"Little Red Corvette" is a song by American recording artist

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 ...

. The song combines a

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beat and slow

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

buildup with a rock chorus, over which Prince, using several automobile metaphors, recalls a

one-night stand A one-night stand is a single sexual encounter in which there is no expectation that there shall be any further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single night performanc ...

with a beautiful promiscuous woman. Backing vocals were performed by Lisa Coleman and

Dez Dickerson Desmond D'andrea Dickerson (born August 7, 1955) is an American guitarist and singer who was a member of Prince's band, the Revolution. Life and career Dickerson was born in 1955 as Desmond D'andrea Dickerson, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A v ...

; Dickerson also performs a guitar solo on the song. Released in 1983 as the second single from ''

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

'', the song was, at that point, Prince's highest charting and his first to reach the top 10 in the U.S., peaking at number 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was also his first single to perform better on the pop chart than the R&B chart. Later, it was rereleased as a double

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 ...

with "

", peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart in January 1985. Following Prince's death in April 2016, "Little Red Corvette" re-charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 29, rising to number 20 the following week. It has sold more than 900,000 copies in the United States. The initial US single was backed with album track "All the Critics Love U in New York", while UK releases featured "Lady Cab Driver" or "Horny Toad". An extended dance remix of "Little Red Corvette," featured on some 12" releases, was later featured on the 2006 compilation ''

Ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums *Ultimate (Bryan Adams album), ''Ultimate'' (Bryan Adams album) *Ultimate (Jolin Tsai album), ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) *Ultimate (Pet Shop Boys album), ''Ult ...

''.

Origins

Prince got the idea for the song when he dozed off in band member Lisa Coleman's 1964 pink Mercury Montclair Marauder after an exhausting all-night recording session. The lyrics came to him in bits and pieces during this and other catnaps. Eventually, he was able to finish it without sleeping.

Composition

"Little Red Corvette" is written in the key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

and moves at a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 123 beats per minute in common time. Prince's vocals span from A₂ to D₇ in the song. The lyrics use car imagery as a double entendre for sex, also making use of horse-related imagery for similar purposes. Jack Hamilton of Slate noted that the song is about "ambivalence, vulnerability, and fear" of

casual sex Casual sex is sexual activity that takes place outside a romantic relationship and implies an absence of commitment, emotional attachment, or familiarity between sexual partners. Examples are sexual activity while casually dating, one-nig ...

. "It’s not about sex as fun...but rather about the entirety of the act: its physical, emotional, psychological, even spiritual dimensions. And uniquely, 'Little Red Corvette' isn’t really about anything other than sex." With its instrumentation of guitars, synthesizers, and a drum machine, Hamilton identifies "Little Red Corvette" as a

post-disco Post-disco is a term and genre to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1986, imprecisely beginning with the backlash against disco music in the United States, leading to civil unrest and a riot in Chicago known as the Dis ...

song "in every respect."

Critical reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' wrote that "a

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

-like synth bottom provides the smokey mood, while Prince’s vocals traverse from the plaintive to the depraved." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' called it "a typically racy rock number, thick with electronics" and wrote that Prince's urgent vocal performance "makes even the more innocent lyrics sound illicit."

Music video

"Little Red Corvette" (directed by Bryan Greenberg and released in February 1983) was Prince's second music video played on MTV. The first was "

" the previous year before

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's "

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 3, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produ ...

" and after Musical Youth's " Pass the Dutchie". The video was filmed in late January 1983 at the Lakeland Civic Center during the final week of rehearsals for the second leg of the 1999 Tour.

Awards and accolades

* ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the song #108 on its list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

(2004). * Dickerson's guitar solo was ranked #64 all time by readers of ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

''.

Personnel

Credits sourced from Guitarcloud and Benoît Clerc *

– lead and backing vocals; electric guitar; bass guitar; Oberheim synthesizers;

; Pearl SY-1 Syncussion *

– electric guitar solo; backing vocals * Lisa Coleman – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * Uptown: ''The Vault – The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince'': Nilsen Publishing 2004, {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Red Corvette 1982 songs 1983 singles Prince (musician) songs Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) Songs about cars Songs about casual sex Songs written by Prince (musician) Warner Records singles Chevrolet Corvette