Batdance
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| "Batdance" | ||
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| U.S. 7" single | ||
| Single by Prince | ||
| from the album Batman | ||
| B-side(s) | "200 Balloons" | |
| Released | 9 June 1989 | |
| Format | 7" single 12" single CD single |
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| Recorded | Paisley Park Studios, 1989 | |
| Genre | Pop, Rock, Funk | |
| Length | 7" edit: 4:06 Album/12": 6:13 |
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| Label | Warner Bros. Records | |
| Writer(s) | Prince | |
| Producer(s) | Prince | |
| Certification | Platinum - (8 August, 1989) | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Prince singles chronology | ||
| "I Wish U Heaven" (1988) |
"Batdance" (1989) |
"Partyman" (1989) |
"Batdance" is a song by Prince, from the 1989 Batman soundtrack (see 1989 in music). Helped by the film's popularity, the song reached number one in the U.S., becoming Prince's fourth number-one single, and first since 1986's "Kiss".
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[edit] Song
The song was a last-minute replacement for the brooding "Dance with the Devil", which Prince felt was too dark. Incidentally, though "Dance with the Devil" remains unreleased, some of the lyrics appear on the album's lyric sheet.
"Batdance" is almost two songs in one — a chaotic mechanical dancebeat which changes gears into a slinky, funky groove before changing back for the song's conclusion. The track is an amalgam of many ideas floating around at the time. No fewer than six songs (some unreleased) contributed to "Batdance": "200 Balloons", "We Got the Power", "House in Order", "Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic", "The Future", and "Electric Chair". Some of these were mere snippets, and other segments showed up only in remixes of the track. The song was also loaded with dialogue samples from the film, and was accompanied by an music video complete with multiple Batmen, Jokers and Vicki Vales. Prince appears both as himself, and as well as a character in facepaint known as "Gemini" with one side as the Joker and the other as Batman. Gemini is Prince's astrological sign, and is a reference to the duality throughout his music, and to good (Batman) versus evil (Joker).
[edit] B-side
The B-side, "200 Balloons" is an outtake from the album and the musical blueprint for the main portion of "Batdance". The song was rejected for the film by Tim Burton and replaced by "Trust". Ironically, the lyrics of "200 Balloons" fit the scene in the film much better than the replacement track. Prince did little more than replace the lyrics of "200 Balloons" in its transition to "Batdance". Some lyrics even survived the transition and some showed up in "The Batmix".
[edit] Remixes
The 12" single and some CD versions of this single included two remixes of "Batdance" that were done by Mark Moore and William Orbit, "The Batmix" and "Vicki Vale Mix".
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[edit] Trivia
- In 1989, Sir Mix-A-Lot sampled the guitar solo of "Batdance" for his "Beepers" song.
- "Batdance" was Prince's first single to be issued on CD in the U.S.
- The video features Vicki Vale wearing a t-shirt with the words "All this and brains too."
[edit] External link
- "Batdance" lyrics
| Preceded by "Toy Soldiers" by Martika |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single August 5, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx |
