What is Prince talking about in this song? And please spare me of the obvious answer of "If you set your mind free, baby, maybe you'd understand." Also, does anyone know how Prince makes his snare hit sound like it's being reversed?

1) It's about a schoolgirl who's "special"

2) The power of backmasking

right?

Oh! Now I get it! CYNTHIA WAS SPEICAL!!! Thanks.

okaypimpn said:

In STF&C, the effect on the snare is a common digital reverb called a "reverse gate".

Eleventeen said:

cool. he also used this on songs like "christopher tracy's parade" and "new position" huh? i think outkast tried to use it on "ms. jackson." i could be wrong though.

starfish and coffee was based on a ficticious girl with Autism. if anyone knows about autism.its a infliction where tha child is in its own little world and doesnt really know its surroundings basically.

The digital version of this effect wasn't around back then. Susan Rogers said they had to actually physically turn the 24 track tape reels over so that the recorded Linn drum track played back reversed and then overdub the rest of the song. That explains why the cymbols are also reversed.

the cymbols don't sound reversed. it just sounds like he's splashing them a hundred times towards the end.

okaypimpn said:

cuz he overdubbed a various drums track over the backwards one. He did that on several other songs as well.


-SWANGgettininonthis

Starfish and Coffee is a metaphor for the little yellow schoolbus

from what I read in Days of WIld, it was actually about a real girl named Cynthia Rose who went to school with Susannah, she was either retarded or Autistic.

rdhull said:

dayuuum Rd I hitched a ride from that bus a few times when I missed my own as a youngin...

pejman said:

Makin others get up and give you their seat

rdhull said: