On Episode 94 of the Press Rewind – Prince Lyrics Podcast, Karen Shedrick and I discuss the real story behind the whimsical, child-like story song, “Starfish and Coffee.” Who is Cynthia Rose anyway, and how was Prince able to take a few stories related to him by his girlfriend at the time and turn them into such a fun and strangely uplifting song?
“Lucy cried, I almost died, you know what we found?”
A story song deserves a good story, and “Starfish and Coffee” definitely has one. Karen and I discuss the intriguing real-life story behind the song, why Susannah Melvoin received a co-writing credit for this track, and if there’s any significance behind Cynthia’s lunch box contents. In terms of its placement on the Sign o’ the Times tracklisting, it provides a nice break in between the more heavily sex (“It”) and relationship (“Slow Love”) focused songs. The song is so wholesome, Prince re-recorded it for an appearance on The Muppets Tonight in the mid-90s. A quirky decision for a quirky song.
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!
