"Eye No", stylized as " No", is a song by American musician Prince, and is the opening track to his 1988 album, Lovesexy.
Background During the recording sessions that would eventually lead to his 1987 album Sign o' the Times, Prince started recording "The Ball" at the end of July after rehearsals for the Parade Tour, with horns being overdubbed a couple days later. The song was in some configurations of Crystal Ball and would have segued into "Joy in Repetition", however was ultimately dropped.
During the recording sessions for Lovesexy, Prince revisited, rewrote, and rerecorded the track, becoming the studio version of "Eye No".
Composition "Eye No" opens with chords on the synthesizer and a poem written and spoken by Ingrid Chavez. Rolling Stone writer David Browne described the song as "a jumbled barrage of Sly Stone wails, fatback bass lines, a grinding sax, wah-wah guitar and swarming backup vocals that continually collide with each other".
While "Eye No" is viewed as "sterile", "The Ball" is viewed as a "stankier", Fairlight-driven groove. This may be due to the production of the former being collaborative featuring the members of Prince's band at the time, whereas the latter is primarily Prince. Eric Leeds did state he preferred "The Ball", saying "it was just a little fresher to me."
The song's lyrics also make reference to "Crystal Ball", "Train", and Sheila E.'s "Romance 1600".
Personnel Adapted from Benoît Clerc and Duane Tudahl.
"Eye No"
Musicians Prince – lead vocals, backing vocals, electric guitar, synthesizers, claps Atlanta Bliss – spoken vocals, trumpet Boni Boyer – vocals, Hammond organ Greg Brooks, Ingrid Chavez, Wally Safford – spoken vocals Sheila E. – backing vocals, drums Doctor Fink – synthesizers Eric Leeds – saxophone Levi Seacer Jr. – bass Miko Weaver – electric guitar
Production Prince – producer Eddie Miller – recording engineer
"The Ball"
Musicians
Prince – lead vocals, spoken vocals, backing vocals, electric guitar, bass, synthesizers, Fairlight CMI, clavinet, drums, claps Jerome Benton, Greg Brooks, Susannah Melvoin, Wally Safford – backing vocals Atlanta Bliss – trumpet Eric Leeds – saxophone
Production
Prince – producer Susan Rogers – recording engineer Todd Herreman – assistant recording engineer
References