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	April 21, 1984
Recorded	July 1983
Studio	The Record Plant (New York City, New York)
Genre	Pop; funk;
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	October 8, 1980
Recorded	May–June 1980
Genre	New wave; power pop; jangle pop; rock;
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.^[6] 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.

A live recording 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.

Personnel

Credits from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud^[7]^[8]

Prince – lead and backing vocals, Oberheim OB-X, ARP Omni, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums

Mitch Ryder version

In 1983, Mitch Ryder released a version of the song on the John Mellencamp-produced album Never Kick a Sleeping Dog. The song peaked at number 87 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the week ending July 30, 1983, the highest charting position of any recording of this song in the U.S., according to the book, Joel Whitburn's Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Ryder's version was also featured in the soundtrack of the film Hot Dog…The Movie (1983).

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.^[6] 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.

The single debuted on the RPM Top 100 singles chart dated April 27, 1985 at number 91.^[12] It peaked at number 62 in its sixth week on the chart.^[13] The single spent a total of nine weeks on the chart.^[14]

The song was used as the theme song to the second season of the American true crime anthology television series, Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story.^{[citation needed]}

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 performance for "When You Were Mine" by Cyndi Lauper
Chart (1985)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	62

References

^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Dirty Mind – Prince". AllMusic. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
^ Partridge, Kenneth (October 8, 2015). "Prince's 'Dirty Mind' at 35: Classic Track-by-Track Album Review". Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
^ Shoup, Brad (April 21, 2017). "Prince Albums Ranked". Stereogum. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
^ "The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s". Pitchfork. August 24, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
^ Molanphy, Chris (October 30, 2017). "Le Petty Prince Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Grow, Kory (April 21, 2016). "Prince Dead at 57". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
^ Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN 9781784728816.
^ "Dirty Mind". guitarcloud.org. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
^ When You Were Mine (Media notes). Cyndi Lauper. Japan: Portrait. 1985. 07・5P-345.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "Prince - "When Doves Cry". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 170.
^ Evans, Paul (2004). "Cyndi Lauper". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 476. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
^ "RPM 100 Singles April 27, 1985" (PDF). RPM.
^ "RPM 100 Singles June 1, 1985" (PDF). RPM.
^ "RPM 100 Singles June 22, 1985" (PDF). RPM.

[1] Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Dirty Mind – Prince". AllMusic. Retrieved November 9, 2022.

[2] Partridge, Kenneth (October 8, 2015). "Prince's 'Dirty Mind' at 35: Classic Track-by-Track Album Review". Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2022.

[3] Shoup, Brad (April 21, 2017). "Prince Albums Ranked". Stereogum. Retrieved November 29, 2022.

[4] "The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s". Pitchfork. August 24, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2022.

[Molanphy_2017-5] Molanphy, Chris (October 30, 2017). "Le Petty Prince Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved July 9, 2023.

[RS-6] Grow, Kory (April 21, 2016). "Prince Dead at 57". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 20, 2018.

[7] Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN 9781784728816.

[8] "Dirty Mind". guitarcloud.org. Retrieved 2023-04-30.

[9] When You Were Mine (Media notes). Cyndi Lauper. Japan: Portrait. 1985. 07・5P-345.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

[Number_Ones_2022-10] Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "Prince - "When Doves Cry". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 170.

[RS_2004-11] Evans, Paul (2004). "Cyndi Lauper". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 476. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.

[12] "RPM 100 Singles April 27, 1985" (PDF). RPM.

[13] "RPM 100 Singles June 1, 1985" (PDF). RPM.

[14] "RPM 100 Singles June 22, 1985" (PDF). RPM.

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v t e 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" "The Truth" "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" "Controversy (Live in Hawaii)" "Musicology" "Cinnamon Girl" "S.S.T." "Te Amo Corazón" "Black Sweat" "Fury" "Guitar" "F.U.N.K." "Dance 4 Me"
2010s	"Rocknroll Loveaffair" "Breakfast Can Wait" "Fallinlove2nite" "Breakdown" "This Could B Us" "Free Urself"
Promotional singles	"When You Were Mine" "Erotic City" "Nothing Compares 2 U" "Love Sign" (with Nona Gaye) "Somebody's Somebody" "It's About That Walk" "Call My Name" "The Song of the Heart"
Internet downloads	"Guitar (original "demo" version)"
New Power Generation	"Get Wild" "The War" "Come On"
EPs	The Beautiful Experience NYC 1999: The New Master
Other songs	"I Feel for You" "Partyup" "Private Joy" "International Lover" "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" "The Beautiful Ones" "Computer Blue" "Darling Nikki" "Baby I'm a Star" "17 Days" "Around the World in a Day" "Sometimes It Snows in April" "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" "Starfish and Coffee" "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" "Crimson and Clover" "Moonbeam Levels"

v t e 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"
Hat Full of Stars	"Who Let In the Rain" "That's What I Think" "Sally's Pigeons"
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"