One of my pleasures of joining the prince.org recently is discovering how many other people love Parade. I thought I was alone. I am curious what songs people loved the most, and why? Here is my current order of preference:

1.Girls & Boys (killer sax hook and as funky as anything)

2. Sometimes it Snows in April - Always loved this. Shows his tender side as much as any song.

3. Kiss (One of my favorite singles of all, but slight deduction here due to it not fitting in the soundtrack as much as some of the other songs).

4. New Position _ this song keeps varying all the elements of each verse and chorus (instruments, vocials, tempo) except for the wonderful clanging beat, which results in the song continually topping itself but held cohesive due to the beat. Brilliant (yet just #4).

5. Under the Cherry Moon - Another unique Prince classic that evokes a French boudoir.

6. Anotherloverholenyohead - Catchy and funky.

7. Do u Lie? - A joy but can't see jumping over th higher songs.

8.Mountains - This song would be rated much higher if it was on another album. Cool sound but not one of his better singles.

9. I Woinder U - good but a step down from the great 8.

10. Venus De Milo - Just a cinematic interlude but a nice one at that.

11. Christopher Tracy"s Parade Seems more like a nice intro to the album, not a fully realized song.

12. Life Can be so Nice - While I often like the discordant parts of his songs, this one seems a bit too discordant. A little melody would have made this a winner. Not bad but a vast difference between it and the great 8.

Anotherloverholenyohead - I love the chord progression.
Venus De Milo - such a pretty piece
Girls & Boys - I always though Marie France once said "can you smell the ignition baby?" I also love that the liner notes state "Sheila & Lisa" are on the left, Wendy & Susannah on the right".
Christopher Tracy's Parade - There's a joyfulness in the strings and the melody, and the first three songs are a great medley of sorts.
New Position - I didn't know for years he spelled out P-U-S-S-Y in it. I found out when my mother, who hated Prince, found the songbook I had for it, and asked me about "this filth you've brought into this house!". I hid the book after.
I Wonder U - cute little segue song, and I like it on the end of the above
Mountians - it was my favorite single from the album, more than "Kiss"
Sometimes It Snows In April - this is fun to play on the piano, too
Kiss - I mean....
Do U Lie? - It is what it is.
Life Can Be So Nice - I know I'm in the minority here, but sometimes this song just grates on me.
Under The Cherry Moon - it's just so melodramatic. Not a bad song, but I prefer others over it.

It changes a lot, but here's how I feel today:

Anotherloverholenyohead

I Wonder U

Life Can Be So Nice

Girls & Boys

Sometimes It Snows In April

Mountains

Under the Cherry Moon

Kiss

Christopher Tracy's Parade

New Position

Venus De Milo

Do U Lie

Oooh lovely - my fave!

-

Tracks 1-3 as they are

4 - D U Lie? (probably the song I sing along to the most (awfully!)...I...I...I...don't lie to U) - just a mental little ditty!

5 - Sometimes (sad before...but now I am still yet to play it )

6 - Girls & Boys (best out of the hits on the album)

7 - Anotherlover (12" is the don!)

8 - Mountains (again 12" is mega...could actually pip Another...hmmm?)

9 - Life Can be so nice (no-one plays the clarinet the way U play my heart...)

10 - Kiss (overplayed for me now - 12" is better although the demo is most interesting)

11 - UTCM (the film)

12 - Venus de Milo (beautiful like a painting)

Lots of love so far for some of my least favorites! I love it! It's what makes this album and Prince in general so great. He has so may distinct and creative songs that can catch your imagination that there are fans of each of them!

Kiss- great funky song

Mountains- i didn''t know how great it is, but i'd rather the extended version

Under The Cherry Moon- i love this ballad the french flavor is great

Sometimes- beautiful song.

Girls and Boys

Do U Lie- another great one with the french vibe to it

Anotherlove

Life Can Be So Nice. even though it sounds so busy.

Venus De Milo- beautiful little piece

Parade

gandorb said:

Lots of love so far for some of my least favorites! I love it! It's what makes this album and Prince in general so great. He has so may distinct and creative songs that can catch your imagination that there are fans of each of them!

Yeah...but MY selection is the correct one!

1. Anotherloverholenyohead
2. Life Can Be So Nice
3. Girls & Boys
4. Mountains
5. Kiss
6. Christopher Tracy's Parade
7. I Wonder U
8. New Position
9. Sometimes It Snows In April
10. Under the Cherry Moon
11. Do U Lie
12. Venus De Milo

Connected said:

gandorb said:

Lots of love so far for some of my least favorites! I love it! It's what makes this album and Prince in general so great. He has so may distinct and creative songs that can catch your imagination that there are fans of each of them!

Yeah...but MY selection is the correct one!

funny, MINE is too!

1. Mountains - I love the sound and the message both, also in top 10 fave Prince songs of all.
2. Sometimes in Snows in April. Sigh.

3. Anotherloverholenyohead - Funky, weird and totally unique.

4. Girls and Boys - Just watched UTCM again this weekend and recalled how great both the song and the video are.

5. I wonder U - sleeper.

6. Kiss. Nuff said.

7. New Position - THAT BEAT

8. Under the Cherry Moon

9. Do u Lie?

10. Venus De Milo

11. Christopher Tracy"s Parade

12. Life Can be so Nice

Oh yes, appreicate this post. I love love love Parade. I feel so sentimental about this album, I really got into Prince at this time and around UTCM - I was really starting to understand Prince. I am so happy to hear peeps that get how awesome this album is!

Anotherloverholdnyohead: Hello, this song is funky and rock blended so well! That intro with funky ATWIAD sound, and the piano. Damn! "You know there ain't no other, that can do the duty in your bed!" You go on Prince!

Mountains: The drum beats, the quality his voice, the horn sounds. "Guitars and drums on the 1!"

Sometimes It Snows In April: Come on, next to Adore this has to be one of the best ballads by Prince. The emotion..the soul in this song. To this day and especially at this time, I cry every time I hear this song.

Christopher Tracy's Parade: It's just funky and fun. Love the horns again in this, and the drum beats. His voice along with Wendy and Lisa background vocals just sounds so nice.

Do You Lie?: Sounds so Parisian with Prince's funky twist. "The children who lie don't go to paradise." (translation of the French from song intro).

New Position: Like the funky drum beats throughout, it's different. "Let's go fishing in the river, the river of life!"

Girls & Boys: Funky funky funky. "She had the cutest ass he ever seen."

Kiss: I probably will get heat for this, but I was never really a fan of the song Kiss. It's good, I just never got into it. Great video though. To me Prince looked his best in this time period...HOT!

Venus De Milo: Piano is so great on this piece. I love this instrumental work.

Life Can Be So Nice: The instruments used on this one are insane. "Kisses, never lie!" (True)

Under The Cherry Moon: I know it's the title track to the movie, but I am personally not a fan of most ballads, even if performed by Prince (I know I know, shoot me)! It's just me I prefer funky or rock or alternative. Lyrics are kool.

I Wonder U: This is my least favorite. Now writing this post, it is probably due the fact there are no vocals by Prince on this track. I am a sucker for Prince's voice! The instrumentals on it are tight through.

**Added Bonus: I have the Mountains 12 inch album and the b-side has a track called:

Alexa De Paris. If you have not listened to this song in full and love this album, LISTEN TO IT! It's an instrumental but it is so great, his guiar work along with the orchestral sounds is so moving. In UTCM, this song was played when Christopher Tracy dances with Marie when she goes to see him for the first time. Oh so Good!!

Overall summary, there is not ONE bad track on this entire album. How in the world could anyone not love this album. Missing out, missing out!

TrivialPursuit said:

Anotherloverholenyohead - I love the chord progression.
Venus De Milo - such a pretty piece
Girls & Boys - I always though Marie France once said "can you smell the ignition baby?" I also love that the liner notes state "Sheila & Lisa" are on the left, Wendy & Susannah on the right".
Christopher Tracy's Parade - There's a joyfulness in the strings and the melody, and the first three songs are a great medley of sorts.
New Position - I didn't know for years he spelled out P-U-S-S-Y in it. I found out when my mother, who hated Prince, found the songbook I had for it, and asked me about "this filth you've brought into this house!". I hid the book after.
I Wonder U - cute little segue song, and I like it on the end of the above
Mountians - it was my favorite single from the album, more than "Kiss"
Sometimes It Snows In April - this is fun to play on the piano, too
Kiss - I mean....
Do U Lie? - It is what it is.
Life Can Be So Nice - I know I'm in the minority here, but sometimes this song just grates on me.
Under The Cherry Moon - it's just so melodramatic. Not a bad song, but I prefer others over it.

Classic!

My parents still embarrass me to this day about how they found a porno mag under my bed...and said thank god it was a girlie mag...we thought he loved boys because of the Prince poster!

Lesson 1: Never knew he spelt out PUSSY...will listen to this tomorrow...thank you!

AnnaStesia10 said:

Oh yes, appreicate this post. I love love love Parade. I feel so sentimental about this album, I really got into Prince at this time and around UTCM - I was really starting to understand Prince. I am so happy to hear peeps that get how awesome this album is!

Anotherloverholdnyohead: Hello, this song is funky and rock blended so well! That intro with funky ATWIAD sound, and the piano. Damn! "You know there ain't no other, that can do the duty in your bed!" You go on Prince!

Mountains: The drum beats, the quality his voice, the horn sounds. "Guitars and drums on the 1!"

Sometimes It Snows In April: Come on, next to Adore this has to be one of the best ballads by Prince. The emotion..the soul in this song. To this day and especially at this time, I cry every time I hear this song.

Christopher Tracy's Parade: It's just funky and fun. Love the horns again in this, and the drum beats. His voice along with Wendy and Lisa background vocals just sounds so nice.

Do You Lie?: Sounds so Parisian with Prince's funky twist. "The children who lie don't go to paradise." (translation of the French from song intro).

New Position: Like the funky drum beats throughout, it's different. "Let's go fishing in the river, the river of life!"

Girls & Boys: Funky funky funky. "She had the cutest ass he ever seen."

Kiss: I probably will get heat for this, but I was never really a fan of the song Kiss. It's good, I just never got into it. Great video though. To me Prince looked his best in this time period...HOT!

Venus De Milo: Piano is so great on this piece. I love this instrumental work.

Life Can Be So Nice: The instruments used on this one are insane. "Kisses, never lie!" (True)

Under The Cherry Moon: I know it's the title track to the movie, but I am personally not a fan of most ballads, even if performed by Prince (I know I know, shoot me)! It's just me I prefer funky or rock or alternative. Lyrics are kool.

I Wonder U: This is my least favorite. Now writing this post, it is probably due the fact there are no vocals by Prince on this track. I am a sucker for Prince's voice! The instrumentals on it are tight through.

**Added Bonus: I have the Mountains 12 inch album and the b-side has a track called:

Alexa De Paris. If you have not listened to this song in full and love this album, LISTEN TO IT! It's an instrumental but it is so great, his guiar work along with the orchestral sounds is so moving. In UTCM, this song was played when Christopher Tracy dances with Marie when she goes to see him for the first time. Oh so Good!!

Overall summary, there is not ONE bad track on this entire album. How in the world could anyone not love this album. Missing out, missing out!

Lesson 2: Despite having a now very rusty french 'O' level in French (would be a stretch to franglais these days!)... I never bothered translating this...just sang along on auto-pilot!

Thank you!

AnnaStesia10 said:

Oh yes, appreicate this post. I love love love Parade. I feel so sentimental about this album, I really got into Prince at this time and around UTCM - I was really starting to understand Prince. I am so happy to hear peeps that get how awesome this album is!

Anotherloverholdnyohead: Hello, this song is funky and rock blended so well! That intro with funky ATWIAD sound, and the piano. Damn! "You know there ain't no other, that can do the duty in your bed!" You go on Prince!

Mountains: The drum beats, the quality his voice, the horn sounds. "Guitars and drums on the 1!"

Sometimes It Snows In April: Come on, next to Adore this has to be one of the best ballads by Prince. The emotion..the soul in this song. To this day and especially at this time, I cry every time I hear this song.

Christopher Tracy's Parade: It's just funky and fun. Love the horns again in this, and the drum beats. His voice along with Wendy and Lisa background vocals just sounds so nice.

Do You Lie?: Sounds so Parisian with Prince's funky twist. "The children who lie don't go to paradise." (translation of the French from song intro).

New Position: Like the funky drum beats throughout, it's different. "Let's go fishing in the river, the river of life!"

Girls & Boys: Funky funky funky. "She had the cutest ass he ever seen."

Kiss: I probably will get heat for this, but I was never really a fan of the song Kiss. It's good, I just never got into it. Great video though. To me Prince looked his best in this time period...HOT!

Venus De Milo: Piano is so great on this piece. I love this instrumental work.

Life Can Be So Nice: The instruments used on this one are insane. "Kisses, never lie!" (True)

Under The Cherry Moon: I know it's the title track to the movie, but I am personally not a fan of most ballads, even if performed by Prince (I know I know, shoot me)! It's just me I prefer funky or rock or alternative. Lyrics are kool.

I Wonder U: This is my least favorite. Now writing this post, it is probably due the fact there are no vocals by Prince on this track. I am a sucker for Prince's voice! The instrumentals on it are tight through.

**Added Bonus: I have the Mountains 12 inch album and the b-side has a track called:

Alexa De Paris. If you have not listened to this song in full and love this album, LISTEN TO IT! It's an instrumental but it is so great, his guiar work along with the orchestral sounds is so moving. In UTCM, this song was played when Christopher Tracy dances with Marie when she goes to see him for the first time. Oh so Good!!

Overall summary, there is not ONE bad track on this entire album. How in the world could anyone not love this album. Missing out, missing out!

I appreciate your love of this album. Prince's vocals here are wonderful, as is the music!

Connected said:

limoncello said:

1. Mountains - I love the sound and the message both, also in top 10 fave Prince songs of all.
2. Sometimes in Snows in April. Sigh.

3. Anotherloverholenyohead - Funky, weird and totally unique.

4. Girls and Boys - Just watched UTCM again this weekend and recalled how great both the song and the video are.

5. I wonder U - sleeper.

6. Kiss. Nuff said.

7. New Position - THAT BEAT

8. Under the Cherry Moon

9. Do u Lie?

10. Venus De Milo

11. Christopher Tracy"s Parade

12. Life Can be so Nice

The message of Mountains is great!

^

Singing the tune in my head...I always thought they were singing H-A-P-P-Y

Or is that a different bit

Connected said:

^

Singing the tune in my head...I always thought they were singing H-A-P-P-Y

Or is that a different bit

journalism16 said:

I will be ordering Parade tomorrow.

Let us know what you think!

CalhounSq said:

Connected said:

Classic!

My parents still embarrass me to this day about how they found a porno mag under my bed...and said thank god it was a girlie mag...we thought he loved boys because of the Prince poster!

Lesson 1: Never knew he spelt out PUSSY...will listen to this tomorrow...thank you!

I must hear said pussy reference!!! damn, still things to "discover" in a 30 year old song!! I love it, thx!

I can make you happy (I can make you H-A-P-P-Y)
I can make it real good (so good)
Honey, I won't be your pappy, (P-U-S-S-Y)

It's more subtle than the "HAPPY" spell out. But yeah, it was in the lyric book, and I can hear it now.

TrivialPursuit said:

CalhounSq said:

Connected said: I must hear said pussy reference!!! damn, still things to "discover" in a 30 year old song!! I love it, thx!

I can make you happy (I can make you H-A-P-P-Y)
I can make it real good (so good)
Honey, I won't be your pappy, (P-U-S-S-Y)

It's more subtle than the "HAPPY" spell out. But yeah, it was in the lyric book, and I can hear it now.

YES! Ok, that's where I thought it was but now that you mention it, I don't recall the "happy" spell out, so I still have to listen for that! thx!

TrivialPursuit said:

CalhounSq said:

Connected said: I must hear said pussy reference!!! damn, still things to "discover" in a 30 year old song!! I love it, thx!

I can make you happy (I can make you H-A-P-P-Y)
I can make it real good (so good)
Honey, I won't be your pappy, (P-U-S-S-Y)

It's more subtle than the "HAPPY" spell out. But yeah, it was in the lyric book, and I can hear it now.

Omg...I never ever realized that either. I just heard it and Prince totally spells it out, yeah in the background but it's clear. I have been listening to this song since I was 13, and well, yeah I am old and just found that out. Wtk? This is why I like coming here, getting some knowledge.

1. Girls & Boys One of my all time favorite Prince Songs

2. Anotherloverholenyohead

3. Sometimes it Snow in April

4. New Position

5. Venus de Milo

6. Mountains

7. Life Can Be so Nice

8. Do U Lie

9. Kiss Way to Overplayed for me

10. Under the Cherry Moon

11. I Wonder U

12 Christopher Tracy Parade

1. I Wonder U

2. Kiss

3. Venus de Milo

4. Mountains

5. Girls & Boys

6. New Position

7. Sometimes It Snows in April

8. Under the Cherry Moon

9. Do U Lie?

10. Anotherloverholenyohead

11. Life Can Be So Nice

12. Christopher Tracy's Parade