The Beautiful Ones

Condition of the Heart

Girl

Life Can Be So Nice

Anotherloverholenyohead

It

Hot Thing (is that a Susannah song?)

Forever In My Life

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Adore

Big Tall Wall

Witness (4 The Prosecution)

All My Dreams

oops..forgt the Family...

The Screams of Passion

Nothing Compares 2 U

Susannah's Pajamas

Desire

--------------------------

Am I missing any?

Your fav?

[Edited 11/19/10 21:24pm]

I think you're missing starfish and coffee

My fav would be IIWYG followed by Forever in my life

hhhhdmt said:

I think you're missing starfish and coffee

I mean the songs where the man poured his heart out about his love for Susannah.

As for my fav...its too tough to pick.

Leaning towards the original, "The Beautiful Ones", but I looooove all of those tracks!

Well, "Big Tall Wall" is kinda silly...

Adore, absolutely no doubt.

StonedImmaculate said:

The Beautiful Ones

Condition of the Heart

Girl

Life Can Be So Nice

Anotherloverholenyohead

It

Hot Thing (is that a Susannah song?)

Forever In My Life

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Adore

Big Tall Wall

Witness (4 The Prosecution)

All My Dreams

oops..forgt the Family...

The Screams of Passion

Nothing Compares 2 U

Susannah's Pajamas

Desire

--------------------------

What a list!!

I would have to say all of them are splendid

[Edited 11/20/10 0:01am]

[Edited 11/20/10 0:01am]

hhhhdmt said:

I think you're missing starfish and coffee

Starfish and Coffee isn't about Susannah, though.

Spinlight said:

hhhhdmt said:

I think you're missing starfish and coffee

Starfish and Coffee isn't about Susannah, though.

on yeah i misunderstood, i thought it was about the songs that he wrote about her and songs that they co-wrote. In anycase, i pick If I was your girlfriend, incredible song, incredible lyrics.

BlackCandle said:

Empty Room is missing in that list. The same for the infamous 'Wally'.

My choice would be IIWYGilrfriend.

BlackCandle said:

Susannah was in The Family, but Nothing Compares 2 U wasn't about her. It was about Princes PA. I always wondered who (if anybody) She's Always In My Hair was about. (... and my choice is The Beautiful Ones btw )

If I recall correctly, Jill inspired that one.

Splash should be on the list...

There's no such thing as a "Susannah song" (imo). Some people think that some songs were inspired by some people. That's all.

Genesia said:

BlackCandle said:

Susannah was in The Family, but Nothing Compares 2 U wasn't about her. It was about Princes PA. I always wondered who (if anybody) She's Always In My Hair was about. (... and my choice is The Beautiful Ones btw )

If I recall correctly, Jill inspired that one.

That's what I've read.

However, I do wonder whether the actual version released wasn't about Apollonia instead. I know she was pecking his head to release other tracks from the Apollonia 6 album and the keyboard riff during the chorus sounds exactly the same as the one from the A6 version of Sex Shooter.

Probably jumping to conclusions though.

Empty Room

Adore!

If I was your girlfriend...no question.

I don't understand what a Susannah song is.

Bohemian67 said:

I don't understand what a Susannah song is.

Oh come ON!!!

You must know:

" Oh, Susannah,
Oh don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee"

hhhhdmt said:

I think you're missing starfish and coffee

Condition of the Heart wa supposed to have been a lyrical screen play to the movie Under the Cherry Moon

[Edited 11/21/10 8:59am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

hhhhdmt said:

I think you're missing starfish and coffee

Condition of the Heart wa supposed to have been a lyrical screen play to the movie Under the Cherry Moon

My choice would be the Beautiful Ones

vitriol said:

Empty Room is missing in that list. The same for the infamous 'Wally'.

My choice would be IIWYGilrfriend.

The mythical " wally " does it even exist anymore ? Didnt Susan Rogers say that the tape was eventually recorded over .....

^Yes, but apparently he rerecorded it from scratch the following day with less personal lyrics.

Friskykitty said:

vitriol said:

Empty Room is missing in that list. The same for the infamous 'Wally'.

My choice would be IIWYGilrfriend.

The mythical " wally " does it even exist anymore ? Didnt Susan Rogers say that the tape was eventually recorded over .....

http://prince.org/msg/7/298457

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Chapter 9 Alone:Wally
The Rise & Fall of Prince

(Just a bit of Prince history)
The dispute over Crystal Ball left Prince frustrated & depressed.
And to make matters worse, his relationship with Susannah Melvoin was spinning out of control for the last time.
In the months since the couple had concluded their brief attempt at cohabitation in Prince's Chanhassan home, their fighting had continued taking an emotional toll on the both of them. In December 1986, Susannah finally decided she had had enough; she packed her things and returned to Los Angeles San Fernando Valley, joining Lisa & Wendy
"You can only subject yourself to so much, unless your self abusive, and she had a lot of respect for herself," observered Karen Krattinger. "He probably would have kept her on a yo yo forever."

One evening shortly after Sussanah's departure, Susan Rogers could tell something was very wrong when Prince came down to the basement studio. Looking disconsolate and barely speaking, he began constructing a song around a meloncholy piano pattern. His spoken lyrics portrayed a fictional dialogue between himself and Wally Safford, a dancer in the band. Sounding sad and lost, Prince asks Wally to borrow $50 and some sunglasses so he can impress his lover, but then changes his mind and returns the items telling Wally that since he is alone now, he has no one to spend the money on. Prince was accompanied only by piano throught the verse, but guitar bass and drums enter as the song built to a chorus on which he sings the phrase "o-ma-la-di-da"

Watching Prince construct the song which he called "Wally", Rogers was stunned by the honest emotion and wistfull resignation it conveyed. She saw the song both as a farewell to Susannah and a means of expelling the poison of failed relationship.

"Do you know that malady means sickness, illness in French?" Prince asked Rogers. Refering to the phrase he sings in the chorus. "It's almost like the word melody, isn't it?" Prince who rarely exposed his inner feelings, even in his music, was groping for a metaphor that would convey his feeling of loss. Rogers felt it was a turning point in his songwriting.

But as the session continued, Prince started to distance himself from the creation. He added extraneous instruments to diminished the songs clarity. A percussion part that cluttered the verse, detracting from the lyrics.

Don't you think it was better before, Prince?" Rogers said. "Maybe we should stop"
He ignored her, adding the synthizer riff. Soon it became clear to her: He was intentionally destroying the song. After larding the piece with additional instruments, he finally spoke. "Now put all 24 Channels on record and erase it." he told Rogers

No, you can't do this!" Rogers said dismayed by the prospect of losing the statement at the core of the song.

If you don't I will," Prince responded
Rogers stood her ground, and Prince was forced to operate the soundboard himself, as he destroyed his own music.

"Wally" like his relationship with Susannah, Wendy & Lisa involved more emotional intensity than Prince was willing to accept. "I thought it was the greatest thing he had ever done" says Rogers. I had waited years to hear a Prince song like this. I ached for him to be this honest.

Yet Princes refusal to explore his feelings was not altogether surprising. Rogers had discussed the topic of depression with him and found Prince contemptuous of the notion.
"He thought it was practically a sin to be depressed" she remembered. Many other associates have observed that Prince -not only in his relationships, but even in his music -is cryptic and unrevealing of his deepest feelings. "His music is very passionate, but he doesn't let himself open up emotionally" observed Marylou Badeaux. "And look at the way he's dealt with women in his life- he's not able to get emotional. He just keeps it on the level of sex play."

Though Susannah has never formally been a part of the Revolution, her personal and creative influence on Prince from 1983 to 1986 rivaled that of Wendy & Lisa. With her exit from the scene, the Revolution period ended irrevocably. The epitaph of this time would be "Wally", a song no one would hear.

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Thanks OFFS. So a Susannah song is a "je suis amour malade" song of Prince.

Weer wat geleerd

I'd go for the Beautiful ones on that list then too. Though there are others like

Wasted kisses

There is lonely

OldFriends4Sale said:

But as the session continued... He added extraneous instruments to diminished the songs clarity. A percussion part that cluttered the verse, detracting from the lyrics.

Ha - this describes much of his late-90s, early 00's stuff

erik319 said [re: She's Always in My Hair]: the keyboard riff during the chorus sounds exactly the same as the one from the A6 version of Sex Shooter.

I remember noticing that right off in '85, as well. Interesting...

paulludvig said:

There's no such thing as a "Susannah song" (imo). Some people think that some songs were inspired by some people. That's all.

I pretty much agree here. I mean has Prince himself ever said that this song was inspired or written about this person? (other than the Emancipation songs where he said were written for M)

Anyway, I shall answer the question anyway, "Adore" and "The Beautiful Ones" are a close #1 and #2. These are 2 of Prince's most beautiful songs ever, definately in the top 20. Followed by "If I Was Your Girlfriend" and "Forever In My Life"