

It is definitely one of his better efforts. Not just on "Sign," but in general.

You know what, I have actually no idea why I love this song as much as I do. I just love the music and the story.

I also love the fact that Prince used to write songs called The Ballad of Dorothy Parker (regardless of what it sounded like)

Thanks everyone! Hopefully I'll get to hear it live someday and maybe then I'll 'get' it.

I don't dislike the song and I can tell it's lyrically clever and lovely and mellow, I just don't get that 'yay' feeling when it comes on

It's not really a "yay" kind of song.

Genesia said:

I know, it's very mellow. I just meant I don't get a thrill when it comes on.

The first time I heard this song it was like waking up from a dream. The magic has been worn after all these years but I fondly recall replaying this song over and over and over back in '87

what got me was the drum programming..chords nice and simple but in the pocket..it was neo-soul before neo-soul came out,when i would spin this at the parties..I'd keep bringing back just the beat and cats would freestyle over it..it was a hot track one of my favorites..the live version that leads into the madhouse track was awesome..such a smooth track "brring the phone rang and she said who-ever's calling cant be as cute as u....

It is an almost inexplicably funky song.

Along with "If I Was", it the best track on SOTT to me.

It really doesn't seem to fit within any genre. The lyrics are clever and catchy, the muted sluggish feel of it (apparently due to an outage in the studio), the vocal tricks...

I love this song. Deeply.

...can someone post the lyrics..PLEASE!!..
..mzsexybaby

...all i know she is tall and fine and gets alot of tips
..mzsexybaby

Dorothy was a waitress on the promenade
She worked the night shift
Dishwater blonde, tall and fine
She got a lot of tips
Well, earlier I'd been talkin' stuff
In a violent room
Fighting with lovers past
I needed someone with a quicker wit than mine
Dorothy was fast
Well, I ordered
"Yeah, let me get a fruit cocktail, I ain't 2 hungry"
Dorothy laughed
She said "Sounds like a real man 2 me"
Kinda cute, U wanna take a bath?
(do you wanna, do you wanna, bath)
I said "Cool, but I'm leaving my pants on" (she say)
"Cuz I'm kind of going with someone"
She said "Sounds like a real man 2 me"
"Mind if I turn on the radio?"
"Oh, my favorite song" she said
And it was Joni singing "Help me I think I'm falling"
(Ring)
The phone rang and she said
"Whoever's calling can't be as cute as U"
Right then I knew I was through
(Dorothy Parker was cool)
My pants where wet, they came off
But she didn't see the movie
Cuz she hadn't read the book first
Instead she pretended she was blind
An affliction brought on by a witch's curse
Dorothy made me laugh (ha ha)
I felt much better so I went back
2 the violent room (tell us what U did)
Let me tell U what I did

I took another bubble bath with my pants on
All the fighting stopped
Next time I'll do it sooner
This is the ballad of Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker
Well
Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker

...THANK-YOU
..mzsexybaby

Just reading the lyrics makes me chuckle...that is one bad boy i tell ya..

Okay, I love this thread. I am a SOTT junky. The album is a master piece.

This album is a journey, is it one person with many personalities or problems? Is it many people telling a part of the SOTT story?

Dorothy Parker is a beautiful but bitter story about a person who is anyone that love has ever confused. Ever been in a fight with your lover, took a walk to cool off, and was tempted by someone who was just trying to help?

I think we have all been there.

What is cool about this song? Dorothy doesn't let P bang her, you know, the self proclaimed sex machine that women go crazy after. It makes P one of us. This song is one of the cornor stones that this album hinges on, making us feel that P has been just like us in this aspect. We are on a level playing field with P in this album.

He talks about some crazy sh*t too, and some of the personalities on SOTT are quite demented. But it never goes too far, and we all relate.

beautiful song.

beautiful album.

GREAT movie.

The Ballad of Dorothy Parker. Oh. My. God. This had everything in it I loved about Prince. The Princely drum pattern complete with tom fills, and rim shot accents (the only thing missing was his trademark hand clap pop). Then that underwaterdetunedorgan chords hit and I was like… “what is he doing?”. When the swirling bass hit he had me, just listen to that playing. Magnificent. Even the vocal delivery was unlike anything I had heard him do, half sung, half spoken this recounting of a the aftermath of fight with a lover seemed to be one of his most confessional kind of songs. If you haven’t heard this song on headphones do so now, and listen for the wonderful backing vocals especially on the introduction of “Dorothy laughed”. Once again Prince uses backing vocals to almost comment on the main story, punctuating and even predicting what the confessional storyteller is about to let us in on. Not that I have done it, but I have to say this song has tempted me to do two things – 1. order a fruit cocktail and say “I ain’t too hungry” and 2. have a bubble bath with my pants on. A true hidden gem in the brilliance of this album.

Swa

My pants were wet, they came off
But she didn't see the movie cuz she hadn't read the book first

What's there not to love?

And all that stuff that Swa said.

The whole reference to picking up the phone and "brrrlllliiing, the phone rang... and "Joani singing" part was.....otherworldy.

I likes this song.

Atmosphere
Lyrics
melody
Mood


"Dorothy Parker was cool"

Dorothy Parker is a great song because it tells a story very well and charmingly ("Yeah, let me get a fruit cocktail, I ain't 2 hungry") and the music is so smooth and seems almost improvised.

thedance said:

Yeah, that show is tight. Remember seeing it for the first time on Housequake.

An orger wrote a homage : http://prince.org/msg/7/296858

johnart said:

My favorite line in the whole song.

my favorite part is probably

"(tell us what you did...)

and I'll you what I did, ooohwahh!"