On Episode 3 of the Press Rewind – Prince Lyrics Podcast, I dive into For You’s third track and the most well-known song from Prince’s debut album, “Soft & Wet.” Prince pushes the envelope, for 1978 at least, by including such a blatant sexual metaphor throughout the song. Also, I totally get the lyrics wrong (no thanks to the internet). Prince clears things up for us after I recorded, after the release of The Beautiful Ones memoir, & I correct my mistakes with some listener help on a future episode.
“You’re just as soft as a lion tamed.”
Prince’s first single was a minor hit for him in 1978, reaching the top 20 on the Top 100 Soul Singles chart. I can’t say whether he was pleased by this or disappointed that it didn’t chart higher (#92) on the Top 100 Pop chart. I think it was a significant first step for him in introducing his sexy, lustful persona. The song is innuendo-filled, envelope-pushing but funky as hell. It deserved to be huge.
The only song on the album that has received co-writing credit from Chris Moon, it’s lyrics have been cleared up thanks to The Beautiful Ones, the memoir Prince was working on at the time of his death. These lyrics were a revelation to me and possibly to others who were often baffled by what he said in the pre-chorus.
“If this is lust, then I must confess I feel it everyday. It this is wrong, then I long to be as far from right as I may.”
You can hear me butcher these lines as I read them off very reputable and commonly used lyric sites. Now I just shake my head when I listen to this episode and how ridiculous this interpretation is. This episode is a top candidate to get a re-do someday soon. It’s too important of a song in Prince’s history to spend half of it dissecting completely incorrect lyrics. At least the Genius.com lyrics website finally got it right, either from Prince’s memoir or from a user who directly submitted the correction.
“We’d be so lost, in our mouths. The best. I feel it everyday. You feel so wrong, be alone, if you just follow somebody someday.”
SMDH
The goal of each episode of Press Rewind is to:
- Take a track by track look at the lyrical content of Prince’s discography
- Discuss my own interpretation of each song’s lyrics
- If submitted, discuss listener’s interpretations of each song’s lyrics
Thank you for joining me on this journey through Prince’s catalog!
