Loved it first listen, and it's getting better with successive listens. Similar in orchestration and feel to songs like 'Adonis & Bathsheba' and 'Crucial', and somewhere between the two in terms of its trippyness. That's the sweet spot in his music for me, so I was on board from the get-go.

I guess if Susan Rogers' story is accurate, this must be the re-recorded version. I had imagined that to mean that, like the remake of 'Old Friends 4 Sale', that would mean that all the raw emotion had been purged from it, but I don't get that from this. Feels like a pretty gutsy and 'balls out' piece to me: the parts where the vocal lets rip sound more like 'Beautiful Ones' grit than P's more theatrical, distantiated screeches, which can sometimes feel like a bit of a cop-out; and there's a squealing guitar in there and Eric's sax that heightens the emotion of the piece.

The lyrics still seem to convey something of the vulnerability of the breakup too, I think, and perhaps make an implicit admission about his own tendency to posture like it's all good and go right onto the next one, and how this is a bit of a front - which was possibly the divulgence-too-far that he retreated from. I thought that much would be absent from any version that ever made it to tape, if he recorded it again, but happily not. (I think Susan said something about the original having a line where he gives up, defeated, and tells Wally to keep his sunglasses. That's not here, so that would suggest it's the remake - which is fine. It's not like we'll ever get to hear the original, if he did scrub it!)

In any case, I really like it. A bit odd, and possibly not everyone's cup of tea, but it hits the spot for me. Nice when such things live up to expectations.

[Edited 7/16/17 4:49am]

OnlyNDaUsa said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

It's definitely the 2nd version because of the horns and it's sounds playful to me, not at all painfilled over his breakup with Susannah as I've heard the original described.

and didn't Susan say there was a part about my Melody/malady?

I thought even as Susan was saying that that she was overthinking it a bit.

jaawwnn said:

What a truly odd song

[Edited 7/15/17 16:00pm]

Extraordinary. When I heard the snippet I was convinced that I wouldn’t like it and that it had been wildly overrated by Susan, but it’s a testament to Prince’s musical imagination that it quickly goes to completely unexpected places. I’m happy that I’m still being surprised and made a fool of by Prince. I can easily imagine that the original, emotionally raw version was absolutely stunning. It’s definitely odd, but brilliant.

[Edited 7/15/17 16:15pm]

Yup. Thanks Twitter.

Wally definitely sounds like it's pitched up. I pitched my version down a step (from F to Eb) and it sounds more natural. I also tried a half step (to E) and it also sounds find to me. Could be either one.

[Edited 7/15/17 17:24pm]

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Lives up to the hype I'd say. Can't imagine what the allegedly superior deleted version sounded like when this one sounds so great.

think of the 2 versions of "Old Friends 4 Sale" now apply that to this...

tmcjb said:

Wally definitely sounds like it's pitched up. I pitched my version down a step (from F to Eb) and it sounds more natural.

Yeah I wasn't sure if the recording was meant to have a sped up half-Camille voice or if there was maybe a discrepency during the digitizing of the tape to digital or something like that.

tmcjb said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Lives up to the hype I'd say. Can't imagine what the allegedly superior deleted version sounded like when this one sounds so great.

think of the 2 versions of "Old Friends 4 Sale" now apply that to this...

Oh my god, that doesn't bear thinking about.

I'll tell you where Wally got them glasses. He stole them from Billy!

SuperFurryAnimal said:

Now this is cool.

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Lives up to the hype I'd say. Can't imagine what the allegedly superior deleted version sounded like when this one sounds so great.

Yes, this version still retains some of the sadness, honesty and sly self-ridicule that Susan spoke of (the tiger impression preceding “I’m on the prowl tonight”). Musically, it’s as though the structure is constantly of the verge of collapse, only to be rescued by those sweeping, emotional musical swells. It’s quite remarkable. I imagine that the original lyrics were simply more brutal and unflinching – Prince acknowledging how ridiculous he appeared to himself at that moment.

At the risk of getting dissed.....what a let down, I was not impressed.

Mumio said:

At the risk of getting dissed.....what a let down, I was not impressed.

this is the re-recording and not the one susan recorded...

After reading initial reaction to this, I was expecting to be disappointed given the massive hype, but I really, REALLY like it on one listen. Can't imagine what the first version must have been like. Prince is freaking brilliant.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Mumio said:

At the risk of getting dissed.....what a let down, I was not impressed.

this is the re-recording and not the one susan recorded...

I like it enough, but I have to agree with Mumio. Were the lyrics different in the one that was destroyed? Dont get me wrong, I like it, but its nowhere near Prince best song. He has songs that blows this away. I even like 101 better. 101 is a pretty dark and emotional song. More in line in what I was expecting from Wally, even with this version.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Mumio said:

At the risk of getting dissed.....what a let down, I was not impressed.

this is the re-recording and not the one susan recorded...

Thanks for that.

Mumio said:

At the risk of getting dissed.....what a let down, I was not impressed.

Although I think this is one of those cases where the story was so mythical that I think it would be hard for it to live up to the hype of it all. I do like it a lot though, however it is indeed a lot different than the song I crafted in my mind ever since I heard the story behind Wally

ForceofNature said:

Mumio said:

At the risk of getting dissed.....what a let down, I was not impressed.

Although I think this is one of those cases where the story was so mythical that I think it would be hard for it to live up to the hype of it all. I do like it a lot though, however it is indeed a lot different than the song I crafted in my mind ever since I heard the story behind Wally

Once iI heard the sunglasses line a few months ago, I threw out all my preconceptions about the song. I was prepared to be very disappointed, but I hoped not to be. Having now heard this version, I find it easy to imagine an absolutely devastating one, with just vocal and piano. I really like this recording--don't get me wrong--but I fully believe that what Susan Rogers heard Prince create, and then start covering up and obscuring, was every bit as remarkable as she says. And that's even if it shared these lyrics exactly. I'm not sure where it ranks in my mind among Prince's other work--toward the top, but how far toward the top I don't know. I mean, heck, I'm still trying to sort out where We Can Fu** goes among the best, and We Can Funk was always pretty solidly more toward the middle. There's been some moving around in the rankings the last few weeks, and things haven't shaken out all the way.

[Edited 7/15/17 19:59pm]

imago said:

I like it. It made my tits milk, even though I’m a dude. I’m not doubting it is his most personal song. But, it just doesn’t sound like that. I love U But I Don’t Trust U Anymore from Rave has a far more confessional feel. Wally is great because it has that Sign Of the Times era feel to me. Gotta go. I need to pat my tits with Kleenex. [Edited 7/15/17 19:45pm]

I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore always felt more like a pose to me. Not bad, it just didn't ever really strike me. This feels more direct, and honest, in that it just has a guy more or less presenting as a guy would, moving from I'm down to let's just go kick it to, yeah, okay, you hang with your girl and maybe when I've got one again, to I'm not even able to talk, to ...

I just love the movement, even as there's no "I'm emoting and saying deep stuff about my pain"--even if you want to think about that malady/my lady/melody thing--he's really just singing la-di-das to attempt to cover the emotion, but by doing so "accidentally" reveals it.

Just a really cool song. I'm not saying it's his most personal--but it certainly feels among his least contrived/real--and I'm saying that while admiring the artifice that makes it seem so, because I don't think, no matter how personal the inspiration might be, that it's just a personal cry of the heart. It's a well done piece of art. It feels like an actual experience--but I recognize that it's a real-feeling experience he created within the work, not the one actually lived through (no matter what the history of the song).

"Wally, can you tell me why did my baby leave..."

imago said:

I like it. It made my tits milk, even though I’m a dude. I’m not doubting it is his most personal song. But, it just doesn’t sound like that. I love U But I Don’t Trust U Anymore from Rave has a far more confessional feel. Wally is great because it has that Sign Of the Times era feel to me. Gotta go. I need to pat my tits with Kleenex. [Edited 7/15/17 19:45pm]

"Wally" is one of the few songs I'm never quite sure on which playlist I want it to be. Currently, I have it on two playlists: Sign "O" the Times and Crystal Ball/Dream Factory. And, the way I have the tracking configured for each playlist, "Wally" works well on either. Also, it's one of the few studio boots that, for me, lives up to the hype. Usually, I'm into live boots moreso than studio boots, but, again, "Wally" is a gem. I'm not sure if it's Prince's best unreleased boot, but it's up there.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

sulls said:

"Oh my, la-di-daaa"

i mean in addition to that? she is giving a talk right now! maybe it will come up and she will listen to it

Susan Rogers said that regardless of what the date on the file says, it was recorded after '87 for sure. She thinks it's from 1991, but could not say for certain. She is certain it's NOT 1986 and it's after she left in 1987.

[Edited 7/15/17 22:28pm]

sulls said:

SuperFurryAnimal said:

I'll tell you where Wally got them glasses. He stole them from Billy!

Double