“Purple Rain” is a track recorded by Prince and the Revolution. It appears on the Purple Rain (1984), Prince’s sixth solo album.
About the Song
After the success of “Stand Back,” which featured Prince’s distinctive keyboard and guitar work, Prince asked Stevie Nicks if they could write a song together. So he sent her a cassette of a long instrumental country track and invited her to write lyrics (Hann, 2017). But the task proved to be too challenging for Stevie. “It was so overwhelming, that 10-minute track, that I listened to it and I just got scared. I called him back and said, ‘I can’t do it. I wish I could. It’s too much for me.’ I’m so glad that I didn’t, because he wrote it, and it became ‘Purple Rain.’” (Bream, 2011).
Lyrics
I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only want one time to see you laughing
I only want to see you laughing
In the purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
I only want to see you bathing
In the purple rain
I never wanted to be your weekend lover
I only wanted to be some kind of friend, hey
Baby, I could never steal you from another
It’s such a shame our friendship had to end
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
I only want to see you underneath the purple rain
Honey, I know, I know, I know times are changing
It’s time we all reach out for something new
That means you too
You say you want a leader
But you can’t seem to make up your mind
I think you better close it
And let me guide you to the purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain, yeah
Purple rain, purple rain, wooo!
If you know what I’m singing about up here
Come on, raise your hand
Purple rain, purple rain, yeah
I only want to see you
Only want to see you in the purple rain
Band
- Prince – lead and backing vocals, electric lead guitar, synthesizers, string arrangement
- Wendy Melvoin – electric rhythm guitar, backing vocals, string conductor
- Lisa Coleman – synthesizers, backing vocals, string arrangement, string conductor
- Matt Fink – Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, backing vocals
- Brown Mark – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Bobby Z. – Simmons SDS-V, Linn LM-1, cymbals
- Novi Novog – violin, viola
- David Coleman – cello
- Suzie Katayama – cello
Credits sourced from Duane Tudahl, Benoît Clerc, and Guitarcloud via Wikipedia.
References
Bream, J. (2011, August 23). Stevie’s new whirl. Star Tribune.
Hann, M. (2017, July 24). Interview: how we made Prince’s ‘Purple Rain.’ The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jul/24/how-we-made-princes-purple-rain-interview
