3121 is the first track on Prince's 31st studio album 3121. In 2008, a 2007 live recording of the track was included as the first track on Prince's fourth live album Indigo Nights, incorporating renditions of The Entertainer (Scott Joplin's 1902 composition), Alexander's Ragtime Band (Irving Berlin's 1911 composition), Music! Music! Music! (by Bernie Baum and Stephan Weiss, from Teresa Brewer's 1949 single Music! Music! Music!), and Prince's own D.M.S.R. (from 1999).
While exact recording dates are not known, initial tracking took place in November 2004, at either Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA, or 3121 (Mulholland), West Hollywood, CA, USA. The track was recorded with Michael B. on drums and Sonny T. on bass (their first appearance together on a released Prince recording since their Spring 1996 sessions as part of the New Power Generation), and in an August 2006 interview, Michael B. confirmed the recording date. Prince wore a jacket with the "3121" logo (as on the album cover) when performing at the 36th NAACP Image Awards on 19 March 2005, and his rented mansion in Beverly Hills, CA, USA, was known as 3121 (the name may have come from the track or vice versa - this is unclear). The track was included as the first track on a late 2005 configuration of 3121, where it remained for release.
Of note is that the intro of 3121 contains some disguised spoken words that say "From the lotus flower..." and are also used on ...Back 2 The Lotus (although not From The Lotus...), also recorded with Michael B. and Sonny T., indicating that these tracks may have come from the same sessions. Prince also ends the song stating "It's going down... like the wall of Berlin" (indicating that Wall Of Berlin, also featuring Michael B. and Sonny T., may have been recorded during the same set of sessions). The "wall of Berlin" is a reference to the Berlin Wall, which divided the cities of West Berlin and East Berlin (and the countries of West Germany and East Germany, respectively) until its fall in 1989.
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