‘Let's Go Crazy’ is a 1984 song by Prince and The Revolution, from the album Purple Rain. It is the opening track on both the album and the film Purple 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 the Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the two component charts, the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Dance Club Play charts, as well as becoming a UK Top 10 hit.
This is the opening song from Prince's film Purple Rain. The album was a soundtrack to the film, and a huge hit, spending 24 weeks at #1 in America. Much of the movie takes place at a club where Prince performs - these scenes were shot at the First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis, where Prince really was a regular player. When Prince and his band, The Revolution, embarked on their tour to promote the album, they used most of the choreography from their film performance of this song for their concert performances.
Common to much of Prince's writing, the song is thought to be exhortation to follow Christian ethics, with the "De-elevator" of the lyrics being a metaphor for the Devil. The extended "Special Dance Mix" of the song was performed in a slightly edited version in the film Purple 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.
The song was also notable for opening with a funeral-like organ solo with Prince giving the "eulogy" for "this thing called life." The introduction's words are overlapped with each other on the single version. The song climaxes with a distinctive drum machine pattern and then features a heavy guitar lead, electronic drums, bass and whirring synthesizers and a climatic drum outro. The song's percussion was programmed with a Linn 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.
Cash Box called the song "one of the finest fusions of jump rock and synth pump." Following Prince's death, the song re-charted on the Billboard 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. In 2013, British rock band The Darkness performed the song at the 44th Annual Rock Music Awards.
Label – Warner Bros.
Songwriter – Prince
Producers – Prince and the Revolution
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called "life"
Electric word, life
It means forever, and that's a mighty long time
But I'm here to tell you there's something else:
The afterworld
A world of never ending happiness
You can always see the sun, day or night
So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills
You know the one, Dr. Everything'll-Be-All-Right
Instead of asking him how much of your time is left
Ask him how much of your mind, babe
'Cause in this life
Things are much harder than in the afterworld
In this life
You're on your own
And if de-elevator tries to bring you down
Go crazy (Punch a higher floor)
Whoo
[Verse 1]
If you don't like
The world you're living in
Take a look around
At least you got friends
You see, I called my old lady
For a friendly word
She picked up the phone
Dropped it on the floor
"Ah, ah," is all I heard
[Pre-Chorus]
Are we gonna let de-elevator bring us down?
Oh, no, let's go
[Chorus]
Let's go crazy
Let's get nuts
Let's look for the purple banana
Until they put us in the truck, let's go
Come..
[Verse 2]
We're all excited
But we don't know why
Maybe it's 'cause
We're all gonna die
And when we do (When we do)
What's it all for? (What's it all for?)
You better live now
'Fore the grim reaper come knocking on your door
[Pre-Chorus]
Tell me, are we gonna let de-elevator bring us down?
Oh, no, let's go
[Chorus]
Let's go crazy
Let's get nuts
Look for the purple banana
Until they put us in the truck, let's go
[Bridge]
C'mon, baby
Let's get nuts
Yeah
(Crazy)
Let's go crazy
[Pre-Chorus]
Are we gonna let de-elevator bring us down?
Oh, no, let's go
Go (Go crazy)
Whoo!
[Bridge]
I said let's go crazy (Go crazy)
Let's go (Let's go)
Go (Let's go)
[Verse 3]
Dr. Everything'll-Be-All-Right
Will make everything go wrong
Pills and thrills and daffodils will kill
Hang tough, children
He's coming
He's coming
Coming
[Guitar solo]
[Outro]
Take me away