I know that this song was rerecorded in 2009. I just heard what I assume is that version. It's great btw. But how does it differ from the '86 version? Which project was that one supposed to be on?
[Edited 1/31/10 11:49am]

info on princevault.com:
http://www.princevault.co...h_No_Light

while the track was placed on an early configuration of Dream Factory, it was not included on the last known configuration.
[Edited 1/31/10 12:10pm]

xpertluva said:

One main thing sticking out is a whole verse missing.

Lana drew a picture in school 2day
One that made her mother cry
A picture of a woman with a drink in her hand
Standing by a child with no eyes
Washington reaction based upon revenge
Babies blown 2 kingdom come
Damn the logic
Cartoon characters look better when they're on the run
Danny dropped the dime on his girlfriend
He said he didn't wanna go 2 jail alone
The seed lives in the same mind
With the thought that says we all should be stoned
And people lookin' 4 angels in the sky
Whenever they're broken-hearted
Love is grown, seeds are sown
A fire don't burn unless it's started

Did U ever feel that life was like lookin' 4 a penny
In a large room with no light?
A sophisticated man reduced 2 company in no-win situations
That aren't right

Every time U wake up there's a little motherfucker
Talkin' big stuff in your face (Are U happy?)
U only get the kind of people that open their mouth just 2 swap feet
Welcome 2 the rat race

Did U ever feel that life was like lookin' 4 a penny
In a large room with no light?
A sophisticated man reduced 2 company in no-win situations
That aren't right

Oh, if U could just pass your history class
Maybe life would be alright
Until then U'll be lookin' 4 a penny
In a large room with no light

Yeah!

Life {repeat 2 fade}

Aside from the skipped verse. The intrumentaion is different also..

ernestsewell said:[quote]

xpertluva said:

One main thing sticking out is a whole verse missing.


Every time U wake up there's a little motherfucker
Talkin' big stuff in your face (Are U happy?)
U only get the kind of people that open their mouth just 2 swap feet
Welcome 2 the rat race

Damn, I like that first line. I don't have to ask why it was omitted though.

However, the second part went over my head. Or maybe I just haven't heard that expression. " only get the kind of people that open their mouth just 2 swap feet" What does that mean exactly?

Rinluv said:

How so?

xpertluva said:

Well, I should say the instruments he used were different in the 86' version..A Sax was used in 86 instead of a flute or whatever..And there isnt a piano nor piano break down.or distorted guitar.. There's alot of extra sfuff he put in for the 2009 version.

I don't like the 2009 version; it just feels like it's missing something. The '86 version has something special about it.

I like the '09 version, but oh god, it's missing the girls' vocals.

NouveauDance said:

Indeed. I think the new recording is great, but it pales in caparision to the original.

I actually like the re-recorded version a tad better, granted i have never had any love for the original.
To me this is one of those songs kept mystical only by its vault status and deservedly got shelved.
If the original version was released today I guarantee you that it would have the same reception by the general public including me as did "Purple and Gold". To me its almost as bad.

I like the old version way more than the new version. I especially dig the Sergio Mendez and Brasil 66-type harmonies and backing vox.

the 86 version is way better, I did enjoy the re-mix though

but you can't touch that vibe you feel from the original with the voices of the ladies, the sax, Sheila's drumming and that unrestrained Prince vocals

violetblues said:

I agree 100% - It's one song that I love in its crappy bootleg quality, but would probably be very "meh" about if it was crystal clear - once those songs lose their "forbidden" sense, some of the magic is lost as well (I'm looking at you, Crystal Ball).

xpertluva said:

Sometimes people are said to have "put their foot in their mouth", which (usually) means you said something that embarrassed someone else. Prince is saying some people are so oblivious that they just keep on doing it.

billymeade said:

Thanks! That makes perfect sense.

billymeade said:

not for me, still hasn't lost it's virginity yet, my bootleg quality is pretty good

Okay, thanks to a real cool person, I've had the chance to hear the original. I gotta say I love them both, but for different reasons. The original definitely benefits from the female background vocals (gives it a dreamy quality) and someone's tearing up those drums (is that Sheila)! I also like the sax, especially just before the fade (sounds a lot like some of the songs on Romance 1600).

As for the '09 version, the laid-back mood would suit me on occassion. I love what the guitar brings to it. Nice reinterpretation. Two great "finds" as far as I'm concerned.

the original is SO good...

xpertluva said:

Prince
Wendy Melvoin
Lisa Coleman
Sheila E.
Eric Leeds
Atlanta Bliss
Levi Seacer jr most likely BrownMark though
possibly Susannah

any others I don't know
[Edited 2/3/10 12:11pm]

Just found this bit about the recording of the original version on another site. (I'd post the link, but it has bootleg downloads and I don't want to get into trouble.)

It was May of 1986 and Prince was going thru a period of renewal and change. Parade, his latest album was just released to good reviews and the first single, KISS, was #1 on the charts. At #2 was The Bangles MANIC MONDAY, which was also written by Prince, so he his professional life was going well. The second single, MOUNTAINS, was about to be released, and the world was waiting for his 2nd movie, “Under The Cherry Moon”. Not one to ever rest on his laurels, Prince had already begun creating his next project. The previous weeks had him holed up in Minneapolis, where he was recording a great deal and trying not to focus on the demise of his relationship with Susannah Melvoin. She had recently moved out of his home in Minneapolis and he decided to fly to Los Angeles and bury himself in his recording.

Saturday, May 3, 1986
Studio 3, Sunset Sound, Los Angeles

Prince asked his engineer Coke Johnson to set up the studio for a new batch of recordings. Because the Revolution was rehearsing and touring together during much of this period, they were invited into the studio.

Coke arrived at the studio at 11:30 and began the set up for a band recording, but it wasn’t until 4 that people started showing up. During group jams, it wasn't uncommon for Prince and whoever was invited in the studio to just groove and record the entire session. Sometimes Prince would be inspired, sometimes he would hear something amazing and that would dictate the direction of the session. It was not an exact science and sometimes people got left off of credits, depending on Prince's mood and generosity. On other occasions, a familiar song would come up in the groove and everyone would start focusing on recording a cover of that song. On this day, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Sheila E., Levi Seacer Jr., Eric Leeds, and Matt Blistan joined Prince to work on the classic song “Get On Up” by The Esquires (from their 1967 release on Bunky Records). After laying down the familiar jam, Prince led them into recording a new jazz-fusion song called “In A Large Room With No Light” (sometimes inaccurately referred to as “Welcome 2 The Ratrace”). The song was based on a jam by Wendy and Lisa.

Eric Leeds remembered this session:
“We also did … another song that Wendy and Lisa...we recorded live with Wendy and Lisa. I cannot remember whether Levi was there, I want to believe he was. Sheila played drums, the vocals, the background vocals were done by Sheila and Wendy and Lisa. Susannah might have been there but I don't remember. The horns were myself, Matt Blisston, and Norbert Stachel, who was Sheila's saxophone player by now, Eddie M having left. He was there for that session, playing alto sax, for a song called "Have you ever felt that love was like looking for a penny in a large room with no light”. It is like....Prince does Fifth Dimension. It was one of my favorite songs we ever did. It was an absolutely wonderful performance live, Sheila just absolutely kicked butt on it, it was just a great song, and unlike anything Prince has ever done. Very unique song, and a great song. It was another one of those cases where I thought, just really felt that we were part of something special on that one. And that's a song that I really hope sees the light of day some time, personally."

The recordings took place until midnight.

Sunday, May 4, 1986
Studio 3, Sunset Sound

Prince asked various members of the Revolution to show up for overdubs for yesterday’s session. Prince also included Sheila’s band member, Norbert Stachel to record various saxophone overdubs. From 3pm to midnight, additional layers were added to GET ON UP and to IN A LARGE ROOM WITH NO LIGHT. Prince and Coke spent the next 5 hours mixing the tracks.

At 5 in the morning, Prince realized the mixes were missing some additional vocals so he spent the next 7 hours adding his vocals as well as other background vocals to the tracks. If you listen closely to LARGE ROOM, you can hear the layered vocals behind the busy track.

Monday, May 5, 1986
Studio 3, Sunset Sound

The session didn’t stop. It was not uncommon for Prince to continue for hours at a time if he felt like he had a mission. This was one of those instances. From noon to 2:30 pm, Prince spent the time mixing the new vocals into the song and copying them on to cassette (2 TDK C-60 tapes).

Prince left the studio for a short time but soon afterwards, asked to be set up for some additional mixing. Apparently he wasn’t completely happy with the songs once he played them in the car and wanted to continue working on them. Although Coke set up for the next session, Susan Rogers was called in to take over for Coke now that he had been in the studio for over 24 hours straight.

Prince showed back up just after 8pm and he and Susan spent the next 5 hours working on crossfades and edits in the tracks.

Prince would continue to tweak the track over the next few days, eventually adding it to the collection he was compiling called “Dream Factory” but that is another story for another day.

- this information is from an early draft of PRINCE: The Studio Sessions.

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that the second line of the chorus is, "A sophisticated, mass-produced cacophony of no-win situations that aren't right", rather than what the DTT has it as.

xpertluva said:[quote]

ernestsewell said:

Know the expression about sticking one's foot in one's mouth?

deebee said:

I always thought it was "A sophisticated, mass-produced cacophony of no-win situations that arise"... but you might be right.