jtfolden said:

There is no better version than this one:

jj312119 said:

just heard dis for tha 1st time, knw its a cover (or is it) & not as good as the original (or is it tha original) anyways cant breath , tears just running down my face Prince n one word MAGIC and n a symbol , I luv him , his music, his everything that makes Prince, .......and you knw what, NO he cant make sum of yal luv him and dont see how , Prince U r tha 1 tha only..........."Only 1" --Prince

And Now.....UR thoughts

I luv this remake!!! Prince put his foot in this one

jj312119 said:

It can be viewed as a "seduction" ballad, but I don't think it is. I think it's just being

IMO, it all depends on what's most important to ppl in relationships. P thinks that if u will not sleep w/him then he doesn't have ur complete unconditional love. Anyone can fake love, but when it comes to being physical w/each other- making love...THAT cannot be faked.

I guess he thinks that true love making in a relationship is a deal breaker.

I thought that he captured the feeling of pain in this song very well...I know I felt it

Pls be gentle fellow orgers...

UPDATE: This song has yet again ripped my heart out and smeared it into the floor I luv

This is a cover too?! Is Emacipation full of remakes? Geeze...

[Edited 1/15/11 20:15pm]

chocolate1 said:

jj312119 said:

just heard dis for tha 1st time, knw its a cover (or is it) & not as good as the original (or is it tha original) anyways cant breath , tears just running down my face Prince n one word MAGIC and n a symbol , I luv him , his music, his everything that makes Prince, .......and you knw what, NO he cant make sum of yal luv him and dont see how , Prince U r tha 1 tha only..........."Only 1" --Prince

And Now.....UR thoughts

Prince-speak is hard to read...

Oh! About the song?

• I don't like Prince's version.... it comes off like, "I Can't Make You Sleep With Me"

• IMO, George Michael's version is whiny.

• To me, Bonnie's version (the original) is the best... It makes me cry... I can feel her pain in the song...

Revolution said:

Love his version and Bonnie's too...George Michael is the one who missed the boat with his rendition.

I heard Prince's version before the original, so I tend to lean more towards to Prince

At the time I could so relate to the lyrics & his voice just topped it all off. IMO, it's an amazing cover and he did do the track justice but in a 'Princey' kind of way.

I love Prince's version and I love it over Bonnie's and over George's.

sum of his best ballads are scattered within that album ...F.L.S.M/W...being 1 of my all time faves

jj312119 said:

UPDATE: This song has yet again ripped my heart out and smeared it into the floor I luv

It may be P's crappiest song. Just lifeless and boring. Even his famous falsetto seems lazy. This is like beets through a babies backside.

I like it, but have always preferred Bonnie Raitt-she gives the song feeling

It's not a favourite of mine but I don't think it's fair to dislike it because Prince changed the intent. If he is going to do a cover I would prefer him to put his stamp on it rather than just do a note for note recreation. Um, except for "Everyday Is A Winding Road" but lets just forget about that one.

ecstasy said:

This is a cover too?! Is Emacipation full of remakes? Geeze...

[Edited 1/15/11 20:15pm]

There are only four covers on that album ("Betcha By Golly Wow," "I Can't Make U Love Me," "La, La, La Means I Love You" and "One Of Us"). At 36 tracks it is 11% covers/89% originals.

I wanna

I wanna

I wanna make you love me....

Prince's version is a very cool r&B rendition, if you are unaware of the original. If you were, then indeed his version sounds lyrically very superficial. I can understand though that for some musical tastes, Prince's version sounds best, and Bonnie's arrangements sound somewhat boring musically. The intergrety of her version however, is way superior imo. George did a fine job at making the song his own, I think. His version on unplugged is actually my favorite, musically. The only horrible version of this song is Boys To Men's, to my taste. Only showcasing vocal skills, emotionless, to my ears.

2freaky4church1 said:

It may be P's crappiest song. Just lifeless and boring. Even his famous falsetto seems lazy. This is like beets through a babies backside.

It's crap.

I played Prince's version & George's version to some(8) unsuspecting friends for an opinion one nite asking them to listen to both versions. I didn't tell them who was singing just said version A (George) & version B(Prince).

When finished I asked which one they liked Prince won with 8/8! I asked why they preferred Prince's

version better & it was the feeling in his voice that got them. Three had tears in their eyes & everybody wanted a copy of it. None of these people are familiar with Prince, they know a couple of his songs but that's it.

Everybody will have a different opinion of the different versions however I absolutely love Prince's version, to me it is as good as any "love ballad" he has ever done even with his added extras on the vocals.

lovesexy06 said:

I played Prince's version & George's version to some(8) unsuspecting friends for an opinion one nite asking them to listen to both versions. I didn't tell them who was singing just said version A (George) & version B(Prince).

When finished I asked which one they liked Prince won with 8/8! I asked why they preferred Prince's

version better & it was the feeling in his voice that got them. Three had tears in their eyes & everybody wanted a copy of it. None of these people are familiar with Prince, they know a couple of his songs but that's it.

Everybody will have a different opinion of the different versions however I absolutely love Prince's version, to me it is as good as any "love ballad" he has ever done even with his added extras on the vocals.

But have you listened to Bonnie Raitt's original version of the song? You really can't compare until you have heard that... IMO no one, not even Prince, can top Bonnie's version, and I think he knows it, too.

Prince's version is like syrup.... very sweet - and I like it actually.

Never liked George Michael's version, it just doesn't sound right to me.

Spinlight said:

jj312119 said:

Ok this is what the above says:"I think that Prince has destroyed this beautiful song by adding another stanza, where he talks about sex. Completely changed the meaning of the whole song."

and I say IMO, he did change it, but think if this was Princes song and there was no Original to compare it to, It would be classic , it would just be a cover and not some what his own if he had not taken such artistic libertys....

It isn't his own at all. He didn't write the song. He ad-libbed sexual overtures.

"I Can't Make You Love Me" is supposed to be a pained song about failed love and the subject is one a lot of people don't sing about from quite this perspective. Prince turned it into a song about someone who won't fuck him. The song isn't a seduction song, it's a song of despair. Prince's ego is so huge, he can't even respect an original artist's integrity (whilst disallowing others to reproduce his own work).

When you truly love someone, u want to make love to them, with them, and have them make love to u...I think he brought the song up one level, saying things Bonnie perhaps couldn't...he still uses the word Love,, just because he added the sex, doesnt change the overall tone...

I do love the original..and loved it before Prince covered it..the George Michael version is nice too..we all hear what we want to hear...a woman singing this song probably would sustain from the sex in it's undertones, but a man...like Prince..brings it up a notch. Thats all.

And if your an artist and Prince wants to cover your song..your flattered. Period.

purplethunder3121 said:

lovesexy06 said:

I played Prince's version & George's version to some(8) unsuspecting friends for an opinion one nite asking them to listen to both versions. I didn't tell them who was singing just said version A (George) & version B(Prince).

When finished I asked which one they liked Prince won with 8/8! I asked why they preferred Prince's

version better & it was the feeling in his voice that got them. Three had tears in their eyes & everybody wanted a copy of it. None of these people are familiar with Prince, they know a couple of his songs but that's it.

Everybody will have a different opinion of the different versions however I absolutely love Prince's version, to me it is as good as any "love ballad" he has ever done even with his added extras on the vocals.

But have you listened to Bonnie Raitt's original version of the song? You really can't compare until you have heard that... IMO no one, not even Prince, can top Bonnie's version, and I think he knows it, too.

I have listened to Bonnie's version( it's the first thing I do when someone covers another song) and to ME she just doesn't have the painful frustration of the situation in her voice. I'm not taking anything away from her, she has a beautiful voice, i'm just saying that Prince has the knack of drawing you in & making u feel what he is feeling.

I like comparing covers with the originals, working out which one is the better ,imo, one, no matter who does the song. It's how we develop our musical ears!!!!!

Prince's version is very nice, good vocals and everything but he could have left the sexual relations and other such references out of the song. Its still a good song to me, and one of the best on Emancipation, but some of the lyrical changes were unnecessary.

jj312119 said:

just heard dis for tha 1st time, knw its a cover (or is it) & not as good as the original (or is it tha original) anyways cant breath , tears just running down my face Prince n one word MAGIC and n a symbol , I luv him , his music, his everything that makes Prince, .......and you knw what, NO he cant make sum of yal luv him and dont see how , Prince U r tha 1 tha only..........."Only 1" --Prince

And Now.....UR thoughts

Beautiful song!

I like that he covered it but it sounds way too produced and lush.

jtfolden said:

Revolution said:

Love his version and Bonnie's too...George Michael is the one who missed the boat with his rendition.

That's funny because GM is the one who apparently understands and respects the intent of the composer, rather than turning it into a song about blue balls.

Bonnie Raits version is a classic. Her vulnurable side shows through an introvert western european style, whereas Prince is showing more of a extrovert western african style.

Western european culture has always been less extrovert when it comes to feelings. That's why some people more south for equator thinks it sounds too cold, while people with western european culture background is thinking the western african culture is too direct. It might seem to someone that blues and rnb is always about the direct emotion. While some may think that music with western european music is always trying to make things sound like you always have to read between lines.

Both is great, and what Prince is doing is to both showing his extrovert emotional message, while putting enogh space for us to fill in. Him putting sex all into it is making him even more vulnurable if viewed that way. He is kinda portrating a person that doesnt love him anymore, still use him sexually. Have you ever had a relationship where you know he or she doesnt love you? But could have your sex until she or he finds another one?

You hold on to that until she or he slips right through your fingers, and you even aint got the physical thing anymore. Alot of people just want that last hug or sex, even though it's nothing emotional from the other. it's just that one little hope. This was not me, but a good friend of mine who saw this point of view. Does it matter? THose who love it, loves it. THose who don't. I don't care.

Sorry for my bad english, as I am Nowegian.