"Let's Go Crazy" is a 1984 song by Prince and The
Revolution, from the album,
Purple Rain. It was the opening track on both the album,
and the film
Purple Rain. "Let's Go Crazy" is one of Prince's most
popular songs, and is almost always a staple for concert
performances, often segueing into other hits. When released as
a single, the song became Prince's second number-one hit on the
Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the two component charts,
the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Dance Club Play charts,
as well as becoming a UK Top 10 hit. The B-side was the
lyrically controversial "". In the UK, the song was released as
a double A-side with "".
Common to much of Prince's writing the song is thought to be
exhortation to follow Christian ethics, with the "De-elevator"
of the lyrics being a metaphor for the Devil.
The extended "Special Dance Mix" of the song was performed
in a slightly edited version in the film
Purple Rain. It contains a longer instrumental section
in the middle, including a solo on an apparently out-of-tune
piano and some muddled lyrics, repeating the track's
introduction.
The song was also notable for opening with a funeral-like
organ solo with Prince giving the "eulogy" for "this thing
called life." That eulogy ends with a distinctive drum machine
pattern and then quickly becomes a full hard rock number with
heavy guitar, bass and synthesizers. The song's percussion was
programmed with the venerable Linn LM-1 drum machine, an
instrument frequently used in many of Prince's songs.
In 2007, Stephanie Lenz, a writer and editor from Gallitzin,
Pennsylvania made a home video of her 13-month-old son dancing
to "Let's Go Crazy" and posted a 29-second video on the
video-sharing site YouTube. Four months after the video was
originally uploaded, Universal Music Group, which owned the
copyrights to the song, ordered YouTube to remove the video
enforcing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Later in August 2008, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of
San Jose, California ruled that copyright holders cannot order
a deletion of an online file without determining whether that
posting reflected "fair use" of the copyrighted material. Lenz
notified YouTube immediately that her video was within the
scope of fair use, and demanded that it be restored. YouTube
complied after six weeks—not two weeks, as required by the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act—to see whether Universal
planned to sue Lenz for infringement. Lenz then sued Universal
Music in California for her legal costs, claiming the music
company had acted in bad faith by ordering removal of a video
that represented fair use of the song.
For You(1978): "Soft and Wet"
·"Just as Long as
We're Together"
Prince(1979): "I Wanna Be Your Lover"
·"Why You Wanna
Treat Me So Bad?"
·"Still Waiting"
·"Bambi"
·"Sexy Dancer"
Dirty Mind(1980): "Uptown"
·"Dirty Mind"
·"Do It All
Night"
Controversy(1981): "Controversy"
·"Let's Work"
·"Do Me, Baby"
·"Sexuality"
1999(1982): "1999"
·"Little Red
Corvette"
·"Delirious"
·"Automatic"
·"Let's Pretend
We're Married"
Purple Rain(1984): "When Doves Cry"
·"
Let's Go Crazy
"
·"Purple Rain"
·"I Would Die 4 U"
·"Take Me with
U"
Around the World in a Day(1985): "Paisley Park"
·"Raspberry Beret"
·"Pop Life"
·"America"
Parade(1986): "Kiss"
·"Mountains"
·"Anotherloverholenyohead"
·"Girls &
Boys"
Sign “☮” the Times(1987): "Sign o' the Times"
·"If I Was Your
Girlfriend"
·"U Got the Look"
·"I Could Never
Take the Place of Your Man"
Lovesexy(1988): "Alphabet St."
·"Glam Slam"
·"I Wish U
Heaven"
Graffiti Bridge(1990): "Thieves in the Temple"
·"New Power
Generation"
Diamonds and Pearls(1991): "Gett Off"
·"Cream"
·"Diamonds and
Pearls"
·"Money Don't
Matter 2 Night"
·"Insatiable"
·"Thunder"
Love Symbol Album(1992): "Sexy MF"
·"My Name Is
Prince"
·"7"
·"The Morning
Papers"
·"Damn U"
The Hits/The B-Sides(1993): "Pink Cashmere"
·"Peach"
·"Nothing Compares
2 U"
Come(1994): "Letitgo"
·"Space"
The Gold Experience(1995): "The Most Beautiful Girl in
the World"
·"I Hate U"
·"Gold"
Chaos and Disorder(1996): "Dinner with Delores"
Emancipation(1996): "Betcha by Golly Wow!"
·"The Holy River"
·"Somebody's
Somebody"
Crystal Ball(1998): "The Truth"
The Rainbow Children(2001): "The Work, pt. 1"
Musicology(2004): "Musicology"
·"Call My Name"
·"Cinnamon
Girl"
3121(2006): "Te Amo Corazón"
·"Black Sweat"
·"Fury"
Planet Earth(2007): "Guitar"
·"Chelsea
Rodgers"
