"How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" is a song 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. ...

. It is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

of romantic longing with some

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

elements. On his original recording of the song, which was released as the non-album

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 ...

to his 1982 single "

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", Prince performs most of the song in his

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

range, with his own

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

y piano playing providing the only instrumental accompaniment. The song's first album appearance was on his 1993 compilation '' The Hits/The B-Sides''. It was later included on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

to the 1996 film ''

Girl 6 ''Girl 6'' is a 1996 American black comedy film produced and directed by Spike Lee. The film stars Theresa Randle, Isaiah Washington, and Lee. Suzan-Lori Parks wrote the screenplay, making it the first film directed by Lee in which he did not w ...

''. Prince also performs the song on his 2002 live album '' One Nite Alone... Live!''. Artists who have

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

the song include

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as " Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical '' The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from ...

(1983), Joshua Redman (1998), and

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

(2001).

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recorded the song which appears on his 2001 single "Fast Lane".

Roger Cicero Roger Marcel Cicero Ciceu (6 July 1970 – 24 March 2016) was a German jazz and pop musician. Biography Roger Cicero was born in 1970 in Berlin to Romanian jazz pianist Eugen Cicero and dancer Lili Cziczeo. Cicero represented Germany at the ...

recorded the song with Soulounge for the 2004 album ''Home''; a live version by Cicero is included on his 2008 single "Alle Möbel verrückt". American Idol season 11 finalist Jessica Sanchez performed the song on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2012.

Alicia Keys version

Recording and production

recorded a cover of the song—retitled "How Come You Don't Call Me"—for her debut studio album '' Songs in A Minor'' (2001). She later told ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'': "I had never heard

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before. They gave me a copy of the song on tape. I played it every day for three weeks. It is so raw and so truthful – I was just feeling it. It really came out well." Keys' cover of "How Come You Don't Call Me" was inspired by a long-term relationship with a partner, and was produced by herself alongside

Kerry Brothers, Jr. Kerry Brothers Jr. (born October 1, 1970), also known as "Krucial", is an American record producer, songwriter and hip hop artist. Brothers and singer-songwriter Alicia Keys began a musical partnership in the mid-1990s, co-writing and co-producin ...

An official remix of the song, produced by

the Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music video ...

, was included on the '' Remixed & Unplugged in A Minor'' reissue of ''Songs in A Minor'' in 2002. It features vocals from

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

towards the end of the track.

Music video

The accompanying

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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for "How Come You Don't Call Me" was directed by Little X. It contains references to Japanese popular culture, such as

San-X is a Japanese stationery company known for creating and marketing cute characters such as Tarepanda, Rilakkuma, and Sumikko Gurashi. The characters are usually anthropomorphic representations of animals or inanimate objects. Each character has i ...

's Buru Buru Dog and ''

Cardcaptor Sakura , abbreviated as ''CCS'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. Serialized monthly in the ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from May 1996 to June 2000, it was also published in 12 ''tankōbon'' ...

''s

Kero-chan This article covers the major characters of Clamp's manga ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' and its respective anime and movies. The manga and anime focused on Japanese schoolgirl Sakura Kinomoto who finds the magical Clow Book in her father's basement study ...

, besides Korean character Mashimaro. The video starts with Keys waking up in the morning, and following her daily routine throughout the video, ending with a performance on stage. The video ends with a phone call from her supposed "boyfriend" (portrayed by Mike Epps) making an excuse about why he hasn't called her, and she hangs up on him, laughing.

Critical reception

Mark Anthony Neal of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

felt that the song was credible, but fell short from the original or Stephanie Mills' 1983 cover. Keys has said that Prince told her he loved her cover of the song.

Track listings and formats

*UK and Irish CD single and European promotional CD single # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Original Radio Version) – 3:31 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Neptunes Remix) – 4:23 *UK and Irish maxi CD single # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Original Radio Version) – 3:31 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Neptunes Remix) – 4:23 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Live Version) – 5:18 # "Butterflyz" (

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's Release Mix) – 9:11 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Video) *European maxi CD single # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Original Radio Version) – 3:31 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Neptunes Remix) – 4:23 # "Butterflyz" (Roger's Release Mix) – 9:11 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Video) *Australian and New Zealand maxi CD single # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Neptunes Remix) – 4:23 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Original Radio Version) – 3:31 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Album Version) – 3:57 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Video) *Spanish promotional CD single # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Remix) – 4:23 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Radio Edit) – 3:31 *US promotional CD single # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Radio Edit) – 3:31 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Instrumental) – 3:59 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Call Out Hook) – 0:10 *US promotional CD single (Neptunes Remix) # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Radio Edit) – 4:23 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Instrumental) – 4:33 # "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Call Out Hook) – 0:10 *US 12-inch vinyl :A. "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Neptunes Remix – Main) – 4:21 :B. "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Neptunes Remix – Instrumental) – 4:21 *UK 12-inch vinyl :A1. "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Original Album Version) – 3:57 :A2. "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Neptunes Remix) – 4:23 :B1. "Butterflyz" (Roger's Release Mix) – 9:11 *UK promotional 12-inch vinyl :A1. "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Neptunes Remix) – 4:23 :A2. "Troubles" (Jay-J & Chris Lum Moulton Mix) – 8:59 :B1. "Butterflyz" (Roger Sanchez Club Mix) – 9:11 :B2. "How Come You Don't Call Me" (Live Version) – 3:10

Credits and personnel

* Alicia Keys – lead vocals, backing vocals, production, all other instruments * Kerry "Krucial" Brothers – production, drum programming * Russ Elevado – mixing

Charts

Release history

References

External links

How Come You Don't Call Me
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{authority control 1980s ballads 1982 songs 2002 singles Alicia Keys songs Music videos directed by Director X Prince (musician) songs Rhythm and blues ballads Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) Songs written by Prince (musician) Stephanie Mills songs Soul ballads