While most all of Prince's music is wonderful and treasured by fans, there is certainly a short list of about twenty or so that are truly gems beyond compare. They're not always the hits or the singles either. They are the songs that only Prince fans would know simply because we listen to the whole album and absorb every song, thereby giving us a richer experience and perspective on his catalog.

All that said, "The Love We Make" is one of those songs. With all the precursors to the acrylic, compressed, & flattened sound he later adopted, "The Love We Make" stands out even more as something very, very special. The song could have gone in any direction but to repeat "put down the needle, put down the spoon" keeps it in a pocket of relevancy, intimacy (more than anything about eating pussy ever did), and shows Prince's humanity more than almost any other song he produced.

I agree, he sings it with so much passion and conviction and some of the sonic landscapes are amazing. He uses a pleading falsetto and at the end we get some multitracked voices. It is easy to see why most critics single it out as one of the finest tracks of the 1990s and probably the best song on Emancipation.

TrivialPursuit said:

TrivialPursuit said:

While most all of Prince's music is wonderful and treasured by fans, there is certainly a short list of about twenty or so that are truly gems beyond compare. They're not always the hits or the singles either. They are the songs that only Prince fans would know simply because we listen to the whole album and absorb every song, thereby giving us a richer experience and perspective on his catalog.

All that said, "The Love We Make" is one of those songs. With all the precursors to the acrylic, compressed, & flattened sound he later adopted, "The Love We Make" stands out even more as something very, very special. The song could have gone in any direction but to repeat "put down the needle, put down the spoon" keeps it in a pocket of relevancy, intimacy (more than anything about eating pussy ever did), and shows Prince's humanity more than almost any other song he produced.

Oh absolutely agreed!

lust said:

I’ll never get tired of this. I can never hear it as background music. It always pulls me in and everything else gets shut out. That he introduced it to live sets in recent years is such a gift. If you can access those recordings, please do.

Me too! Love so much the Montreux version.

Beautiful song in every way.

Ramzoo said:

Ramzoo said:

lust said:

I’ll never get tired of this. I can never hear it as background music. It always pulls me in and everything else gets shut out. That he introduced it to live sets in recent years is such a gift. If you can access those recordings, please do.

Me too! Love so much the Montreux version.

I was fortunate to be there. Was magical. I had put 90s Prince behind me. That moment renewed my interest in the song and been playing it regularly ever since.

top 10 of his career

FUNKNROLL said:

donnyenglish said:

I also remember he played a chunk of it, before he moved into Adore in the Auckland 2nd show.

.

Generally it also ranks high on numerous "Your favourite so many songs" lists. The song is a quiet achiever. And yes someone picked up it is about fucking with some very graphic foreplay.

rogifan said:

😍😍😍 http://dai.ly/x498rzj

Amazing performance! Thanks for posting

pinkcashmere23 said:

rogifan said:

😍😍😍 http://dai.ly/x498rzj

Amazing performance! Thanks for posting

It gave me chillbumps!

Powerful and epic song, very touching. It's a song for listen at night.

I've really never understood the love for this song. And Emancipation was the album that really got me into Prince.

gandorb said:

The live version gives me chills. Like so many of his songs, it's timeless !

leecaldon said:

I've really never understood the love for this song. And Emancipation was the album that really got me into Prince.

I was never crazy 4 it myself, it's grown on me. Still not 1 I play often .