When You Were Mine (Prince song)

"When You Were Mine"
"When You Were Mine"
Single by Cyndi Lauper
from the album She's So Unusual
B-side	"Yeah Yeah"; "I'll Kiss You"
Released	January 31, 1985
Recorded	July 1983; at The Record Plant; (New York City, New York)
Genre	Synthpop
Length	5:06
Label	Epic
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Rick Chertoff
Cyndi Lauper singles chronology

"When You Were Mine"
"When You Were Mine"
Promotional single by Prince
from the album Dirty Mind
B-side	"Gotta Broken Heart Again"; "Uptown"
Released	1980
Recorded	May-June 1979
Length	3:47
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Prince

"When You Were Mine" is a song written and released by Prince on his 1980 album, Dirty Mind.^[1] Though not released as a single, the song received a promotional 12" release (which included "Gotta Broken Heart Again" and "Uptown"). "When You Were Mine" was later the B-side for Prince's "Controversy" single in 1981.

Prince performed the song many times in concert, and a live version was included on his 2002 live album, One Nite Alone... Live! The original studio version was also included on The Hits/The B-Sides in 1993. Prince said he was inspired to write the rock song while listening to John Lennon. The track includes a Farfisa-inspired organ sound played on an Oberheim OB-X.

Cyndi Lauper version[]

Cyndi Lauper's mid-tempo ballad cover version of "When You Were Mine" is also synthesizer-based for her 1983 debut album, She's So Unusual.^[1] Lauper recorded the song with the original lyrics, preserving the "he/him/his" pronouns. She performed the single at the 1985 American Music Awards. It was released exclusively as a promotional single in the United States and received a commercial release in Canada and Japan.

Track listing[]

Canada 7" single

"When You Were Mine" (Single Version) – 4:00
"Yeah Yeah" – 3:17

Japan 7" single

"When You Were Mine"
"I'll Kiss You"

Charts[]

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	62

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Prince Dead at 57". rollingstone.com. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2018.

External links[]

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

[RS-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Prince Dead at 57". rollingstone.com. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2018.

[1]

show v t Prince singles
1970s	"Soft and Wet" "Just as Long as We're Together" "I Wanna Be Your Lover"
1980s	"Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" "Still Waiting" "Sexy Dancer" "Uptown" "Dirty Mind" "Do It All Night" "Gotta Stop (Messin' About)" "Controversy" "Let's Work" "Do Me, Baby" "1999" "Little Red Corvette" "Delirious" "Let's Pretend We're Married" "When Doves Cry" "Let's Go Crazy" "Purple Rain" "I Would Die 4 U" "Take Me with U" "Paisley Park" "Raspberry Beret" "Pop Life" "America" "Kiss" "Mountains" "Anotherloverholenyohead" "Girls & Boys" "Sign "O" the Times" "If I Was Your Girlfriend" "U Got the Look" "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" "Alphabet St." "Glam Slam" "I Wish U Heaven" "Batdance" "Partyman" "The Arms of Orion" "Scandalous!"
1990s	"The Future" "Thieves in the Temple" "New Power Generation" "Gett Off" "Cream" "Diamonds and Pearls" "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" "Insatiable" "Thunder" "Sexy MF" "My Name Is Prince" "7" "Damn U" "The Morning Papers" "Pink Cashmere" "Nothing Compares 2 U" "Peach" "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" "Letitgo" "Space" "Purple Medley" "I Hate U" "Gold" "Dinner with Delores" "Betcha by Golly Wow!" "The Holy River" "Somebody's Somebody" "The Truth" "Extraordinary" "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"
2000s	"U Make My Sun Shine" (with Angie Stone) "When Will We B Paid?" (with Audio Stepchild) "Supercute" "The Work, pt. 1" "Days of Wild" "Musicology" "Cinnamon Girl" "Controversy (Live in Hawaii)" "S.S.T." "Te Amo Corazón" "Black Sweat" "Fury" "Guitar" "F.U.N.K."
2010s	"Breakfast Can Wait"
Promotional singles	"When You Were Mine" "Erotic City" "Nothing Compares 2 U" "Love Sign" (with Nona Gaye) "Somebody's Somebody" "The Rest of My Life" "5 Women" "It's About That Walk" "Man'O'War" "Call My Name" "The Song of the Heart"
Airplay-only songs	"International Lover"
Internet downloads	"Guitar (original "demo" version)"
EPs	The Beautiful Experience NYC 1999: The New Master
Other songs	"I Feel for You" "Private Joy" "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" "The Beautiful Ones" "Computer Blue" "Darling Nikki" "Baby I'm a Star" "Sometimes It Snows in April" "Adore" "Don't Talk 2 Strangers" "I Can't Make U Love Me" "La, La, La Means I Love U" "One of Us" "Everyday Is a Winding Road" "A Case of U"

show v t Cyndi Lauper singles
She's So Unusual	"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" "Time After Time" "She Bop" "All Through the Night" "Money Changes Everything" "When You Were Mine"
True Colors	"True Colors" "Change of Heart" "What's Going On" "Boy Blue" "Maybe He'll Know"
A Night to Remember	"I Drove All Night" "My First Night Without You" "Heading West" "A Night to Remember" "Primitive" "Unconditional Love"
Hat Full of Stars	"Who Let In the Rain" "That's What I Think" "Sally's Pigeons" "Hat Full of Stars"
Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some	"Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" "I'm Gonna Be Strong" "Come on Home"
Sisters of Avalon	"You Don't Know" "Sisters of Avalon" "Ballad of Cleo and Joe"
Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life	"Early Christmas Morning"
Shine	"Shine"
At Last	"At Last" "Walk On By"
The Body Acoustic	"Time After Time"
Bring Ya to the Brink	"Set Your Heart" "Same Ol' Story" "Into the Nightlife"
Memphis Blues	"Just Your Fool"
Detour	"Hard Candy Christmas" "Funnel of Love"
Other singles	"You Make Loving Fun" "We Are the World" "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" "Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)" "Another Brick in the Wall" "The World Is Stone" "Disco Inferno" "A Christmas Duel" "Girls Just Wanna Set Your Heart"

"When You Were Mine"
Promotional single by Prince
from the album Dirty Mind
B-side	"Gotta Broken Heart Again" "Uptown"
Released	1980
Recorded	May-June 1979
Length	3:47
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Prince