“Nothing Compares to You”: The story of the song Prince composed for his housekeeper

One of Prince’s most famous songs is undoubtedly Nothing compares to 2 U, theme composed in 1989 which Sinead O’Connor later interpreted.

It’s clear that Prince was having a very special time when he wrote the lyrics to “Nothing compares to 2 U’.

The singer has had several women in his life and defining who he wrote the song for seems almost an impossible point to pin down.

Prince’s Classic: “Nothing Compare 2 U”

Everything points to it Nothing compares to 2 U It was born not from the depths of a breakup, but from the woes of Prince’s housekeeper, who took an extended leave of absence to attend to urgent family business.

It was 1984 and Prince was alone in his villa in Paisley Park, where he wrote: “It’s been seven hours and 15 days…”.

Prince’s trusted sound engineer and longtime collaborator Susan Rogers was nearby as he began formulating the song.

Rogers counted “His young housekeeper, Sandy Scipioni, had to leave suddenly to be with his family”, memory. “Sandy ran Prince’s life.”

As the artist struggled to cope with the rigors of a houseless reality outside the studio, he began to ask Rogers desperately, “When is Sandy coming back?“.

The star had just started his own record label, Paisley Park, and despite his creative streak, it was becoming increasingly clear that he had “bit off more than he could chew” when it came to combining work with daily activities.

So, stressed, tired and longing for the safe order of the young Sandy Scipioni, he visited her villa to compose the song.

After an hour, Rogers recalls, he came out with “Nothing Compares 2 U” and now all seemed to be right in his messy creative world. “I was a young man writing about home life,” Rogers explains to the outlet. Keeper.

“The phrase ‘all the flowers you planted in my garden are gone and dead‘…it would have been Sandy who planted those flowers. And I know living with me, honey, is hard sometimes, but I’m willing to try again…”

There was no romantic relationship with Sandy. It’s not a pain argument: “Help me, baby,” everything indicates that it’s really about: ‘You’re gone and I miss you’, which is probably why he felt comfortable giving away the song.”

While that might assuage the heartbreak and bring a wry smile to the wistful song, the fact that Prince gifted her that song shows that she had a healthy dose of self-awareness underneath all of her prima donna game.

“He pitched his song based on what he wanted us to know about him,” concludes Rogers, “and as wonderful as it was, he didn’t want it to represent that.”.

prince’s death

On April 21, 2016, the singer passed away at the age of 58. He left behind a revolutionary artistic legacy, the influence of which is still felt and is constantly renewed with the appearance of new posthumous material.

The proof of the latter is Welcome 2 Americawhich adds to the long list of post-mortem material published over the past five years.

Almost at the same pace he set in life for his prolific career of 39 studio albums, scores of hits, soundtracks and starring roles in four films.

In that period, which began in 1978, with the release of his debut album, for youthe artist born in Minneapolis, who decided to make himself known only with his first name – and in some passages of his career with a verbally unpronounceable symbol – showed an original musical hybrid.