Songs I wish I'd written: #3
“Electric Chair”
by Prince
Yeah, I know. You say “Prince” and everyone has strong opinions about the Best Prince Song Ever (there are so many to choose from).
When I was growing up on progressive rock and white classic rock, Prince was the weirdo. So I was late—very late—to the Prince party. It wasn’t until someone gave me a copy of The Gold Experience that something clicked and I realized the sheer genius of Prince. And once that happens, there are scores of records to discover, and so many great songs. (I’m one of those people that bought Lovesexy, imported it, broke it into separate tracks, and burned a disc of that. Big nerd.) So I’m right there with everyone else when I try to choose the best Prince song.
But the song I wish I’d written is “Electric Chair” from the Batman album.
Don’t get me wrong: I also wish I’d written songs like “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Sexy M.F.” and “Black Sweat” and even “Jughead” and “Dream Factory” (the list goes on and on, I could talk about the merit of Prince songs for hours), but that’s just impossible. There’s simply no world in which I am able to write one of his songs; that’s ok – it’s expected with that level of genius.
But “Electric Chair” is one of those songs that perfectly captures so much of what I love about Prince’s work without seeming out of reach: the way he captures a moment and lights it up, nothing necessarily grandiose or philosophical, but direct and emotive. And in this case, he marries the madness and darkness in the Batman movie with his typical suggestive smirk, the way he melds slinky funk and straight-up guitar rock, but it still seems to all be in the name of gettin’ down (take that however you will). It’s a lovable hybrid more than a representation of a particular Prince era. You can almost distill it down to the chorus lyric: “if a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, give me the electric chair for all my future crimes” – hell, I wish I’d written even this one line.
It’s worth owning the record, but in case you haven’t heard it, here it is from an SNL performance.
lyrics
I saw your friend 1st
That's who I danced with
All the time I was watchin' U
The music rocked us
Our eyes locked-thus
Makin' us see a trippy picture shoo
If a man is considered guilty
4 what goes on in his mind
Then give me the electric chair
4 all my future crimes-OH!
U whispered something
It took my mind out like a
G flat major with an E in the bass
Your face looked so good
I wanted to touch your mouth
My brain is jackin' all over the place
If a man is considered guilty
4 what goes on in his mind
Then give me the electric chair
4 all my future crimes-OH!
Let's take a drive, love
So we can make up our minds, love
2 commit the crimes of passion
That sets us free
Me lovin' U, U lovin' me (me lovin' u, u lovin' me)
The electric chair
I saw your friend 1st
That's who I danced with
All the time I was watchin' u (I was watchin' u)
The music rocked us
Our lives shocked us
Makin' us see a trippy picture shoo
I've got to have it
Somebody...
If a man is considered guilty
4 what goes on in his mind
Then give me the electric chair
4 all my future crimes-OH!
U know I'm guilty, yeah, (4 all my future crimes)
Guilty, (4 all my future crimes)
And if ya don't really love me
(Then give me the electric chair) oh!