Anytime the group discusses THE GOLD EXPERIENCE, SHY always seems singled out as a weak track or one that many would remove and I've always wondered... why? It's easily one of my favorites. I love the guitar, enjoy the "story" aspect and it's not overproduced (for the most part) like so many other GOLD tracks. So would love to hear why people don't like this track... but like WE MARCH which baffles me

I like this song it has a relaxed,bluesy sound and some really interesting lyrics.It's totally unlike the other songs on the album.

I like it.

I like shy. Nice rhythm guitar, nice chorus and the outro is cool with a psychedelic tinge.

For me the weak song is "We March" which always reminded me of "Walk don't Walk" from Diamonds and Pearls but an inferior version.

I would say I am in agreement with you pretty much.

"Shy" has always been one of my favorite tracks on the album.

I don't like "Shy" one bit. Can't believe all the people who "like" it here. Nope, nuh uh, nah brah... "Eye" love it.

The spare blues rock riff is fantastic for the verses. Prince tracks especially on this album often get overwhelmed by the arrangements. There are far and few moments in his oeuvre where he scales it back and gives you Prince + one instrument. They should all be cherished. Then that mellifluous chorus stepping it up a notch higher. I like the juxtaposition from crunchy to dreamy, nice and mellow, takes it where you do not expect it.


It seems the more ardent Gold Experience fanboys are the one who dislike this, maybe that's where we differ. Generally, TGE is pretty mediocre record that ages like sour milk, but this track is an absolute stand-out. My only hypotheses' are maybe the "hot virgin white" upsets some sensibilities, a lot of fans are slaves to the lyrics, look at "Free" stans,

And TGE stans generally exist because they get a rush from his cheeseball take on the rock genre, which got cornier and cornier with each successive decade he moved further and further from the 70s/early 80s, which was the only time his rock sound was remotely pop-culturally progressive,

Somehow over an hour of cornball 90s "rock'n'roll" Prince just isn't quite enough steaming hot limburger for TGE stans, so they take it out on the one track that has the everloving decency to do something *gasp* different with dynamics / expectations on the album. If he built the blues riff to a overwrought chorus cluttered with digital synths, NPG operator sound FX and a Hi-NRG cheeseball guitar wash it would probably be held up to the same rarified air as "Endorphinemachine", "Gold" and all the other blah experience that is absolutely laughable when compared to literally any other 90s rock artist you can throw a dart at.

"We March" is okay.

[Edited 11/12/22 2:48am]

WhisperingDandelions said:

I've always liked this song, but I felt it was a bit too over-produced. The cool opening rhythm guitar riff is straight out of the Sly Stone book. Wasn't crazy about the lyrics either.

I don't get the hate for it either; I've always liked it. The Gold Experience is one of my favorite Prince albums.

LoveGalore said:

It's trash, for starters.

I'm going with this, most wholeheartedly.

The Gold Experience is one of my favorite era albums. I could write a book on the brilliance of this record. Every song is a gem.

Except "Shy."

It's lethargic, sparce, uninventive, and ads nothing to the album. In fact, it throttles the momentum of the record, becoming its proverbial wet blanket. I will admit the keyboard sounds and such in the song are nice, but the song itself is just horrible.

I've long taken the song out of my playlist, and I actually re-blended the segues around it so it just naturally flows. It goes from the NPG Operator right into "Billy Jack Bitch."

I never miss the song, because it's simply not in my head or reflex to expect it. If I happen to stream it, and the song comes on, I skip it.

It feels out of place at this point, and for that I'm glad. It should've been a b-side. Or perhaps thrown in the trash can.

dodger07 said:

I’ve always liked it even though it does seem out of place on the album. It’s sparseness is a nice little change in a way though.

The main problem I had in my mind with it and We March is their inclusion at the expense of arguably stronger tracks like Days Of Wild and Acknowledge Me. I watched those 2 on repeat on TBE movie and was gutted when they didn’t make the album

I wonder about that. It's almost as though he put it there to simply take a breather on side 2 of the album. Had he put "Acknowledge Me" in that slot, the whole second side would've mostly been a funk workout. Starts with a rocker, "Dolphin," and just stomps right through until "I Hate U."

To put "Now," "319," "Acknowledge Me," and "Billy Jack Bitch" in a row is almost unprecedented for a Prince album. That's a lot in one space.

I don't even think Exodus had that sort of flow. Songs like "Cherry Cherry" and "Count The Days" broke up the momentum of "New Power Soul," "Get Wild," "Return of the Bump Squad," and "Big Fun." (Those stupid ass segues aside, which I sorta delete so I can stick to the music.)

Maybe I'll put "Acknowledge Me" in there and see how it works.

As far as "Days of Wild," it's sorta like "17 Days" in that it's a single that never found a proper album. I can only imagine it the place of "Now" on The Gold Experience. Because they're siblings as songs.

TrivialPursuit said:

TrivialPursuit said:

LoveGalore said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I'm going with this, most wholeheartedly.

The Gold Experience is one of my favorite era albums. I could write a book on the brilliance of this record. Every song is a gem.

Except "Shy."

It's lethargic, sparce, uninventive, and ads nothing to the album. In fact, it throttles the momentum of the record, becoming its proverbial wet blanket. I will admit the keyboard sounds and such in the song are nice, but the song itself is just horrible.

I've long taken the song out of my playlist, and I actually re-blended the segues around it so it just naturally flows. It goes from the NPG Operator right into "Billy Jack Bitch."

I never miss the song, because it's simply not in my head or reflex to expect it. If I happen to stream it, and the song comes on, I skip it.

It feels out of place at this point, and for that I'm glad. It should've been a b-side. Or perhaps thrown in the trash can.

You said it. Could not agree MORE.

I find this so interesting. All subjective of course, but I'd rate SHY as one of the strongest tracks and one that I'll listen to on its own outside of the context of the album. Love the guitar. Love the steps as percussion. Love the story he tells with the song and the simplicity in an album with lots of production bloat. SHY's place in the tracklist is no different to me than SHHH coming on the heels of P CONTROL and ENDORPHINE. It's like the brakes get slammed with SHHH but it doesn't bother me. WE MARCH is the one song I always skip and I always remove the NPG Operator. I'll humor NOW but it was corny then and it's corny now and certainly not inventive is that what one is looking for. GOLD is also almost cringe-worthingly cheesy but I still enjoy. I actually find ACKNOWLEDGE ME boring and glad it wasn't included whereas INTERACTIVE I still think could've fit in there nicely. Agree with others that DOW would've been better than NOW.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

dodger07 said:

Exactly, it was all about the sequencing with him . If I had to choose between Now and DOW I’d pick the latter every day of the week. They were great live back to back

Out of those two songs, I'd fully agree "Days of Wild" is a superior track. But I can get with "Now" any ol' time.

TrivialPursuit said:

LoveGalore said:

McD said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

TrivialPursuit said: