"I Wish U Heaven" is a song by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

, and the third single from his 1988 album, '' Lovesexy''. The 12" single is a substantially extended three-part suite which runs over ten minutes. This song was a replacement for "The Line", an upbeat jam featuring Boni Boyer and Sheila E. on backing vocals. "I Wish U Heaven" is a joyful, spiritual song with few lyrics The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, "Scarlet Pussy", is credited to Prince's

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

, Camille. The song is very sexual, using metaphors of cats and dogs for sexual organs, a theme Prince previously used for the B-side "La, La, La, He, He, Hee". Prince uses his sped-up Camille vocals, as well as a slowed-down vocal, similar to "Bob George" from '' The Black Album''. The song features a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

solo from

Eric Leeds Eric Leeds is an American saxophone player, mostly known for his work with Prince (musician), Prince. He has recorded mostly music in the Pop music, pop and funk genres, but is a studied jazz musician.Cole, George.Eric Leeds: Interviews: The Las ...

. The decision to include such a raunchy song with the spiritual

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

was noteworthy. The edit of "Scarlet Pussy" was included on 1993's ''

The Hits/The B-Sides ''The Hits/The B-Sides'' is a box set by American recording artist Prince. It was released on September 10, 1993, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album is a comprehensive three- disc set consisting of many of his hit sin ...

''.

Composition

Part One of the mix starts with a stripped-down version of the ''Lovesexy'' track, remixed with a dance beat. The original drum programming and rhythm guitar riffs are deleted for much of the song. Part Two is a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

rendition with new lyrics, continuing the spiritual theme. This part of the song was often sung in concert during the Lovesexy World Tour. The beginning of this section paraphrases lyrics from "Housequake", from the previous album '' Sign "☮" the Times''. Prince also quotes the film '' Scarface'' with the lines "Say hello to my little friend..." and then introduces the "Blue Angel", a new blue version of his custom "White Cloud" guitar featured in the film '' Purple Rain''. Sheila E. is also given a call out, and her voice can be heard responding in this section. Part Three is based on an outtake called "Take This Beat" and deviates quite a bit from the original theme. This segment has Prince using his "Jamie Starr" persona to humorously tout the fact that he's funky, musically talented, and has plenty of beats (songs) that are "so fine". The song ends with a looped repeat of the title. This version of the song became one of the highlights during the supporting tour in which Prince would usually order the house lights to be turned up, and instruct the crowd during a call and response segment.

Reception

'' Cashbox'' called Prince's performance "heavenly".

Track listing

7" single / Cassette single # "I Wish U Heaven" (LP version) – 2:43 # "Scarlet Pussy" (edit) – 4:10 12" single / CD single # "I Wish U Heaven (Part 1, 2 & 3)" – 10:13 # "Scarlet Pussy" – 6:09

Personnel

Credits from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud *

– lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars,

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...

, synthesizers, bass guitar, Dynacord ADD-One,

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

Charts

References

{{authority control Prince (musician) songs Songs written by Prince (musician) 1988 singles Darren Hayes songs Paisley Park Records singles Warner Records singles Music videos directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) 1988 songs