Monarch said:

So I know how this works. In an interview the artist will almost always respond with “the next one”. & I think I understand why they say that. But sometimes we hear an artist talk about a song that meant something special to them. What song do you think Prince probably played the most live? I’m sure he did Purple Rain for the fans, but was there something he consistently did simply out of enjoyment? Was there any song over the years that he said was special to him? Another thought I had was since a lot of the unreleased material he either didn’t intend to release or he wasn’t interested in releasing in the near future, these songs weren’t played live for the purpose of promoting them. So for a few of them like Empty Room that I heard he did often (I think I remember hearing that), could it have been because he particularly liked that song? I suppose the question is 2 fold. One being about whether a song was sentimentality important to him & or was there eventually any songs that he actually got into. I’m sure any artist who’s created enough material would eventually end up foot tapping to one of their own creations simply out of enjoyment. I mean Prince made great material. Surely something got his head bobbin when no one was lookin. [Edited 12/1/22 5:04am] [Edited 12/1/22 5:05am]

Someone asked him privately in 2013 and he again said it was Moonbeam Levels according to the guy who asked him.
Probably the reason why he put on a configuration of almost every album he made ever since he recorded the song.

Another generic response I hear a lot of musicians give to this question is: "I can't pick one. That's like asking me to name my favorite child. They're all special to me in their own ways."

It's possible that Prince was like us fans, in that his favorte songs changed depending on his mood or the day of the week.

[Edited 12/1/22 18:15pm]

Didn't he say the Breakdown was his favorite song on Arsenio ?

Or maybe songs he wrote for his son that he never released.

[Edited 12/1/22 10:15am]

''The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker.''

He performed it in so many various styles.

Same goes for ''Something In The Water'' i believe

LoveGalore said:

Ain't it obvious? The Beautiful Ones. He even named his memoir after it.

Yup.

LoveGalore said:

Ain't it obvious? The Beautiful Ones. He even named his memoir after it.

Did he name his memoir? He'd just started writing it when he passed. It's very possible he hadn't yet settled on a title. The Estate may have picked The Beautiful Ones.

lurker316 said:

LoveGalore said:

Ain't it obvious? The Beautiful Ones. He even named his memoir after it.

Did he name his memoir? He'd just started writing it when he passed. It's very possible he hadn't yet settled on a title. The Estate may have picked The Beautiful Ones.

no he named it. the title was already chosen when his deal with the publisher was anounced.

LILpoundCAKE said:

lurker316 said:

Did he name his memoir? He'd just started writing it when he passed. It's very possible he hadn't yet settled on a title. The Estate may have picked The Beautiful Ones.

no he named it. the title was already chosen when his deal with the publisher was anounced.

Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks.

Didn't he seem to prefer his ballads, answering to this question with songs such as Breakdown, the One?

coldwinterdewinmtl said:

Just because he relates one song to the story of his life doesn't necessarily mean it's his "favorite". He might like "Cloreen Bacon Skin" best but it probably wouldn't make for a fitting memoir title. Probably among favorites though, sure.

WhisperingDandelions said:

LoveGalore said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Just because he relates one song to the story of his life doesn't necessarily mean it's his "favorite". He might like "Cloreen Bacon Skin" best but it probably wouldn't make for a fitting memoir title. Probably among favorites though, sure.

He could recoalesce into existence today and say it was his favorite and people on the org would still be skeptical.

besides, it was written by wendy and lisa, wasn't it?

LILpoundCAKE said:

LoveGalore said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

besides, it was written by wendy and lisa, wasn't it?

Absolutely, and they wrote it about Susannah.

Prince has often said his favorite song was "Purple Rain."

LoveGalore said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Just because he relates one song to the story of his life doesn't necessarily mean it's his "favorite". He might like "Cloreen Bacon Skin" best but it probably wouldn't make for a fitting memoir title. Probably among favorites though, sure.

He could recoalesce into existence today and say it was his favorite and people on the org would still be skeptical.

Well I mean it's not like he was known for changing his opinions with the direction of the wind or anything.

He wouldn't straight up say "that's my favorite" anyway. It would be some cryptic indirect response where we'd have to infer/hypothesize like the org always does.

lurker316 said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

no he named it. the title was already chosen when his deal with the publisher was anounced.

Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks.

The fact he chose this title, and presumably was going to write his whole life story,

he obviously would write about all the people he worked with.

That's a very nice thought to me.

As if it is an ode to the all those who crossed his path, and mentioned them all equally ''The Beautiful Ones'' in th etitle of his memoir ...

(as i come to think of it)

[Edited 12/5/22 1:35am]

Vannormal said:

lurker316 said:

Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks.

The fact he chose this title, and presumably was going to write his whole life story,

he obviously would write about all the people he worked with.

That's a very nice thought to me.

As if it is an ode to the all those who crossed his path, and mentioned them all equally ''The Beautiful Ones'' in th etitle of his memoir ...

(as i come to think of it)

[Edited 12/5/22 1:35am]

Exactly. The title felt apropos to his life story (and "The Beautiful Ones" that comprised it) to him. Doesn't mean it's the all-time fav...

WhisperingDandelions said:

LoveGalore said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Exactly. The title felt apropos to his life story (and "The Beautiful Ones" that comprised it) to him. Doesn't mean it's the all-time fav...

Doesn't mean it isn't either. The song is put at the highest echelon one could reach, as far as I'm concerned. You don't just happen to put that song title as the title to your memoir because your book was a tribute to your ex girlfriends.

Maybe he called it Teh Beautiful Ones because calling it The Divine would seem a bit arrogant?

JorisE73 said:

LoveGalore said:

WhisperingDandelions said: Doesn't mean it isn't either. The song is put at the highest echelon one could reach, as far as I'm concerned. You don't just happen to put that song title as the title to your memoir because your book was a tribute to your ex girlfriends.

Maybe he called it Teh Beautiful Ones because calling it The Divine would seem a bit arrogant?

Exactly. ))

Vannormal said:

JorisE73 said:

Maybe he called it Teh Beautiful Ones because calling it The Divine would seem a bit arrogant?

Exactly. ))

The Divine, when finally released will be such a let down It's the new Wally.

Now, that song he recorded a few days after The Divine and thought little of and
just filed away in the archive to collect dust, that will probably blow us all out of
our seats and become a blubbering mess going 'the man was utterly insanely and
otherworldly talented beyond belief, this is one of the best songs ever'.

Can't answer the question of favorite.

In 1993, P wrote this about 1992's Damn U: "one of the songs PRN is most proud of; he adores it. Used to play it live even fore it was released. Through the years this has been the indication of his feelings about a new composition." https://medium.com/@anild....7sn13lnq4

When asked that question in interviews, he always replied "The next one "

Even on arsenio, he said, "i usually reply with the next one, but right now its the break down"

Meaning at this present time, it was the break down ... but he never said my favorite song of mine

in the whole wide world is ....

so that's what ive collected

Maybe sheila has the answer to that question, he may have convided in her his favorite, and its probably one thats still unheard and laying in the vault.

I'm waiting to hear a Perfect quality HQ copy of Cookie Jar ... i would have to say that is my favorite prince song

... until i hear more from the vault