I have heard quite a few women remake IF I WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND and I have come to the conclusion that the song only "works" 100 percent if a man is singing because of the gender/bending/blending nature that surrounds that song. Does anyone agree? Also what male singer out today would have the guts to remake that song?

Lady Gaga.

TLC already made an "almost as good as" the original Prince's version. Period.

NouveauDance said:

Lady Gaga.

LOL..

no seriously...what male artist would touch that song..I find it so intriguing how men view masculinity. I wonder who would be man enough to touch that song

That's not a good conclusion. TLC covered the song, and it works quite well from a female stand point. TLC did a good job on the song, and even sampled the drums from Prince's to keep the flavor. I've not heard another good cover, until Esparanza Spaulding did it last night. I'd pay for her single of it.

JoeTyler said:

TLC already made an "almost as good as" the original Prince's version. Period.

"M A L E" singers....Im convinced that the allure of this song is a man singing it

JoeTyler said:

TLC already made an "almost as good as" the original Prince's version. Period.

Nah.

I agree with the OP, the song loses it's entire lyrical point when sung by a woman.

ernestsewell said:

That's not a good conclusion. TLC covered the song, and it works quite well from a female stand point. TLC did a good job on the song, and even sampled the drums from Prince's to keep the flavor. I've not heard another good cover, until Esparanza Spaulding did it last night. I'd pay for her single of it.

I like Esparanza's jazz take, but I think it works better, funkier on an electric bass than an acoustic.

[Edited 6/28/10 12:00pm]

DigitalGardin said:

JoeTyler said:

TLC already made an "almost as good as" the original Prince's version. Period.

"M A L E" singers....Im convinced that the allure of this song is a man singing it

IIWYG is not supposed to be sung by a male singer, hence the Camille voice; at least, that's what I think...

Prince COMPLETELY crossed the line of androgynous/gay/weird alter-egos with that song, and he nearly lost his straight male fan base in the process...of course, the Lovesexy front cover didn't help either; thank God for Batman I guess...

JoeTyler said:

DigitalGardin said:

"M A L E" singers....Im convinced that the allure of this song is a man singing it

IIWYG is not supposed to be sung by a male singer, hence the Camille voice; at least, that's what I think...

Prince COMPLETELY crossed the line of androgynous/gay/weird alter-egos with that song, and he nearly lost his straight male fan base in the process...of course, the Lovesexy front cover didn't help either; thank God for Batman I guess...

Sir, the song IS to be sang by a man..thats why Esperanza and TLC had to rework some of the lyrics...if straight men quit listening to Prince because of IF I WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND, then I would hate to see what they would do once they left their Amish village and went out into the big bad cold rest of the world

[Edited 6/28/10 12:05pm]

JoeTyler said:

DigitalGardin said:

"M A L E" singers....Im convinced that the allure of this song is a man singing it

IIWYG is not supposed to be sung by a male singer, hence the Camille voice; at least, that's what I think...

Prince COMPLETELY crossed the line of androgynous/gay/weird alter-egos with that song, and he nearly lost his straight male fan base in the process...of course, the Lovesexy front cover didn't help either; thank God for Batman I guess...

"Prince COMPLETELY crossed the line of androgynous/gay/weird alter-egos with that song"

HOW? what about that song hints at "gay?"

JoeTyler said:

IIWYG is not supposed to be sung by a male singer, hence the Camille voice; at least, that's what I think...

Prince COMPLETELY crossed the line of androgynous/gay/weird alter-egos with that song, and he nearly lost his straight male fan base in the process...of course, the Lovesexy front cover didn't help either; thank God for Batman I guess...

It's "girlfriend" as in female best friend, not girlfriend as in lover.

NouveauDance said:

JoeTyler said:

IIWYG is not supposed to be sung by a male singer, hence the Camille voice; at least, that's what I think...

Prince COMPLETELY crossed the line of androgynous/gay/weird alter-egos with that song, and he nearly lost his straight male fan base in the process...of course, the Lovesexy front cover didn't help either; thank God for Batman I guess...

It's "girlfriend" as in female best friend, not girlfriend as in lover.

not necessarily...Prince was truly teasing his mainstream audience with the double-entendres and the weirdness of the Camille singles/album-tracks...

JoeTyler said:

NouveauDance said:

It's "girlfriend" as in female best friend, not girlfriend as in lover.

not necessarily...Prince was truly teasing his mainstream audience with the double-entendres and the weirdness of the Camille singles/album-tracks...

I agree with NouveauDance and the OP. The song works better when coming from a male. (BTW, Camille was male too, according to the Lovesexy tour booklet, so it doesn't matter that IIWYG was in the Camille voice...it's still coming from a male point of view.) I do agree that Prince was teasing his mainstream audience with this, though...he knew as well as anybody that the majority of people wouldn't be able to "get" the song.

diamondpearl1 said:

I like Esparanza's jazz take, but I think it works better, funkier on an electric bass than an acoustic.

Agreed! I kind of wish the other bass player had laid out on the cover, so we could have heard her even more on bass. I think a stand-up bass like she was playing worked quite well, and doesn't necessarily require an electric bass. I'd love to hear her do a version. Maybe she will after last night. We can't be the only people that are raving about the performance.

ernestsewell said:

diamondpearl1 said:

I like Esparanza's jazz take, but I think it works better, funkier on an electric bass than an acoustic.

Agreed! I kind of wish the other bass player had laid out on the cover, so we could have heard her even more on bass. I think a stand-up bass like she was playing worked quite well, and doesn't necessarily require an electric bass. I'd love to hear her do a version. Maybe she will after last night. We can't be the only people that are raving about the performance.

That was my favorite part of the prince tribute!

Bilal would murk it. In fact, he along with those Sa-Ra guys are the only folks I don't mind covering Prince material.

Barry White ???

Too late ...

Devendra Banhart

Xiu Xiu

Antony and the Johnsons

i was gonna say me cuz my new record is my definative prince record moreso than past records .. but then i saw antony and the johnsons and well that is just pure genius .. i cant argue with that

Its hard to say. Prince is so freak'n androgenous, that it made that particular song even stronger.

What other man can pull that off?.........

These days...as much as I hate to say it... Adam Lambert would be the only guy that could add the same mystique to that song. He has a great voice, and is somewhat contraversial in regards to his look, lifestyle and performances.

Now, if we are just going on "voice" alone...then D'angelo is the man for the job.

ronnwinter said:

Its hard to say. Prince is so freak'n androgenous, that it made that particular song even stronger.

What other man can pull that off?.........

These days...as much as I hate to say it... Adam Lambert would be the only guy that could add the same mystique to that song. He has a great voice, and is somewhat contraversial in regards to his look, lifestyle and performances.

Well, I can't see many agreeing with you! But having a gay man sing it gives the song a more literal, but still dark/twisted/honest, meaning. I like the idea of it being sung from that perspective: a gay man singing to/about a bisexual or closeted lover.

Even though it's different to the original songs meaning, it works, and much better than a woman singing it to a man, which makes it about a kind of jealous/yearning we see much more frequently in pop songs.

That's what makes the song so great that it's a very unique or rare perspective we're hearing, and it's based in reality. Even before you knew the background to the song, you could tell it was honesty in the lyrics.

Harlepolis said:

Bilal would murk it. In fact, he along with those Sa-Ra guys are the only folks I don't mind covering Prince material.

i'm with you with the sa-ra guys.but bilal ..not sure.though i do love his voice.you all are gonna smack me but i do think timberlake could do it justice.he really dont sing that bad and his voice does sound akin to a pre-pubescent boys,which is kinda how camille sounds

^

To me, the fact that it's a man singing the song, just adds to the genius of it.

I see it as a thought provoking piece about a man who wonders if his girlfriend would treat him differently if he wasn't her man but her girlfriend, ie one of her friends. Would she be honest and open up to him if he wasn't a/her man? Is she just shy? Or is she hiding something?

The Camille voice adds some confusion and enables us to interpret the lyrics differently...

One of his best/most clever songs.

khemseraph said:

Harlepolis said:

Bilal would murk it. In fact, he along with those Sa-Ra guys are the only folks I don't mind covering Prince material.

i'm with you with the sa-ra guys.but bilal ..not sure.though i do love his voice.you all are gonna smack me but i do think timberlake could do it justice.he really dont sing that bad and his voice does sound akin to a pre-pubescent boys,which is kinda how camille sounds

I love what he did with "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore"(Despite what Prince have told him). And I love the fact that he's not afraid to go all the way out, vocally(Think his song "Sometimes").

His uninhibited singing style reminds me of young Prince. And Sa-Ra would provide a versatile musical atmosphere to back him up, if those guys could cover Sly Stone's "Just Like A Baby" and still pull it through beatifully, I know they'll have Bilal's back on this.

Andre 3000 commented on it, I could hear him doing something new with it, if not quite singing it like Prince

It would take a man with some feminine qualities, like Bowie or Marilyn Manson

[Edited 6/28/10 16:03pm]

NouveauDance said:

ronnwinter said:

Its hard to say. Prince is so freak'n androgenous, that it made that particular song even stronger.

What other man can pull that off?.........

These days...as much as I hate to say it... Adam Lambert would be the only guy that could add the same mystique to that song. He has a great voice, and is somewhat contraversial in regards to his look, lifestyle and performances.

Well, I can't see many agreeing with you! But having a gay man sing it gives the song a more literal, but still dark/twisted/honest, meaning. I like the idea of it being sung from that perspective: a gay man singing to/about a bisexual or closeted lover.

Even though it's different to the original songs meaning, it works, and much better than a woman singing it to a man, which makes it about a kind of jealous/yearning we see much more frequently in pop songs.

That's what makes the song so great that it's a very unique or rare perspective we're hearing, and it's based in reality. Even before you knew the background to the song, you could tell it was honesty in the lyrics.

Hmm.. I will be shocked if many disagree with me. If a gay man were to sing it, yea I guess it would fit, but it loses ALL mystique and cryptic effect. It becomes very straightforward and just pushes a gay mans desire for another man. Prince on the other hand, caused us to think and ponder the meaning, and it was an incredible meaning sung in a way that no other would have touched. Prince nailed it!

It was about jealously, about the need to be the woman's friend as well as her lover, and yes, he even touched on the possibility that the object of his desire could have been having some bisexual tendencies with her "girlfriend".

Again, if this song came from a gay man, it would have been forgotten about 20 years ago.

Bowie

ernestsewell said:

diamondpearl1 said:

I like Esparanza's jazz take, but I think it works better, funkier on an electric bass than an acoustic.

Agreed! I kind of wish the other bass player had laid out on the cover, so we could have heard her even more on bass. I think a stand-up bass like she was playing worked quite well, and doesn't necessarily require an electric bass. I'd love to hear her do a version. Maybe she will after last night. We can't be the only people that are raving about the performance.

Oh naw, I wasnt sayin that an electric was the alpha and omega in order to play that tune. I mean we've all heard Prince himself take songs of his that were originally harder/funkier and turn 'em into jazz and vice versa. lol I think at last nights' show except 4 Janelle Monae's take on Let's Go Crazy, there were too many ballads and not enough funk. I would have gone for somethin a bit more guitar like She's Always In My Hair, Live 4 Love, or Fury.

[Edited 6/28/10 17:16pm]

Bilal

He would kill it!