photo from FreeFoto.com
So my four-year-old daughter and I are driving in the car together this weekend and Prince’s Little Red Corvette comes on the radio. I tell her how Mommy used to love this song and dance to it when I was a teenager. She asks me to turn it up and I start singing it loudly while dancing in my seat. As I’m singing, I finally stop to listen to the words – the actual words - and my head cocks a little bit, my mouth drops open and my eyes open wide.
I had no idea what this song was really about when I was belting it out in my bedroom as a 14-year-old girl! I’m pretty sure my parents didn’t either – collectively I think we all believed it was just about a girl, a car and some horses…
Don’t get me wrong – I always knew that Prince was dirty. However, I thought that was just in songs like Cream or Kiss, or ones that I kept hidden and played on low in my room so my parents wouldn’t hear.
However, Little Red Corvette wasn’t on that list…until now…Here’s some of the lyrics…I feel like I have finally figured the punch line to a joke someone told me hours ago… Am I the only one who was this naive???
Little Red Corvette
I guess I shoulda known
By the way you parked your car sideways
That it wouldn’t last
See you’re the kinda person
That believes in makin’ out once
Love ‘em and leave ‘em fast
I guess I must be dumb
Cause you had a pocket full of horses
Trojan and some of them used
But it was Saturday night
I guess that makes it all right
And you say what have I got to lose?
And honey I say
Little red corvette
Baby you’re much to fast
Little red corvette
You need a love that’s gonna last
I guess I shoulda closed my eyes
When you drove me to the place
Where your horses run free
Cause I felt a little I’ll
When I saw all the pictures
Of the jockeys that were there before me
Believe it or not
I started to worry
I wondered if I had enough class
But it was Saturday night
I guess that makes it all right
And you say, “Baby, have you got enough gas?”
Oh yeah
Girl, you got an ass like I never seen
And the ride…
I say the ride is so smooth
You must be a limousine
Baby you’re much 2 fast
Little red corvette
U need a love, u need a love that’s
That’s gonna last
(Little red corvette)
U got 2 slow down (u got 2 slow down)
Little red corvette
Cuz if u don’t, cuz if u don’t,
U gonna run your body right into the ground (right into the ground)
Right into the ground (right into the ground)
Right into the ground (right into the ground)
So it’s not about a car? but a girl that gets around? I didn’t realize this either and I will never admit that to my husband….
Let him keep believing…It’s better that way!
You are so funny! What’d you think “pocket full of horses meant?”
Small toy horses???
I am so naive, too and never actually looked at the actual lyrics. But shouldn’t surprise me, because Prince was never known for being upstanding and all. But totally brings a new meaning to the song now!!
I’m realizing that my mix tape from the 80′s might not have been as innocent as I thought!
Yup, I’m just as clueless as you were…never really listened to the lyrics that closely because it had such a good beat! Oy…but, hey you know what? I still think it’s better than many of the songs out there now!
Definitely! Though that Thrift Store song is damn catchy these days…
I just found you through Bloopy Bloggers.
Love your blog!
I’m going to follow along!
As for this song- OMG! I NEVER knew! Just liked the music. I was Clueless in ’83.
Welcome! So glad you are here! And don’t worry, you aren’t alone – I believe we were all clueless in 83!
Well, I’m going to admit that I didn’t really realize this – but I only really know the chorus. Ha! There are so many songs that are inappropriate that I loved as a kid – like, George Michael’s “Faith” that I had memorized by the 5th grade!
Uhmmm….Faith was dirty too??? Damn, I’m so naive!
O. M. G. Thanks for just ruining my teenage years for me.
.
You are most welcome. Tomorrow I might reveal that I Want Your Sex was actually about sex. Crazy.
LOL! I knew that song was just as dirty as all of his other songs when I used to dance around in my t-shirt and undies as a teen. I loved that song, too.
Me too! I had a mix tape of him, George Michael and C&C Music Factory. Yeah, I was that cool.
I never knew what the horses meant. I knew he was dirty, but I didn’t think this song was that bad. Crap.
I know, right???
I’m a wordy girl, so the lyrics to a song move me, almost more than the melody. I have to admit, I understood the meaning of this song almost right away. Heck, I don’t think Prince is dirty – he’s sexy. Sexy because he’s smart, he doesn’t come right out and say it, he wraps it in a lovely metaphor, kind of like Shakespeare. Thanks for the fun read!
Well that might be the deepest interpretation of Prince that I have ever read! You are right, there is something oddly sexy about him. Maybe it’s that crazy cane he always carried around…
That Prince–he’s a sneaky one!! Great post
Dirty and sneaky!
I listened to Cream when I was a teenager and didn’t think about it too much. Then, I saw the video….!!
That video was insane! I remember thinking, “I probably shouldn’t be watching this…” as I watched it intensely!
That’s so funny! I loved that song and didn’t make the connection either. Guess I just thought it great to dance to. Who knew?
b
Most dance songs are a little on the suspicious side, I’m finding… I feel like I’ve been living under a rock!
WHAT?? This is shocking!!! LOL!!!
I realize that I was probably living on a deserted island for most of my life…
No!!! I am shocked by the lyrics!! I had no idea either…lol
Wow, am feeling stupid now. I totally identify I thought that was one of the clean ones. Darling Nikki however….I think even Mr. P himself is self-flagellating over that one.
Ha! I’m so glad to hear that I wasn’t alone in my naive thinking!