"Alphabet St." is a song from American musician

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

's 1988 album, ''

Lovesexy ''Lovesexy'' is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. The album was released on May 10, 1988 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in just seven weeks, from mid-December 1987 to late Janua ...

''. It was the first single from that album and the album's only top 10 single, reaching the top 10 in both the UK and US. Initially written as an acoustic blues song, the song's final version includes a

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Cat Glover Catherine Vernice Glover (born July 23, 1964) is an American professional choreographer, dancer, and singer. She originally hit the mainstream in television alongside her dance partner Patrick Allen in the duo known simply as "Pat & Cat" on th ...

and is full of

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

s. "Alphabet St." generally echoes themes from the rest of ''Lovesexy''. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

is a remix of "Alphabet St." called "Alphabet St. ("This is not music, this is a trip")". The title and other phrases are repeated at the beginning of the song, but essentially it is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

with a few minor changes. "Alphabet St." was the first Prince single released as a CD, albeit only in the UK and Japan. A promo CD was issued in the US.

Music video

Directed by P.R. "Spot" Epstein and produced on very short notice on a snowy Sunday by filmmaker Michael R. Barnard, the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Alphabet St." shows Prince walking and driving through an environment made out of letters. The video contains hidden messages. The first appears after the end of the first verse ("She'll want me from my head to my feet"), where there is a split second image with the hidden message "Don't buy '' The Black Album'', I'm sorry." The second image says B "heaven is so beautiful"; the third image is D "4 the light dance"; the fourth image is G "funk guitar"; the fifth image is H (heroin) "is 4 punks"; the sixth image, when Prince is in the Thunderbird, says "if U don't mind".

Track listings

* 7-inch single :A. "Alphabet St." (edit) – 2:25 :B. "Alphabet St." (cont.) – 3:14 * 12-inch and CD single # "Alphabet St." (album version) – 5:38 # "Alphabet St. ("This is not music, this is a trip")" – 7:48 * CD promo # "Alphabet St." (edit) – 2:25 # "Alphabet St." (LP version) – 5:38 # "Alphabet St." (extended version) – 5:40 # "Alphabet St. ("This is not music, this is a trip")" isted as "Alphabet St."– 7:48

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

* Scottish

noise pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoegazi ...

band

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they rele ...

covered this song which appears on their 1994 single "

Come On Come On may refer to: Music * ''Come On'' (EP), by Elf Power, 1999 * "Come On" (Billy Lawrence song), 1997 * "Come On" (Christine Anu song), 1995 * "Come On" (Chuck Berry song), 1961; covered by the Rolling Stones, 1963 * "Come On" (CNBLUE so ...

". *

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...

provides a cover on his second

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

collection '' Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6–10''. * Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon covered this song on their 2020 album ''Noon''.

Sampling

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

sampled "Alphabet St." for the song "Ringfinger" from their 1989 album ''

Pretty Hate Machine ''Pretty Hate Machine'' is the debut studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by TVT Records on October 20, 1989. Production of the record was handled by NIN frontman Trent Reznor and English producer Flood, among ...

''. * Part of the rap section was used in the 1990

Ween Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band are ...

song " L.M.L.Y.P.". Prince's "No!" scream intro also replaces the word "shit" on the radio edit of their 1993 song "

Push th' Little Daisies "Push th' Little Daisies" is a song by American band Ween, appearing on their third album, ''Pure Guava'', in 1992. It was released as a single in 1993. A music video was released, featuring Dean and Gene Ween eating various foods while fooling a ...

". * 1990s hip-hop group

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

sampled a word from "Alphabet St." for their breakout song "

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

" in 1992. The group were sued for their unauthorized use of the word "Tennessee" and had to pay Prince $100,000. * In 1992, Czech singer

Lucie Bílá Lucie Bílá (born April 7, 1966 as ''Hana Zaňáková'') is a Czech pop singer. According to her label, EMI Czech Republic, the singer has sold over one million albums. She won the Czech musical award, Český slavík 13 times, the highest ...

sampled the beat and guitar riff for her song "Láska je láska" which became the most successful hit of the year in Czech Republic.

References

{{Authority control Prince (musician) songs 1988 singles 1988 songs Music videos directed by Prince (musician) Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Norway Paisley Park Records singles Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) Songs written by Prince (musician) Warner Records singles