“The Right Amount of Odd”: Vocal Compulsion, Structure, and Groove in Two Love Songs from Around the World in a Day

Abstract

In this music-analytic interpretation of two love songs from Prince’s Around the World in a Day album, we investigate the properties of groove, arrangement, and vocality, all of which contribute to the artist’s inimitable signature. With a disciplinary grounding in musicology, we demonstrate ways whereby musical features are associated with meaning in recorded songs. Underlying the approach is the notion that it is in the music where Prince’s ingenuity mainly lies. The analysis is informed by an understanding of the technological ramifications of the process on the part of Prince and his audio engineer Susan Rogers.