Believe It or Not / I Started to Worry

While listening to my iPod today, I had something of a revelation when it came to a set of lyrics I'd heard at least a million times before.










I was listening to Prince's "Little Red Corvette," which was on the album "1999," officially listed as The Purple One's big breakthrough cross-over hit. The lyrics that caught my attention were these:

Cuz I felt a little ill
When I saw all the pictures
of the jockeys
That were there before me

Now, I've been familiar with all the usual imagery suggested by these lyrics, about riders... on thoroughbreds... maybe a little whip involved... getting bow-legged... It's not Chaucer, put it that way. Or maybe it's like a modern-day Chaucer, who was also quite dirty-minded.

On this day, however, these lyrics made me wonder: what kind of man worries about jockeys stealing his girl away from him?

Someone who is not very tall himself! According to the fan forum and other sources on the Internets, Prince goes about 5'2" tall...

...before heels!! It's the reason why he's always wearing big-heeled boots. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It just makes me chuckle a little, and wonder why I never thought about Prince's height when it came to hearing that song before.