Crystal City Cry is an unreleased song by Ingrid Chavez, recorded with an improvised musical backing by Prince in mid-December 1987, at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota (shortly after cancelling the release of "The Black Album", during the same set of sessions as Heaven Must Be Near, Wintersong, Whispering Dandelions, Slappy Dappy, Candle Dance, Elephant Box, Touch Of Love, Blue Boy, Jadestone, Sad Puppet Dance, Standing In The Rain and Cross The Line).
Prince's backing consisted of sound effects and some dark synth touches.
While working at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, California on 4 March 1991 (during the same set of sessions as recording new musical backings for Elephant Box, Slappy Dappy, Jadestone and Whispering Dandelions), Prince created a new version of the song by combining it with the music of the unreleased 1988 song By Alien Means. The track remains unreleased.
The song includes a sample of a track from the 1976 compilation Out Of This World - Atmospheric Sounds And Effects by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Dance Of Fire-Flies credited to Malcolm Clarke. Other effects and sounds from the same album were used on No, Heaven Must Be Near and Sad Puppet Dance, and possibly also on Slappy Dappy and Jadestone.
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