"Remember the time we swam naked in your fathers pool ...boy he was upset that night but boy was that ever cool"

Great song discuss

Great song, one of my favs.

Remember that night we played pokeno for money and you robbed me blind??

I’d pay money just 2 see your laughin’ dancin’ silhouette upon the pier.
Sometimes I think I hear U smiling,
Sometimes I think U’re here.
I find myself holdin’ every pillow in the bed U and I used 2 share,
Last night I spent another lonely Christmas.
Darling, U should be, U should be there.

I've always loved it

Fantastic song., I love it!

Leave it to Prince to write a glorious Xmas tune that's also a major downer.

A singular seasonal song to say the least.

It's really too bad that song isn't up on somewhere that allows it to be shared via social media because it would probably be TRENDING very high over the next 48 hours. Oh well...I was just fortunately able to play it from my personal cloud.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

I remember calling my local radio station one Christmas Eve (had to be 1988 or 1989, I was 14) and requesting "Another Lonely Christmas". The DJ said something like, "That's too sad for Christmas...who writes a song about drinking banana daquiries (sp) till their blind on Christmas?" He played Alexander O'Neal's "Sleigh Ride" instead.

[Edited 12/24/15 19:45pm]

marksinclair said:

Never been a massive fan of this song but listening back to it this Christmas I'm actually really enjoying it. Seems like the original of what Miguel was trying to do this year with his wildheart album. Would love prince to do a 'lighter' Christmas song though one year, sleigh bells and all

No knowledge of Miguel (other than who he is... don't listen to his music), but I feel the same way. Heard it on the way to work today after skipping it for years and ended up enjoying it after a few listens.

One surprisingly narrative song for that era and very interesting from that perspective, but musically I never really got into it.

Most christmas songs are so freakin' superficial and fake to me. Either that or theatrical church stuff. This is one of the realest christmas songs I've ever heard. Too many are feeling lonely at christmas times. Why not talk about lonelyness too?

UncleJam said:

I loved the rehearsals bootleg. Can't remember the name of it.

You can hear Mark learning the bass line as Prince plays it to him on its Yamaha piano.
You also get to hear Prince sing "Oh When The Saints Go Marchin'in" with Wendy.
All the mikes are open, the tape's just rollin'. Makes you want to be part of the Revolution.

The final mix is great, everything is drowning in reverb, it's very cinematic. The vocals are sublime, Prince has really mastered is low register by now. Fantastic coda, one of his best, although I prefer the final cut, the extended version coda is interesting but does not really fit, same for the verses but the concentration of Prince, the focus on his character in the song are incredible.
As in "The Beautiful Ones", you have this extra moments where he's vocally on "plateau", where he saves his energy for the end, but he already sounds on 11.
And then he finds some more and kicks your hear-me-sing-along butt.
Best you can do is to sing along in your head, but then you dive, you become Prince.
And you end up making weird faces in the public transports.

I love the mix balances with the guitar screaming, but dimmed in the background. A common Prince trick at the time : The solos of WDC, TBO are also mixed in the background. To a great sonic effect, because when you pump up the volume, your ear expects heavy metal guitars to be upfront, so it holds it as a "middle volume" reference. And you get that sound balance, that's just pure tension, like : "who's the maniac screaming in the background? Let him out!".

I'm Prince, I do the unexpected.
I'm going to make a Sad Christmas song.
Fuck yeah, SKipper.

bonatoc said:

I loved the rehearsals bootleg. Can't remember the name of it.

It's called "The X-mas Rehearsal." FBG#27

Merry xmas y'all!

http://prince.org/msg/7/390516

Replica said:

Most christmas songs are so freakin' superficial and fake to me. Either that or theatrical church stuff. This is one of the realest christmas songs I've ever heard. Too many are feeling lonely at christmas times. Why not talk about lonelyness too?

I agree.

NorthC said:

Maybe I shouldn't visit this site this time of the year. Somebody is bound to start a thread about this song and that's bound to bring back memories. Leave out the details about skating on the lake and such and this song actually happened to me. Maybe I should spend the holidays in Brunei where Christmas is outlawed. But that ain't gonna help either. The memories will always stay. Which is a good thing, but sometimes I wish I could fast forward to January.. Does this make any sense? Dunno, but I can't get it off my mind, so maybe writing about it helps. I'll be alright again in January.

Definitely makes sense, as does writing about it being helpful. Best wishes to you, NorthC.

Reading NorthC's reply, I realize that a handful of precious Prince's songs may be linked to real persons, in each fan's life. I wept my first self-inflicted heartbreak with "Sometimes It Snows In April".
Two years before, I was weeping on my parents divorce listening to "Purple Rain".

As a fan, I first love Prince for his humanity. Maybe that's what is special about the whole PR era. In the midst of the Reagan years, the cynic ones that witnessed the birth of what capitalism has become, all the american creativity, its original Spirit of Freedom, sexual expression and the melting-pot were put on top of the charts by the american youth. Like a big "Fuck You Ronnie" public display.

Looking at the 1985 awards, I cringe as I recall Wendy and Lisa telling that this is the period where things were starting to shift for Prince as a full Revolution member.
I am so glad we have all these eighties gems, the comedian Prince, the self-parodies, Camille, Bob George and Anna Stesia, but the innocence, the joy of being one crew of musician friends, the kind so strong that you can lay it on tape, was lost forever.

[Edited 12/25/15 11:04am]

bonatoc said:

I loved the rehearsals bootleg. Can't remember the name of it.

You can hear Mark learning the bass line as Prince plays it to him on its Yamaha piano.
You also get to hear Prince sing "Oh When The Saints Go Marchin'in" with Wendy.
All the mikes are open, the tape's just rollin'. Makes you want to be part of the Revolution.

The final mix is great, everything is drowning in reverb, it's very cinematic. The vocals are sublime, Prince has really mastered is low register by now. Fantastic coda, one of his best, although I prefer the final cut, the extended version coda is interesting but does not really fit, same for the verses but the concentration of Prince, the focus on his character in the song are incredible.
As in "The Beautiful Ones", you have this extra moments where he's vocally on "plateau", where he saves his energy for the end, but he already sounds on 11.
And then he finds some more and kicks your hear-me-sing-along butt.
Best you can do is to sing along in your head, but then you dive, you become Prince.
And you end up making weird faces in the public transports.

I love the mix balances with the guitar screaming, but dimmed in the background. A common Prince trick at the time : The solos of WDC, TBO are also mixed in the background. To a great sonic effect, because when you pump up the volume, your ear expects heavy metal guitars to be upfront, so it holds it as a "middle volume" reference. And you get that sound balance, that's just pure tension, like : "who's the maniac screaming in the background? Let him out!".

I'm Prince, I do the unexpected.
I'm going to make a Sad Christmas song.
Fuck yeah, SKipper.

Everyone has our own experiences, which leads to our own interpretations. So there's no right or wrong way to how a song impacts its listeners.

With that said, for me, personally. It's NEVER been a "Sad" Christmas song. I've always viewed it as an "intimately celebratory" Christmas song.

But strictly speaking...the extended version...is SHEER FUCKING PERFECTION! From the very first note to the very last. When I talk about MY love for Prince and his music...THAT'S the Prince I'M talking about!!!

I most sincerely do not care what ANYBODY says nor thinks. To ME...absolutely NOTHING he's done in the 21st Century...comes anywhere CLOSE to thrilling my entire being as...LYRICALLY, VOCALLY AND INSTRUMENTALLY...as listening to THAT for the umpteenth time TODAY, just did!!!

on t

I was not calling it "sad". I was concluding that, on top of being a reverse-taped gospel masterpiece, it's also a brilliant move from a career point of view.
Every american artist does his christmas song reprise.

Prince wrote his own song, and it's a gem. That's what I meant by "fuck yeah".