Rick then played me this Prince song, “When You Were Mine,” which I also liked, so we added that to album too. I heard that he liked my version of it. Later, I saw him when we were both at the American Music Awards, but I didn’t speak to him. You’re gonna think this is nutty, but I felt he was so famous that I didn’t want to go up to him. But I have gotten to know him in the last ten years or so. He is still a great artist. And he’s always very sweet to me. I think he’s God’s child.

And here’s why: In 2007, while I was writing the CD Bring Ya to the Brink, I happened to see Prince’s extraordinary Superbowl performance live on TV. He was singing “Purple Rain” and it was raining—real hard too. All of a sudden, he needed to fight the elements. It was slippery and he slipped. The large white backdrop behind him that was supposed to gently move with the wind was turning into a sail and still, it continued to rain hard.

And all of a sudden, I saw how he accepted and worked with the rain and the wind. I thought, “This is God’s child, right in front of us, live.” It was one of the most inspirational performances I’d ever seen. So in “Same Ol’ Story,” the lines “People slipping in the rain, I watch them get up again / It makes me feel like I can too” are about him.