View source for Wally

{{song-2|
|song name                 = Wally
|single image              = [[File:sottDeluxe.jpg|100px|link= Album: Sign O’ The Times Deluxe|Sign O’ The Times ''Super Deluxe Edition'']]<br><small> from the album <br>[[Album: Sign O’ The Times Deluxe|Sign O’ The Times ''Super Deluxe Edition'']]
|first released            = [[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/September 25|25 September 2020]] - [[Album: Sign O’ The Times Deluxe|Sign O’ The Times ''Super Deluxe Edition'']] album
|album(s)                  = [[Album: Sign O’ The Times Deluxe|Sign O’ The Times ''Super Deluxe Edition'']]
|performer                 = [[Prince]]
|writer(s)                 = [[Prince]]
|producer(s)               = [[Prince]]
|previous song             = [[Wall Of Berlin]]
|next song                 = [[Wanderlust]]
|introduction              = '''Wally''' is a song originally recorded on [[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/December 28|28 December 1986]] at [[Prince]]’s [[Galpin Blvd Home Studio]] in Chanhassen, Minnesota (two days after finishing a three-month stay in Los Angeles by recording [[Ponyride]]). 

The song was first recorded as a piano demo titled '''Babyless''' and borrows lyrics from the 1983 unreleased track [[Billy]].

After finishing the song, [[Prince]] ordered engineer [[Susan Rogers]] to erase all channels on the 24-stem recording, against her pleas not to. A new version for which [[Eric Leeds]] and [[Atlanta Bliss]] added horns, was then recorded two days afterwards. 

The original version was a solo recording dealing with [[Prince]]’s break-up with [[Susannah Melvoin]], and thanking [[Wally Safford]] for being his friend. Allegedly he felt the song was too personal, however, and kept adding layers of percussion and changing the feel of the track. 
 
The song is not known to have been considered for inclusion on any configuration of [[Album: Sign O’ The Times|Sign O’ The Times]] or any other project at the time. In September 2020, the re-recorded version was released as the fifth track of ''Vault Tracks part 3'', one of the discs with previously unreleased tracks included with the [[Album: Sign O’ The Times Deluxe|Sign O’ The Times ''Super Deluxe Edition'']].

|recording info            =
{{RecordingLine|
|date                      = Autumn – Winter 1986 (assumed)
|studio                    = [[Galpin Blvd Home Studio]],<br>Chanhassen, MN, USA (assumed)
|additional info           = Tracking (as '''Babyless''')
}}
{{RecordingLine|
|date                      = [[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/December 28|28 December 1986]]
|studio                    = [[Galpin Blvd Home Studio]],<br>Chanhassen, MN, USA
|additional info           = Tracking, overdubs, mix
}}
{{RecordingLine|
|date                      = [[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/December 29|29]]/[[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/December 30|30 December 1986]]
|studio                    = [[Galpin Blvd Home Studio]],<br>Chanhassen, MN, USA
|additional info           = Tracking (Version 2), horn overdubs, mix
}}
|recording personnel       = 
'''Released version'''
*[[Prince]] - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
*[[Eric Leeds]] - saxophone
*[[Atlanta Bliss]] - trumpet

'''Unreleased original version'''
*[[Prince]] - all vocals and instruments, except where noted

|released versions         =
{{Songchart|
|line =
{{Songline|
|1= '''Wally'''
|2= 4:45
|3= [[Album: Sign O’ The Times Deluxe|Sign O’ The Times ''Super Deluxe Edition'']]
|4= Studio
|5= 
}}
}}
|unreleased versions       = 
{{SongUnreleased|
|unreleased versions       = 
{{Unreleased|
|line=
{{Unreleasedline|
|1= '''Babyless'''
|2= Studio
|3= Piano demo
}}
{{Unreleasedline|
|1= '''Wally'''
|2= Studio
|3= Recorded [[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/December 28|28 December 1986]], original 24-track stems were fully erased. No longer exists.
}}
{{Unreleasedline|
|1= '''Wally'''
|2= Studio
|3= Moderately different mix with slightly alternate ending
}}
}}
}}
|video versions            = 
|broadcasts, streaming     =
|sampled in                =
|first live appearance     = This track is not believed to have been performed live by [[Prince]]
|performed regularly on    = none
|performed occasionally in = none
|trivia                    = This track is believed to be the only track [[Prince]] has ever deliberately erased the 24-track stems in full. [[Susan Rogers]] has suggested that a cassette copy might have been made prior to its erasing, but this seems unlikely, as he would have been the only one in a position to make this copy, and she has no recollection of doing so. In 2020, the [[The Prince Estate|Estate]] archivist Michael Howe also stated in an interview that no such cassette was located in the vault.
* This track is named after [[Wally Safford]].
|see also                  = [[Album: Sign O’ The Times Deluxe|Sign O’ The Times ''Super Deluxe Edition'']] album
|references                = ''[[Book:_The_Vault|The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004)]]''
|categories                = [[Category:2020]][[Category:Recorded 1986]][[Category:Songs (Prince)]][[Category:Released Songs (Prince)]][[Category:Posthumously-released Songs]]
}}