Little Red Corvette

Album: 1999 (1983)
Charted: 2 6
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  • I guess I should've known
    By the way you parked your car sideways
    That it wouldn't last
    See you're the kinda person
    That believes in makin' out once
    Love 'em and leave 'em fast

    I guess I must be dumb
    'Cause you had a pocket full of horses
    Trojan and some of them used
    But it was Saturday night
    I guess that makes it all right
    And you say, "what have I got to lose?"
    And honey, I say

    Little red Corvette
    Baby, you're much too fast, oh
    Little red Corvette
    You need a love that's gonna last

    Guess I should've closed my eyes
    When you drove me to the place
    Where your horses run free
    'Cause I felt a little ill
    When I saw all the pictures
    Of the jockeys that were there before me

    Believe it or not
    I started to worry
    I wondered if I had enough class
    But it was Saturday night
    I guess that makes it all right
    And you say, "baby, have you got enough gas?"
    Oh, yeah

    Little red Corvette
    Baby you're much too fast, yes, you are
    Little red Corvette
    You need to find a love that's gonna last, ah, ah

    Ooh, ooh

    A body like yours oughta be in jail
    'Cause it's on the verge of bein' obscene
    Move over, baby
    Gimme the keys
    I'm gonna try to tame your little red love machine

    Little red Corvette
    Baby, you're much too fast
    Little red Corvette
    You need to find a love that's gonna last

    Little red Corvette
    Honey, you got to slow down (got to slow down)
    Little red Corvette
    'Cause if you don't, you're gonna run your
    Little red Corvette right in the ground

    Little red Corvette
    Right down to the ground (honey, you got to slow down)
    You, you, you got to slow down (little red Corvette)
    You're movin' much too fast (too fast)
    You need to find a love that's gonna last

    Girl, you got an ass like I never seen, ooh
    And the ride
    I say, the ride is so smooth
    You must be a limousine, ooh

    Baby, you're much too fast
    (Little red Corvette)
    You need a love, you need a love that's, ah, that's gonna last
    (Little red Corvette)
    Babe, you got to slow down (you got to slow down)
    Little red Corvette
    'Cause if you don't, 'cause if you don't
    You gonna run your body right into the ground (right into the ground)
    Right into the ground (right into the ground)
    Right into the ground (right into the ground)

    Little red Corvette (oh)

    Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Writer/s: Prince Rogers Nelson
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 28

  • Mi-ling (mayling) from Oklahoma Everything you thought you knew about Little Red Corvette is not true. The real girl was a college student in Minnesota who dated Prince in 1979-80. She dated a heavyweight champ name Mike “Hercules” Weaver and she had photos of her and prince’s idol, Muhammad Ali on her wall among others. The horses and Trojans have another meaning. It was not a one night stand. Her name is Mi-Ling Stone Poole. I am that girl and prince was my friend.
  • Music Television Promo Lover from Pittsburgh, PaHere's the thing that y'all got wrong. Yes Michael Jackson's Billie Jean changed MTV with the whole black artist that changed the music video format but Michael wasn't the first to break the color barrier and also Prince wasn't followed too. See you have black rockers like Gary "U.S." Bonds, Joan Armatrading, Phil Lynott (yes, the Black-Irish lead singer of Thin Lizzy), Garland Jeffreys, The Bus Boys and Ska bands like The Specials, The Selector and The English Beat (aka The Beat in the U.K.) were already standards on the channel by 1981 but Musical Youth were the very first young black acts to be played on the channel in 1982 and Stevie Wonder, Eddy Grant and Tina Turner (yes Stevie, Eddy and Tina were on the channel as well in '82) got rotation on the channel but Prince's 1999 video was already on MTV in late '82 (November and December in the year) before Billie Jean.
  • Annabelle from Eugene, OrTo Christopher Smith from Calif Out of curiosity, did your first wife have a thing goin' on with Prince before she met you?
  • Christopher Smith from CalifThis song was about my first wife. Hard to handle. Lived fast and died young. Suicide.
  • Prince Anthony from HoustonI have a red corvette and a Light skinned black female,I know some of you know what we call these types of females (redbones) but I call her my little red corvette case close I also play guitar and keyboards.. I tamed my little red corvette
  • Tyler from Rochester, Ny@ Ken, Louisville, KY: Prince's band started doing parts on his albums starting with Dirty Mind(1980) some songs all Prince, some song Prince an a member or 2, some songs a full band: for example the song Dirty Mind has Dr Fink on Synth, the song Head has Dr Fink on Synth Lisa Coleman on vocals. 1981 (Controversy:Jack U Off) is a full band recording.
    On this song Little Red Corvette, guitar by Dez Dickerson, Lisa Coleman on vocals...
  • Johnny from Claxton, Ga"jockeys that were there before me"....refers to all the guys that have "ridden" her
  • Anthony from Park City, Uti love the lyric "she had a pocket full of horses" of course he's taling about the trojnans in her pocket, genius
  • Delbert from Pittsburgh, PaHere's a hint: it ain't a song about cars. If you don't leap to the correct conclusion from that information, here's another one: girls have little red corvettes, but boys don't. Boys only get to drive them some of the time. (Gonna try to tame your little red love machine.) Virtually every one of Prince's songs is about sex, but this one is the most deliciously explicit.
  • Betj from Lima, OhWhen I listen to this song I think of a young, teenage guy out with an older girl, not sure what to do...he wants to sleep with her but he's a little nervous cause its his first time. But once it happens, he doesn't regret. Awesome song. Prince is the greatest.
  • George from Raleigh, NcThe Stevie Nicks angle above is almost correct. Nicks had been working on Stand Back for awhile but it wasn't complete in her mind. She and her boyfriend were driving in LA and listening to Little Red Corvette and decided that Stand Back needed a similar synthesizer track. They reached Prince that night through some connections and she played Stand Back for him over the phone. Prince came up with the synthesizer track on the spot and came down to Nick's studio to lay it down. The synthesizer in Stand Back was created by Prince after hearing the song one time and I believe he layed it down in one take. Prince is probably the most talented and prolific musician of our lifetime. (BTW, this story comes from Nicks herself, from her VH1 Storyteller show).
  • Mark from Hobart, United Statesthis song is agood song it alwas reminds me of a long ago girlfriend every time i here it played.
  • Rod from Cincinnati, Ohwoods from Minneapolis is half correct...the girls name was Bebe. The song was written about rock groupie and mother of Liv Tyler..Bebe Buell.
  • Kevin from Omaha, Nethe guitar hook in this song is one of the best ever...so tasty, so round, so firm, so...fully-packed...2 others are in the intro to 'Purple Rain' and the hook in 'when you were mine' Prince is a guitar genius.
  • Woods from Minneapolis, MnThere's a woman in Mpls who this song may be written about. The Corvette is a great analogy. This woman's nickname was BB......... "BB you're much to fast."

    Not "Baby you're much too fast" And, she's still too fast!
  • Paul from Durham, NhI worked at a Grocery store in New Hampshire for a few years, and this would always play around 10 AM, when older people were shopping. My co-workers and I always had a laugh at how little the elderly shoppers knew about what was really going on in this song. A common Retail song that probably doesn't belong in most stores :)
  • Ma_cherie from Little Rock, ArCorrect me if I'm wrong, but I thought it was "Jackie's" and not "Jockey's," and even as a young teen of the 80s I quickly realized it to refer to past lovers.
  • Ryan from Grand Rapids, MnAlex imagine that said prostitute is a horse and then think about it.
  • Mike from Hueytown , AlThis is the best song by Prince. It's hard not to lay down on the pedal while it's playing
  • Michael from San Diego, CaLovely tune, one of his very best! Prince is a musical genius and I recognize his lyrics even when sang by other artists like Suzanna Hoffs, Sinead O'Connor and Sheena Easton.
  • Alex from New Orleans, LaBy "jockeys that were there before me", he could be referring to the prostitute's illegitimate children, as both young children and jockeys are suppossed tobe small and lightweight. Just a thought.
  • Alasdair from Newdigate, EnglandOn vh1 Paul McCartney selected this as one of his favourite songs of all time
  • Ashley Jade from Cleveland, GaI thought Prince did the guitar in this song??
  • Jim from Dallas, TxPrince plays guitars that are made with a special wood from the Heyhoyazmahoudee district of Madagascar.
  • Don from San Antonio, TxI saw his guitarist Dez Dickerson open up for Billy Idol on the Rebel Yell tour in '84. I think you can see Dez playing an Aria Pro Explorer that's divided half red / half black, also in the 1999 video I think - and I also think he wore a kamakazi headband. He looked just like that live at the Idol show.
  • Ken from Louisville, KyAs with all of his other pre-"Purple Rain" records, Prince plays all instruments and sings all vocals parts on this song.
  • Vincent from Littleredcorrvette.com, United Stateshttp://www.littleredcorrvette.com/

    U were saying?
  • James from L.a., CaQuite possibly the best song Prince ever wrote. I guess a lot of Prince fans don't frequent Song Facts, because there should be a ton of testimonials here right now. "Little Red Corvette" is perfect in nearly every regard: performance, production and songwriting are all strong. An early peak for Prince, the beginning of a long career filled with hit singles and innovations.
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