Thursday, April 21, 2016

ALL GOOD THINGS NEVER LAST

My dear friend and soul brother MPC was quicker to the party than I was. He was raving about Controversy and Dirty Mind before I focussed. I was quick to take to Head and When You Were Mine and was learning other bits of the early canon. So I was a fan.

I was back at UC Berkeley finishing my long-delayed Bachelor's degree. KALX  (the UC Berkeley radio station) was playing all the time and both MPC and I had spent some time as substitute DJs and such. As ever, I had time getting out of bed (ah, those days of sweet sweet sleep). On that day, I was likely dozing after the alarm went off, sleepily contemplating missing something important like French class. But mostly, I was dead asleep. And then a song came on. Something inside of me, something primal and deep was jolted. I sat bolt upright in bed and turned up the radio. I could not believe the beauty and brilliance of the song. I could practically sing the whole thing from the first time I heard it: LITTLE RED CORVETTE. Electrifying.

And the ride,
I say the ride is so smooth
You must be a limousine ...


That was it. He had me, hook, line, sinker, heart, soul, bank account, body, whatever I had belonged to Prince. That metaphor, that music, that sweet screech, all had me. I remember this moment, the sleep, the bed, the room, the first hearing of this song as if I had been minutes ago. 

Not too long after, by the time Little Red Corvette was a hit, or at least commonly known, I was hanging out with the current love of my life and singing that line. I mentioned that those lines were about the best compliment I could imagine. Sadly, the dear was utterly perplexed by that. I should have known better. I still stand by my sentiment as among the most romantic lines, the highest compliment possible. 

Yes, there were other Prince songs, other memories. Dancing, as so many did, in the years before 1999 was a just a year and then the past.


Don't miss this either. 

Sometimes it snows in April
Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad
Sometimes I wish life was never ending,
And all good things, they say, never last

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