Prince Purple Rain Analysis

Track 3: When Doves Cry
Prince, Purple Rain

The Purple Rain film followed the same redemption storyline as the record, and it added fictional flesh to Prince’s journey of moral enlightenment. It was the tale of a kid from a broken family who had trouble with relationships. He was a controlling brat who shut people out of his life. He was unable to hold onto love, until he finally found peace with who he was, and he found that peace by discovering a bond with his father. The movie aggregated all the elements of his past that were legendary in his own mind: battles between hometown bands, his parents’ destructive marriage, the refuge he found in his basement hideaway, his band members’ nagging frustration with their despot. Morris Day, with

Prince left the arrangement beautifully naked, yanking out the bass line to emphasize his signature synth and hypnotic drum machine. It started with an arresting fanfare of disoriented rock guitar, and a classical keyboard run ended the song on a revelatory high. He stacked several vocal tracks together, bringing the many voices in his head into one harmonic melody. The coiled tension of the stark music placed the focus on his deeply personal lyric, one that haunted you with its shadowy glimpses into a struggling

Some of his managers and the team at Warner were hesitant about his selection. There was a lot of risk to leading off with such an unconventional song. And there was a lot riding on its success. But the Kid was in his zone. His instincts were dead-on. 1999 had made Prince a hot commodity, and radio markets were salivating for his edgy, innovative sound. “When Doves Cry” was released on May 16, 1984, and it immediately sent shivers through the music world. The song shot to the top of the charts and was Warners’ fastest-selling single yet. It went on to become the highest-grossing song of