On Episode 75 of the Press Rewind – Prince Lyrics Podcast, Todd Sanzone (@PRN4EVR on Twitter) & I talk about the sexually charged lyrics to the B-side, “Girl.” As two middle aged, married men, we still manage to offer two different takes on what exactly is going on in this song…which begs the question, what do the women listeners of the song think? Are we on track or totally off base?
“If I was anything else I’d be the water in your bath, darling.”
Prince gets extra horny on this B-side, dating back to the 1999-era. While it didn’t find its way to our ears until 1985 as the B-side to either “Pop Life” or “America,” depending on what part of the world you lived in at the time, its 1982 roots are still there. Hidden deep in the track, backmasked, are Vanity’s vocals from a song believed to be called “Boy.” There is no absolute proof of this, but the evidence is strong.
Todd and I (well, mostly just me) blush our way through the dissection of bawdy lines such as “you’re dreaming I scream inside you,” “caress the flower,” and “girl, the way you play with it” until we both agree that a woman’s interpretation would have been welcomed at the moment. If you haven’t checked out the extended 12″ version of “Girl,” I highly recommend you do so!
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 along with any guest I may have
- If submitted, discuss listener’s interpretations of each song’s lyrics
Thank you for joining me on this journey through Prince’s catalog!
