Prince loved writing songs about women. That’s more or less a fact. It’s what made him famous; his often seductive and taboo odes to women, coupled with his uniquely soft image, called leagons of female fans to his albums. Prince also loved women, period. And the following songs that were written by Prince were likely inspired or outright written about real-life women in his life. Let’s dive in, shall we?
1. “A Love Bizarre”
Prince wasn’t one to have entirely platonic relationships with his collaborators. At least, that was the case for his relationship with artist Sheila E. The two met back in the late 1970s and outside of romance, Sheila E. became a close friend of Prince and even briefly was engaged to him. He wrote songs about her and for her through the years, and it’s hard to say which are and which aren’t. However, “A Love Bizarre” is likely about Miss Sheila, considering the song’s subject matter.
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2. “Nasty Girl”
Remember Vanity? She was an international sex symbol throughout the 1980s. In 1982, she and Prince were in a pretty taboo cover photo for Rolling Stone. It was obvious that the two were in a relationship. He encouraged her to be part of Vanity 6 and wrote the group a song called “Nasty Girl”, which he said was a homage to Vanity, specifically.
3. “The Dance”
In the early 2000s, Prince was married to Manuela Testolini, whom he met at a charity event. “The Dance” is one of many songs he wrote about this period in his life, and it’s less of an ode and more of a scornful tune, but it’s about being in love nonetheless. He recorded the song twice during his marriage to Testolini, but following their divorce, he more or less kept his relationships quite private.
4. “I Wanna Be Your Lover”
Another standout track among songs that Prince wrote about women, “I Wanna Be Your Lover” came during the period in which he was obsessed with Sheila E. However, the song is not about Sheila E. at all. In the liner notes to his The Hits record, Prince noted that he was head over heels for soul icon Patrice Rushen, but nothing ever happened between the two of them.
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