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Wally, where’d you get those glasses? Those are the freakiest glasses I’ve ever seen. Can I try ‘em on?
Hi everyone, thanks for joining me for this final installment of the massive #PrinceTwitterThread series covering songs from the original SOTT release & vault tracks found on the #SOTTDELUXE. As always, major thx to @DeejayUmb and @EdgarKruize for spearheading this endeavor.
There have been so many excellent threads in this series, from regulars to new contributors. I value all of them as well as all of the readers of our tributes to Prince’s music.
I hope you’ll stick around for this thread about “Wally.” A song that has become notorious over the years for its storied history as one of THE holy-grail vault track that no one, outside of Prince’s engineer at the time, has heard.
Until now.
Until now.
No, I don’t have a copy of the original “Wally,” and neither do you. Here’s the version that we do have, released on the Sign o’ the Times Super Deluxe. https://open.spotify.com/track/7Dyik8BqqiJHqlXHURLS9D?si=r3A1bqcZSNGLvlpRw4n4gg
Many talented writers tackled the mystery behind “Wally,” so it doesn’t make sense for me to regurgitate it. Please read the author & fellow #PrinceTwitterThread alum @8minutesidle article on why it has such a history & reputation in the Prince community. https://www.thesocial.com/wally-the-full-story-behind-princes-most-mysterious-song-matt-thorne/
The article explains who exactly “Wally” is-Prince’s bodyguard/dancer/singer and newest member of the extended Parade-era Revolution, Wally Safford. It also mentions how conversations between Wally and Prince-inspired the re-recorded version.
Let’s also visit Wally’s memoir, where he sets the record straight about those “freaky” glasses Prince refers to in the lyrics. P is actually referencing the glasses worn by Billy Sparks. You know, the First Avenue club manager from the movie Purple Rain.
“I [went] to sound check one day and we were playing around, I had bought some white glasses and he [Prince] said ‘Man take those glasses…put ’em in a case and you’re gonna use those in the movie.”
https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/remember-the-purple-rain-club-owner-see-who-he-was-to-prince-in-real-life/
![“I [went] to sound check one day and we were playing around, I had bought some white glasses and he [Prince] said ‘Man take those glasses…put ’em in a case and you’re gonna use those in the movie.” https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/remember-the-purple-rain-club-owner-see-who-he-was-to-prince-in-real-life/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EuhuoGoXAAQKBpy.jpg "“I [went] to sound check one day and we were playing around, I had bought some white glasses and he [Prince] said ‘Man take those glasses…put ’em in a case and you’re gonna use those in the movie.” https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/remember-the-purple-rain-club-owner-see-who-he-was-to-prince-in-real-life/")
https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/remember-the-purple-rain-club-owner-see-who-he-was-to-prince-in-real-life/
I have to also call out this particular passage from Matt Thorne’s article. “During his interview with Prince’s sound engineer & record producer, musicologist Professor Susan Rogers, she told [Per] Nilsen that she’d been present on Dec 28th 1986, engineering a session where..
..Prince recorded a song so personal, revealing, and intimate that he was horrified by what he’d done and kept adding more and more layers of percussion to the track until it was unlistenable, before encouraging her to delete the whole thing.”
Admit it. You want to hear that song. Badly. But you can’t. Ever. It’s anecdotes such as this and how Susan Rogers describes it in interviews that give “Wally” its reputation.
This clip is courtesy of the @PodcastJuice interview with Susan Rogers. https://soundcloud.com/cateto-catetez/susan-rogers-on-wally
This clip is courtesy of the @PodcastJuice interview with Susan Rogers. https://soundcloud.com/cateto-catetez/susan-rogers-on-wally
As much as I’d love for this thread to be about the original “Wally” & the raw beauty Prince was able to create amid such pain and heartbreak, I’m going to focus on the version we ended up getting. The re-take/re-do two days later.
This version of “Wally” was never going to live up to the hype & myth-building that’s been perpetuated & passed on like a campfire story of old. A song that was deemed even too personal for a man who recorded “Sister” and “Papa.” But what changed between Dec 28 & Dec 29-30?
Were there different lyrics? Different tone? More piano? More emotion? Even if the re-recorded version of “Wally” only had a fraction of the original’s impact, it still had the potential to be one of the greatest in a series of sad mid-’80s unreleased Prince songs.
There were two other unreleased songs where Prince laid out his pain from betrayal (Old Friends 4 Sale) & love (Empty Room) for the world to hear, only to snatch them back from us.
These ‘85 recordings were coveted for many reasons, their musical brilliance only being one. It’s in our nature as the end users of an artist’s output to desire insight into their famously secretive creator’s psyche. The sources behind the inspiration, if you will.
Is “Wally” a song written & performed by a man who realized he went too far down a dark hole & climbed his way out by re-purposing his original inspiration? There’s still pain within the lyrics to this version, but it’s masked by masculine bravado.
Men often have their way of dealing with break-ups. Societal pressures to man-up and move on from a relationship can frame how men cope with heartbreak. In this regard, Prince was no different than the friends I’ve helped cope with breakups and divorces over the years.
These coping mechanisms can manifest themselves in many different ways, such as quickly moving from ex-girl to the next girl or just diving into something, anything (maybe writing and recording a song, if you’re Prince) to take their mind off the aching pain.
There’s been some recent discussion about the emotional impact, or lack thereof, found in this version of “Wally.” In @polishedsolid’s wonderful ‘After Salon’ series, the gang discusses what overhype can sometimes do to a piece of art.
Watch the whole thing when you have the time, but for the purpose of this thread, skip to the 48:40 mark to get to their discussion on “Wally.”
As we’ve learned, Prince wrote the song after his break-up with Susannah Melvoin, deemed it too personal, demanded that the first take be deleted and re-recorded with Eric Leeds & Atlanta Bliss on horns.
Does this new version belie his real emotional state? Or was this the same tone of the original as well? Prince wants us to believe he’s okay. He’s totally fine. He’s good. Don’t worry about him; he’s gonna have another fly honey on his arm in no time. Just watch.
So, I’m going to put myself out there and say this; I believe it’s all a front. Prince is 100% frontin’ on this song. He’s not OK. He’s not ready to move on.
The lyrics are sort of a mess, just like Prince’s emotional state at the time—stream of consciousness alpha-male posturing. He even includes a corny roar in a failed effort to convince us. “Check it out, Wally! I’m on the prowl tonight.”
Prince’s acting abilities get ribbed now and then, depending on the movie viewer’s perceived level of sophistication. Still, he was never a less convincing actor than when recording this version of “Wally.”
Tell-tale signs that Prince is not over his break-up despite all the b.s. he tries to pull over on us:
Leading conversations with humor, diverting attention away from discussion about his feelings.
Moving straight from convo diversion tactics to talking about partying and women.
Again, using humor to mask his pain. In this case, mimicking his ex, complete with a higher-pitched voice & dripping sarcasm.
Peppering seemingly non-sequitur comments into a lighthearted discussion with his friend. “I’d give her all my money before I give it all to Uncle Sam.”
Huh, what was that, Prince?
Umm, nothin’, nevermind.
Huh, what was that, Prince?
Umm, nothin’, nevermind.
Incredulous statements such as “Can you believe it, Wally?” Either referring to the comment that he’d give all his money to her OR can you believe she dumped ME?
Asking rhetorical questions to a man who cannot honestly answer.
Reminiscing about past times when he and his friend would “tear it up like we used to do” in an effort to get his domesticated friend to join him in a night out.
Understanding that while he’s going through a rough patch, he doesn’t want to impose on his friend who maybe wasn’t planning to tear it up tonight.
Indignance towards his ex combined with inflated confidence in his ability to score another dame.
The crushing final line, possibly slurred if the numbing effects of alcohol is involved, “She was the only one in the whole world that I could talk to.” - Sorry, bro. Can we talk about this more tomorrow morning? It’s really late.
On the surface, “Wally” seems like a silly break-up song w/ no real emotional investment into the lyrics or tone, but I can still hear the hurt & loneliness when I listen to the song. I can still hear remnants of the man who recorded an exhaustingly personal song the day before.
I can also hear a wobbly, warbled recording. I don’t mean how it starts, stops, & starts again, moving up & down from piano to horns to the final whoops of man that’s unleashing hell’s fury on his guitar, which is pretty shaky in execution but thrilling in its unpredictability.
I’m referring to the sound quality, which is clearly noticeable when listening to “Wally” with headphones. It’s the sound of a tape that has seen better days, but we’ll take what we can get and be thankful that we have “Wally” at all.
Let’s close out this #PrinceTwitterThread series by virtually holding on to each other’s shoulders and sing, “oh my la-di-da” together while Prince’s screaming guitar acts as an emotional catharsis.
If you enjoy digging into a song’s lyrics as much as I do, please check out my podcast, Press Rewind - Prince Lyrics Podcast. We have a lot of fun talking about the words behind the man’s songs & I hope you do too. Thank you for reading, and thank you for listening.
