| "Let's Go Crazy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US 7" single | ||||
| Single byPrince andThe Revolution | ||||
| from the albumPurple Rain | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | July 18, 1984[1] | |||
| Recorded | August 7, 1983 | |||
| Studio | The Warehouse,St. Louis Park | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:50 (7"/video version) 4:39 (album version) 7:35 (12"/movie version) | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter | Prince[6] | |||
| Producers | Prince and the Revolution | |||
| Prince singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Purple Rain singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Let's Go Crazy" onYouTube | ||||
"Let's Go Crazy" is a 1984 song byPrince andThe Revolution, from the albumPurple Rain. It is the opening track on both the album and the filmPurple Rain. "Let's Go Crazy" was one of Prince's most popular songs, and was 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 theBillboard Hot 100, and also topped the two component charts, theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[7] andHot Dance Club Play charts,[8] as well as becoming a UK Top 10 hit. TheB-side was the lyrically controversial "Erotic City". In the UK, the song was released as a double A-side with "Take Me with U".
Common to much of Prince's writing, the song is thought to be exhortation to followChristian ethics, with the "De-elevator" of the lyrics being a metaphor for the Devil.[9] The extended "Special Dance Mix" of the song was performed in a slightly edited version in the filmPurple Rain. It contains a longer instrumental section in the middle that includes a chugging guitar riff, an atonal piano solo and some muddled samples of the spoken word intro. This version was originally going to be used on the album but when "Take Me With U" was added to the track list, it was edited down to its current length.
Cash Box called the song "one of the finest fusions of jump rock and synth pump."[10]
Following Prince's death, the song re-charted on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart at number 39 and rose to number 25 by the week of May 14, 2016. As of April 30, 2016, it has sold 964,403 digital copies in the United States.[11]
In 2013, British rock bandThe Darkness performed the song at the 44th Annual Rock Music Awards.
The song was also notable for opening with a funeral-likeorgan solo with Prince giving the "eulogy" for "this thing called life."[12] The introduction's words are overlapped with each other on the single version. The song climaxes with a distinctivedrum machine pattern and then features a heavyguitar lead,electronic drums,bass and whirringsynthesizers and a climatic drum outro. The song's percussion was programmed with aLinn LM-1 drum machine, an instrument frequently used in many of Prince's songs. The song is also known for its two guitar solos both performed by Prince.[12]
7" Warner Bros. / 7-29216 (US)
7" Warner Bros. / W2000 (UK)
12" Warner Bros. / 0-20246 (US)
12" Warner Bros. / W2000T (UK)
Credits are sourced from Duane Tudahl, Benoît Clerc, Guitarcloud and Mix.[13][14][15][16]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[33] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[34] 1984 sales | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
| United States digital sales | — | 964,403[11] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
In 2007, Stephanie Lenz, a writer and editor fromGallitzin, 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 siteYouTube. 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 theDigital Millennium Copyright Act. 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.[35]
Later in August 2008, U.S. District JudgeJeremy Fogel, ofSan 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. In 2015 the court affirmed the holding that Universal was required to consider fair use before sending its initial takedown request.
The hardest rocker Prince ever cut, "Let's Go Crazy" finds the Purple One preaching that we "Better live now before the grim reaper comes knocking on your door.
Prince's second #1 hit of 1984, "Let's Go Crazy" is funk-rock turned to an 11.
...and then the glam-garage rocker "Let's Go Crazy."
