About The Song
“Raspberry Beret” is a song written by American musician Prince and the lead single from Prince & the Revolution’s 1985 album Around the World in a Day.
The sound of the song expanded upon previous Prince arrangements, incorporating stringed instruments, Middle Eastern finger cymbals, and a harmonica in the extended version. The song was also more in the pop vein than before, though the 12-inch single and video of the song feature a funky intro.
The lyrics concern a sexual experience with a girl who wears a raspberry-colored beret. The extended version was included on the compilation album Ultimate in 2006. While the song hit number one in Cash Box and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US (behind “A View to a Kill” by Duran Duran), it only reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart.
The US B-side, “She’s Always in My Hair”, is a rock and roll number, with guitar and organs and emotional lyrics screamed toward the end. The UK B-side was “Hello”, which was included on the U.S. release of “Pop Life”.
Cash Box described the single as “an immediately accessible track, melodic and teasingly sexual.” Greg Tate of Spin said it was, “a typical Prince sex fantasy set to an arrangement reminiscent of the softer side of Abbey Road.”
Following Prince’s death, “Raspberry Beret” re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 33 on the chart dated the week of May 14, 2016. As of April 30, 2016, it has sold 691,421 copies in the United States.
Video
Lyrics
One, two
One, two, three, uh
Yeah
I was working part time in a five-and-dime
My boss was Mr. McGee
He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind
‘Cause I was a bit too leisurely
Seems that I was busy doing something close to nothing
But different than the day before
That’s when I saw her, ooh, I saw her
She walked in through the out door, out door
She wore a
Raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second hand store
Raspberry beret
And if it was warm she wouldn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret
I think I love her
Built like she was
She had the nerve to ask me
If I planned to do her any harm
So, look here
I put her on the back of my bike
And-a we went riding
Down by old man Johnson’s farm
I said now, overcast days never turned me on
But something about the clouds and her mixed
She wasn’t too bright
But I could tell when she kissed me
She knew how to get her kicks
She wore a
Raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second hand store
Raspberry beret
And if it was warm she wouldn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret
I think I love her
The rain sounds so cool when it hits the barn roof
And the horses wonder who you are
Thunder drowns out what the lightning sees
You feel like a movie star
Listen
They say the first time ain’t the greatest
But I tell ya
If I had the chance to do it all again
I wouldn’t change a stroke
‘Cause baby, I’m the most
With a girl as fine as she was then, oh, oh yeah
Raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second hand store (the kind you find)
Raspberry beret
If it was warm she wouldn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret
I think I, I think I, I think I love her
Raspberry beret
(No, no, no)
The kind you find in a second hand store (no, no, no)
Raspberry beret
(Tell me where have all the raspberry women gone?)
If it was warm she wouldn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret