On episode 161 of the Press Rewind – Prince Lyrics Podcast, I discuss two more songs from the excellent 1999 Super Deluxe, “Don’t Let Him Fool Ya” and “Do Yourself a Favor.” Both are pretty straightforward, funky songs, and Prince’s Jamie Starr persona makes a memorable appearance on one of them.
“Only heaven knows how much he owes.”
“Somebody call up the Colonel. I hear some chicken scratchin'”
On “Don’t Let Him Fool Ya,” Prince warns a friend or family member about a no-good, triflin’ man. The kind of man that may be able to show off material things to make him look better off than he is, but the reality is a bitch. It’s got a hypnotic groove and an overly simplistic chorus, but what intrigues me the most about this song is its potential as a track written for a woman—possibly Vanity, possibly Jill Jones. Either way, I think Prince had a female perspective in mind, but it wasn’t to be.
“Do Yourself a Favor” isn’t really a Prince song at all. It’s a Pepe Willie-written track that Prince re-recorded from memory seven years after he participated in its 1975 recording as a teenage guitarist. I appreciate the new wave synths Prince added and the extended vamp outro performed chiefly in his pimptastic Jamie Starr voice. The Jamie Starr voice and ad-libs add a lot of humor to a serious song about telling someone they are OVER them. Thou doth protest too much, it may appear, based on the final words spoken by Prince as the music fades out.
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!
