This teaser from Ward’s sixth LP indulges in atmospherics so deeply that he nearly dissolves in them, lapsing into ethereal oohs and a murmured incantation about a waterfall. Ward sheds his old-bluesman tics for a soul-folk croon – and the guitars, as usual, are sublime. 

Listen to M. Ward's "The First Time I Ran Away" :   
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• Photos: Random Notes

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.