Taken from 'Piano & Microphone 1983'

A newly unearthed recording of Prince‘s tender ‘Why The Butterflies’ from the upcoming ‘Piano & Microphone’ has been unveiled.

The upcoming live album features the icon’s solo rehearsals, recorded at his home in 1983. The record features the likes of ’17 Day’, ‘Strange Relationship’ and ‘Purple Rain’ that he would later record properly. However, with ‘Why The Butterflies’ there is no record of him ever returning to the song either in the studio or live.

“This is Prince reaching for something,” said Lisa Coleman of The Revolution. “This is revealing and personal. I love this side of Prince. I think this might have been where his thoughts of “When Doves Cry” came from. The examination of self and family relationships… and butterflies. I can almost hear his heart beating”.

Prince’s protege Jill Jones added:”This song was around the time of our recording of ‘Mia Bocca’, my song, and we were spending time at the house during the break from 1999. It was winter in Minneapolis. And freezing cold.

“I felt bad sometimes for Don Batts his engineer, who would drive all the way out to set up the mics or do something in preparation for Prince’s all hours of recording”.

‘Piano & Microphone’ will be released on September 21. Pre-order the album here.

Meanwhile, another previously unreleased Prince song features on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s new movie, BlacKkKlansman. ‘Mary Don’t You Weep’ plays during the film’s end credits.