Let's Pretend We're Married

"Let's Pretend We're Married"
US 7" single
Single by Prince
from the album 1999
B-side	"Irresistible Bitch"
Released	November 23, 1983 (1983-11-23)
Recorded	March 30, 1982
Studio	Sunset Sound
Genre	New wave [1] [2] dance-rock [2]
Length	7" edit: 3:40 Album/12" version: 7:20
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Prince
Prince singles chronology
"Delirious" (1983) "Let's Pretend We're Married" (1983) "When Doves Cry" (1984)

"Let's Pretend We're Married" is a song by American musician Prince from his 1982 album 1999 . It was the final US single from the album and peaked at number 52 in the US. ^[3]

Background

The song consists mainly of keyboards and drum machines, along with Prince's vocals. Two verses followed by choruses form the main basis of the song. The song breaks down to an instrumental section with Prince repeating "I wanna fuck you" followed by him saying "Look here, Marsha; I'm not saying this just to be nasty. I sincerely wanna fuck the taste out of your mouth." ^[4] The final part of the song is an a cappella with Prince stating his philosophy on life—he loves God for fear of the afterlife but he's going to have fun while he can, a theme echoed in "1999". The song was performed live on the Purple Rain Tour. Prince's vocal range on the song spans from F₂ to B♭₆.

Reception and performances

The B-side, "Irresistible Bitch", received equal airplay and so qualified to chart alongside the A-side. The track was written and first recorded in 1981, and segues from the song "Feel U Up", which was re-recorded in 1986 for the Camille project. The original version of "Irresistible Bitch" has a much rougher vocal, and is an organ-driven song. The 1982-1983 remake which was released as the B-side of "Let's Pretend We're Married" has more percussion, both live drums and drum machines, along with bell-like keyboards and vocal backup from Wendy & Lisa. The lyrics are the familiar Prince theme of a jilted lover who treats his woman well, but gets treated badly in return. The song was performed on the Purple Rain tour, once again with the New Power Generation, for their 1992–1993 tours.

Personnel

Credits sourced from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud ^{[5] [6]}

• Prince – lead and backing vocals, Oberheim synthesizers, bass guitar, Linn LM-1, Pearl SY-1 Syncussion

Chart performance

Chart performance for "Let's Pretend We're Married"

Chart (1983–1984)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100 [7]	52
US Dance/Disco Top 80 (Billboard) [8]	52
US Hot Black Singles (Billboard) [9]	55

Cover versions

Tina Turner covered "Let's Pretend We're Married" in live performances, and one of these is included on her The Collected Recordings – Sixties to Nineties album. This performance was originally released as the B-side of her own "Show Some Respect" single in 1984 (in the UK, it was included as the B-side of "I Can't Stand the Rain" in 1985).

References

1. Wood, Mikael (April 21, 2021). "All 85 Prince singles, ranked 4 u from worst 2 best". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 3, 2025.
2. Stephen Thomas Erlewine (June 7, 2023). "Essential Prince: His greatest songs of all time, ranked". The A.V. Club . Retrieved June 13, 2025. Musically, the computerized New Wave dance-rock "Let's Pretend We're Married" represents a step forward: it's tightly controlled, never deviating from its robotic rhythms yet the song never feels static thanks to Prince's strategically deployed vocal harmonies and synth stabs.
3. "Music: Top 100 Songs JANUARY 28, 1984". Billboard .
4. "Let's Pretend We're Married • Prince Lyrics". Archived from the original on 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
5. Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN   9781784728816.
6. "1999". guitarcloud.org. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
7. "Prince Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard . Retrieved August 4, 2023.
8. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 208.
9. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 471.