If I Was Your Girlfriend

From Prince Vault
Jump to: navigation, search
If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life   < < < Non-Prince Songs All Prince Songs Unreleased Songs > > >   (If It Ain’t) Gutbucket
If I Was Your Girlfriend

Sott.jpg
from the album Sign O’ The Times
Ifiwasyourgirlfriend single.jpg
single art for If I Was Your Girlfriend
Song details
Performer: Prince
First Released: 30 March 1987 - Sign O’ The Times album
Album(s): Sign O’ The Times

The Hits 2
The Hits / The B-Sides
4Ever
Sign O’ The Times Deluxe Edition and Super Deluxe Edition

Writer(s): Prince
Producer(s): Prince
Live Appearances
First and last live appearance:
Performed regularly on tour:
Performed occasionally in shows:

If I Was Your Girlfriend is the second track on the second disc of Prince’s ninth album Sign O’ The Times, and, five weeks after the album’s release, If I Was Your Girlfriend was released as the album’s second single, released worldwide.

In 1993, the single edit was included as the tenth track on The Hits 2 (also included as the second disc of The Hits / The B-Sides).

A live version was also included in the concert movie Sign O’ The Times.

Basic tracking took place on 2 November 1986, at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California (three days after Good Love, three days before compiling the only known configuration of the Camille album).

The track was included as the seventh track on the 5 November 1986 configuration of the Camille album (credited to the pseudonym Camille), which was later aborted. The song was included as the second track on the second disc as the album developed into the triple-album Crystal Ball on the 30 November 1986 configuration, which was eventually pared down and became Sign O’ The Times.

If I Was Your Girlfriend begins with a 15 seconds collage (likely recorded on 23 December 1986) that contains samples of “Symphony Orchestra Tuning” from Jac Holzman’s 1964 sound effects album titled Authentic Sound Effects Volume 4 (samples from that record were also used on Pop Life), “New York Street Vendor” and Felix Mendelssohn’s Wedding March Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” both taken from Jac Holzman’s 1964 sound effects album Authentic Sound Effects Volume 10.


Recording Information
Recording Sessions
Date Studio Additional info
2 November 1986 Sunset Sound - Studio 3,
Hollywood, CA, USA
Tracking, overdub, mix, instrumental mix
23 December 1986 (assumed) Sunset Sound,
Hollywood, CA, USA (assumed)
intro segue
Recording Personnel

Versions
Released Versions
Title Length Released Version Additional info
If I Was Your Girlfriend 4:54 Sign O’ The Times

Sounds O’ The Times promotional album
Eye88.png Love Prince promotional album
Nothing Compares 2 Him promotional album

Studio
If I Was Your Girlfriend 4:54 Sign O’ The Times Deluxe Edition and Super Deluxe Edition Studio Remastered in 2020
If I Was Your Girlfriend (Edit) 3:46 If I Was Your Girlfriend single

The Hits 2
The Hits / The B-Sides
4Ever

Edit
If I Was Your Girlfriend 3:46 Sign O’ The Times Deluxe Edition and Super Deluxe Edition

Sign O’ The Times - The Singles‎

Studio Remastered in 2020
If I Was Your Girlfriend 5:17 Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition Live 20 June 1987: Stadion de Galgenwaard, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Video Versions
Title Length Released Version Additional info
If I Was Your Girlfriend 5:04 Sign O’ The Times VHS/DVD Live See Sign O’ The Times movie for details
If I Was Ur Girlfriend (Live) 3:18 NPG Music Club Edition # 8 premium members .mov download Live 28 June 2001, Marcus Amphitheater, Milwaukee, WI, USA
If I Was Your Girlfriend T.B.C. Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition DVD Live 31 December 1987: Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA
Broadcasts/streaming (only)
Title Length Released Version Additional info
If I Was Your Girlfriend T.B.C. Live performance TV broadcast Live 12 November 1996, Emancipation Freedom Concert, Paisley Park, Chanhassen, MN, USA
If I Was Your Girlfriend T.B.C. Live concert performance Live 20 November 1996, Oprah Winfrey Show, Harpo Studios, Chicago, IL, USA
Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in...
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Purple Medley 11:03 Purple Medley single Studio medley See Purple Medley for more details
Musicology 4:26 Musicology Studio Brief clip heard 'on radio' during segue following Musicology
Unreleased Versions
Title Version Additional Info
If I Was Your Girlfriend (Instrumental) Studio Instrumental mix
If I Was Your Girlfriend Studio Missing the 15 seconds intro segue
 
Additional Information

See also Trivia


References
If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life   < < < All Songs Unreleased Songs > > >   (If It Ain’t) Gutbucket