For You

Lore & Background

The source lists For You as a Prince album from 1978, with no mention of a 2014 release or streaming-only distribution.

In Their Own Story

The studio was dark except for the amber glow of the console faders. Prince sat at the keyboard, not the drum machine, not the guitar amp—just the keys, one hand, a single sustained chord that seemed to hang in the air like smoke. He hummed. Adjusted a fader. Hummed again. The engineer, who had been in the booth for three hours, hadn't written down a single note. Prince played the same four-bar loop eleven times, each iteration a half-second different, a breath shifted, a finger lifted a fraction earlier. On the twelfth pass he stopped, leaned back, and said, 'That's the one. That's for them.' He didn't say who 'them' was. He didn't need to. He hit record, played the final take in one clean run, and when the tape stopped rolling he was already reaching for his coffee, as if the hardest part of the day was over. Outside, the July heat pressed against the studio windows. Inside, the song sat in the booth, small and warm, waiting for a stranger to find it.

Reader's Guide

The album For You by Prince was released in 1978. It is listed among other albums titled For You by various artists.

Did You Know?

• For You is Prince's debut studio album, released in 1978.
• The album includes a title song also called 'For You'.