"Delirious" is a song from Prince's 1982 album, 1999.[2] It was the album's third single, and Prince's second top-10 hit, reaching #8 in the U.S. during the fall of 1983. The success of the single was boosted by the runaway success of the previous single, "Little Red Corvette", and also because DJs often played the first three album tracks in sequence, which just happened to be the order of the singles released from the album.
Contents[]
[hide] *1 Background
Background[edit][]
"Delirious" is a standard 8-bar blues number that tells how Prince is being driven crazy by a beautiful woman. The song teases the listener with sexual metaphors, hidden enough to avoid being censored. The track begins with a trademark Linndrum machine loop and a bit of synth bass before the keyboard hook introduces the song. A rubbery bass guitar gives the track a rockabilly feel, which Prince had experimented earlier on "Jack U Off" from Controversy. The track ends suddenly with the sound effect of a baby cooing. In live performances over the years, Prince would later add live horns to the song, making it into more of a swing number. The 7" single release of the song included a poster bag with a 1983 calendar and images of Prince.
The B-side to the track is "Horny Toad", which is very similar in rockabilly style and instrumentation. Some of the sexually charged lyrics were mistakenly interpreted as sadistic at the time and were the source of some controversy. The track was included on The Hits/The B-Sides in 1993.
Appearances in other media[edit][]
- The baby cooing sound effect used at the very end of "Delirious" is sampled from the 1966 Perrey and Kingsley song "Countdown at 6".[3] This was also sampled in the 1998 Aaliyah song "Are You That Somebody?"
- The song was used in the 1983 Cheech and Chong movie Still Smokin' while the duo is in Amsterdam.
- "Delirious" was also heard at the beginning of MGM's 1991 film of the same name.
- "Delirious" is sampled in Girl Talk's album All Day.
Charts[edit][]
| Chart (1983) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 33 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 27 |
| US BillboardHot 100 | 8 |
| US BillboardHot R&B Singles | 18 |