Prince's "When You Were Mine" vs Cyndi Lauper's "When You Were Mine"

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Just askin'. Lauper's was the first version I ever heard, and if anything the sexual politics are more confused, hence painful. The production and synth arrangement remind me of The Cure's Disintegration five years before the fact.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 1 October 2006 23:58 (eighteen years ago)

No offense to Cyndi, but I gotta say Prince.

― always crashing in other people's cars (kenan), Monday, 2 October 2006 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

no offense to prince, but i gotta say cyndi.

― real savage-like (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 2 October 2006 00:02 (eighteen years ago)

No offense to Prince or Cyndi Lauper, but I gotta say Mitch Ryder.

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 2 October 2006 00:02 (eighteen years ago)

also, i object to the misspelling in the thread title.

― real savage-like (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 2 October 2006 00:03 (eighteen years ago)

love the screen name, jbr.

― always crashing in other people's cars (kenan), Monday, 2 October 2006 00:03 (eighteen years ago)

also, i object to the misspelling in the thread title

haha. Yes, I'm so straight.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 2 October 2006 00:09 (eighteen years ago)

Cyndi by a hair.

― EZ Snappin (EZSnappin), Monday, 2 October 2006 01:42 (eighteen years ago)

CHAKI

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 October 2006 01:43 (eighteen years ago)

thanks, timm-o!

― chaki (chaki), Monday, 2 October 2006 01:55 (eighteen years ago)

Prince wins of course but it is seriously nice to see a Mitch shout-out on this thread. and I do think the Mitchmeister might actually WIN the fight against the Velvets

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Monday, 2 October 2006 02:55 (eighteen years ago)

Hey, the Ryder version was the FIRST one I heard! Didn't like it much, then; would probably appreciate it more today. (Tastes changing somewhat over a 23-year period.)

Strangely, never heard Prince's original until after the other two, and I gotta say it's my favourite. So quaint to look back and hear an artifact from his short-lived "New Wave" period (which maybe only exists in my imagination.)

I do think the Mitchmeister might actually WIN the fight against the Velvets
-- Stormy Davis

I agree. But his "Like A Rolling Stone" was quite cringeworthy! Yeesh...

― Monty Von Byonga (Monty Von Byonga), Monday, 2 October 2006 06:14 (eighteen years ago)

Prince's original
Crooked Fingers cover
Cristina's cover
Cyndi Lauper's cover (hate to put her last, but had to be done in this case)

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Monday, 2 October 2006 06:56 (eighteen years ago)

I love Bette Bright's version (1981).

― Oliver C (...Oliver), Monday, 2 October 2006 07:09 (eighteen years ago)

haha I saw the thread title and immediately wondered where Blount would be to declare, "MITCH RYDER"

the Crooked Fingers cover is totally amazing. maybe my single favorite Prince cover--up there, anyway.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 2 October 2006 12:39 (eighteen years ago)

THE CHURCH.

― Virginia Plainsong (kate), Monday, 2 October 2006 12:54 (eighteen years ago)

I've never heard Mitch Ryder's. Someone describe it.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 2 October 2006 13:50 (eighteen years ago)

Prince. The hook is spare and plaintive as opposed to bombastic and danceable, but the groove is deep.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Monday, 2 October 2006 15:00 (eighteen years ago)

Yesh, I love that Cyndi album (and its bombastic synths), but the arrangement of Prince's version works better for me. "Money Changes Everything" is the jam from that Cyndi LP.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Monday, 2 October 2006 17:13 (eighteen years ago)

THE CHURCH

Seconded!

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Monday, 2 October 2006 17:24 (eighteen years ago)

"Money Changes Everything" is the jam from that Cyndi LP

Seconded.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Monday, 2 October 2006 17:44 (eighteen years ago)

the orignal version of "Money Changes Everything" by the Brains is really good too.

― M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 2 October 2006 17:54 (eighteen years ago)

I gotta say I was disappointed by Cristina's version, 'cause I was expecting it to be the best thing ever.

― alex in montreal (alex in montreal), Monday, 2 October 2006 18:00 (eighteen years ago)

The real battle: "I Feel For you" - Prince vs. Chaka Khan

― 0xDOX0RNUTX0RX0RSDABITFIELDXOR^0xDEADBEEFDEADBEEF00001 (donut), Monday, 2 October 2006 18:03 (eighteen years ago)

I've never heard Mitch Ryder's. Someone describe it.

The Mitch Ryder version was from his '83 John "Little Bastard" Cougar-produced LP, which kinda tells you all you need to know. Yer basic meat & potatoes stuff.

― M. Agony Von Bontee (M. Agony Von Bontee), Monday, 2 October 2006 20:18 (eighteen years ago)

Wow. I need to hear it (**cough**).

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 2 October 2006 20:21 (eighteen years ago)

Prince

― Colin Cassidy (Colin Cassidy), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 00:05 (eighteen years ago)

Prince, but relistening to Lauper's for the first time in ages it holds up better than I remembered--way better, actually. HAve never heard Mitch Ryder's or the Church's but some group called Casiotone for the Painfully Alone have a new version, which is ok (cute for a few seconds anyway).

― s woods (sw00ds), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 12:30 (eighteen years ago)

I'm a big Mitch Ryder fan but truthfully his voice was kinda shot on that Coug-produced LP. I even went to see him play it live at the Ritz in NYC, thinking I'd review it for the Voice, but I passed. :-(

Prince, no contest.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 12:40 (eighteen years ago)

Wasn't John Cougar Mellencamp performing this song live at one point? I love some of Mellencamp's stuff from that era, but I can't imagine that'd be so good...

― s woods (sw00ds), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 12:46 (eighteen years ago)

Well...Prince wrote the song when he was 19. So he gets props, but... I like the Cyndi version better. The synth sounds are more my style.

― trees (treesessplode), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 13:29 (eighteen years ago)

The best context for hearing the Mitch Ryder version is, of course, in the film "Hot Dog: The Movie," which also contains a very, very strange diagetic use of John Stewart's "Dreamers on the Rise," as well as a profoundly hot Shannon Tweed sex scene set to "Hungry Like the Wolf."

― Tiki Theater Xymposium (Bent Over at the Arclight), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 14:15 (eighteen years ago)

Cyndi.

Strangely enough, I didn't realize this was a Prince song until some time later, when I read an interview with Prince where he said he thought Cyndi's version was the best of them all.

― i'll mitya halfway (mitya), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 17:24 (eighteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.