Not two nights ago, my friend who likes to ask me impossible questions asked whether, if I had the power to bestow an additional 10 years of life to either Prince or David Bowie, which one would I pick. I said Prince, because I don’t think Bowie could ever have topped Blackstar (which time has only burnished), and because part of the music fan agony of losing Prince was the belief that his elusive third-act masterpiece was in the offing.
None of that has anything to do with the video released by Prince’s estate today. It’s just context for why I may have been ever so slightly more susceptible than usual to being reduced to rubble by this 1984 studio recording (essentially a demo, but a really good one) of “Nothing Compares 2 U”—that’s six years before Sinead O’Connor’s version—accompanied by video footage of Prince and the Revolution rehearsing for the Purple Rain tour.
It was released today by Prince’s official website, and is apparently fully authorized by his estate.
I mean, what more could you ever need to say? This is one of the greatest music artists of the 20th century working at the indisputable peak of his form. This isn’t just imperial phase, this is Hannibal cresting the tallest Alp before taking the battle to Rome. Except look how much fun they’re having! (Though I’m sure I’m not alone in wincing with emotion when he goes into the splits, knowing what that limberness—and those fucking high heeled boots—cost him in the end.)
And more to the point: Imagine writing a song that good, even knowing its full melodic and harmonic potential is still in progress, and being like, that’s cool, it can wait…
Amazing.
The video was compiled/directed by Andrea Gelardin and Ruth Hogben. The digital version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” is available now, and a picture disc—available for pre-order, along with some pretty excellent Prince apparel, here—will be out on Record Store Day.
