When Doves Cry - Prince
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- lyrics (48)
- chords (45)
- guitar (41)
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| last added by | pages | info | sheet | file | lyrics | chords | guitar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| palmpilot88 (504) | 6 | original | ||||||
| jignacio (85) | 6 | transcription | ||||||
| astrobjo (6980) | 6 | from "Purple rain" | original | |||||
| s3trealty (121) | 6 | original | ||||||
| YesSheIs (292) | 6 | piano chart | original |
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"When Doves Cry" is a song by the American musician Prince, and the lead single from his 1984 album Purple Rain. Released on 9 June 1984, it was a worldwide hit and his first American number one single, topping charts for five weeks. According to Billboard magazine, it was the top-selling single of the year.
According to the Purple Rain DVD, Prince was asked by the director to write a song to match the theme of a particular segment of the film - one which involved intermingled parental difficulties and a love affair. Read more
According to the Purple Rain DVD, Prince was asked by the director to write a song to match the theme of a particular segment of the film - one which involved intermingled parental difficulties and a love affair. Read more
The next morning, Prince had reportedly composed two songs, one of which was "When Doves Cry".
The song was #1 in the US for five weeks, from 07/07/1984 - 08/04/1984. It kept the other big hit of that summer, Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark", from reaching the top spot. "When Doves Cry" was voted as the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Billboard ranked it as the #1 single of 1984; however, on American Top 40 it was ranked as the number two song of the year as AT40 did not use Billboard's rankings that year.
The B-side was the cult fan favourite "17 Days", which was originally intended for the Apollonia 6 album. A 12-inch single issued in the UK included the album track, "17 Days", and two tracks from Prince's previous album, 1999, namely the title track and "D.M.S.R."
Prince wrote and composed "When Doves Cry" after all the other tracks on Purple Rain were complete. In addition to vocals, he also played all instruments on the track. The song's texture is remarkably stark. There is no bass line at all, which is very unusual for a dance song; Prince has said that there originally was a bass line, but decided that the song was too conventional with it intact. During live performances of the song on the Purple Rain Tour, Brown Mark, Prince's then-bass player, added bass lines in this song and other songs without a bass line. The song features an intro of a guitar solo and drum machine, followed by a looped guttural vocal. After the lyrics, there is another, much longer guitar and a synthesizer solo. The song ends on a classical music-inspired keyboard piece backed by another synthesizer solo.
"When Doves Cry" has gone on to become one of Prince's signature songs. Spin magazine ranked the song 6th greatest single of all time. It was number #38 in Movement's list The Greatest Songs of All Time. Rolling Stone ranked "When Doves Cry" #52 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (which makes it number three among songs of the 1980s). In 2006, VH1's "The 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s" ranked the song #5 on the list.
The song was #1 in the US for five weeks, from 07/07/1984 - 08/04/1984. It kept the other big hit of that summer, Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark", from reaching the top spot. "When Doves Cry" was voted as the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Billboard ranked it as the #1 single of 1984; however, on American Top 40 it was ranked as the number two song of the year as AT40 did not use Billboard's rankings that year.
The B-side was the cult fan favourite "17 Days", which was originally intended for the Apollonia 6 album. A 12-inch single issued in the UK included the album track, "17 Days", and two tracks from Prince's previous album, 1999, namely the title track and "D.M.S.R."
Prince wrote and composed "When Doves Cry" after all the other tracks on Purple Rain were complete. In addition to vocals, he also played all instruments on the track. The song's texture is remarkably stark. There is no bass line at all, which is very unusual for a dance song; Prince has said that there originally was a bass line, but decided that the song was too conventional with it intact. During live performances of the song on the Purple Rain Tour, Brown Mark, Prince's then-bass player, added bass lines in this song and other songs without a bass line. The song features an intro of a guitar solo and drum machine, followed by a looped guttural vocal. After the lyrics, there is another, much longer guitar and a synthesizer solo. The song ends on a classical music-inspired keyboard piece backed by another synthesizer solo.
"When Doves Cry" has gone on to become one of Prince's signature songs. Spin magazine ranked the song 6th greatest single of all time. It was number #38 in Movement's list The Greatest Songs of All Time. Rolling Stone ranked "When Doves Cry" #52 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (which makes it number three among songs of the 1980s). In 2006, VH1's "The 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s" ranked the song #5 on the list.