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Rock of the Ages: ‘Let’s go Crazy’ for Prince
To mark the 50th anniversary of the rock revolution, the Sentinel is reassessing the popular songs of the last half-century.THIS WEEK’S SONG: "Let’s Go Crazy," by Prince (1984).



By MARK STETZ
SENTINEL CORRESPONDENT

What would rock ’n’ roll be without ego?

The Beatles would never have been "bigger than Jesus." Brian Wilson would never have pushed the envelope to dream up "Good Vibrations." Indeed, many brilliant and creative writers, singers and musicians would not have been so stoked.

They all pale and stand as virtues of (some) self-restraint in comparison to the blazing ego of Prince, the Artist Formerly Known As "I Can Do It All."

Prince vaulted his way to the peak of sales, creativity and critical admiration with a barrage of singles and albums that were largely recorded by himself, with perhaps a few instrumentalists or background vocalists stepping in here and there. But, by and large, it was just Prince and his burgeoning ego, blasting out "1999," "When Doves Cry" and "Sign O’ the Times" all by himself.

He did accept a little help for his pinnacle of ego display, "Let’s Go Crazy." But what he handed over is minor compared to what he took on: The role of preacher. With "Crazy," he wed his dark, fatalistic hedonism to spiritual redemption and became a Top-40 evangelist.



Prince proclaimed his singular vision from the first note — a wheezing church organ sound. He came in with a spoken-word intro for a full minute, preaching his good news and staking out his turf. (How many other No. 1 singles could commandeer a full minute of airtime for personal spiritual testimony? That alone took ego.)

Once the song’s keyboards stab the air and guitars slice through, there’s no stopping Prince — or the listener. It’s a dizzying, high-speed ride along roads of desire, sanity/madness, sex, spirituality, and, oh yes, blistering rock ’n’ roll. All this from a funk artist who dared to break out of any constraints and perceptions. Who said a black dance artist couldn’t play one of the fiercest and wildest guitar solos ever?

Ah, that guitar solo. It seemed, at the time, no more necessary than the spoken spiritual intro — and just as indulgent. Yet, as "Let’s Go Crazy" came and went so many times over the summer of 1984 and afterward, these two distinctive parts — bookends, almost — became inseparable from the energy, brilliance and scope of the song. Prince reassuringly leads us in with the intro, and then takes us out with him in a blaze of cosmic glory.

The final words of the song — "Hang tough, children. He’s coming. He’s coming! He’s coming!" — mount to an almost sexual climax. The arrangement then spills forth with an at-first burlesque-sounding guitar that builds and builds to what sounds like a madman’s release through his axe (another name for a guitar, but there is this veracity to the instrument).

Prince had been seen up to this point as a sexual provocateur, and "Let’s Go Crazy," from his "Purple Rain" soundtrack, seemed to fit the bill. It was a party stomp with one of the fuzziest basslines ever. But it quickly extended the question: How could an R&B song like this rock so intensely? And, for that matter, how do you dance out on the floor to such a searing guitar ending?

Prince left us marveling in his dust, disassembling our expectations.

Anything could happen with this one-man band. (He even went on to record in a female voice and persona on his "Sign O’ the Times" album and later on his never-released "Crystal Ball" triple disc.)

He had a prodigious output, stashing hundreds of recordings in his vaults. It began to seem that he was putting out his music more for himself than for anyone else, even flaunting style at the height of his popularity.

That popularity peaked with the "Purple Rain" soundtrack and tour. Live onstage, Prince redirected songs in a spiritual direction, incorporating his quest to synthesize body and spirit. He again left listeners puzzled, then really veered off course with the psychedelia of "Around the World in a Day." Crazy, some thought, but Prince has always been true to himself.

Call it ego or call it confidence, but he dared to bring together so many styles to present a breadth of vision wider than any other single artist. By basically doing it all himself, he dared to live out a key lyric of "Let’s Go Crazy": "In this life, you’re on your own."

NEXT WEEK: "Brown Sugar," by the Rolling Stones.


Contact the Sentinel at svreeken@santacruzsentinel.com.

Excellent article. As popular as that album was, u hardly ever hear any1 mention "Let's Go Crazy". It was the perfect song 2 open that album. It set the tone. I'll never 4get when I saw P during the "Purple Rain" tour. I saw him twice. And both times, when the house lights went down, it was the loudest screaming from a crowd I have ever heard. It was scary sounding. And when u heard "Dearly Beloved.." it got even louder. The first show, I had coldblooded seats: 12th row, almost dead center. The crowd was hysterical. And P knew it. He had this look on his face like this is what he has been waiting 4 his whole life.

Pretty dead-on, there.

This is in my top fave Prince records...

I always used to get mad seeing Prince tame this track ever more and more when playing it live. (That "Go freakin' crazy! Go Go Go... Go Go Go..." bit was always lame.) Trying to introduce horns into it never worked for me either.

The 12" is just awesome. I used to love copying the Prince standing-up straight and then bending-down instrumental bit when I was younger!

blackguitaristz said:

I know that's right...whenever I'm ready to get really hyped to go somewhere, I play Let's go crazy...it's such an electrifying song.