Melody Cool
{{song|
|song name = Melody Cool
|album image = 
from the album Graffiti Bridge
from the album The Voice
|single image = 
single art for Melody Cool
|performer = Mavis Staples
|first released = 20 August 1990 - Graffiti Bridge album
|album(s) = Graffiti Bridge
The Voice
|writer(s) = Prince
|producer(s) = Prince
|previous song = Mellow
|next song = Menstrual Cycle
|introduction = Melody Cool is the 14th track on Prince's twelfth album Graffiti Bridge (the first and only track on the album to be credited to Mavis Staples), and, around a month after the album's release, Melody Cool was released as the album's third single (the only single from the album credited to Mavis Staples). The extended version of the track was also included on the European CD single of New Power Generation by Prince, the album's fourth single. The track is also featured in the movie Graffiti Bridge. In 1993, it was also included in a slightly different mix as the seventh track on Mavis Staples' second Paisley Park Records album The Voice (included as the twelfth track on the 1995 NPG Records re-release).
track recorded on 9 July 1987 during Prince's first recording sessions at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota (on the same day as Melody Cool, two days before Graffiti Bridge and overdubbing on Big Tall Wall and around the time of a re-recording of If I Love You Tonight, now titled If I Love U 2 Nite). It is believed to be the first song recorded during those sessions, marking Prince's first recording at Paisley Park Studios. Ironically, and perhaps intentionally, the lyrics of the song include Prince asking for some change and excitement in his life. This song is the only one from these initial sessions not to have been released in any form.
|recording info =
|- align="left"
|style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|9 July 1987
Basic tracking on 9 July 1987 during Prince's first recording sessions at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota (on the same day as No Changes, two days before Graffiti Bridge and overdubbing on Big Tall Wall and around the time of a re-recording of If I Love You Tonight, now titled If I Love U 2 Nite).. Melody Cool marks the earliest recording from Paisley Park Studios to be released, therefore, although Prince's original vocals were replaced by Mavis Staples. The original 1987 version also featured some lyrical differences, and the song was sung from a third-person perspective ("they call her Melody Cool"). This original version was included as the eighth track on a 25 September 1988 configuration of Graffiti Bridge. It was also included on a configuration of the Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic album, dated 27 October 1988 (segueing from The Voice Inside), but was removed for the late 1988 - early 1989 configuration. It was included as the eleventh track on a late 1989 configuration of Graffiti Bridge. At some point, most likely in late 1989, Prince recorded a guide vocal for Mavis Staples, using the first-person perspective of the lyrics for her to overdub; it is likely that further musical changes took place on the track at the same time. Mavis Staples recorded vocal overdubs onto the track in late 1989 or early 1990, and the track in its released form was included as the 13th track on a 1990 configuration of the album. The track switched places with The Latest Fashion to become the 14th track on the final release.
The movie Graffiti Bridge was developed starting in September 1987, indicating that the character Melody Cool in the movie, played by Mavis Staples, was conceived to some degree before the movie itself. |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|{{{studio}}} |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|{{{additional info}}}
