In an Italian restaurant last night in NYC, and I heard Erotic City AND When U Love Somebody.

I couldn't believe it. Then, I heard another song. Wasn't sure if it was Prince, but the production sounded like him.

(No, it wasn't Ready for the World, although they played that too.)

But I had never heard this song before. Given the two songs listed above, they were playing some semi-deep cuts.

I can't really remember any of the lyrics, but the chorus seemed to be Prince addressing someone. Something like "just write me a..." basically him telling someone else what to do. I wish I payed more attention to the lyrics but the wine was flowing.

I am 95 percent sure it was a Prince track. It was very sparse, kind of laid back with the drum production kind of in the forefront. The beat didn't swing it all, it was kind of a four on the floor thing. It sounded like something that came out between Batman and NPS...maybe Slaughterhouse. I realize that's a wide range of eras but I know it wasn't from before Batman. The overall sound could be described as kind of similar to Vicki Waiting, but with less harmonies etc. Like I said, very sparse. At least it sounded sparse at a low volume. The BPM was probably somewhere between 100-120.

I have every album, I have tons of outtakes...I can't believe I don't know what song I heard. If anybody has a clue from my vague explanation, please help!

Way too vague of a description for me. I don't offhand recall any songs with "Just write me a..." nor really any sparse four on the floor songs he's released between 1990 and 2002.

"I could write a letter..." - My Computer

but I doubt that was it. You need that phone app that recognizes and identifies music being played wherever you are.

Yeah wasn't My Computer. It was just barely audible enough to hear but I couldn't recognize it one bit.

I don't know if "write" was the word but he was telling someone what to do in the chorus. That probably only makes it more vague.

I can hear the first 2 sec of almost any Prince song and ID it and then THIS happens. Maybe it wasn't Prince...

I have every album, I have tons of outtakes...I can't believe I don't know what song I heard. If anybody has a clue from my vague explanation, please help!

If this is the case then you probably know more songs than me.

The best advice I can give and it may be way too out there or not possible, but could you go back to the restaurant and ask where they were playing their music from, who it belonged to etc? I assume it wasn't radio so it must have been an mp3 player or laptop hooked up or something. Maybe on a playlist with the song on.

If you can easily go back, don't be afraid and don't feel embarassed. There's nothing worse than searching for a song. I had one for about 2 years to find and when I found it I was overjoyed!

CerpinTaxt said:

In an Italian restaurant last night in NYC, and I heard Erotic City AND When U Love Somebody.

How was the food?

"Don't want U 2 write me no letters
Don't want U callin' my farm
I just want U, I just want U
I just want U right back here in my arms"?

Contact the restaurant and ask them if the mix was their own? If so, maybe they could ID the song for you. Even if it was "canned" they might have access to a tracklist.

Oh... lopez just suggested the same thing. I should have read the entire thread.

Thanks for all the responses guys. I appreciate the effort in looking for songs with "write" etc in the lyrics. Wasn't "Right Back Here In My Arms" but thank you ocean crayon. I think you guys have the right idea - I'm gonna call the restaurant up.

Food was pretty great, if not a little on the pricey side. The cheaper, cozier place across the street was packed so my date persuaded me to go across the street.

My mixed feelings about dropping the dough went completely out the window when I heard When You Love Somebody and then Erotic City.

I really couldn't believe it. I had just told my date about 1/2 hour before about my love for Prince's music. We were talking about tattoos, she has one on her arm with the name of the street she lived on in Italy for a semester.

She asked me what I would get. I know I want lyrics, but I need them to be just right. To always have a meaning to me.

So, I know it'll either be a Prince or Steely Dan lyric. Just gotta wait til it feels right.

Anyways, hearing 2 (and possibly 3) Prince songs on my first big date-night in NYC was awesome. The place in question is Quntio Quarto.

And we had a good time later, too.