}} "When Doves Cry is a song by the American musician Prince (musician) and the lead single (music) from his 1984 album [[Purple Rain (album)|Purple Rain]] It was a worldwide hit, and his first American number one single, topping charts for five weeks. According to [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]magazine, it was the top-selling single of the year.

Song

History

According to the [[Purple Rain (film)|Purple Rain]]DVD, Prince was asked by the director to write a song to match the theme of a particular segment of the film – one which involved intermingled parental difficulties and a love affair. The next morning, Prince had reportedly composed two songs, one of which was "When Doves Cry".

Impact

The song was #1 in the US for five weeks, from July 7, 1984 to August 4, 1984. It kept the other big hit of that summer, Bruce Springsteen s "Dancing in the Dark (Springsteen song) , from reaching the top spot. "When Doves Cry" was voted as the best single of the year in [[The Village Voice]]Pazz & Jop critics poll. Billboardranked it as the #1 single of 1984; however, on American Top 40 it was ranked as the number two song of the year as AT40 did not use Billboards rankings that year. The A-side and B-side was the cult fan favorite "17 Days (song) , which was originally intended for Apollonia 6 s Apollonia 6 (album) A 12-inch single issued in the UK included the album track, "17 Days", and two tracks from Princes previous album, [[1999 (album)|1999]] namely the 1999 (song) and "D.M.S.R."

Song structure

Prince wrote and composed "When Doves Cry" after all the other tracks on Purple Rainwere complete. In addition to vocals, he played all instruments on the track. The songs texture is remarkably stark. There is no bass line which is very unusual for a dance song; Prince has said that there originally was a bass line, but decided that the song was too conventional with it intact. During live performances of the song on the Purple Rain Tour, Brown Mark, Princes then-bass player, added bass lines in this song and other songs without a bass line.http://www.princelyrics.co.uk/viewarticle.asp?article35 The song features an intro of a guitar solo and drum machine followed by a music loop d guttural vocal. After the lyrics, there is another, much longer guitar and a synthesizer solo. The song ends on a European classical music inspired Keyboard instrument piece backed by another synthesizer solo.

Acclaim

"When Doves Cry" has gone on to become one of Princes signature song . [[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]magazine ranked the song 6th greatest single of all time. It was number #38 in Movements list The Greatest Songs of All Time. [[Rolling Stone]]ranked "When Doves Cry" #52 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (which makes it the second highest ranked song of the 1980s, after "The Message (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five song) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five . In 2006, VH1 s "The 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" ranked the song #5 on the list. On October 13, 2008, the song was voted #2 on Australian VH1 s Top 10 Number One Pop Songs countdown.

Music video

The music video (directed by Prince himself) was released on MTV in June 1984. It opens with white dove emerging from double doors to reveal Prince in a bathtub. It also includes scenes from the Purple Rainfilm interspersed with shots of the Revolution performing and dancing in a white room. The final portion of the video incorporates a mirrored frame of the left half of the picture, creating a doubling effect. The video was nominated for Best Choreography at 1985s MTV Video Music Awards http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id22396 The video sparked controversy among network executives who thought that its sexual nature was too explicit for television.

Track listing

12": Paisley Park / 0-20170 (US)

# "When Doves Cry" – 5:52 # "17 Days (the rain will come down, then U will have 2 choose. If U believe, look 2 the dawn and U shall never lose.)" – 3:54

12": Warner Bros. / W9286T (UK)

# "When Doves Cry" – 5:52 # "17 Days (the rain will come down, then U will have 2 choose. If U believe, look 2 the dawn and U shall never lose.)" – 3:54 # "1999" – 6:22 # "D.M.S.R." – 8:05 * 2x12" pack

Awards and nominations

*American Music Awards - 1985 - Favorite Soul/R&B Single (won) * Pazz & Jop critics poll: best single of the year, 1984 (won)

Ginuwine cover version

}} A hit cover version by Contemporary R&B singer Ginuwine was produced by Timbaland in 1996 for Ginuwines [[Ginuwine...The Bachelor|The Bachelor]]album, Ginuwines cover uses actual dove sound effects as texture for its Drum and bass inspired instrumental track.

Charts

| class"wikitable sortable" !Chart (1997) !Peak
position |- |Dutch Singles Chart |align"center"|13 |- |New Zealand RIANZ Singles ChartVarious European charts. http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpretGinuwine&titelWhen+Doves+Cry&cats swisscharts.com] Retrieved October 17, 2008 |align"center"|7 |- |Swiss Singles Chart |align"center"|24 |- |Swedish Singles Chart |align"center"|42 |- |UK Singles ChartUK Singles Chart http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id25568 Chartstats.com] Retrieved October 17, 2008 |align"center"|10 |- |U.S. BillboardRhythmic Top 40http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/searchResult.jsp?expy&Nttwhen+doves+cry+ginuwine&NtkKeyword&anbbcom&nor10&Ntxmode+matchallpartial&N37 Billboard Artist Chart History] Retrieved October 17, 2008 |align"center"|16 |}

Other cover versions

* Irish music artist Damien Rice recorded an acoustic cover version of the song. * A cappella group The Flying Pickets included a cover on their 1994 album [[The Original Flying Pickets: Volume 1]] * As a child, American actor/singer Quindon Tarver covered the song for the 1996 film [[Romeo + Juliet]] It was included on the 1997 soundtrack album William Shakespeares Romeo + Juliet: Music from the Motion Picture, Volume 2, and became a hit in Australia. This version is often mistakenly thought to be sung by the late Contemporary R&B singer Aaliyah http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid-5365373223391693347 * Patti Smith covered "When Doves Cry" on her compilation album, [[Land (1975–2002)]] * Serbian rock band Night Shift (band) covered the song in 2002 on their debut album [[Undercovers (Night Shift album)|Undercovers]] * First season [[Australian Idol]]winner Guy Sebastian performed the song on the show and recorded a cover for his 2003 debut album [[Just As I Am]] * Tennessee rock band One Less Reason recorded a hard rock cover of the song for their 2005 album everydaylifehttp://cdbaby.com/cd/onelessreason * Canadian group The Be Good Tanyas performed "When Doves Cry" on their 2006 album [[Hello Love]] * Anglo-Swedish band Razorlight recorded a cover as the B-side to their 2007 single "I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got . * Canadian singer Kristy Thirsk included a cover of the song on her 2008 Extended play Under Cover EP An audio sample of her version can be heard on her official MySpace page.http://www.myspace.com/kristythirsk * Spanish electropop artists The Amplid recorded a cover in 2008.http://www.hardcandymusic.com/2008/11/amplid-when-doves-cry-prince-cover.html * A cover by The Twilight Singers was included on the 2009 tribute compilation [[Purplish Rain]] A free download of the song was offered by Spin (magazine) magazine.http://www.spin.com/articles/get-your-free-copy-spins-prince-tribute * Canadian group The Pursuit of Happiness (band) performed "When Doves Cry" on their 2005 Greatest Hits Compilation When We Ruled: The Best of The Pursuit of Happiness

Live cover performances

* American Southern rock jam band Gov't Mule with Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers also perform a version of this song quite often at their shows as a part of their own song "Beautifully Broken". A version of "Beautifully Broken" featuring an intro and outro of When Doves Cry appears on the 2003 Govt Mule live album [[The Deepest End, Live In Concert]] * Bluegrass music band Greensky Bluegrass have been performing a live cover version of this song in concerts since 2005. * Canadian pop band Barenaked Ladies performed a cover at one of their concerts. * Industrial metal band Mushroomhead has performed the song in concert and low quality recordings of it can be found online. * American country singer David Allan Coe has covered the song at some concerts as a part of a medley. * Patrick Wolf performed a live cover of the song, duetting with Charlotte Church on the March 23, 2007 episode of [[The Charlotte Church Show]] * British singer Mika (singer) performed a live cover of the song at a Montreal concert on January 28, 2008.

Sampling

* In 1990, MC Hammer sampled "When Doves Cry" as the basis for his song "Pray" from the [[Please Hammer Dont Hurt m]] album. * In 1998, rapper [[Bizzy Bone]] would use an interpolation and pay homage to Princes hit with "Thugz Cry" from his album Heaven'z Movie . * Darren Hayes used the beat for the his song "Darkness" on his 2007 The Time Machine Tour. * Pigeon John and General Electriks used it in a song called "Crush".

Appearances/references in other media

* In the episode of the Simpsons, "Lemon of Troy , Milhouse Van Houten upon meeting the Shelbyvillian Milhouse, says "I guess this is what it feels like when doves cry". * The Quindon Tarver version of the song (backed by a choir) was featured in the wedding scene of the 1996 Baz Luhrmann film [[William Shakespeares Romeo + Juliet|Romeo + Juliet]]. * Patti Smiths cover of the song was used in the 2003 film [[Lost in Translation (film)|Lost in Translation]] * The popular Canadian teen drama [[Degrassi: The Next Generation]] which is known for naming each episode after an 80s hit song, named a two part episode after this song. The episode dealt with the issue of child abuse * Snoop Dogg recreated the ending of the original "When Doves Cry" video at the midpoint of his "Sexual Eruption video. *The Dream Warriors single, "Wash Your Face in My Sink", from their 1991 album [[And Now the Legacy Begins]] features the lyric "You constantly lie when doves cry... out."

References

Category:1984 singles Category:1997 singles Category:Prince (musician) songs Category:Songs written by Prince (musician) Category:Music videos directed by Prince (musician) Category:Ginuwine songs Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Category:Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number-one singles Category:Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in Australia Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles Category:Songs produced by Timbaland Category:Guy Sebastian songs de:When Doves Cry nl:When Doves Cry fi:When Doves Cry sv:When Doves Cry