La, La, La, He, He, Hee

Album: The Hits / The B-Sides (1987)
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Songfacts®:

  • Prince wrote this song with Sheena Easton, a Scottish singer he was collaborating with at the time (Prince wrote her 1985 hit "Sugar Walls"). According to Easton, the song was very innocent when she started writing it - the song was about a cat that climbs a tree and teases a dog. She says Prince would often inspect her notebooks and offer advice; when he came across "La, La, La, He, He, Hee," he thought it was an interesting idea. As a challenge, he put the song together, turning the dog and cat into metaphors for a human liaison.

    The result was a song that has the typical musical complexity of late '80s Prince, but with lyrics that sound like a dirty nursery rhyme. Not suitable for the masses, it was released on the B-side of the "Sign O' the Times" single and later included on The Hits / The B-Sides compilation.
  • Sheila E. added percussion on this track. She also appeared on Prince/Easton collaboration "U Got the Look," which was recorded around the same time.

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