PARADE - PART 2: THE SONGS

By @deejayumb ()
&
@EdgarKruize (EK)

EK: Before going on to the songs I just want to comment on Part 1 & the comparisons we both drew between ATWIAD & Parade

EK: 86’ Parade Tour was a testament of how the ATWIAD & the Parade songs worked so well together.

ATWIAD (song) merged into CTP and after New Position/I Wonder U Raspberry Beret was thrown in.

Elsewhere in the set Pop Life & Girls & Boys always worked back to back!

CHRISTOPHER TRACY’S PARADE

Originally “Wendy’s Parade” but then changed to tie in with the movie.

EK: I always wondered if the name Christopher Tracy had five syllables so it would fit instead of ‘Little girl Wendy’, as it was originally sang.

This neo psychedelic number features the Clare Fischer (CF) Orchestra in all of its wondrous glory.

EK: A few years ago @klopgrrr pointed out to me how the brass and the woodwinds sections are in a constant dialogue. Once you hear that you cannot unhear it.
Fascinating!

Similar in concept to ATWIAD (song). On both Prince is asking us to join him, one on a journey & the other to behold the Parade.

EK: During the 1986 live shows both songs were played back to back in a continuous flow. They truly are one of a kind.

It also bears conceptual similarities to The Beatles song “Being For the Benefit of Mr Kite” that Lennon wrote of events on a Victorian poster he had.

The cosmic psychedelia, would’ve been a perfect fit for ATWIAD too.

EK: The basic tracking of the drum part of this song and the three that follow was recorded in one swift take on April 17, 1985. The ATWIAD album would be released five days later.

Prince’s father John L Nelson is credited as co-writer - royalties $$$

Of course before Parade “Christopher” had been used by Prince as his pseudonym as writer on the Bangles hit “Manic Monday.

EK: The name of the character is very much androgyny. ‘Christopher’ is male, ‘Tracy’ is female.

U can hear the chugging of the ATWIAD train at the end of this track.

The train was still on its journey from ATWIAD, had paused to watch the Parade and then was off again continuing on its journey to the Dream Factory.

NEW POSITION

This is Prince’s “new funk” except (as suggested in Part 1) it wasn’t.

1 of my faves, it clocks in at just under 2:20 in length but it packs so much punch that it belies its length.

EK: This is the 1st (& probably only) time he uses a steel drum in a song.

That steel drum just kills me & then that bass just manoeuvres like a pair of hands all over your body:

“Honey, we can't last (we can't last)
Without a shot of new spunk (ha)
Honey, forget your past (forget your past)
You've got to try my new funk”

About experimentation & adventure & going fishing in the river of life.

EK: The river of life is depicted in the Bible book of Revelations, which Prince has often used for inspiration in his songs.

Sexual experimentation-main draw of the song- He is talking about different sexual positions. Wendy & Lisa even mention the word “Pussy”.

EK: During the Parade live concerts the word P.U.S.S.Y was spelled out loud on stage, whereas the studio version is much more subtle.

CF created orchestral arrangements for this track but in the end they were unused save for some arrangements subsequently being sampled & used on “Rave un2 the joy fantastic” 13 years later.

The original version of NP stems back to the 1999 era of 82’ & remains unreleased.

I WONDER U

Another one of my favourites & even shorter than New Position. This one clocking in at just under 1:40 but it’s an incredible 1:40, the best 1:40 in the history of short tracks.

EK: Lyrically one can wonder who the ‘U’ is in this song. I reckon it is the very same ‘U’ as in The Question Of U.. which was recorded around the same time and has strong ties with the next song on Parade…

The main synth line is reminiscent of the Art of Noise “Moments in Love”, a beautiful & classic synth pop track from 83’

Perhaps the Art of Noise heard that lead synth part & thought they’d return the favour & recorded Kiss with Tom Jones in 88’.

Who knows.

This is the first time that someone other than Prince sings lead vocal & Wendy has that honour on this track.

EK: Unreleased versions of this song feature Prince’s vocals as well.

CF created 2 arrangements for this song, one consisting of a “flute family” & the other of a full orchestra. Prince only used the former.

But you can listen to CF sessions here: https://www.mixcloud.com/rich-cranmore/i-wonder-u-prince-clare-fischer/

UNDER THE CHERRY MOON

EK: The is the title track of the movie & the only Prince movie that has a different title than the soundtrack album.

This is a clear indication that although the music and the film belong together, the album and film should be seen as a separate entities

Romantic song about living life to the ultimate high but also being content to die in the arms of your lover- wanting adventure & spectacular things.

Cherry Moon could be a reference to the blood moon occuring during a full eclipse & is quite spectacular.

“Why can't I fly away in a special sky”.

The second song to reference the sky in an apocalyptic context. The first being 1999.

“The sky was all purple & people were running everywhere” (1999).

EK: Also Prince describes himself/Christopher Tracy as a ‘poor butterfly’.

In many cultures a butterfly represents spiritual rebirth, being transformed and reborn into an entirely new way of being.

EK: That is exactly what happens if you follow Prince’s path up until 1985/86. He is ‘transformed’ in Temptation on ATWIAD and returns as a different and more spiritual human being.

EK: The next time he transforms & emerges as a butterfly is in The Most Beautiful Girl era. ‘Prince’ dies, ‘Symbol’ re-emerges and releases a cd with a butterfly shaped booklet.

Traditionally butterflies don’t live long. This foreshadows Christopher Tracy’s fate in the movie.

EK: The word ‘poor’ has a double meaning. He’s got no money (thus ‘poor’), but also his fate seems inevitable. ‘Poor Tracy’.

EK: The ‘poor butterfly’ doesn’t quite know what to do yet. He has re-emerged but lacks destiny.

Something Prince will find after he (‘the butterfly’) leaves the chrysalis that was the Revolution.

His obsession with the moon resurfaces once again & after hearing what Edgar said about the butterfly, perhaps the Cherry Moon is not a reference to the Lunar Moon.

Maybe Prince is referencing the Pink Moon which according to Native American spirituality is the April Moon.

The Pink Moon signifies “rebirth & renewal”, just like in Edgar’s butterfly theory.

As the Pink Moon shows up in Spring, after the misery of Winter, it is a reminder that life is a set of ups and downs, a cycle of hibernation and reawakening.

The CF orchestration is not used on UTCM and so that is another unreleased version to look forward to.

Prince reused some of the melody of this track on the Q of U.

EK: The Question Of U was recorded only a few weeks later, most likely he was meditating on the ‘which road to choose’ theme that also runs through UTCM and the ‘U’ in this song arguably is the same ‘U’ as in I Wonder U.

On UTCM, Prince’s father gets another co-writing credit but he’s not likely to have had any real input, just Prince’s way of ensuring he received some royalties.

GIRLS & BOYS

Signalling Eric Leeds first appearance on a Prince album (he previously appeared on Kiss B side or $) & featuring the Revolution on the first of 3 full band songs on this album.

EK: Notice that when the full Revolution is playing as a band on this album, Prince does not use (or hardly uses in one case) Clare Fischer arrangements

There’s a strange squeaky synth sound that sounds like a duck being strangled to death

EK: The instrument used is a Roland G-707, a guitar controller which connects to the Roland GR-700 synthesizer via a 24 pin cable. Wendy plays the instrument in the Girls & Boys video.

French is such a sexy language & the seduction is beautifully executed by clothes designer Marie France.

2 of Prince’s preoccupations make an entrance on this song:

Different Dimensions:
“Meet me in another world, space and joy”

The Dawn:
“Meet me somewhere after Dawn”

LIFE CAN BE SO NICE

Neo psychedelic number with a bomb of a kick drum.

Sonically, similarities to Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”. Same epic cosmic vibe about it

EK: Lyrically it goes beyond “Tomorrow Never Knows”. The Beatles song is a trip (‘Turn off your mind relax and float down stream’) and here true love (‘your embrace) is ‘better than a trip’.

That Harpsichord is addictive & hypnotic. The Coda brings Sheila E to the fore in a cosmic Jazz fusion showdown.

This is a masterpiece.

Dismissing this as no more than incidental music is insulting.

This beautiful instrumental, like the statue is strange & dreamlike, perfect but imperfect, beautiful but broken with a sense of enigmatic incompleteness.

EK: Venus de Milo can be seen at the Louvre in Paris.

The statue is placed in the Parade artwork, as if the Venus is part of the Revolution.

Around Parade, Prince was writing for Miles Davis (Can I Play With U?) and Miles has his own Venus De Milo on his Birth Of Cool album.

MOUNTAINS

A eulogy to Love - that Love will conquer all if you just believe - is the cornerstone of the chorus of this song.

EK: Like The Ladder on ATWIAD this is a parable, starting with ‘Once upon a time in a land called…’

Music by Wendy & Lisa & lyrics by Prince.

Miko Weaver & Atlanta Bliss augment the Revolution forming the basis of the line up for the Parade Tour in 86’.

EK: This is the only song on which the entire 1986 Revolution can be heard.

EK: Atlanta Bliss, Eric Leeds and Miko Weaver were new members and what we hear is more or less a transitional band as Prince moves on with them (and Sheila E., also playing on Parade) and leaves most of the Revolution behind

EK: The song mentions the state of emergency in South Africa (‘Africa divided’) and hijack of flight TWA Flight 847 (‘hijack in the air’) in 1985.

Prince would go on to mention news events on Sign “O” The Times.

DO U LIE

EK: The song starts with ‘Les enfants qui mentent ne vont pas au paradis’, meaning ‘the children that lie won’t go to paradise’.

A curious little number where Prince as chanteur appropriates French accordion music whilst surmising that his lover is telling lies.

EK: The first time an accordion is used in a Prince song.

Yes played by Frank Marocco.

Brenda (Vanity 6) Bennett’s mother played accordion & she is also of French descent.

The 1st time he used an accordion was on Sheila E’s “Next time wipe the lipstick” in 84’.

On the Sheila E track, the accordionist was Nick DeCaro

He used the accordion again on Violet Blue from the Jill Jones album again played by Marocco.

He also used it on “When She Comes” from Hitntun Phase 2, one of my favourite tracks from that album.

EK: The last time he mentions ‘Uptown’ in a song. Yet the setting is different than in Uptown or Partyup. He, himself is not there anymore & feels lonely.

The song is directed not at one particular person. Prince asks the question to all the listeners. ‘Do you all think of me’

KISS

I think we all know by now the story behind Kiss & Mazarati’s crucial involvement & so I won’t repeat that here.

WB said it sounded like a:

“demo, no bass, no echo, there’s nothing, it sucks”

More fool them.

David Rivkin aka David Z (Bobby’s brother”) played a huge part in the tracks arrangement.

What many don’t know is that he also stole the piano part from Bo Diddley’s “Say Man” and the Mazarati background vocal was taken straight from Brenda Lee’s “Sweet Nothins” -Go & listen

EK: During the song Prince ad libs the original title of the opening track. ‘Little Girl Wendy’s Parade’.

The music video is somewhat misleading as Wendy is not playing on the track.

I have already commented on the cultural impact of this song & video in real time in Part 1.

There was an impact too upon fellow artists who emulated the skinny motherfucker’s falsetto & the sonic acoustic arrangement of the track.

My Birmingham homies, Duran Duran’s “Skin Trade”, is clearly influenced by Kiss as Le Bon wears his tightest pants to emulate Prince’s vocal. That came out in early 87’.

Le Bon said he was channeling his inner Jagger but Le Bon is not from Birmingham so...lies

George Michael’s “faith” wouid not exist were it not for Kiss.

Sonically, the arrangement follows a similar pattern & it came out just a year later.

Similarly, Fine Young Cannibals “She Drives Me Crazy” takes cues from Kiss with Roland Gift (another one of my Birmingham homies) adopting the falsetto on this track in 88’.

David Z (Rivkin) produced & engineered this track as he did with Kiss & so now it all makes sense.

ANOTHERLOVERHOLENYOHEAD

Another track using that same weird Roland G-707 guitar & creating a Middle Eastern sounding riff taking us back to ATWIAD.

A Funky Purple Gospeldelia number which features some, not all, of CF’s orchestration on this final all band number.

EK: This is the band’s swan song.

“We were brothers and sisters, united all for love”

Yet Prince is trying to fight it. He has had enough. He has to move on, even though he knows it will never be as special as what he had. He doesn’t need a ‘new lover’, but he has to.

EK: Brilliant song, Prince and the Revolution at the peak of their powers.

The title is a so called portmanteau based on the lyrics of the chorus.

The idiom ‘You need […] like you need a hole in your head’ signifies that the subject is unnecessary or damaging.

EK: Prince might have been inspired by the Jazz classic “I Need Ya Like I Need a Hole in the Head” by Pearl Bailey.

SOMETIMES IT SNOWS IN APRIL

Prince’s most Joni moment.

The rubato intro mimicks Joni’s “Cotton Avenue” which the song surely took its inspiration from.

Another co-credited to Wendy & Lisa, fellow Joni enthusiasts.

I love the prologue & had they just continued with that for 4-5 minutes with variations & kept it as an instrumental, it wouid probably be one of my favourite Prince tracks ever.

CF did an orchestration which was used on the closing credits on movie version instead.

For many this song holds even more sway than ever as it was recorded on April 21, 1985, 31 years to the day before Prince's own transition.

EK: The recording took place a mere four days after that of the first four tracks on Parade.

EK: The ‘Tracy’ character was already developed, even though the opening track at that point was still Wendy’s Parade.

On April 2 85’ he announced he would retire from performing live.

In his statement he said he’d be ‘looking for the ladder’ & ‘sometimes it snows in April’.

EK: 20 days later the ATWIAD album was released, including The Ladder.

Roughly a year later (March 31, 1986) Sometimes It Snows in April was released and Prince started touring again.

So this brings us to the end of Part 2.

Next is Part 3 which will find @EdgarKruize (EK) going solo & discussing the possible track list to a Parade Super Deluxe.