"The Walk" opens side two of the Time's second album, '' What Time Is It?''. The song was produced, arranged, composed and performed by

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 ...

with

Morris Day Morris E. Day (born December 13, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of The Time. Music career Morris Day is best known as the lead singer of The Time, a group associated with Prince. Day and Pri ...

later adding his lead vocals. The funk song opens with a brief drum fill and has several throughout the song, along with handclaps from a

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

. The beat is somewhat of a march, which is emphasized by Day during the song's break by mimicking an army chant. The "walking" bass of the song is perhaps inspired by the song's title. The keyboards take an important role, as well as plenty of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

guitar. Despite the song being performed nearly entirely by Prince, several band members are called out throughout the song (

Jellybean Johnson Garry George "Jellybean" Johnson (born November 19, 1956) is an American drummer, guitarist, songwriter, producer and musician based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A member and drummer of The Time who worked along with famed producers Jimmy Ja ...

and Terry Lewis) giving the song a live feel. The ending of the song is a humorous conversation between Morris Day and Denise Matthews, lead singer of

Vanity 6 Vanity 6 was a short lived American female vocal trio that gained popularity in the early 1980s. They were protégés of musician Prince (musician), Prince. Led by singer Vanity (singer), Vanity, they are known for their song "Nasty Girl (Vanity ...

. Prince himself also makes an appearance as an Italian club owner. The U.S. 7" single was backed with the album's brief "OnedayI'mgonnabesomebody", while the Japanese 7" had "

777-9311 "777-9311" is the second track and lead single from The Time's second album, '' What Time Is It?''. Recorded for the album at Prince's home studio in May–June 1982, the song was produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince with Morris ...

" as 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 ...

. The 12" single had "'I Don't Wanna Leave You" and an edit of "The Walk" as B-sides. "The Walk" reached #24 on the R&B charts. In addition, along with the tracks,

, and "I Don't Want to Leave You", "The Walk" peaked at #42 on the US Disco Top 80 chart. The song became one of the Time's signature numbers. The song is played at nearly all of their concerts. "The Walk" was mentioned on the ''

Ice Cream Castle ''Ice Cream Castle'' is a 1984 album by The Time. Their third album, it consists of six tracks in the funk-pop or ballad genre, and it was produced and arranged by Prince as "The Starr ★ Company". The album's two biggest hits, " Jungle Love" ...

'' track, "Chili Sauce", and was sampled on the ''Corporate World'' track "Murph Drag" and the ''

Pandemonium Pandæmonium, Pandemonium or Pandamonium may refer to: Literature * Pandæmonium (''Paradise Lost''), capital of Hell in John Milton's epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' * ''Pandaemonium'' (history book), a book by Humphrey Jennings, published posthum ...

'' track "The Latest Fashion". Prince himself mentions “The Walk” in the song “Play In The Sunshine”, a track from his “Sign O’ The Times” album.

Personnel

Credits sourced from Prince Vault *

- lead and backing vocals, spoken word, drums *

- backing vocals, spoken word, all other instruments *

Vanity Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic s ...

- spoken word

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walk, The The Time (band) songs 1982 singles Songs written by Prince (musician) Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) 1982 songs Warner Records singles