Little Red Corvette - wikipedia Little Red Corvette `` Little Red Corvette '' US 7 '' single ( 1983 ) Single by Prince from the album 1999 B - side `` All the Critics Love U in New York '' `` Horny Toad '' ( UK ) `` Lady Cab Driver '' ( UK ) `` D.M.S.R. '' ( UK 12 `` ) `` Automatic '' ( UK 12 `` ) `` International Lover '' ( UK 12 `` ) `` 1999 '' ( U.S. picture disc ) Released February 9, 1983 Format 7 '' single 12 '' single Recorded Kiowa Trail Home Studio, May 20, 1982 ( basic tracking ) Sunset Sound, August 11 -- 12, 1982 ( editing for album version ) 1983 and 1984 ( Purple Rain era studio sessions ) Genre Synthpop Length 4 : 58 ( album version ) 3 : 08 ( single version ) 8 : 27 ( Dance Remix ) Label Warner Bros. Songwriter ( s ) Prince Producer ( s ) Prince Prince singles chronology `` 1999 '' ( 1982 ) `` Little Red Corvette '' ( 1983 ) `` Delirious '' ( 1983 ) Prince ( UK ) singles chronology `` 1999 '' ( 1982 ) 1999 1982 `` Little Red Corvette '' ( 1983 ) Little Red Corvette1983 `` When Doves Cry '' ( 1984 ) When Doves Cry 1984 Music video `` Little Red Corvette '' on YouTube Audio `` Little Red Corvette '' on YouTube `` Little Red Corvette '' is a song by American musician Prince. Released as a single from the album 1999 in 1983, the song was his biggest hit at the time, and his first to reach the top 10 in the US, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It was also his first single to perform better on the pop chart than the R&B chart. The song combines a drum machine beat and slow synth buildup for the verses and a full rock chorus. Backing vocals were done by Dez Dickerson and Lisa Coleman and the guitar solo was also played by Dickerson. In the song, Prince narrates a one - night stand with a beautiful but promiscuous woman ( the `` Little Red Corvette '' of the title ) ; although he enjoys the experience, he urges her to `` slow down '' and `` find a love that 's gon na last '' before she destroys herself. In addition to the title, he uses several other automobile metaphors, for example comparing their lovemaking to a ride in a limousine. A 12 '' dance remix of the song was released to accompany the single, and it continues where the album version fades out. The US single was originally released with the album track `` All the Critics Love U in New York '' as the B - side, while in the UK two separate single releases had it backed with `` Lady Cab Driver '' or `` Horny Toad ''. Separate UK 12 '' releases had the song paired with `` Automatic '' and `` International Lover '', or `` Horny Toad '' and `` D.M.S.R. ''. Later, it was released as a double A-side with `` 1999 '', thus peaking at number two in the UK in January 1985. The single was released with another 1999 track, `` Let 's Pretend We 're Married ''. On Prince 's 2006 compilation album, Ultimate, the dance remix of `` Little Red Corvette '' was a featured track. Following Prince 's death in April 2016, the song re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at number 29. It rose to number 20 one week later. It has sold 1.08 million digital copies in the United States. Contents 1 Composition 2 Music video 3 Origins 4 Awards and accolades 5 Charts 5.1 Weekly charts 5.2 Year - end charts 6 References 7 External links Composition `` Little Red Corvette '' is written in the key of D ♭ major and moves at a tempo of 123 beats per minute in common time. Prince 's vocals span from A ♭ to A ♭ in the song. The lyrics use car imagery as a double entendre for sex also making use of horse - related imagery for similar purposes. Slate has noted that the song is about `` ambivalence, vulnerability, and fear '' of casual sex. With the site also noting that the lyrics possess post disco themes, stating `` Disco lived by the myth that Saturday night never ends. `` Little Red Corvette ' not only insists that it does, it reminds us that a lot of what took place in the darkened corners of clubs and alleys was shadowy, fumbling, detached, or often worse. '' Music video `` Little Red Corvette '' ( directed by Bryan Greenberg and released in February 1983 ) was Prince 's second music video played on MTV. The first was `` 1999 '' the previous year before Michael Jackson 's `` Billie Jean '' and after Musical Youth 's `` Pass the Dutchie ''. Origins Prince got the idea for the song when he dozed off in band member Lisa Coleman 's pink Mercury Montclair Marauder after an exhausting all - night recording session. The lyrics came to him in bits and pieces during this and other catnaps. Eventually, he was able to finish it without sleeping. Awards and accolades Rolling Stone ranked the song # 108 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The guitar solo, played by band member Dez Dickerson, was ranked # 64 by the readers of Guitar World as one of the 100 best guitar solos of all time. The song is currently ranked as the 153rd greatest song of all time as well as the third best song of 1982, by Acclaimed Music. Charts Weekly charts Chart ( 1983 ) Peak position Australian Singles Chart 8 Canadian Singles Chart 5 New Zealand Singles Chart 12 UK Singles Chart US Billboard Hot 100 6 US Billboard Hot R&B Singles 15 US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 17 Chart ( 2016 ) Peak position US Billboard Hot R&B / Hip - Hop Songs 13 US Billboard Hot Rock Songs Year - end charts Chart ( 1983 ) Position US Billboard Hot 100 25 References Jump up ^ Uptown, 2004, p. 41 Jump up ^ Tudahl, Duane. Jump up ^ Rowman et Littlefield, 2018. pp 4 - 5. Jump up ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. `` Prince -- 1999 ''. Retrieved January 27, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Hip Hop Single Sales : Prince, Desiigner & Drake ''. HipHopDX. April 30, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Little Red Corvette by Prince @ Song Key Finder ''. www.songkeyfinder.com. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 23. Jump up ^ Prince. `` Prince `` Little Red Corvette '' Sheet Music in Db Major ( transposable ) - Download & Print ``. Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 23. Jump up ^ `` 25 Essential Prince Songs ''. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 February 2017. Jump up ^ `` 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ''. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 February 2017. ^ Jump up to : Hamilton, Jack. `` Prince Was Our Bard of One - Night Stands, and `` Little Red Corvette '' Was His Masterpiece ``. Slate. Retrieved 14 February 2017. Jump up ^ Buckley, Peter ( 2003 ). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides Ltd. p. 819. ISBN 978 - 1 - 84353 - 105 - 0. Jump up ^ Torchinsky, Jason ( 2016 - 04 - 24 ). `` Everybody Was Wrong About the Car That Inspired Prince 's ' Little Red Corvette ' ''. Jalopnik. Gawker Media. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 25. Jump up ^ Leeds, Alan ( 1993 ). CD insert booklet. Prince The Hits 2. Jump up ^ `` Acclaimed Music Top 3000 songs ''. Acclaimed Music. May 27, 2009. Jump up ^ Kent, David ( 1993 ). Australian Chart Book 1970 -- 1992. St Ives, NSW : Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0 - 646 - 11917 - 6. ^ Jump up to : Trust, Gary ; Caulfield, Keith ( April 25, 2016 ). `` Prince 's ' Purple Rain ' Is the Week 's Top - Selling Song, as 6 of His Classics Re-Enter Hot 100 ''. Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2016. Uptown : The Vault -- The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince : Nilsen Publishing 2004, ISBN 91 - 631 - 5482 - X External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Prince singles 1970s `` Soft and Wet '' `` Just as Long as We 're Together '' `` I Wanna Be Your Lover '' 1980s `` Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad ? '' `` Still Waiting '' `` Sexy Dancer '' `` Uptown '' `` Dirty Mind '' `` Do It All Night '' `` Gotta Stop ( Messin ' About ) '' `` Controversy '' `` Let 's Work '' `` Do Me, Baby '' `` 1999 '' `` Little Red Corvette '' `` Delirious '' `` Automatic '' `` Let 's Pretend We 're Married '' `` When Doves Cry '' `` Let 's Go Crazy '' `` Purple Rain '' `` I Would Die 4 U '' `` Take Me with U '' `` Paisley Park '' `` Raspberry Beret '' `` Pop Life '' `` America '' `` Kiss '' `` Mountains '' `` Anotherloverholenyohead '' `` Girls & Boys '' `` Sign `` O '' the Times '' `` If I Was Your Girlfriend '' `` U Got the Look '' `` I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man '' `` Alphabet St. '' `` Glam Slam '' `` I Wish U Heaven '' `` Batdance '' `` Partyman '' `` The Arms of Orion '' `` Scandalous ! '' 1990s `` The Future '' `` Thieves in the Temple '' `` New Power Generation '' `` Gett Off '' `` Cream '' `` Diamonds and Pearls '' `` Money Do n't Matter 2 Night '' `` Insatiable '' `` Thunder '' `` Sexy MF '' `` My Name Is Prince '' `` 7 '' `` Damn U '' `` The Morning Papers '' `` Pink Cashmere '' `` Nothing Compares 2 U '' `` Peach '' `` The Most Beautiful Girl in the World '' `` Letitgo '' `` Space '' `` Purple Medley '' `` I Hate U '' `` Gold '' `` Dinner with Delores '' `` Betcha by Golly Wow ! '' `` The Holy River '' `` Somebody 's Somebody '' `` The Truth '' `` Extraordinary '' `` The Greatest Romance Ever Sold '' 2000s `` U Make My Sun Shine '' ( with Angie Stone ) `` When Will We B Paid ? '' ( with Audio Stepchild ) `` Supercute '' `` The Work, pt. 1 '' `` Days of Wild '' `` Musicology '' `` Cinnamon Girl '' `` Controversy ( Live in Hawaii ) '' `` S.S.T. '' `` Te Amo Corazón '' `` Black Sweat '' `` Fury '' `` Guitar '' `` F.U.N.K. '' 2010s `` Breakfast Can Wait '' Promotional singles `` When You Were Mine '' `` Erotic City '' `` Nothing Compares 2 U '' `` Love Sign '' ( with Nona Gaye ) `` Somebody 's Somebody '' `` The Rest of My Life '' `` 5 Women '' `` It 's About That Walk '' `` Man'O'War '' `` Call My Name '' `` The Song of the Heart '' Airplay - only songs `` International Lover '' Internet downloads `` One Song '' `` Glass Cutter '' `` Live from Paisley Park '' `` Strange Relationship '' `` Guitar ( original `` demo '' version ) '' EPs The Beautiful Experience NYC 1999 : The New Master Other songs `` I Feel for You '' `` When You Were Mine '' `` Private Joy '' `` How Come U Do n't Call Me Anymore ? '' `` 17 Days '' `` The Beautiful Ones '' `` Computer Blue '' `` Darling Nikki '' `` Baby I 'm a Star '' `` 4 the Tears in Your Eyes '' `` Sometimes It Snows in April '' `` Adore '' `` Do n't Talk 2 Strangers '' `` I Ca n't Make U Love Me '' `` La, La, La Means I Love U '' `` One of Us '' `` Everyday Is a Winding Road '' `` A Case of U '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_Red_Corvette&oldid=853218369 '' Categories : 1982 songs 1983 singles Prince ( musician ) songs Song recordings produced by Prince ( musician ) Songs about automobiles Songs about casual sex Songs with double entendres Songs written by Prince ( musician ) Warner Bros. Records singles Hidden categories : Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Français Italiano Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 3 August 2018, at 06 : 12 ( UTC ). 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Question: who did prince write little red corvette about
Answer: Lisa Coleman's pink Mercury Montclair Marauder