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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/purple_rain.jpg]]
2 [[caption-width-right:350:''I only wanted one time to see you laughing\
3I only want to see you laughing in the purple rain'']]
4
5->''"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called 'life.' Electric word, 'life'; it means 'forever,' and that's a mighty long time. But I'm here to tell you there's something else: the Afterworld. A world of never-ending happiness; you can always see the sun, day or night. So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills -- you know the one, Dr. Everything'll-Be-Alright -- instead of asking him how much of your time is left, ask him how much of your mind, baby. 'Cause in this life, things are much harder than in the Afterworld; in this life you're on your own. And if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy! Punch a higher floor!"''
6-->-- '''Prince'''[='=]s opening spoken-word monologue
7
8''Purple Rain'' is the sixth studio album by American pop/rock musician Music/{{Prince}}, the second with the Revolution as his backing band. It acts as the soundtrack for the 1984 [[Film/PurpleRain film of the same name]]. It was released through [[Creator/WarnerBrosRecords Warner Bros. Records]] on June 25, 1984.
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10It won the UsefulNotes/{{Grammy Award}}s for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. The film’s music even won Prince an Oscar for Best Original Song Score at the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward 57th Academy Awards]].
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12Commercially, ''Purple Rain'' lifted Prince to megastardom. The album went ''13-times Platinum'' in the United States (later certified Diamond by the RIAA), and also double-Platinum in the United Kingdom. Globally, it has sold over 25 million copies. It is the third biggest-selling soundtrack album of all time.
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14The album produced five singles: "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Purple Rain", "I Would Die 4 U", and "Take Me with U". "When Doves Cry" was Prince's first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Let's Go Crazy" following suit. "Purple Rain" would hit #2, and "I Would Die 4 U" hit #8. The first three and "Take Me with U" were all Top Ten hits on the UK Pop chart. "Let's Go Crazy" was certified Platinum by the RIAA, while "Purple Rain" was certified Platinum by the BPI.
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16While not released as a single, the track "Darling Nikki" did gain just as much notoriety thanks to it being a favorite of Kareana Gore Schiff, daughter of senator and later vice president UsefulNotes/AlGore. Al's wife, Tipper, caught a then-eleven-year-old Kareana singing along to the song, and, horrified that her child was singing along to such a blatantly sexual song, co-founded the Parent's Music Resource Center in 1985 with the aim of imposing an MPAA-like rating system on music releases. While the plan didn't work out due to accusations of censorship from the music industry, which came to a head in a court hearing in August that featured counterargument testimonies from the likes of Music/FrankZappa, [[Music/TwistedSister Dee Snider]], and Music/JohnDenver, the PMRC did succeed in forcing the music industry to start applying warning stickers to the packaging of albums with explicit lyrics.
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18So, to put a long story short, this album indirectly caused the creation of the Parental Advisory sticker. Ironically, ''Purple Rain'' never received one.
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20It was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry in 2012. The album was remastered in 2015, with a four-disc deluxe edition released that year.
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22''Purple Rain'' would sell 700,000 copies in 2016, the year Prince died, becoming the top soundtrack album of 2016 and again reaching #55 on the year-end Billboard 200 album chart. It's been in at least the Top 20 of the Billboard Soundtrack Album chart every year since, reaching #4 again in 2021.
23
24!!Tracklist:
25
26[[AC: Side One]]
27#"Let's Go Crazy" (4:39)
28#"Take Me with U" (3:54)
29#"The Beautiful Ones" (5:13)
30#"Computer Blue" (3:59)
31#"Darling Nikki" (4:14)
32
33[[AC: Side Two]]
34#"When Doves Cry" (5:54)
35#"I Would Die 4 U" (2:49)
36#"Baby I'm a Star" (4:24)
37#"Purple Rain" (8:41)
38
39!!"This is what it sounds like when tropes cry":
40* AllWomenAreLustful: "Darling Nikki"
41-->"I knew a girl named Nikki I guess you could say she was a sex fiend"
42* BreakupSong: "When Doves Cry"
43* ColorMotif: Purple, of course. It's right there in the title.
44** From "Let's Go Crazy":
45-->"Let's reach for the purple banana until they throw us in the truck."
46* CoolBike: It's right there on the cover.
47* AGodAmI: "I Would Die 4 U"
48-->"I'm your Messiah and you're the reason why"
49* GrayRainOfDepression: "Purple Rain"
50* TheGrimReaper: Mentioned in "Let's Go Crazy"
51-->"Better live now before the Grim Reaper comes knocking on your door"
52* IAmSong: "Baby I'm A Star"
53* InTheStyleOf: Prince and Music/BobSeger's tours tended to be intersecting at the time. Prince didn't understand his appeal but tried to write a song in what he thought was Seger's style, resulting in "Purple Rain."
54* LetsDuet: "Take Me With U", with [[Music/Apollonia6 Apollonia]].
55* LongestSongGoesLast: The album closes off with the 8:41 TitleTrack.
56* OneWomanSong: "Darling Nikki"
57* PowerBallad: "Purple Rain," "The Beautiful Ones."
58* PurpleIsPowerful: It's in the title, it's a Prince record, it comes with the territory.
59* RhymesOnADime: "Let's Go Crazy"
60-->"Pills and thrills and daffodils will kill"
61* RockStarSong: "Baby I'm A Star"
62* TheShrink: Type 2 in "Let's Go Crazy"
63-->"So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills\
64 You know the one, Dr. Everything'll-Be-Alright"
65* SiameseTwinSongs: "I Would Die 4 U" --> "Baby I'm A Star"
66* SillyLoveSongs: "Take Me With U," "Purple Rain," "The Beautiful Ones"
67* SpokenWordInMusic: The album begins with ''a sermon'' at the start of "Let's Go Crazy".
68* TitleTrack: "Purple Rain"
69* XtremeKoolLetterz: "Take Me With U"

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