Today’s Song of the Day Challenge is “A song that makes you dance”, and no song commands that I get up on my feet and shake my tail feathers more than “Baby, I’m a Star” by Prince. The song is from his monumental and groundbreaking soundtrack album for his film Purple Rain. Prince originally composed and demoed the song in December 1981, but the version included on Purple Rain was re-recorded with his band The Revolution in August 1983 at a live performance in Minneapolis. Prince later reworked the live recording in the studio, adding overdubs and other refinements to get the track to his liking.

The song is a joyously upbeat dance anthem about pop stardom, and its lyrics describe Prince’s status as a rising star when he wrote it in late 1981: “You might not know it now, baby, but I are — I’m a star. I don’t wanna stop ’til I reach the top.” Starting with a propulsive drumbeat, Prince layered exuberant synthesizers to simulate a horn section, along with funky guitar and driving bass to create a deliriously electrifying groove that aims for the hips and sends us straight to the dance floor. I think it’s one of the hottest dance tunes ever!

Something I never knew until reading about this song was that the opening barely audible and unintelligible lyrics sung by a woman are actually these played backwards:

Like, what the fuck do they know?
All their taste is in their mouth
Really, what the fuck do they know?
Come on, baby
Let’s go crazy!