Does Days of Wild have a Middle Eastern flavor to it? Who Digs this song?

I’ve never understood why so many people love “Days of Wild”. And that includes all the awful live versions. People claim it’s the best rapping Prince ever did. But that’s like loving one of Lil’ Wayne’s guitar songs because it’s got his best guitar work on it. Leaving “Days of Wild” off of The Gold Experience was a brilliant move on somebody’s part.

jpnyc said:

I’ve never understood why so many people love “Days of Wild”. And that includes all the awful live versions. People claim it’s the best rapping Prince ever did. But that’s like loving one of Lil’ Wayne’s guitar songs because it’s got his best guitar work on it. Leaving “Days of Wild” off of The Gold Experience was a brilliant move on somebody’s part.

^^dislikes Liz Taylor (r.i.p. gurl).

Love it! and yes, I do get that middle east vibe.

PaisleyPark5083 said:

Love it! and yes, I do get that middle east vibe.

Thank U!

I don't see the Middle Eastern vibe. I do not like the studio version, but I love the live versions.

^The Middle-Eastern thing comes from a keyboard motif being partly quite similar to 'Caravan', one of the signature tracks of the Duke Ellington orchestra, which indeed has that feel.

I don't see that Eastern vibe in DOW except for that slight resemblance. That's why I can understand that people feel it.

Spinlight said:

I remember bunking off college 4 the day 2 buy & absorb this album. I was soooo disappointed that Days Of Wild was left off. I also think that Interactive would have been a good opener as originally intended. If u add those 2 plus Mustang Mix & the extended versions of Billy Jack Bitch & :i:Hate U u would have a fantastic album. If those stupid segues were dropped along with 319 it would be perfect & could easily compete with anything from his "heyday".

kookooman73 said:

I remember bunking off college 4 the day 2 buy & absorb this album. I was soooo disappointed that Days Of Wild was left off. I also think that Interactive would have been a good opener as originally intended. If u add those 2 plus Mustang Mix & the extended versions of Billy Jack Bitch & :i:Hate U u would have a fantastic album. If those stupid segues were dropped along with 319 it would be perfect & could easily compete with anything from his "heyday".

Yes.

As someone else said, the "middle eastern vibe" comes from a keyboard line that sounds kind of "off kilter."

Sure - you could hear that as "middle eastern."

But to me, that keyboard line seems to represent more of a "wildness" and "coming undone." The song's lyrics are all about society changing and losing its order - the keyboard melody seems to portray THAT more than anything else.

The song has no flavor. It is scratch and sniff though.

Spinlight said:

I don't see the Middle Eastern vibe. I do not like the studio version, but I love the live versions.

I can understand why some would hear a Middle Eastern vibe in the studio version. The chimey keyboards probably do it for some. I too dislike the studio version.....drab, non-agressive, just blah. And the released live version sucks too. BUT the live versions from when Prince was Mr. Symbol Man and pissed off at everyone......CLASSIC!

[Edited 3/29/11 19:08pm]

davetherave6767 said:

Pissed again!soz

Maybe you should stop posting.

I happen to love this song.

From the wikipedia article on "Caravan":

"Caravan" is a jazz standard composed by Juan Tizol and first performed by Duke Ellington in 1937. Irving Mills wrote the lyrics, but he sometimes is not credited on the many instrumental versions. The song is variously seen as the first Latin jazz song or as a Mideastern-influenced jazz song. Its exotic sound interested exotica musicians...

I'm just posting this as an example for the sheer obvious fact that "Caravan" is greatly middle-eastern influenced, so to speak. There's no way at all to debate that the song heavily makes use of arabic harmony/melodic patterns. "Latin" is misleading here, it's straight arabian, no doubt.

And "Days Of Wild" uses a re-played sample of that song, I'd actually call it "a sample" if that wasn't wrong, technically. So, 1+1+1=3 and YES, D.O.W. DOES have a "middle-eastern feel" to it, for the reasons explained. No opinion here, just straight facts. Sorry for my bad english by the way...

i really like this song. just dig the way he says 'muthafucka'

[img:$uid]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u257/djdaffy1227/DaysofwildCanadian.jpg[/img:$uid]

Not my favorite song

I love every version I've heard

-The Crystal ball version

-The studio

-version from paisley park '94

-The Montreal single

All!

I'll admit at times I cringe at the prospect of Prince trying to delve into what was "hip" at the time, but the beat of it is amazing! And it is one of those songs that can change at any time you hear it, a bit like All the critics...just awesome jams

P.S How much does the Days of wild single go for? I'd love a copy on CD