Little Red Corvette

Released in 1982 on the “1991” album, “Little Red Corvette” comes from a nap Prince had in band member Lisa Coleman’s 1964 pink Mercury Montclair Marauder after an all-nighter in a recording studio. The song uses cars as a metaphor for the woman in the song’s lack of sexual sincerity, with lines like “I guess I should’ve known by the way you parked your car sideways / That it wouldn’t last”. Prince also makes references to condom brand “Trojan” by stating: “I guess I must be dumb ‘cuz you had a pocket full of horses / Trojan and some of them used”, alluding that she had previous lovers before Prince because of the used condoms. Prince spends the song using the metaphor of a red Corvette for how fast this woman leaves men after she has slept with them, and urges her to slow down and to “move over, baby, gimme the keys / I’m gonna try and tame your little red love machine”, because she could end up getting hurt. The song provided a fresh and new outlook on gender perceptions and roles at the time – associating a more male personality with a female one.

The music video was shown in February 1983 and was Prince’s second music video shown MTV. Directed by Bryan Greenberg, the video features Prince on a stage bathed in a red light signing the song – almost like all his music videos, and has almost 12 million views.

Release Date: 9th February 1983

Songwriter/s: Prince

Producer/s: Prince

Music Video Release Date: February 1983

Music Video Director: Bryan Greenberg

Chart Rankings, Awards & Certifications: #108 on Rolling Stone’s list of “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, 153rd greatest song of all time as well as the 3rd best song of 1982 by “Acclaimed Music”.