funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Shy is the sister song to count the days. Another overlooked gem.

Yeah, they are kinda similar and I both love these songs.

Raevene said:

Musically it's fine for me, not great. Lyrically it's never sat right with me. He's falling in love with someone while she's describing how she murdered someone.

How I see it the song is about a shy girl who gets sucked into gang life and tragically ends up killing someone just to be accepted (or not feel threatened) by that gang. It is a song about good people doing bad stuff under peer pressure.

dodger07 said:

SpookyPurple said:

Not really odd but I guess dark for some? He’s clearly singing about a female gang member in Los Angeles. Never heard the version with beat underneath but would like to.

It can be found on YT. It’s ok but unsure if it’s official, likely a fan made remix

The version I have sounds legit to me, remixers would most likely put a loud beat on it and wouldn't be able to resist messing with it, also there are some keyboard parts at the end which are defo Prince.

its a good switch from a) the rest of the album b) most of what he was doing in this era. its a bit like what papa was on the come album. it doesnt have a big hook though, like many/most prince songs do. it drifts about a bit. its more vaguely defined than anything on TGE. which is kinda why i like it, though i can see why some might disllike it for that reason. i also like it just as its got some cool guitar, a side of his guitar playing we didnt see that often IMO. he was obv happy enough with it and its place in the tracklisting as it stayed in the same place in all the diff TGE configurations.

LOSTPASSWORDMAN said:

"The Gold Experience" is one of my top 5 albums. "Shy" is one of the weakest songs on that album. I don't hate it. It is what it is.

LoveGalore said:

Happy enough to add it as a mellow cool down when most of the songs that era were loud and big. He never even performed it live except a single time. Even Purple Music, Condition of the Heart, God, Bob George, and tons of other obscure songs got more live performances than that. I don't see this song as some mystery. It's a prelude to what he ended up leaning into on Emancipation. So very boring. Edit to add that Prince was known to do this thing where he puts a lackluster song on an album, despite having "better" ones on tap, because the lackluster one filled a specific role he had envisioned. It was one of the weak spots of his age old belief that as long as the vibe was right it didn't matter if it was perfect. The fans, no doubt, would've been happier with the album if one of the categorically better songs were in its place. But prince clearly wanted a chill song between 319 and the next banger (The Jam or, ultimately, BJB). [Edited 11/17/22 15:03pm]

"Categorically better" songs? I mean, it's all subjective. We all have different preferences. SHY to me is better than NOW, GOLD, BJB, WE MARCH, ACKNOWLEDGE ME, DOW, INTERACTIVE, etc. So I'm a fan who's happy that SHY was included. That's what great about Prince's music though - there's so much of it that if you don't like one song or a certain style of track there are literally hundreds out there to enjoy.

SpookyPurple said:

LoveGalore said:

SpookyPurple said:

"Categorically better" songs? I mean, it's all subjective. We all have different preferences. SHY to me is better than NOW, GOLD, BJB, WE MARCH, ACKNOWLEDGE ME, DOW, INTERACTIVE, etc. So I'm a fan who's happy that SHY was included. That's what great about Prince's music though - there's so much of it that if you don't like one song or a certain style of track there are literally hundreds out there to enjoy.

Yes, that's why I put better in quotes. Subjectivity. But btw, even Prince qualified his material that way from time to time - like when he downplayed Parade and said he didn't have enough good material.

Funny how some of what Prince considered weak many of us love and what he thought was some of his best work many of us consider weak. That's art for you.

I bought 'The Gold Experience' on it's release date, went home, took a shower, made myself dinner, ate the dinner, dimmed the lights, smoked a fatty, watched the news, fell asleep, woke up at 9:30 PM, took out the trash, then payed the album at high volume through my Bose 601's.

"SHY" was defintely the standout track for me.

That was my Prince through the silliness!

not in the league of raspberry beret, but its def one of his coolest narrative songs.

Hm, well,

It's an OK song.

Could've even be a small hit, only if (imho)

I would take away the cheap sounding string synths

and,

skip the walking footsteps

and,

get rid of the the irritating programmed tamborine.

Tthen, maybe, for me it could be a great memorable hit tune even.

I would even add a good drumpart and a bassline

and maybe some horns instead of these plastic string synths.

The wrong song on a right album.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

If you dont like cheap synths, idk how you like prince.

I don't like Prince, you're right.

That cheap synth funk bastard, don't know shit how to play any instrument or write a decent song.

TGE is still one of my favorite albums by him but I feel has many issues, that looking at it now I would change but it is what it is. COME to me was best because of its quick and dark dirty Prince to put it simply. However on that record the version of COME is a disaster, too long, and its an awful version, the dance version should have been used and would have shortened the album too, since we were talking about SHY I think SHY would have been better served on this album than TGE. Also TGE is too long, segues etc.. I get it but its bloated at times and I get that was thing everyone did during that CD fill it up with everything period. TMBGITW I never would have put that on TGE, but warners wanted something to sell, but it stifles the album as does I Hate U, not bad songs just bad placements. These two albums I know are forever in everyones minds to restructure them and for me TGE needs shortening big time, and things like Most beautiful and I hate U and even SHY slow this record down, and We March I would have left that for an NPG record. So I dont dislike SHY its just not a good song for this album.

Vannormal said:

Gold is a great album despite the terrible loud mix but I listened to Gold, Shy, and We March only once and didn't care for them. I still play Rock and Roll Is Alive to this day

The Gold Experience is one of the great Prince albums. Many many listens have gradually convinced me there isn't a weak track on the album. It's on the level of several of the 80's albums.

And Shy is a much better song than some of the comments here are suggesting. It's a film noir with a surprising skip in its step, an upbeat noir. It's a cinematic experience.

I love the way the mysterious love story is mixed with the violence on the margins of the story. I think the music is brilliant, the guitar work sexy and dangerous, and this contrasting with the cheesey synth sounds that have a videogame quality. It feels like the image of Prince on the cover of the album comes from this song, a walk through the streetlights of LA in the rain.

It's pretty obvious org'ers, what with their Prince in Hawaii boxsets and Love Symbol flip flops, simply aren't in the kind of economic straits that would warrant taking "the long way home 2nite".

WhisperingDandelions said:

LoveGalore said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

It's pretty obvious org'ers, what with their Prince in Hawaii boxsets and Love Symbol flip flops, simply aren't in the kind of economic straits that would warrant taking "the long way home 2nite".

Nor was Prince when he wrote the song.

That's why he's the artist, though. A true working class hero like struggling 70s street musician John Lennon.

Listened to TGE again, have to admid, it is a solid and good Prince album.

Not my favorite, but i can understand no why so many people like it.

It's very enjoyable from start to finish, although (yes, there is a 'but'), if it was up to me, ''Gold'' would not be on it.

Never liked that song, reminds me too much of ''7'', another one i don't like at all.

And ''Now'' should've been replaced by ''Dayz Of Wild''.

''I Hate U'' is fantastic!!!

Really wish that one was a 'suite' like 'Insatiable'.

Though I don't care for it, Shy is one of the most adventurous songs on the album. It is a style of songwriting Prince hadn't released before. Gold is a grab bag for me, but Shy is him at least trying something different lyrically.