Prince’s alter-ego, Camille, may have come to life for different reasons, one of which can be seen in “If I Was Your Girlfriend.” Prince may have been inspired by his friend Wendy Melvoin and her sister Susannah. Prince’s engineer, Susan Rogers says that, “he envied the closeness they had...they spent hours on the phone…” Three weeks before he wrote and then began to record this song, he fired Wendy and her significant other Lisa. It is believed that he so deeply missed them and their friendship that he could not stop thinking about the sisterly/best-friend-ship that Wendy and Susannah shared. Prince then began to wish that his relationship had the same intimacy that Wendy’s and Susannah’s had. He then applied his wanting for a deeper connection to this song. His envious feelings turned into one of his most soulful songs of all time. While is only speculation, no one may ever know for sure, why did he choose Camille, a girl, to sing this song?
I believe that Prince wrote this from the perspective of a woman, and therefore it makes sense for a female to sing it. It changes the meaning when a woman sings it though. It is the cultural norm that women want to dress their significant other, and want that close intimate relationship that Prince sings about. When Prince sings it, the meaning changes significantly. He is fighting those cultural norms. Culture sees men who want this deeper, more intimate relationship as weird. When Camille was going to sing this it would not have defied cultural norms, but Prince does defy cultural norms when he sings this as himself.
Wendy Melvoin and friend Lisa Coleman, who did have a past relationship, worked with Prince in the 1980s. They were very good friends of Princes’, and Lisa even calls their relationship a “three way love affair.” Prince fired his two best friends and may have been missing their relationship as well. Losing these two women inspired his writing for both the song “If I Was Your Girlfriend” and the Camille Project.
“Housequake” and “Shockadelica” are on the same album as “If I Was Your Girlfriend”, and were originally part of the Camille project. “Shockadelica” is about a woman named Camille, that Prince sings is “a witch.” He sings that one’s “fate is sealed, and [one] is so tired and the reason is Camille-mille.” This song is about Camille, while in “Housequake” “Camille” actually sings. He/she sings “shut up already damn!” This is the first time she is heard, but the entirety of “If I Was Your Girlfriend” was going to be song by this alter-ego. How did Prince create this alter-ego, Camille? While Prince can sing very high, he still needed help electronically. Susan Rodgers, as the engineer, helped Prince achieve this. She would slow the track down, have Prince sing it, and then would speed it up. However, she messed up; there is a dry/flat effect to the song because it was distorted. At first Prince was unhappy about it, but once listening to it he loved it. It was a surprisingly good accident for the song.
There are many different covers of Prince’s song, “If I Was Your Girlfriend.” The girl band, TLC, did the most popular cover of the song. Everything besides the vocals, are the same as Prince’s. The meaning of the song changes significantly when TLC sings it. When they sing, “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” it is no longer androgynous. To the audience the song makes sense (from a traditional gender perspective), and is no longer in question. When TLC sings, “would you let me dress you,” the implication changes. As mentioned earlier, in our society, women tend to want to pick out their significant other’s clothing. It is the norm for women to want these things. When TLC sings “If I Was Your Girlfriend” it changes the meaning of the song.
Do you think it's common in today's culture for boys to feel mistreated in relationships? Or do you think times have changed?
ReplyDeleteNo, in today's society I think that women feel more mistreated. I think the stereotype is that men are oblivious, while women are easily hurt by the little things.
DeleteDo you think it's common in today's culture for boys to feel mistreated in relationships? Or do you think times have changed?
ReplyDeleteVery interesting subject matter. I never thought to look at it as a desire for intimacy in friendship. I always thought it meant he would be the best significant other, kind of like Beyoncé's "If I Were A Boy." I wonder, though, why did prince create his alter-ego, "Camille," as a woman? Would it change if the alter-ego was a boy? Also, although Prince's usual voice defies social norms, i wonder what really made him want to defy them here. Was that even a thought in his mind?
ReplyDeleteI had the same question as I was writing this blog. We may never know if it was a conscience decision or not. I think that Prince was trying to think out side the box, and push himself to do something that was never done before. I also think that your question about his alter-ego is interesting; I never though about the alter-ego being a boy and how that would change the perspective of things. I think that if the alter-ego was a boy it would change the meaning behind the song. I mean to say that he himself wouldnt release it, but he would behind another male, would tell the world that he was nervous and maybe even scared on how the world would view the song. I think he chose a girl because that pushed the envelope, but then decided that he would push the envelope further by releasing the song himself.
DeleteI find it very interesting that Prince wrote this song from a female perspective while the song is about a man wanting a more intimate relationship with a woman. I am also wondering if Prince's decision to sing it instead of Camille was a conscious choice to defy gender norms. Do you think he knew the impact the song would have on gender norms and would it have had a similar impact if "Camille" were to sing it?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if he knew the impact the song would have on the world, or not. We may never know, but it definitely something interesting to think about. Prince in the beginning wanted a girl to sing it, I think because he wrote it from the perspective of a woman. But why he changed his mind and trashed the Camille Project remains a mystery. I do not think it pushes gender norms when a woman sings it, and maybe Prince wanted to push those norms? I am not sure.
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