Whenever I talk about Prince — especially his classic 80’s period — context is where I like to start. And with an album like Purple Rain which (frankly) overshadows every other album released in his career, context is the best device we can use to appreciate its finer points.
Before I get into context, today’s my day to dive into “Take Me With U”: the second track on Purple Rain; the fifth and final single release (reached number 25 on the U.S. pop chart); and recorded over a roughly nine day period in late January 1984 (thx Prince Vault and Duane Tudahl)
“Take Me With U” is a pure singalong. It’s immediately catchy. Just after a few listens, you know all the words to the song and can’t get it out of your head. That’s the signature of a great pop song. And by early 1984, Prince was getting really good at writing pop music.
Plus, “Take Me With U” is funky. I’ll get to that later, so stay with me … I’m almost to the context part.
A few days after recording “Take Me With U” – like days later – Prince records another great pop song: “Manic Monday.” Now, it’s common knowledge that Prince gave the song to the Bangles and it became a big hit for them, but what’s it got to do with “Take Me With U”?
Glad you asked.
Both “Take Me With U” and “Manic Monday” — two great pop songs — were intended for the Apollonia 6 project. In other words, Apollonia 6 was going to make a run for the pop chart.
Side note A: Both “Take Me With U” and “Manic Monday” were intended as duets.
Now it’s context time: Purple Rain (The Album) came out a few days before Purple Rain (The Film) hit theaters on July 27, 1984. Up until that point, “When Doves Cry”, which had been on the radio and MTV for several weeks, was the only indicator of what Prince’s new album would sound like.
I need you to do something: imagine a world before Purple Rain (The Film). You haven’t heard any of these songs performed in a movie. But if you bought Purple Rain (The Album) before seeing the movie, there’s a good chance you’ll have a WTF? moment when you first listen to “Take Me With U.”
And here’s why:
Before the Purple Rain album or film release, whatever you knew about Prince – at the very least – you knew “Little Red Corvette.” That big Oberheim synth line, the LM-1 drum machine, and a guitar solo. When you get to “When Doves Cry” (the Purple Rain lead single) or “Let’s Go Crazy” (the Purple Rain album opener), you find those same, familiar building blocks in the music.
But when you hear “Take Me With U” for the first time, something’s different. This is not the pop that Prince gave us in “Little Red Corvette.” Here we have actual strings, finger cymbals, acoustic guitar … and a duet. It’s nothing like what he has ever done before on a Prince record.
Let’s unpack this and start with the duet that’s really not a duet. At no time does Apollonia sing by herself (granted, she says “thank you” all on her own), but we’ll go with it. And to be fair, she never claimed to be, nor was hired as, a singer.
Side note B: “Take Me With U” is technically not Prince’s first duet. I’d argue for “If A Girl Answers (Don’t Hang Up)” from the 1982 Vanity 6 album.
Moving on, “Take Me With U” has a great opening: 8 bars of the Oberheim and a Simmons SDS-V electronic drum kit that’s made to sound acoustic. According to Revolution keyboardist Matt Fink, Prince played drummer Bobby Z’s hybrid setup. (See author Duane Tudahl’s excellent book on the Purple Rain studio sessions.)
There are some familiar references in “Take Me With U”, too. As if Prince wanted to leave an entry path into the song for his seasoned fans. An example: the opening motif on the Oberheim is a nod to “Do It All Night” from the Dirty Mind album.
My Music Snobs co-host Jehan pointed out the drama in the opening bars. It’s like darkness just before dawn and we settle into a happy valley once we’re into the body of the song. He told me that the key was the bass note that sits under the drums & synth pattern.
Also, that bass note is a sustained keyboard synth held across the whole arpeggiated chord for 2 bars each time. It makes you feel like the chord changes when it really doesn’t. The bass gives it that drama and then the last bar unexpectedly resolves it.
Now, on to the strings and finger cymbals. There was a trio: David Coleman and Suzie Katayama (cellos) and Novi Novog (violin and viola). David is Revolution keyboardist Lisa Coleman’s brother and had been turning Prince onto Eastern music (hence the cymbals). We hear that influence later on the Around the World in A Day album.
Novi’s on several Prince recordings during this period: “Purple Rain”, “Glamorous Life”, “Next Time Wipe the Lipstick Off Your Collar”, “Around the World in A Day”, “Paisley Park” — so it’s clear that Prince is developing his sound. But to what end? I’m coming to that.
Side note C: Fun fact about Novi, she’s featured on the Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water” from 1974. That has nothing to do with “Take Me With U” — I just geek out over stuff like this.
Now remember: this album — this song — is released days before the movie hits theaters. And it’s Purple Rain (The Film) that gives the songs greater meaning.
So “Take Me With U” isn’t that strange when you see Prince and Apples riding on his motorcycle. That visual fits the music playing underneath it.
But without the movie – absent the visual context – “Take Me With U” is a strange song for Prince fans in 1984. Especially when compared to “The Beautiful Ones” or “When Doves Cry”.
Here’s what I think was happening. “Take Me With U” was Prince’s first step away from the Minneapolis Sound that propelled his career. The irony is that he placed it on the very album that turned Minneapolis into a hub for the type of mainstream Pop and R&B that defined the rest of the decade.
I believe that “Take Me With U” was the first shot across the bow, as Prince completely abandoned the Minneapolis Sound after the release of Around the World in A Day in 1985. This is further evidenced by him sequencing the first configuration of the Parade album (released in 1986) nine days after Around the World in A Day hit record stores on April 22, 1985.
Side note D: See this post on Prince Vault for more info on the making of the Parade album.
So that’s it. A great pop song that turned out to be a marker for Prince’s next step. That’s likely why it’s endured for so long. He even played it during his last Piano & A Microphone tour.
The last thing is something I said way at the beginning of this thread — “Take Me With U” is funky, and you don’t immediately hear it in the album version. But if you hear it live …