Computer Blue
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| “Computer Blue” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Prince and the Revolution | |||||
| Album | Purple Rain | ||||
| Released | 1984 | ||||
| Recorded | Sunset Sound, Los Angeles | ||||
| Genre | Funk, Rock music | ||||
| Length | 3:56 | ||||
| Label | Warner Bros. Records | ||||
| Writer | Prince | ||||
| Composer | Lisa Coleman, Robert Matthew Fink, Wendy Melvoin, John. L. Nelson, Prince | ||||
| Producer | Prince | ||||
| Purple Rain track listing | |||||
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"Computer Blue" is the fourth track on Prince and the Revolution's soundtrack album Purple Rain. In the film, the song represents Prince's angst at the budding relationship between the characters played by Morris Day and Apollonia Kotero. The song was composed by Prince, with credit to his father, John L. Nelson for the guitar solo based on an untitled piano piece by Nelson. Prince titled the piece "Father's Song" and recorded it on piano for the film, though on screen it was portrayed as being played by Prince's on-screen father, actor Clarence Williams III.
"Computer Blue" was originally recorded at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles in early September 1983. Prince along with Wendy and Lisa and sound engineer Susan Rogers set about recording what would later end up being placed on the album Purple Rain, albeit in a very heavily edited form.
The song begins with spoken lyrics by Wendy and Lisa which suggest a dominatrix-type relationship. The song then becomes a very guitar-oriented number with rock music screams. The released version only has one verse. The version of the song that debuted at the First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis, Minnesota had a second verse, as did the song as it was originally recorded.
[edit] Outtake
Originally conceived as a 12-minute opus, "Computer Blue" would later be edited down several times for inclusion on Purple Rain; the song was edited from a fully mastered 7:30 down to its current length when "Take Me With U" was added to the album at the last minute.
The full-length version of the song contains extended instrumental solos and additional lyrics. Also present is a repeated synthesizer segment with a sing-a-long phrase "nah nah nah nah nah", which was often often played in live versions of the song. The synth part, without the vocals, even made it into the film Purple Rain as The Revolution was rehearsing while waiting on Prince to arrive. The track ends with a full minute of screeching feedback, some of which formed the segue to "Darling Nikki" on the album version. Widely regarded by the hardcore fan base as a musical masterpiece, the original unedited recording features the infamous "Hallway Speech" (as termed by fans) about emotions likened to different rooms. The "Hallway Speech" contains the following lyrics:
He didn't like living alone
The house where he lived had many hallways
It was a long walk 2 his bedroom
Because 2 him each hallway represented an emotion
Every one vastly different from the next
One day while she was with him
He decided 2 name each one
She walked by his side, one hand on his thigh
No — she was sort of half a step behind him
Yeah, the grip on his thigh intensified
As they walked slowly through the corridor
He named the hallway "Lust"
And as they passed through the next one
He named it "Fear"
The grip she now loosened
So he walked faster
Her hands now trembling
She let dropped 2 her side as he wrote the word "Insecurity"
He looked into her eyes and smiled a demon smile
And quickly walked onto the next
Corridor after corridor
He named almost all when suddenly… he stopped
He picked up the word "Hate"
She was gone
So he picked up another — "Pain"
[edit] In popular culture
In a "Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories" sketch on Chappelle's Show, "Computer Blue" is referenced as the name of a play drawn up by Prince (Dave Chappelle) while playing Murphy in basketball.
[edit] External links
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