Prince Tribute #1

I was listening to 'Little Red Corvette' today, and it just struck me that the climatic segment of the song is maybe the best moment in any pop song ever. At about 3:15 into the song, the music dies down a bit, but builds back up 30 seconds later, and Prince starts singing the chorus again. He sings the line "You're gonna ride your body right to the ground!" and then this female voice comes in. Right then, at 4:30, the music builds, and Prince's voice rises into a falsetto which he sustains on one perfect note.  That, my friends, is the greatest moment in the history of pop music. As the song fades out, he holds the note, occasionally pausing and inflecting it slightly here and there. It's one of those rare cases where I actually wish the song would go on for another minute or so. I guess I feel the same way about the end of 'Wordless Chorus,' a song heavily indebted to Prince.

Of course, I need to mention the close runner-up to greatest moment in pop music history: the part in Otis Redding's 'Try A Little Tenderness,' where he goes "You won't regret it, no no, young girls they don't forget it," to the accompaniment of a few perfectly placed piano notes. It gets me every time.