Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: Prince
Album Title: Around The World In A Day
Year: 1985

Memory lane: the little guy’s a genius
 
How I Got Into This Music
Well.. Everyone got into Prince because of the 1999 album or the Purple Rain album/movie, but with me, it just concerned a girl I was nuts about, heheh.. Thing is, we couldn’t really communicate very easily (teenage angst can be a drag you remember?), so we kinda resorted to two other methods of communicating: aggressive and insistent taunting was one, Prince’s music was the other.
She was really nuts about the Purple One and I got most of his albums on tape from her. The music went on to be an important part of my life and the girl? Well..
Extra note: I was totally blown away by everything before “Around The World In A Day” and I made one typical mistake - I expected more of the same..

List of tracks of this albums that have been covered can be found at SecondHandSongs.com

Full album credits can be found at ArtistsDirect.com

Tracks that got my attention:
(well, all of them actually, but still..)

Around the World in a Day
First reaction: WTF?!?! Where’s the nasty rock vibe?
Later on: love the part where the funky guitar comes in, also the whole Asian/Mid East thing is good stuff..

Paisley Park
This was the first single I heard and I was so seriously disappointed! Some Beatles rip-off thingy.
Later on: one of the better tributes to styles from yesteryear. Most impressive were the lyrics:
Her husband was naughty and caused his wife so many tears
He died without knowing forgiveness, and now she is sad, so sad..

Condition of the Heart
First reaction: okay, I’m done with this stuff, this album’s terrible, this track’s a joke!
Later on: Top 25 all-time favorite and important tracks of my life!! (ohboy..) There wasn’t another way of putting that, I’m sorry, but this track just works for me on so many emotional levels, wow.. Again with the lyrics:
There was a woman from the ghetto Who made funny faces just like Clara bow,
How was I 2 know that she would wear the same Cologne as u
And giggle the same giggle that u do?

Raspberry Beret
Dance floor anthem during my student years, ah.. the memories..

Tamborine
Funny thing about this track: I didn’t know of it until I bought the CD! Seems the girl couldn’t fit all the tracks on the tape, sos she decided to skip this one.. Interesting choice, I reckon. Still don’t play it as often as the other tracks, but I sure as hell love the mad beat and vocals.

America
Oh wow! Power track!! The energy gets you from the weird guitar looped intro till the end of the song. Still is a hard song to dance to, totally impossible even, but you could not stand still when you heard this.
Teacher, why won’t Jimmy pledge allegiance?

Pop Life
This one never was released as a single in Holland, but one radio DJ announced it as being one of the most simple and brilliant songs he ever heard. For me, hearing the track was a turning point in my silly opinion about the album. I realized that I was listening to something very, very important to me.
Tell me, what’s that underneath your hair?
Is there anybody living there?

Ladder
This ain’t a song.. It’s something between a bedtime story and a morality play, without always becoming too corny.. Not always, though, coz sometimes it’s a bit too dramadama for me..

Temptation
Now this one’s a real sermon! One that many a power crazed politician should listen to before he gets nasty thoughts about his intern, heheh..

Conclusion
Most important lesson for me was that I was a totally ignorant little lad who didn’t know how to appreciate music. I’m not saying that liking this album proves you know how to appreciate music or that it defines the quality of your musical taste, hell no..
It just showed me that I should listen to the music for its own value instead of simply judging it according to my own little expectations..
The album itself is now one of my favorites: an incredible blend of rock, funk, sixties retro and many other styles combined with lyrics that range from over-the-top preaching to very small and precise observations about people and their stuff..
Prince continued making interesting and influential albums after this one, but this one’s still my favorite..
Oh, and the girl? Nothing came of it, I was way too shy, heheh..

Share This