As prolific as Prince is do you think he could possibly hear a song he's done in his past and think, "Wow, I don't even remember recording this!"?
Given all that he's released (and unreleased) I think it's totally plausible that he would forget a lot of what he's done. What do you think?
[Edited 12/30/09 17:10pm]

I don't believe he does. He, like anyone, probably has to familiarize himself w/ old stuff that he's perhaps never played, or not played in decades. It's human..

I bet it is like riding a bike, dust off an oldie and put new life into it

I wonder if he hears a song from 30 years ago does he think, "What was I thinking?" or "I was good even then!"

dannyd5050 said:

I think i read sometime that someone asked him to do Crazy You at a soundcheck and he tried but could not remember the song. He's written and done a lot of songs, so I can see him forgetting a song here and there...especially ones he doesnt' perform live.

He´s been using a lyric book since the late 90s. This doesn´t really surprise me considering the sheer volume of his catalogue but what I don´t get is why he still needs a lyric book for certain songs that he´s been playing for more than a decade now.
It seems that the last time where he didn´t need a lyric book was when he played the brandnew Gold Experience songs in the early 90s or those few Emancipation songs during his 96/97 tours. After those tours, he´s always had a lyric book close to the stage.Maybe he´s more familiar with newer songs.

I'm sure Prince would be familiar with writing a song. Prince may forget some of the lyrics as time goes on. Prince has more than a thousand songs...that's a lot to remember verbatim.

I'm sure he does forget. I've heard him say "no" to certain songs. I don't think it's a religious conviction, but the fact that he does not remember it. I, like Rude, recall reading a post back during the ONA tour that he said didn't remember something.

I remember when Stevie Wonder was doing his radio show, some celebrity guest asked him to play some song from Music of My Mind that was just an album cut. Stevie tried, but didn't remember the words or chord progressions. So, I'm sure it happens to P.

ive probably got a catalogue of 30 songs, and i forget them all the time!!!

I remember reading an interview with homie from the Roots and he said Prince, D'Angelo and himself was jammin' and Prince could not remember the bridge for Adore. He was like "How can you not know the bridge to one of the best songs you ever wrote"?

The artist wrote, performed it, and moved on but the fans are the ones that remember it. I can see forgetting the lyrics but forgetting the time when you actually recorded a song in the studio or what the circumstances were and where your mind was at the time...I don't know.

I'd like to see Prince try to recall some Madhouse on a whim or something...(Prince! Please play number 6!!)