Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
“When Doves Cry”
Artist: Prince and the Revolution
Music / Lyrics by Prince
Label: Warner Brothers, 1984
Like Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Little Richard, andor James Brown, Prince understood that the most profound roots of great African-American pop music were to be discovered in the place where a flamboyant stage personality met the timeless pop themes of sex and death. Like Duke, Muddy, and James Brown, Prince drew on all avenues of great black music to forge an utterly personal, compositional style and public persona bigger, badder, blacker (and sometimes stranger) than life. In Prince’s musical empire, rhythm was the foundation and funk was the key. Into this, he folded the virtuosic guitar pyrotechnics of Hendrix, the superhuman precision of the James Brown rhythm section, the timbral diversity and idiosyncracyidiosyncrasy of Ellington, and a theatrical, gymnastic, compelling stage presence dripping with androgenousandrogynous sexuality.
“When Doves Cry” is from the film Purple Rain
Musical style notes
Prince is known for his top-notch, virtuosic bands. In the studio, Prince can also be an “army of one,” functioning as composer, arranger, and studio producer in addition to playing a number of instruments himself. Every single note played and every single word sung on “When Doves Cry” was arranged, composed and performed by Prince – a masterpiece of multi-instrumental virtuosity, breathtaking vocal flexibility and phrasing, and creative studio-produced sound-layering. The synthesized drums and string-sound place the song right at the beginning of the 1980’s. Prince’s varied musical influences come out in his complex, virtuosic arrangements: the Hendrix-like guitar solos; the switched-on-Bach keyboard solo at the end; the sensitive, expressive vocals overlaid with yips, howls and improvised vocal phrases crying out with gospel intensity.
Like many of Prince’s songs, the lyrics weave sensuality and spirituality together into a deeply personal expression that is never quite made explicit in its literal meaning or intent. This is true even in a song like “When Doves Cry,” which was written expressly to fit the plot of the film Purple Rain, but somehow ends up seeming autobiographical.
Musical “Road Map”
|Timings |Comments |Lyrics |
|0:00-0:33 |Introduction | |
| |: | |
| |Guitar pyrotechnics and synth-drum track. | |
| | | |
| |At 0:12, we hear a repetitive, almost cicada-like | |
| |vocal growl. | |
| | | |
| |At 0:18: the short, repetitive keyboard hook that | |
| |continues to return just after each iteration of the| |
| |line “When Doves Cry.” | |
|0:33-0:49 |Verse |Dig if u will the picture |
| | |Of u and I engaged in a kiss |
| |Note: just vocals and drum track. |The sweat of your body covers me |
| | |Can u my darling |
| | |Can u picture this? |
| | | |
|0:49-1:04 |Verse |Dream if u can a courtyard |
| | |An ocean of violets in bloom |
| | |Animals strike curious poses |
| | |They feel the heat |
| | |The heat between me and u |
|1:04-1:34 |Chorus |How can u just leave me standing? |
| | |Alone in a world that's so cold? (So cold) |
| | |Maybe I'm just 2 demanding |
| | |Maybe I'm just like my father –-- 2 bold |
| | |Maybe you're just like my mother |
| | |She's never satisfied (she's never satisfied) |
| | |Why do we scream at each other? |
| | |This is what it sounds like–-- |
| | |When doves cry… |
|1:34-1:49 |Keyboard hook returns | |
|1:49-2:05 |Verse |Touch if u will my stomach… |
| | | |
| |Multi-tracked vocals over drum track and keyboard. | |
|2:05-2:35 |Chorus |How can u just leave me standing? |
| | |Alone in a world so cold? (So cold) |
| | |Maybe I'm just 2 demanding |
| | |Maybe I'm just like my father –-- 2 bold |
| | |Maybe you're just like my mother |
| | |She's never satisfied (she's never satisfied) |
| | |Why do we scream at each other? |
| | |This is what it sounds like-–- |
| | |When doves cry… |
|2:35-2:50 |Keyboard hook returns, this time with vocals added | |
|2:50-3:21 |Chorus |How can u just leave me standing? |
| | |Alone in a world that's so cold? (world that’s so cold)|
| |Note the addition of synth strings layered over the |Maybe I'm just 2 demanding |
| |drum track along with an “obligato” vocal line |Maybe I'm just like my father 2 bold |
| |(meaning an alternate vocal line that continues at |Maybe you're just like my mother |
| |the same time as the first, creating two interwoven |She's never satisfied (never, never satisfied) |
| |lines). |Why do we scream at each other? |
| | |This is what it sounds like–-- |
| | |When doves cry… |
|3:21-3:36 |Drum track & synth strings, with improvised vocals |When doves cry… |
| | |When doves cry… |
| | |Don’t cry… |
|3:36-4:15 |Keyboard hook with electric guitar layered in; guitar|Oh yeah… |
| |plays solo with vocals added on top |Oh oh oh yeah… |
| | |When doves cry… |
|4:15-4:52 |4:15 –-- screams over keyboard hook, drum track and |(screams) |
| |synth strings; vocals continue |Ooo, oh, oh…. |
|4:52-5:15 |Drum track with vocals leads into fast, almost | |
| |Bach-inspired keyboard solo |Yeah – yeah – yeah |
| | |Oooo – oh |
| | |When doves cry… |
| | |Don’t cry… |
| | |Darling…don’t cry… |
|5:15-5:47 |More vocal improvisation over synth-strings and drum | |
| |track | |
|5:47-5:52 |Fast-moving keyboard notes ascend to ending | |
Thanks to Dr. Chris Smith of Texas Tech University for his contribution to this Listening Guide.
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