Always wondered why this song hasn't got much praise from fans... I feel in an era more iconic for the image over than the actual quality of the music, this recording stands out as one of his strongest songs from the era. Lyrically, even that very brief but amazing guitar solo at the end... This is such a haunting beautiful song and I feel it is very underrated.

Both Patti's version and the Prince & Rosie version are outstanding.

I love this line

"I even brought a new dress but when I put it on
I could still, still feel your touch."

This rivals any great line from his genius ballads from the 80's.

Maybe not too fans heard of this song?

Most Prince songs he "gave away" get slept on until people are widely made aware of a Prince vocal demo.

.

I think it's kinda sad, some of his best songs were released without his vocals (by his own intentions). I mean, I get why people prefer Prince vocals on a track ultimately, but, did we become fans of Prince the singer or Prince the musician/songwriter?

42Kristen said:

Maybe not too fans heard of this song?

I've heard both versions of this song and even though I actually like them, I honestly cannot agree with the OP's ending premise.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

42Kristen said:

Maybe not too fans heard of this song?

I've heard both versions of this song and even though I actually like them, I honestly cannot agree with the OP's ending premise.

You don't have to agree... But in the 1991 era, this song stands out for its excellent songwriting and musicianship in an era of majority "average" recordings.

I think fans have heard this song, it's silly to think most haven't. But I agree that it doesn't get the love it should. I first heard of it in the mid-90s on the In Rock 5-CD bootleg set. His version was on there. (Patti's is also on Symbolism as well as her album Burnin').

It's one of my favorite outtakes. Because of other songs on the set, I always associate this song with "Get Blue" (1991, which was also on Louie Louie's second album), "Hold Me" (1990), "Allegiance" (1991, and "Love Thy Will B Done" (1990). There's a sound to those songs that just make them all part of a nice EP playlist.

"I Hear Your Voice" does have some great lyrics.

Out of the lonely blue
U went away and left me
(I... I hear your voice)
Without, without one single word
(I... I hear your voice)
Night after night like a ghost from the past
(I... I hear your voice calling in the night)
Your voice is all I heard
I can't take it, baby (I...)
Don't let me die like this

I remember just like it was yesterday
I woke up, baby, and U were gone
I didn't even wanna carry myself up outta bed
Let alone, I didn't wanna carry on

Cuz I could hear (I hear your voice calling in the night)
I can't stop it no matter how hard I try
I can hear (I hear your sound calling in the dark)
In a word, I feel like I wanna die

I started lookin', lookin' from dusk till dawn
4 ways that I wouldn't miss U so much (I hear your voice)
I even bought a new dress, uh, but when I put it on
I could still, huh, still feel your touch

And I can hear (I hear your voice calling in the night)
I can't stop it no matter how hard I try
I can hear (I hear your sound calling in the dark)
In a word, I feel like I wanna die (I...)

My friends tell me that I need a new love
A bird in hand beats 2 in the bush (I hear your voice)
What my friends don't know, huh, and I ain't about 2 tell 'em
Is that U're the only bird, U're the only one who knows what buttons 2 push

It don't take no scientist 2 tell U what's wrong with me
It don't take good vision, huh, 2 see what any fool could see
(I hear your voice calling in the night)
That I just need your body, I just need your f-f-face
Right where it counts - no, not in another place
(I hear your voice calling in the night)
I'm talkin' about all up, talkin' about all down
Every inch, U see? I don't need U cross town
U better read my lips, I need it here with me
I can't stop it no matter how I try
(I hear your sound calling in the dark)
In a word, I feel like I wanna die

(I hear your voice)
I can't take it, baby
(I hear your voice)
Don't let me die like this
No!

I... I hear your voice {x2}
I... I hear your voice calling in the night
I...

P goes off during the climax

Lyrically this eclipses anything on the D&P album in my opinion.

I love Prince's version. I usually prefer his versions over the artists who cover his songs - Come Home, 101, 5 Women.....all better with Prince singing them for me. Once exception would be I Feel For You - love Chaka's version.

feeluupp said:

Lyrically this eclipses anything on the D&P album in my opinion.

She sounds like she has nothing to live for. Or am I reading the lyrics wrong?

iZsaZsa said:

feeluupp said:

Lyrically this eclipses anything on the D&P album in my opinion.

She sounds like she has nothing to live for. Or am I reading the lyrics wrong?

He/She can't stand being away from their lover, hears her/his voice in her/his head constantly, and feels like he/she wants to die without her/him there. Same theme as Come Home, 101, Solo, Goodbye, etc...

violetcrush said:

iZsaZsa said:

She sounds like she has nothing to live for. Or am I reading the lyrics wrong?

He/She can't stand being away from their lover, hears her/his voice in her/his head constantly, and feels like he/she wants to die without her/him there. Same theme as Come Home, 101, Solo, Goodbye, etc...

I hope that never happens to me.

iZsaZsa said:

violetcrush said:

He/She can't stand being away from their lover, hears her/his voice in her/his head constantly, and feels like he/she wants to die without her/him there. Same theme as Come Home, 101, Solo, Goodbye, etc...

I hope that never happens to me.

Yeah, brutal for sure

Moonbeam said:

billymeade said:

Moonbeam said:

Yes, it’s fabulous and one of his best songs of the early 90s. Love the nocturnal feel.

Yes! The production is so... Hidden? Hard to describe. Sounds like it was very dark in the studio while he recorded it, had a very Batmanny vibe (the isolated feeling). . That whole post-GB, pre-DP era of outtakes is my favorite. Hold Me, Uh Huh, Allegiance, The Voice... It's like he was trying to mature, then went with Horny Pony instead.

Yep - he really took the sexual turn with Get Off, The Continental, 18 & Over, Pheromone, etc... The beginning of his dark time

violetcrush said:

Moonbeam said:

Yes, it’s fabulous and one of his best songs of the early 90s. Love the nocturnal feel.

That's the paradox with Prince... In between, he can come up with brilliant songs from periods where most critics say was past his "golden age".

I think a song like this could've taken the 1991 era into a whole new direction, musically and artistically... Shame he was really aiming to be "mainstream" during that era...

violetcrush said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Most Prince songs he "gave away" get slept on until people are widely made aware of a Prince vocal demo.

.

I think it's kinda sad, some of his best songs were released without his vocals (by his own intentions). I mean, I get why people prefer Prince vocals on a track ultimately, but, did we become fans of Prince the singer or Prince the musician/songwriter?

I agree, to me the finished version of any given track is the one that got released, with whomever Prince decided should be singing it.

Now it's always nice to have the Prince guidelines, same as it's always nice to have work-in-progress versions of songs.

Now in that specific case, and it's quite an exception, I favor Prince's version, simply because I'm not such a big fan of how Patti sings it, I think Patti makes it more diva-like but detached, while P's rendition is more emotional, but that's just me.

I haven't listened to either version in a long while but aren't there some instrumental overdubs on Patti's instrumental, too? I seem to remember the backing tracks aren't exactly the same, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

databank said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Most Prince songs he "gave away" get slept on until people are widely made aware of a Prince vocal demo.

.

I think it's kinda sad, some of his best songs were released without his vocals (by his own intentions). I mean, I get why people prefer Prince vocals on a track ultimately, but, did we become fans of Prince the singer or Prince the musician/songwriter?

I agree, to me the finished version of any given track is the one that got released, with whomever Prince decided should be singing it.

Now it's always nice to have the Prince guidelines, same as it's always nice to have work-in-progress versions of songs.

Now in that specific case, and it's quite an exception, I favor Prince's version, simply because I'm not such a big fan of how Patti sings it, I think Patti makes it more diva-like but detached, while P's rendition is more emotional, but that's just me.

I haven't listened to either version in a long while but aren't there some instrumental overdubs on Patti's instrumental, too? I seem to remember the backing tracks aren't exactly the same, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Have you heard Larry Graham's song "Shoulda Coulda Woulda"? Prince is all over the track singing backround and playing guitar. The lyrics are amazing and so 'Prince". I don't like Larry's deep vocal, because it doesn't fit the song. I would love to hear just Prince singnig that one - even his backround vocal sounds beautiful. I'm guessing the song was too personal for him to release himself, or he gave it to Larry for other reasons.

violetcrush said:

databank said:

I agree, to me the finished version of any given track is the one that got released, with whomever Prince decided should be singing it.

Now it's always nice to have the Prince guidelines, same as it's always nice to have work-in-progress versions of songs.

Now in that specific case, and it's quite an exception, I favor Prince's version, simply because I'm not such a big fan of how Patti sings it, I think Patti makes it more diva-like but detached, while P's rendition is more emotional, but that's just me.

I haven't listened to either version in a long while but aren't there some instrumental overdubs on Patti's instrumental, too? I seem to remember the backing tracks aren't exactly the same, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Have you heard Larry Graham's song "Shoulda Coulda Woulda"? Prince is all over the track singing backround and playing guitar. The lyrics are amazing and so 'Prince". I don't like Larry's deep vocal, because it doesn't fit the song. I would love to hear just Prince singnig that one - even his backround vocal sounds beautiful. I'm guessing the song was too personal for him to release himself, or he gave it to Larry for other reasons.

Except that until proven otherwise, Larry Graham wrote that song.

While it could be nice having a Prince vocal version of it (and for all we know it might exist), it's Larry's song and Larry is fully entitled to sing it.

databank said:

violetcrush said:

Have you heard Larry Graham's song "Shoulda Coulda Woulda"? Prince is all over the track singing backround and playing guitar. The lyrics are amazing and so 'Prince". I don't like Larry's deep vocal, because it doesn't fit the song. I would love to hear just Prince singnig that one - even his backround vocal sounds beautiful. I'm guessing the song was too personal for him to release himself, or he gave it to Larry for other reasons.

Except that until proven otherwise, Larry Graham wrote that song.

While it could be nice having a Prince vocal version of it (and for all we know it might exist), it's Larry's song and Larry is fully entitled to sing it.

This has Prince written all over it - lyric and music. We know he was often giving credit away for his own work. This started with The Time in 1982. I would put money on the fact that there is an "all Prince' demo for this one. He's all over the song even with Larry singing it.

*

Not trying to take any credit away from Larry at all. Just saying I'd love to here Prince's version if it does exist.

violetcrush said:

databank said:

Except that until proven otherwise, Larry Graham wrote that song.

While it could be nice having a Prince vocal version of it (and for all we know it might exist), it's Larry's song and Larry is fully entitled to sing it.

This has Prince written all over it - lyric and music. We know he was often giving credit away for his own work. This started with The Time in 1982. I would put money on the fact that there is an "all Prince' demo for this one. He's all over the song even with Larry singing it.

*

Not trying to take any credit away from Larry at all. Just saying I'd love to here Prince's version if it does exist.

Prince didn't give away royalties to The Time. SCW, however, is registered/copyrighted as a Larry Graham composition. Giving away credits and copyright is waaay different.

This being said, Prince has also been known to give away royalties and copyright on a few (much, much fewer) occasions. So is it in the realm of the possible that he did it with SCW? Yes.

.

Now when you say it sounds like a Prince composition, I don't agree at all. The melody, for instance, is very typical of Larry's melody patterns if you're familiar with his body of work. I have Larry's complete discography so I'm kind of used to his melodies and they have a very distinctive pattern to them. When you know both Prince's and Larry's work, it makes little doubt that it's a Larry composition (or it's Prince trying hard to imitate Larry's style). As for the lyrics I don't feel them as being especially typical of Prince either. Anyway, Prince fans on this board have been known to claim they recognize Prince in the most unlikely songs, or to deny Prince had a hand in songs he had undeniably composed, so our "ears", both yours and mine, are worth one and one thing only when it comes to research: they're worth shit. Duane doesn't write his books with his ears.

.

So in the end, Prince might have had a hand in composing SCW, but this could be said for the whole GCS2000 album as well, and for many other Paisley Park songs Prince isn't supposed to have composed... We can speculate all we want but until a collaborator or direct witness says it's Prince, or any other sort of evidence that Prince composed it surfaces, SCW has to be treated as a Larry Graham composition.

.

The fact that Larry wrote it doesn't mean there isn't a Prince vocal version, though. Bang Bang, for example, is a Levi composition, yet Prince recorded his own vocals on it.

databank said:

violetcrush said:

databank said:

.

The fact that Larry wrote it doesn't mean there isn't a Prince vocal version, though. Bang Bang, for example, is a Levi composition, yet Prince recorded his own vocals on it.

I thought Bang Bang was a Brown Mark song? *

Princevault:

Bang Bang is the first track on Brownmark's second solo album Good Feeling, and, around the time of the album's release, Bang Bang was released as the album's first single. The track was written and produced by Levi Seacer, Jr., and Prince appears only on background vocals.

Specific recording dates are not known, but it is likely that basic tracking took place in Summer 1989, at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota; Prince's background vocals were likely added separately, but this is unconfirmed. No additional credits are given for the remixes included on the single.

• Brownmark - lead vocals, bass guitar and background vocals
• Levi Seacer, Jr. - all instruments, except where noted, background vocals
• Prince - background vocals
• Margie Cox - background vocals

What is great about the "Bang Bang" video is the set for the video. It was a set Prince was going to use for a tour, but never did. He let Brownmark & crew use Paisley Park soundstage and that set for the "Bang Bang" video. It's all an interesting point because we always hear how Brownmark was underpaid, didn't want to be on the Parade tour (having turned down a much more lucrative deal to tour with Stevie Nicks), and he didn't list Prince in the thank you's on his album. Yet, there he was months after the breakup, filming a video, hob-knobbing with his former boss. The narrative doesn't always fit facts.

TrivialPursuit said:

violetcrush said:

TrivialPursuit said: