I remember when I first heard this song...I liked the lyrics and music, but didn't like the Camille vocals. Then I saw him do it live, and it was like...cool. So I went back and had a listen and then I got the deepness of this song and really got into the music side of it. It's just wonderful!!!

Definately in the top 5 greatest Prince songs of all time!!! I love every lyric in the song, especially when he says "Can I dress you?" and "Would you let me wash your hair?" and "I want to be, all of the things, you are to me." Those are showing really deep love IMO. Perfect song!

Always hated the song-has to be my least played Prince song ever Just never liked it Still ya though Prince

I think it's definitely one of the best if not the best song he's recorded.

The music perfectly complements the lyrics. That impenetrable middle-range sound that sits in between keys, the sparseness of it all, the ghostly backing vocals, the bass... there are so many details to dig into. Those menacing keyboards at the end get me every time.

Then there's the lyrics, in which Prince weighs just about everything he can sexually, spiritually through himself and vicariously. Complemented by his androgynous voice which oscillates between masculine and feminine qualities constantly... It's just a simple, incredibly complex song.

I'm still imagining what silence looks like.

shonenjoe said:

I think it's definitely one of the best if not the best song he's recorded.

The music perfectly complements the lyrics. That impenetrable middle-range sound that sits in between keys, the sparseness of it all, the ghostly backing vocals, the bass... there are so many details to dig into. Those menacing keyboards at the end get me every time.

Then there's the lyrics, in which Prince weighs just about everything he can sexually, spiritually through himself and vicariously. Complemented by his androgynous voice which oscillates between masculine and feminine qualities constantly... It's just a simple, incredibly complex song.

I'm still imagining what silence looks like.

TheScouser said:

I was actually listening to this song on the walk home today and remembered that when I first heard it, I found it kind of creepy. Especially the synth part when he says "you know down there where it counts, i'll drink every ounce and together we'll hold each other in silence" i was like

but after a couple of listens I started to really like it. Love the drum beat & the smooth synths and the distorted camille vocals when he says "i, i said WRIIIIIi wanna be, all of the things, you are to me"

I also think its one of the few songs that prince has where only he could of written it, and only he could have pulled it off

okay, now this line reminds me of what *I* thought when I first heard this song. To me it sounds like Prince is jealous of his woman spending so much time with her girlfriends and is basically saying, why do you need them when you have me. I can be everything to you. I will take you shopping, I will do your hair. etc.

The line bolded above is like a dig; his woman's friends are so intrusive with their time together that he feels in competition with the woman and even suggests that his woman's girlfriend really wants to be more than friends... a love interest.

Why else would this line about oral sex? He talks about if he was girlfriend he would do all the things that his woman does with her friends... so if he talks about sex, is that one of the things he thinks she does with her friends too?

These are all good points. I think he also wrote it so that he could wear something really girly onstage while performing it.

[Edited 12/12/10 6:32am]

Gunsnhalen said:

BoraBora said:

That's right.

And to add to the ambiguity of the mood, these lyrics are sung by Camille, breaking the sexual implication of the track and makin' you wondering if "he" or "she" sing.

Amazing. Simply one of the greatest achievement of P (if not the best, for me).

Agree 100 percent.

Honestly it took me awhile to appreciate the song, for some reason i just didn't like the camille vocals. And i never understood why it was so great, but i eventually saw why and know it is one of my all time favorite P track's

i finally understand the concept of this song

chewymusic said:

chocolate1 said:

I looked at your profile to see how old you are and noticed you're a teen...

Do you have BFF? Another girl that you tell EVERYTHING to? Someone you don't mind changing in front of, sharing clothes, even makeup with?

That's what Prince is singing about: How women are really close to each other in an intimate way... sometimes closer than to the guys they're with.

He's asking if he was her "girlfriend", would she then share those kinds of things with him?

I love it... it's a deep concept.

Absolutely one of my (if not THE) favorite Prince songs. I was 15 when it came out

and it pretty much blew me away. Besides the great idea behind the lyrics, the sound

of the song is funky yet strange. Like the organ sounds holding down the background,

the beat is kind of distorted, all of the layered vocals, and the pure emotion in his lead

vocal delivery. Even the sad expression on his face on the cover of the single.

IMO, one of Prince's recorded masterpieces.

I was 11 when I 1st heard it.As immature as I was then I totally understood this song completely.It's now my favorite song of all time.

inovio said:

I think everyone has their own perception of it.

No one can really know except the writer.

I think the song has alot more than appears to the listener *wink wink*

You guys crack me up. Prince isn't deep. That song is self-explanatory. It's all in the lyrics.

The Camile voice ruins a somewhat interesting song. Its one of his better "experiments" but I too never understood what the big deal was. (eg I think Something in the Water is a far superior "experimental" track). Isnt the gender switching a bit too obvious?

and in some ways, its THE song that ruined Prince's career.

amberella said:

So it's the message....maybe that's why. Concepts don't rule over the sound of the music in my world.

then you are missing out.

'If I was your girlfriend'...

wow this song is a Prince classic,

chocolate1 said:

I looked at your profile to see how old you are and noticed you're a teen...

Do you have BFF? Another girl that you tell EVERYTHING to? Someone you don't mind changing in front of, sharing clothes, even makeup with?

That's what Prince is singing about: How women are really close to each other in an intimate way... sometimes closer than to the guys they're with.

He's asking if he was her "girlfriend", would she then share those kinds of things with him?

I love it... it's a deep concept.

Yeah, Maybe the youngin' will get it after putting a few more 365's under the belt.

If Dan was still here, he'd break that song down meticulously, line by line, and conclude with:

THIS SONG IS ABOUT VAGINAS.

gyoung said:

chocolate1 said:

I looked at your profile to see how old you are and noticed you're a teen...

Do you have BFF? Another girl that you tell EVERYTHING to? Someone you don't mind changing in front of, sharing clothes, even makeup with?

That's what Prince is singing about: How women are really close to each other in an intimate way... sometimes closer than to the guys they're with.

He's asking if he was her "girlfriend", would she then share those kinds of things with him?

I love it... it's a deep concept.

Yeah, Maybe the youngin' will get it after putting a few more 365's under the belt.

I mentioned her age because teenage girls usually are pretty tight with their BFFs, so I was trying to give her a vantage point.

Everything about this song IS genius. Music, lyrics and vocals. It was just so unusual for a mainstream black artist to do something like that. I remember my neanderthal uncle at the time totally not digging it at all. "Have you heard that new song by Prince? fucking poofta!".

Bought the 12" picture disc the very next day and gave it my aunt. I'm sure she enjoyed it when she could get out of the kitchen. Of course that uncle wasn't jealous of her female friends. He wouldn't let her have any.

Prince was so blessed by insight back then.

emesem said:

The Camile voice ruins a somewhat interesting song. Its one of his better "experiments" but I too never understood what the big deal was. (eg I think Something in the Water is a far superior "experimental" track). Isnt the gender switching a bit too obvious?

and in some ways, its THE song that ruined Prince's career.

Gender-switching? It's from the perspective of a man.

This song ruined Prince's career? Hardly.

amberella said:

I still think it's an incredibly strange song-the vocals, the lyrics, and even the beat. I thought, maybe when I'm older I'll understand why people like it, but..no. My friend says that's her favorite song by Prince and I'm like "not you too!" Tell me why you like it cuz I aint gettin' it.

Do u like TLC? They listened close enough to cover this song...(however not that wonderfully).

lotusboy said:

amberella said:

I still think it's an incredibly strange song-the vocals, the lyrics, and even the beat. I thought, maybe when I'm older I'll understand why people like it, but..no. My friend says that's her favorite song by Prince and I'm like "not you too!" Tell me why you like it cuz I aint gettin' it.

Do u like TLC? They listened close enough to cover this song...(however not that wonderfully).

Did they change the lyrics or was it exactly the same? Did they sing if I was your GIRLfriend?

If so, by them being female, the whole meaning of the song takes on new meaning.

Personally I liked the way they sung the song and the musical cover of the song... but I preferred Prince singing the song to his girlfriend basically asking his woman how or why can't they be even closer; the intensity of his passion evident... versus TLC basically trying to "pull" a guy who already has a girlfriend. That version is so run of the mill.

How much do you love “if I was your girlfriend?”. With the treated toms, that clap, and seductive melody I fell in love with this song first time I heard it, although the title raised an eyebrow til the vocals hit. Still to this day a friend of mine and I have a debate if this is written from someone in a relationship or someone lamenting the lack of closeness post relationship. Everything about this song is smoooooth. The underplayed bass groove, the high speed vocals and slowed down backing vocals juxtaposing a sense of pleasing and a matter of fact delivery. This is a make out song if ever I had heard one, and one put to very good use.

amberella said:

I still think it's an incredibly strange song-the vocals, the lyrics, and even the beat. I thought, maybe when I'm older I'll understand why people like it, but..no. My friend says that's her favorite song by Prince and I'm like "not you too!" Tell me why you like it cuz I aint gettin' it.

Look at this way... Say if U had a boyfriend/girlfriend that had a bestfriend, and whenever something is bothering him/her that was the 1 she went to and talked about it, that's who she called first and that was the shoulder she cried on rather than yours. In Prince's case it deals with the jealousy felt at the close bond shared between Susannah Melvoin with Wendy Melvoin. Make sense?

emesem said:

The Camile voice ruins a somewhat interesting song. Its one of his better "experiments" but I too never understood what the big deal was. (eg I think Something in the Water is a far superior "experimental" track). Isnt the gender switching a bit too obvious?

What gender-switching? Prince isn't literally wanting to be a girl in this song, he simple wants the intimacy from the relationship in question.

and in some ways, its THE song that ruined Prince's career.

Uhhh, NO. How do you even arrive at that curious idea?

prodigalfan said:

lotusboy said:

Do u like TLC? They listened close enough to cover this song...(however not that wonderfully).

Did they change the lyrics or was it exactly the same? Did they sing if I was your GIRLfriend?

If so, by them being female, the whole meaning of the song takes on new meaning.

Personally I liked the way they sung the song and the musical cover of the song... but I preferred Prince singing the song to his girlfriend basically asking his woman how or why can't they be even closer; the intensity of his passion evident... versus TLC basically trying to "pull" a guy who already has a girlfriend. That version is so run of the mill.

Your asking if they changed the lyrics AND u say u like the way they sung the song...CONFUSION!!

For the record I think the song is amazing, and it's always one of my faves, but it blew me away when I heard Beyonce use it as the Bridge to "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" with Jay-Z... Thrilled they used it...

one of his genius songs....i cant believe anyone wouldnt see this...its soo good on soo many levels. top ten prince song for me...

BartVanHemelen said:

inovio said:

I think everyone has their own perception of it.

No one can really know except the writer.

I think the song has alot more than appears to the listener *wink wink*

You guys crack me up. Prince isn't deep. That song is self-explanatory. It's all in the lyrics.

yes the lyrics are pretty straightforward guys....but even bart wouldnt put this track down....its genius...

You either get it or don't. It definitely threw me off when i first heard it, but it really grew on me. I love the lynn drum beat. I love the popping bass (even D'Angelo commented on it by saying 'He (Prince) put a popping bass, ON A LOVE SONG), i love the Camille vocals. Lastly, its great because even though the lyrics seem ambigious, they aren't. He's saying he wishes he was his girlfriend's friend, he wants to be THAT close to her. He's not gay, or singing this from the POV of a woman or whatever cockamamie ideas there are.

So there it is, thats why I love it and thats why ppl go goo-goo-gaa-gaa over it and women wet their panties over it.

rudedog said:

You either get it or don't. It definitely threw me off when i first heard it, but it really grew on me. I love the lynn drum beat. I love the popping bass (even D'Angelo commented on it by saying 'He (Prince) put a popping bass, ON A LOVE SONG), i love the Camille vocals. Lastly, its great because even though the lyrics seem ambigious, they aren't. He's saying he wishes he was his girlfriend's friend, he wants to be THAT close to her. He's not gay, or singing this from the POV of a woman or whatever cockamamie ideas there are.

So there it is, thats why I love it and thats why ppl go goo-goo-gaa-gaa over it and women wet their panties over it.

I took notice how Prince really got into IIWYGF when Esperanza Spaulding sung it on BET to him...now that spoke volumes.

One of the best songs on Sign “☮” the Times and that in itself is quite an achievement.

lotusboy said:

prodigalfan said:

Did they change the lyrics or was it exactly the same? Did they sing if I was your GIRLfriend?

If so, by them being female, the whole meaning of the song takes on new meaning.

Personally I liked the way they sung the song and the musical cover of the song... but I preferred Prince singing the song to his girlfriend basically asking his woman how or why can't they be even closer; the intensity of his passion evident... versus TLC basically trying to "pull" a guy who already has a girlfriend. That version is so run of the mill.

Your asking if they changed the lyrics AND u say u like the way they sung the song...CONFUSION!!