Somebody’s Somebody

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Somebody’s Somebody

Emancipation.jpg
from the album Emancipation
Song name
promo single sleeve for Somebody’s Somebody
Song details
Performer: SymbolSmallerBlue.png
First Released: 3 March 1995 - NPG Records Sampler Experience (Derick Hughes clip)

19 November 1996 - Emancipation album (full SymbolSmallerBlue.png version)

Album(s): Emancipation
Writer(s): Prince (as SymbolSmallerBlue.png), Brenda Lee Eager and Hilliard Wilson
Producer(s): Prince (as SymbolSmallerBlue.png)
Live Appearances
First and last live appearance:
Performed regularly on tour:
  • none
Performed occasionally in shows:

Somebody’s Somebody is the third track on the first disc of Prince’s 19th album Emancipation, the third to be credited to SymbolSmallerBlue.png. Two months after the album’s release, Somebody’s Somebody was released as the album’s second promotional single, available only in the USA (in the UK, the same tracks were included on the retail release of The Holy River, released on the same date). A year before the album’s release, however, a clip of the song containing vocals by Derick Hughes (a friend of Levi Seacer, Jr.’s) was included as the fourteenth track (eighth song) on NPG Records Sampler Experience, a cassette sampler given out to select audience members during The Ultimate Live Experience tour in UK and Europe.

Writing credit for the track is shared with Brenda Lee Eager and Hilliard Wilson (who also wrote the original lyrics for Hide The Bone). Eager gave the lyrics to her friend Mavis Staples (presumably when she was working on her second album The Voice in 1992). Prince liked the lyrics and put music to it, but at the time didn’t use it for Mavis Staples' album. Prince then asked Eager and Hilliard for more material, which yielded Hide The Bone.

Basic tracking dates are unknown, but Derick Hughes’ vocals were likely recorded in November 1994, around the same time as Proud Mary and possibly Thousand Hugs And Kisses, at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota. It is not known if Prince’s vocals pre-date this or were recorded later. It is also not known when Prince worked on the Ultrafantasy Edit and Livestudio Mix versions of the track, but these were likely recorded in the second half of 1996 at Paisley Park Studios, shortly after Rhonda Smith joined the band. The song’s instrumentation was also used as the background of On Sale Now!, an advertisement skit featuring Prince as a customer calling 1-800 New Funk and ordering products. It is likely that it was recorded in late 1996, and is included here as it is not a song in its own right.


Recording Information
Recording Sessions
Date Studio Additional info
November 1994 Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
Tracking (Derick Hughes vocals, and possibly SymbolSmallerBlue.png vocals)
Late 1996 Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
Remixing for Ultrafantasy Edit
Late 1996 Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
Re-recording for Livestudio Mix
Recording Personnel

Derick Hughes version


Prince version

  • Prince (as SymbolSmallerBlue.png) - all vocals and instruments, except where noted


Livestudio Mix


Ultrafantasy Edit


Versions
Released Versions
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Somebody’s Somebody 4:43 Emancipation

Somebody’s Somebody promo

Studio
Somebody’s Somebody (Radio Edit) 4:30 The Holy River single

Somebody’s Somebody promo

Edit
Somebody’s Somebody (Livestudio Mix) 3:47 The Holy River single

Somebody’s Somebody promo

Re-recording
Somebody’s Somebody (Ultrafantasy Edit) 3:45 The Holy River single

Somebody’s Somebody promo

Re-recording
Somebody’s Somebody 0:46 NPG Records Sampler Experience Studio Derick Hughes vocal version; clip of song only
On Sale Now! 0:48 The Holy River single

Somebody’s Somebody promo

Skit Advertisement skit featuring SymbolSmallerBlue.png as a customer calling 1-800 New Funk and ordering products
Video Versions
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Somebody’s Somebody 4:45 Promotional release only Promo video See Somebody’s Somebody video for more details
Broadcasts/streaming (only)
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Somebody’s Somebody T.B.C. Live performance TV broadcast Live 7 January 1997 (mat.), Rosie O’Donnell Show, NBC TV Studios, GE Building, New York, NY, USA
Unreleased Versions
Title Version Additional Info
Somebody’s Somebody Studio Full Derick Hughes version
 
Additional Information

See also Trivia


References
Some Kind Of Lover   < < < All Songs Unreleased Songs > > >   Someone 2 Call