Little Red Corvette


"Little Red Corvette" is a song by American recording artist Prince. The song combines a drum machine beat and slow synth buildup for the verses and a full rock chorus. Backing vocals were performed by Dez Dickerson and Lisa Coleman and the guitar solo was also played by Dickerson. In the song, Prince narrates a one-night stand with a beautiful but promiscuous woman ; although he enjoys the experience, he urges her to "slow down" and "find a love that's gonna last" before she destroys herself. In addition to the title, he uses several other automobile metaphors, for example comparing their lovemaking to a ride in a limousine.
Released as a single from the album 1999 in 1983, the song was his biggest hit at the time, and his first to reach the top 10 in the U.S., peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It was also his first single to perform better on the pop chart than the R&B chart. The single was released with another 1999 track, "Let's Pretend We're Married". Following Prince's death in April 2016, the song re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at number 29. It rose to number 20 one week later. It has sold 1.08 million digital copies in the United States.
A 12" dance remix of the song was released to accompany the single, and it continues where the album version fades out. The US single was originally released with the album track "All the Critics Love U in New York" as the B-side, and in the UK, two separate single releases had it backed with "Lady Cab Driver" or "Horny Toad". Separate UK 12" releases had the song paired with "Automatic" and "International Lover", or "Horny Toad" and "D.M.S.R.". Later, it was released as a double A-side with "1999", thus peaking at number two in the UK in January 1985. On Prince's 2006 compilation album Ultimate, the dance remix of "Little Red Corvette" was a featured track.

Composition

"Little Red Corvette" is written in the key of D major and moves at a tempo of 123 beats per minute in common time. Prince's vocals span from A2 to D7 in the song. The lyrics use car imagery as a double entendre for sex also making use of horse-related imagery for similar purposes.
Jack Hamilton of Slate noted that the song is about "ambivalence, vulnerability, and fear" of casual sex. "It’s not about sex as fun...but rather about the entirety of the act: its physical, emotional, psychological, even spiritual dimensions. And uniquely, 'Little Red Corvette' isn’t really about anything other than sex." With its instrumentation of guitars, synthesizers, and a drum machine, Hamilton identifies "Little Red Corvette" as a post-disco song "in every respect."

Music video

"Little Red Corvette" was Prince's second music video played on MTV. The first was "1999" the previous year before Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and after Musical Youth's "Pass the Dutchie".

Origins

Prince got the idea for the song when he dozed off in band member Lisa Coleman's 1964 pink Mercury Montclair Marauder after an exhausting all-night recording session. The lyrics came to him in bits and pieces during this and other catnaps. Eventually, he was able to finish it without sleeping.

Awards and accolades

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs11
US Billboard Hot Rock Songs4

Year-end charts

Chart Position
US Hot Rock Songs 32