Read on Twitter
It’s a Wonderful Day to talk @Prince To be clear this thread will be covering the two versions from the recently released #SOTTSUPERDELUXE Box Set. His original version as well as 12" mix long beloved collaborative version w/ @wendyandlisa & @therevolution
Long time obsessives & fans of the #UnderTheCherryMoon film in particular (shout out to @polishedsolid ) will recognize an instrumental portion of the song that scores a memorable scene between @prince & @iamjeromebenton seen here http://tinyurl.com/y4xs4299
Officially registered as #Butterscotch (per @prince ’s dialogue) pieces of #WonderfulDay are scattered throughout the film including a full half minute during a scene titled Chris And Tricky Discuss Mary & used for other cutaways & transitions #SOTTDELUXE
The title It’s A Wonderful Day most likely came from a quote from a scene that was cut from Under The Cherry Moon, where @prince says 'It’s a Wonderful Day' to a #VenusdeMilo statue. He was working on scoring the scene in the days prior to this session.
Officially recorded on January 30th 1986 at @sunsetsound in Hollywood, the same day he was mixing 4 tracks for the upcoming @jilldjones release including Mia Bocca, another instrumental version that scores a memorable scene in #UndertheCherryMoon #SOTTDELUXE
It’s one of my favorite scenes where Kristin Scott Thomas character Mary emerges from the house to mingle with her guests for her birthday party. Receives a set of tarot-cards as a gift and later blindly tosses them with @Prince catching them #SOTT
I mention it because as right before this scene is the deleted scene where @Prince says hello to the statue. If you piece it together It’s thought that it’s this entire sequence of Mia Bocca/Wonderful Day that led him to recording the song that same day.
Day after @WendyandLisa record overdubs as well as the instrumental mix & therein lies debate. Long been a mainstay in any @Prince mix tape I’ve made since first acquiring via bootleg in early 90’s, most of us are hearing his solo version for the first time.
One thing about hearing the solo version is that previously it was hard to imagine him duplicating the “…that’ll make it all right, make it make it all right” scat. Always felt like the song was done in one take & that (for me) was a big part of the appeal.
It always made me think of @michaeljackson teaching @Jumpman23 the Moonwalk (I first heard Wonderful Day around 1991’s Dangerous) as he explains the “pfffft” that unexplainable thing between the notes, the #JamesBrown thing, ya know, where the magic lies.
What makes a neutral position (for me) nearly impossible is that I can’t imagine @wendyandlisa not appearing on this track, it just sounds (to me) like it was written for them or with a trio of voices in mind #SOTTDELUXE #SOTT
Initially included as the 3rd track on the late April & June 1986 configurations of The Dream Factory but ultimately replaced by Train in mid July. Engineer #SusanRogers has expressed @Prince had only used it as a placeholder till his vision was complete.
What is so magical (to me) about A Wonderful Day is that it sounds like it’s title (& again @wendyandlisa are the biggest reason why) It just sounds wonderful & positive and never fails to make me feel good #SOTTSUPERDELUXE
Which brings me to officially throwing my hat in the ring into “Was The Dream Factory ever supposed to even be an album?” discussion. This will serve as the 1st Half of my dissertation w/ the 2nd Half concluding with #InALargeRoomWithNoLight on January 3rd.
As an obsessive list maker & creative I’m grateful I can relate to the enviable “problem” of having “too many”ideas at times or pieces of things that collectively could be something great. Just by saying hello to a freaking statue a song came out of it #SOTT
For someone as otherworldly talented as @Prince at the height of his powers, his productivity became overwhelming even for him. The biggest question became “Where to put it all?” Susan Rogers paints a perfect picture of that here http://tinyurl.com/yytx8tmv
He even had a name for it: #TheDreamFactory: Which was (originally) simply the name of the last song on a mix tape of new songs & was driving around giving them the “car test”. Out of necessity he needed to have a name for where all these ideas would land.
It's understood their is essentially a solo version of every song he wrote. This was his process & the material may not necessarily will ever be meant to be released this way or ever at all. Once you accept that, the Vault concept no longer seems strange.
Most #songwriters rely on other people to realize their ideas & flesh out their visions. Say they have a melody w/ a specific voice in mind etc. They may even have a rough demo of themselves humming it to express the idea when the eventual singer records it.
Most don’t have fully realized, release-able versions of their demos because theyre unable to do everything themselves. @prince didn't have that limitation. At this time didn’t seem to have any limitation to what he could accomplish, musical or otherwise.
What’s so astouding to me about Wonderful Day is it’s potential, while yes he was moving into the direction of total (musical) independence, the sound is an extension of the collaborations from Parade and for fans like me, this is what we CRAVE.
However the more he felt like he was relying on someone else to reach his goals the more he felt the needed to pull away from them.
He knew he was in transition and his path to clarity was reinvention #SOTT #SOTTSUPERDELUXE
He knew he was in transition and his path to clarity was reinvention #SOTT #SOTTSUPERDELUXE
It was clearly on his mind “Sometimes I can't make up my mind/which yellow brick road to take/The decisions they don't have to live by are easy ones to make. Why can't they love me for what I am instead of what they want me to be?
He finally found way via #TheDreamFactory & this is the very essence of #SOTT It's his victory lap, his true #Emancipation The Max was now in control. Much thanks to @deejayumb & @EdgarKruize Hope y’all have a Wonderful Day indeed, thanks for reading!
