I'm curious to know how many think the song "Little Red Corvette" was inspired by Vanity? I know Prince dedicated the song to her after he found out about her death. I believe just because a song is
"dedicated" to someone doesn't mean they inspired the song, as the dedication could just be situational, ofcourse. I never suspected that song was written about Denise Matthews as a Prince fan. However, since her passing I really am convinced it was written about her.

The reason for this is because the song is obviously about a woman who is promiscous and all of the emotional triggers this provokes in a man who has an undeniable, strong attraction to "such a woman". After Denise's death I read about many people online who came forward and wrote about just how promiscous she really was. I don't mean just seeing a lot of guys but non descriminating she was about sexual relations.

Just want to make clear that there is no judgement towards her. The childhood trauma she suffered really shaped her life and I feel a deep compassion towards trauma victims. Especially if she suffered any sort of sexual abuse in her youth that can definatly manifest itself in acting out sexually, addiction and self loathing.

Point is, I just felt like I sort of had an epifany and made the connection that Denise was the inspiration for that song. I didn't realise it at the time, but I think Prince's feelings for her ran so deep and I think he was deeply in love with her. I always thought Mayte was his true love because he seemed so obsessed with her.

On a different note....has anyone heard The Dream's "Fast Car"? I always thought this song was inspired by "Little Red Corvette" except in reverse. I actually like that song although how similar it is to Little Red Corvette is pretty obnoxious I can see why some would hate it.

i said on here that i was surprised that Vanity was the muse for that song, it sounded like nothing more than a classic one night stand and everyone knows that p and vanity were in with each other pretty intimate. so no, i never thought she was the muse behind it. Also, the way he sings about women is usually the opposite of what we know about how chauvinistic he was in real life so i don't know what to think.

PeteSilas said:

i said on here that i was surprised that Vanity was the muse for that song, it sounded like nothing more than a classic one night stand and everyone knows that p and vanity were in with each other pretty intimate. so no, i never thought she was the muse behind it. Also, the way he sings about women is usually the opposite of what we know about how chauvinistic he was in real life so i don't know what to think.

.

I tend to agree that not every song has a specific muse. "Another Lonely Christmas" is a heart breaking tale, but even Prince stated it was a total work of fiction. Part of genius is making something out of nothing, and that's what Prince did. Many artists have ideas about what they want to do with producers, rappers, etc. Prince was music, so his inspiration is just being in the studio, with instruments in front of him, and blank tape. Besides, "Little Red Corvette" was written in the midst of a road trip nap. If his muse was anything - it was waking up to Lisa's cigarette smoke. hehehehe

I do remember reading that Denise drove a red corvette. But that may have been well after the song was released. Can anybody confirm this? I believe I read it in a article about when she got pulled over by that cop that was involved in the O.J. case (so that would make it 90's.)

if he was so deeply in love why did he cheat first

Possibly he was thinking back a bit. About a redhead. This song is not about a car.

[img:$uid]http://i64.tinypic.com/wcuq.jpg[/img:$uid]

When Denise Matthews was being interviewed by a Christian radio station in 2012-13 she said in the interview that she ''use to drive a red corvette back then'' and went on to say you know, ''that was me then....'' i think ''someone talked about it once...'' and then she chuckled, i always thought she was referring to the song Prince wrote.

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[Edited 5/24/16 15:46pm]

Marrk said:

Possibly he was thinking back a bit. About a redhead. This song is not about a car.

[img:$uid]http://i64.tinypic.com/wcuq.jpg[/img:$uid]

damn she was pretty hot when she was young, last time i saw her she looked like a grandma. she supposedly left p because he was too nasty and she was religious.

Well, I'm not so sure the song is really about a car. I'll let you think on that one But yes, I do think it was about Vanity.

I do now.

To paraphrase what Keith Richards said in Life, every song about a girl is about every girl you've ever met. There's a little truthiness to that. Gayle Chapman's looking fine in that picture, certainly suits the line "Girrrrrrrrrl you've got an ass like I've never seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen..." Lisa Coleman all the way, though.

At the Australia show didnt Prince imply that it was about Vanity

nursev said:

At the Australia show didnt Prince imply that it was about Vanity

purplegirl00 said:

nursev said:

At the Australia show didnt Prince imply that it was about Vanity

well we solved this didnt we

nursev said:

purplegirl00 said:

well we solved this didnt we

Yup. Next...

purplegirl00 said:

nursev said:

well we solved this didnt we

Yup. Next...

He wrote a lot of songs about Denise. The Beautiful Ones is my favorite one he wrote about her, that song still gets to me

If she really did inspire the song, kudos to her for Prince making one of the best songs ever

Vanity is my favorite protege so that make me like her even more now

Little Red Corvette is a great song

I thought this song was pretty clear. As plain as day in fact. Might as well be called little red Vagina.

computerblue77 said:

I thought this song was pretty clear. As plain as day in fact. Might as well be called little red Vagina.

It is clear but subtle enough to go over most peoples heads and for us teenagers at the time, we didn't know anything about vagina, least I didn't. It was just the greatest pop song I've ever heard.

PeteSilas said:

computerblue77 said:

I thought this song was pretty clear. As plain as day in fact. Might as well be called little red Vagina.

It is clear but subtle enough to go over most peoples heads and for us teenagers at the time, we didn't know anything about vagina, least I didn't. It was just the greatest pop song I've ever heard.

I thought LRC was Prince singing about his dick

FAIL

Krystalkisses said:

I'm curious to know how many think the song "Little Red Corvette" was inspired by Vanity? I know Prince dedicated the song to her after he found out about her death. I believe just because a song is
"dedicated" to someone doesn't mean they inspired the song, as the dedication could just be situational, ofcourse. I never suspected that song was written about Denise Matthews as a Prince fan. However, since her passing I really am convinced it was written about her.

The reason for this is because the song is obviously about a woman who is promiscous and all of the emotional triggers this provokes in a man who has an undeniable, strong attraction to "such a woman". After Denise's death I read about many people online who came forward and wrote about just how promiscous she really was. I don't mean just seeing a lot of guys but non descriminating she was about sexual relations.

Just want to make clear that there is no judgement towards her. The childhood trauma she suffered really shaped her life and I feel a deep compassion towards trauma victims. Especially if she suffered any sort of sexual abuse in her youth that can definatly manifest itself in acting out sexually, addiction and self loathing.

Point is, I just felt like I sort of had an epifany and made the connection that Denise was the inspiration for that song. I didn't realise it at the time, but I think Prince's feelings for her ran so deep and I think he was deeply in love with her. I always thought Mayte was his true love because he seemed so obsessed with her.

On a different note....has anyone heard The Dream's "Fast Car"? I always thought this song was inspired by "Little Red Corvette" except in reverse. I actually like that song although how similar it is to Little Red Corvette is pretty obnoxious I can see why some would hate it.

...I agree.

I think that Denise (Vanity) was perhaps even his 'soul mate'. Maybe not so coincidental that they died months apart from each other.

But I get the impression that she also inspired Purple Rain.

I think that they were very similar to one another. Not necessarily "well matched", per se -but very similar and that they found a real connection because of this.

Maybe... it's possible that, in realising this him self, Prince set up Wendy and Lisa, the females of his group, as writers of Purple Rain in the movie Purple Rain.

The other basic reason is because Vanity appears to have been his first true love -which is often really intense, and doesn't tend to end well eventhough you never forget it.

Also, in a sense "Little Red Corvette" is about Prince! -Since, him and Vanity were similar ...even, tragically probably 'burning the candle at both ends' as the song suggests... "you gonna run your body right to the ground"

pinkpaisley said:

I do remember reading that Denise drove a red corvette. But that may have been well after the song was released. Can anybody confirm this? I believe I read it in a article about when she got pulled over by that cop that was involved in the O.J. case (so that would make it 90's.)

"Prince wrote the clever song while nodding off in Lisa Coleman’s pink Edsel following an exhausting all-night recording session. The lyrics came to him in pieces as he’d jot something to memory in between catnaps. Given the opening line – I guess I should have known by the way you parked your car sideways that it wouldn’t last – you almost want to put him to sleep again just to see what else he’d come up with. Reaching No. 6 on the pop charts, LITTLE RED CORVETTE was easily his biggest hit to date – in fact, his first significant run on pop radio since I WANNA BE YOUR LOVER."

-Alan Leeds

Prince was really good at writing a song from a man's perspective but as a woman.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Youve been holding back on us

OldFriends4Sale said:

Hey Oldfriends.. is this an official commercial from the car company?

Or is it a fan made pic?

DoItAllNight4U said:

PeteSilas said:

It is clear but subtle enough to go over most peoples heads and for us teenagers at the time, we didn't know anything about vagina, least I didn't. It was just the greatest pop song I've ever heard.

I thought LRC was Prince singing about his dick

FAIL

not only did I know nothing about vagina, I didn't even understand what the hell critics meant when they called Little Red Corvette a "double entendre", totally fucking clueless. For many years, critics thought that was his best song. I recall, sometime around the end of the eighties, RS did a greatest songs magazine and Little Red Corvette was in their, they thought it was his best and they asked him if he thought so too, they said he looked down and said "I like 'em all".