I Wanna Be Your Lover

"I Wanna Be Your Lover" was written after Warner Bros. requested a follow-up to Prince's debut album For You, which had underperformed commercially. In response, Prince recorded "I Wanna Be Your Lover." Musically, it is a funk song sung exclusively in falsetto, detailing Prince's love for a woman and how he would treat her better than the men she is with, and frustration that she thinks of him as "a child".

The single edit stops after 2:57, but the album version goes off on a jam of keyboards and synthesizers, including a Polymoog, played by Prince. The song is written in the key of A flat minor with Prince’s vocal ranges from C3 to D5.

It was later revealed that the song concerned a crush Prince had at the time on pianist and singer Patrice Rushen.^[11]

Prince promoted the song by lip-syncing it with his band on The Midnight Special and American Bandstand, where he gave host Dick Clark an awkward interview, answering his questions with one-word answers.^[12] Prince claimed to be 19 but was 21 at the time.^[13] Clark later said, "That was one of the most difficult interviews I've ever conducted, and I've done 10,000 musician interviews."^[14]

The song was also Prince's debut single released in the UK; it was not a major hit, reaching No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and when Prince tried to promote it with shows in London, he was forced to cancel due to poor attendance.

The song additionally reached No. 2 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and No. 2 in New Zealand.

Prince included a sample of this song in the opening of his 1992 hit single "My Name Is Prince".

There are two versions of the music video of the hit single. The main version has Prince in an unbuttoned leopard shirt and jeans singing alone in a black background with only a mic, notably with straight-wavy hair and a departure from his afro from a year before. Various shots show him playing the instruments by himself.

The other version, which has not aired and was not featured on The Hits Collection compilation shows Prince and his band members performing the song in a painted room. The video was pulled due to skimpy clothing and a sexually suggestive theme (Prince was clad in blue stockings and a tan shirt).

7" single

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (edit) – 2:57
• B. "My Love Is Forever" – 4:08

7" single (UK)

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (edit) – 2:57
• B. "Just as Long as We're Together" (edit) – 3:25

7" single (DEU)

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (edit) – 2:57
• B. "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" – 3:49

12" single (UK)

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" – 5:47
• B. "Just as Long as We're Together" – 6:24

12" promo

• A. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (edit) – 2:57
• B. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" – 5:57

Information taken from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud.^[15][16]

• Prince – lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, clavinet, Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, Oberheim Four Voice, Polymoog, Minimoog, ARP String Ensemble, bass guitar, drums

• List of number-one R&B singles of 1979 (U.S.)