"Mountains" by Prince & the Revolution

Song#:  2737
Date:  05/24/1986
Debut:  58
Peak:  23
Weeks:  11
Genre:  R&B, Rock, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  Prince grabbed his third #1 on the Pop chart with "Kiss," the lead single from his album Parade. The album also served as the soundtrack to his second film Under a Cherry Moon. While the film would be a bust, the album would be a double-platinum seller that reached #3. Next up from the album was this track, which played over the closing credits of the movie. It didn't attract the same audience as "Kiss" and it stumbled a bit peaking outside the Pop Top 20. It did a little better at Dance (#11) and R&B (#15).

ReduxReview:  The Parade album was critically liked at the time and still is, but like his previous LP Around the World in a Day, it was a bit experimental. Therefore, it was not chock full of immediate hits with the exception of "Kiss." This tune was probably the most single-worthy of the remaining tracks, but it still wasn't in the same commercial league as his previous major hits. Its dense sound seems to make it drag and the chorus isn't all that memorable. The jazzy horn break doesn't help things from a pop radio perspective, but for me it's one of the most interesting parts of the song. It took me a long while to warm up to it, but I do like this tune. It just wasn't a very good single.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Prince was often nebulous when it came to songwriting credits. While most of the composer credits attributed to him were true and legit, there were times when he listed someone else as the writer or co-writer when that person had no involvement in composing the tune. He might also use a pseudonym instead of his own name, such as when he used the name Christopher as the composer credit for The Bangles' #2 hit "Manic Monday." Then there were times that he didn't credit someone who actually did work on the tune or as in the case of this song and all others on Parade gave the general credit of being composed by Prince & the Revolution. Yet this song was actually written by three people. The musical team of Wendy & Lisa, who were members of the Revolution, had written the music for this song and played it for Prince. He liked it well enough to write lyrics and include it in his Under the Cherry Moon film and soundtrack. However, the credit for the song as listed on the original album was by Prince & the Revolution. The same credit was also on the single version of the song. However, when it came to the royalties of the song, the actual composers were listed and registered with whichever music rights organization Prince used for composer payouts. Indeed a quick search for the licensing of this track for use shows that it was written by Prince Rogers Nelson, Lisa Coleman, and Wendy Melvoin.

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