I've always liked this song.It has a hard,pulsing beat and great lyrics.The mood throughout is very dark,which I like.I honestly think that this song would have been a great single.

I've developed more of a liking of it in recent years. Cool touch - the grinding sound after the second verse. Only Prince...

I've gotta say, it's one of the tracks I skip whenever I play through SOTT. I appreciate the weirder, darker vibes but there's not a whole lot to the song overall (especially compared to some of his other songs with sparse arrangements)

mbdtyler said:

I've gotta say, it's one of the tracks I skip whenever I play through SOTT. I appreciate the weirder, darker vibes but there's not a whole lot to the song overall (especially compared to some of his other songs with sparse arrangements)

+1. By far the weakest track on SOTT, but that certainly doesn't mean it's an all-around bad song. Far from it. I sometimes think about all of the great, great material he recorded during this period and scratch my head wondering why and how "It" made the record, but yet "Crucial" (as a general example) didn't. Maybe Crucial isn't the best example, but you see where I'm getting at. This era was arguably his strongest songwriting-wise, but IMHO "It" is one of the weaker tracks.

One of my fave songs from that album. A slow pulsating groove...that is pure Prince in his prime. Never gets old.

SoulAlive said:

anangellooksdown said:

I’ve seen a lot of people dismiss this song over the years, and I’ve never understood it. To me, Prince’s vocal performance makes “It” particularly compelling; he almost sounds like he’s in agony—his lust verges on obsession, as though it’s taking over him. There’s this indefinable tension that makes the track both undeniably sexy and a little crazy… and who can deny that?

herrherr said:

kygermo said:

mbdtyler said:

I've gotta say, it's one of the tracks I skip whenever I play through SOTT. I appreciate the weirder, darker vibes but there's not a whole lot to the song overall (especially compared to some of his other songs with sparse arrangements)

+1. By far the weakest track on SOTT, but that certainly doesn't mean it's an all-around bad song. Far from it. I sometimes think about all of the great, great material he recorded during this period and scratch my head wondering why and how "It" made the record, but yet "Crucial" (as a general example) didn't. Maybe Crucial isn't the best example, but you see where I'm getting at. This era was arguably his strongest songwriting-wise, but IMHO "It" is one of the weaker tracks.

It's probably because he wanted to put out more minimalistic material at the time. Songs like the title track, "It", "Hot Thing" and "Forever In My Life" really should have made it clear to the listener that the sparse production style was intentional and what he was interested in at the time artistically (as opposed to some people thinking he was just "being lazy" or something).

I also get the feeling he thought he would be putting out many of the other tracks from the same sessions on subsequent releases (some of it was included on the Graffiti Bridge album).

"Crucial" was apparently not on the album just because Prince thought "Adore" was a better piece of work in the same style.

the beat, it's expression listen 2 River Run Dry with It

It's a kind of dark song, about sexual frustration, it seems to me.

DOING IT!

Doing It!

Oooh...hoo!

How long I cry? Til the River Runs Dry?

I'm mixing two songs but...what the hell!

novabrkr said:

kygermo said:

+1. By far the weakest track on SOTT, but that certainly doesn't mean it's an all-around bad song. Far from it. I sometimes think about all of the great, great material he recorded during this period and scratch my head wondering why and how "It" made the record, but yet "Crucial" (as a general example) didn't. Maybe Crucial isn't the best example, but you see where I'm getting at. This era was arguably his strongest songwriting-wise, but IMHO "It" is one of the weaker tracks.

It's probably because he wanted to put out more minimalistic material at the time. Songs like the title track, "It", "Hot Thing" and "Forever In My Life" really should have made it clear to the listener that the sparse production style was intentional and what he was interested in at the time artistically (as opposed to some people thinking he was just "being lazy" or something).

I also get the feeling he thought he would be putting out many of the other tracks from the same sessions on subsequent releases (some of it was included on the Graffiti Bridge album).

"Crucial" was apparently not on the album just because Prince thought "Adore" was a better piece of work in the same style.

The minimalism was noted and praised by the critics at the time, at least in Europe. It was seen as a bold artistic statement. And it was. Prince's minimalism has been very influential in later pop music.