Exatraloveable is my favorite bootleg song. But, it has a mystique because it was never released. The new version is objectively better but probably not as coveted because it was released officially.

Hamad said:

Hmmm! Not many, I prefer “I could never take the place of your man” because of the lyrical change at the end, which shifted the whole dynamic of the song. That was a good call he did that.

lyrical change? wh?

I honestly can't think of one. Usually they wind up being slightly worse.

RufusRawfield said:

"The Dance" was definitely better the second time.

Feel U Up.... but I like them both.

There also aren't that many songs he finished, then went back to and re-did, a lot of those were drafts. I Can Take the Place of Your Man is probably the best example because he made a classic, and that's how we all heard it, but if we heard it the other way around, maybe we'd disagree.

The funkier version of "Irresistible Bitch" and "Possessed" are better than the drum machine laden one (of the latter) we heard in Purple Rain. It's mind numbing.

Hamad said:

Hamad said:

Thanks for answering yeah I prefer the slower version, he sounded like he was having more fun there than the PR version.

I like both versions of Possessed, but I prefer the less "theatrical" vocals from the 1982 version. For those who wish the 1982 version were more uptempo like the 1984 version, just play it back at 1.1x; the track times are almost identical then.

donnyenglish said:

Exatraloveable is my favorite bootleg song. But, it has a mystique because it was never released. The new version is objectively better but probably not as coveted because it was released officially.

I prefer the new version but it's not objectively better. A lot of people will think the old version is better. It's all subjective.

I think a lot of it is about what you hear first. I prefer the new version(s) of Extraloveable and I only heard the bootleg after. Also prefer the newer versions of Place of Your Man, Feel U Up, Irresistable Bitch. I extremely dislike the entire Purple Medley.

Rule of thumb: anything he did or re-did between 82 and 86, is better than what came before. Otherwise: not so much.

His live versions, almost complete remakes are the only ones that I absolutely love. Little Red Corvette. Let's go Crazy reloaded, When Eye Lay My Hands on U are amazing standouts. Those are miiles and miles better live than many of the original studio versions.

christobole said:

Hamad said:

RufusRawfield said:

lyrical change? wh?

This was at the end of the original 1979 version: But I'll try yeah Oh love I'll sure as hell try Honey I'll try, yeah I'll try baby Take the place of your man, yeah Whereas the released version, he suspended the possibility of him “trying to take the place of her man” at least that’s what I got from it.

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The 1987 first known released version perfectly matched the eventful feeling of the era and the searches as in the SOTT title song, as well as in the other songs of that album.

There is a lot of desire in that album, the future at the time, love, sex, the desire for hope, the cross, Dorothy Parker, and the desire to be able to be her girlfriend, the will to understand.

There were not clear questions for all that seeking, longing and questioning.

That's why I love the first released version so much, where he doesn't want to be her replaced man.

It fits that complexity of that album imho.

-

But I sure understand what you mean.

To me, that original version with a bright end was a welcome gift and discovery as well.

It also fitted perfectly in that era of an unbridled optimism in our young Prince's mind.

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Hamad said:

RufusRawfield said:

lyrical change? wh?

This was at the end of the original 1979 version: But I'll try yeah Oh love I'll sure as hell try Honey I'll try, yeah I'll try baby Take the place of your man, yeah Whereas the released version, he suspended the possibility of him “trying to take the place of her man” at least that’s what I got from it.

I always wondered what she was doing at the bar while pregnant, and who was at home watching the other baby? 10:35pm on a Friday night, must've been grandma at home . . .

4 the Tears in U'r Eyes....the remake (which I believe is the slower acoustic version) is better, in my opinion.

1nonly said:

4 the Tears in U'r Eyes....the remake (which I believe is the slower acoustic version) is better, in my opinion.

That's not really a remake. It's just a performance in a video. If that's the criteria, then "America," "Baby I'm A Star," "I Would Die 4 U," and others would be remakes. They're not, though. It's more just a version of the song, not a remake.

TrivialPursuit said:

1nonly said:

4 the Tears in U'r Eyes....the remake (which I believe is the slower acoustic version) is better, in my opinion.

That's not really a remake. It's just a performance in a video. If that's the criteria, then "America," "Baby I'm A Star," "I Would Die 4 U," and others would be remakes. They're not, though. It's more just a version of the song, not a remake.

Except that the original was released on We Are The World, and the remake is on The Hits/The B-Sides.

It's not just a "video performance". PrinceVault lists it as a re-recording.

I actually prefer the WATW version . . . more firmly planted in the ATWIAD sound and not the Parade era. But I do love them both.

Se7en said:

jfenster said:

No one butchers his own songs like him

He definitely proved this to be true in the 90's and 00's.

Thank Jahova he never got to re-record his entire catalogue like he said he would.
If he had, all those LP's would be sealed and sitting in my collection gathering dust, and I'd be out of pocket by the hundred$ if not thousnd$. PHEW!

[Edited 6/18/21 3:39am]