It's always bugged me that the 'Hits' version included Rosie's vocal missing the mic in the first verse. Why would Prince pick this version for formal release, without an overdub, rather than the verison he had been siniging live for 3 years, many of which were superior. The mistake is very obvious.

Do you think he didn't care, of that the rest of 'that' version wanrranted the poor start?

SquirrelMeat said:

It's always bugged me that the 'Hits' version included Rosie's vocal missing the mic in the first verse. Why would Prince pick this version for formal release, without an overdub, rather than the verison he had been siniging live for 3 years, many of which were superior. The mistake is very obvious.

Do you think he didn't care, of that the rest of 'that' version wanrranted the poor start?

Because she's walking towars the mic. You've also seen that in the video.

First, he was very into his band at the time. I also think he wanted to get as far away from The Family and Sinead's versions as possible. Her version was so massive just 2 years before. He sorta had something to live up to at the time.

Alan Leeds also mentioned, in the liner notes for The Hits/The B-Sides, that Prince "was damn near obligated to perform it himself." I would agree. You don't just send out a song like that, and it become a colossal hit and not sorta take it back.

So to me, it was always a bit of both worlds. Obligation for the masses while equally low-key distancing himself from it for a while. It's a bit of a "let them eat cake" moment.

He had a tumultuous relationship w/ Sinead, so there was likely some angst there in that he felt beholden to her for having to release it at all. Had it just sorta been tucked on her album with no real notice besides by Prince fans, he may have never released a version at all. Or at least not two years after Sinead did.

Of course, we always have to factor in his ever-growing frustration with and angst toward Warner Bros. This was a 33 year old guy who was fighting for what - he felt - was his life and livelihood. With the failed projects around that time, (Rosie's album falling away, his personal relationships changing like Carmen's cheating, Rosie leaving, etc, plus Paisley Park bleeding money and eventually folding - which gave birth to his independent NPG label - I think him finding the "right" version of this song was the last dang thing on his mind.

I will say I never liked this version, but I can deal with it. I didn't like the big emphasis on the chord fill between sections that he makes into the main hook. It's brash, compared to the tenderness of the song in general. It sorta blows out the O-ring on it. But, had he re-recorded it from scratch that way with Rosie and made it a studio version and cleaned it up a bit - then maybe I'd have felt different.

Footnote: I kinda wonder if The Hits/The B-Sides ever gets a remaster et al, that they'll fix that moment on "Nothing Compares 2 U" of Rosie's mic not being on. In fact, it's sort of a great opportunity to release that invitation only show on BluRay, plus The Hits Video Collection.

TrivialPursuit said:

Of course, we always have to factor in his ever-growing frustration with and angst toward Warner Bros. This was a 33 year old guy who was fighting for what - he felt - was his life and livelihood. With the failed projects around that time, (Rosie's album falling away, his personal relationships changing like Carmen's cheating, Rosie leaving, etc, plus Paisley Park bleeding money and eventually folding - which gave birth to his independent NPG label - I think him finding the "right" version of this song was the last dang thing on his mind.

^This.

psyche2 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Of course, we always have to factor in his ever-growing frustration with and angst toward Warner Bros. This was a 33 year old guy who was fighting for what - he felt - was his life and livelihood. With the failed projects around that time, (Rosie's album falling away, his personal relationships changing like Carmen's cheating, Rosie leaving, etc, plus Paisley Park bleeding money and eventually folding - which gave birth to his independent NPG label - I think him finding the "right" version of this song was the last dang thing on his mind.

^This.

i think he just wanted to reclaim the song, felt it should be on his career retrospective/greatest hits album as it is one of his best known songs by anyone, and thought the most recent version/arrangement was the best, so didnt think anything more about it. ive a feeling he never really gave the song much thought until sinead made it a hit, so it figures that after it blew up, he still didnt really see what was so special about it, which was reflected in the version he chose to release.

Mindbells9 said:

I've always loved this version and it's the one I always go to whenever I want to hear the song. I've never cared for Sinead's version though, nor The Family's.

You're not the only one! I've always liked Prince and Rosie's version. I guess because I was 15 then and had never heard any other version of the song, even Sinead's.

I understand why people like Sinead's version and why it was a hit, but I like that warm, fuzzy feeling the live/1992 version gives me.

It may have this technical mistake, but I love this version. More than The Family´s and more than all versions I heard of him without Rosie.

Prince should've re-recorded a live version duet with Sinead O'connor.

Now tht would'e been a serious dare!

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

He should have done a live performance on tv of him on piano and her singing. that would have been graceful and made him look good

Absolutely.

But dear Sinead... always against something, a swearing hurt soul,

was the most furthest part in a spectrum of music, messag and humanity to fit-in in Prince's universum.

The original version, the one we got after Prince left us, that's the best version. Best by far, if you ask me. It's the most "Prince" version. Had that one come out first back then, no one could have touched it.