On Episode 95 of the Press Rewind – Prince Lyrics Podcast, Farooq Ansari (@anti_social on Twitter) joins me to discuss the romantic throwback ballad, “Slow Love” from the Sign o’ the Times album. We also explore the song’s fascinating history from its origins as a Carole Davis penned composition and what compelled Prince to include a song co-written by another artist on his project.
“The man in the moon is smiling, for he knows what I’m dreaming of.”
“Slow Love,” in some ways, feels like an outlier on the Sign o’ the Times album, with its traditional and, some would say old fashioned songwriting and delivery. Considering its placement on the tracklisting, it works. Side B/2 is the most eclectic side, with two bump n’ grind nasty sex songs (“It,” “Hot Thing”), two romantic ballads (“Slow Love,” “Forever in My Life”), and one fantastical story song (“Starfish & Coffee”) to maintain a modicum of cohesiveness. There’s a lot of moving around between genres on this album side, the album as a whole, and tossing a song like “Slow Love” right in the middle of the bouncing musical ball grounds the side in a very human space. There’s sex and romance and joy right here in this song, just as there is on the entire side B/2. Take it slow and easy, and don’t skip this track.
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!
