Gotta Stop (Messin' About)

"Gotta Stop (Messin' About)"
"Gotta Stop (Messin' About)"
	UK 12" single cover
Single by Prince
B-side	"Uptown" (first release); "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (re-release); "Head" (12"); "Partyup (Edit)", "When You Were Mine" (US promo);
Released	May 29, 1981
Recorded	Minneapolis, May–June, 1980
Genre	Rock
Length	2:57
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Prince
Prince singles chronology

"Gotta Stop (Messin' About)" is a song by Prince, released in the UK as a follow-up single to support his third album, Dirty Mind.^[1] The single was not an album track, though it was written at the same time, and possessed a similar sound. "Gotta Stop Messin' About" marked the first time Prince released non-album tracks, which, especially as B-sides, would become a prominent part of his career.

The song is keyboard dominated, and the lyrics speak of a woman who's constantly "messin' about" with other men. The song contains familiar Prince themes of sexual frustration, masturbation and sexual metaphors. The track consists of two verses and multiple repeats of the chorus. It was played live on the Dirty Mind Tour with an extended instrumental section at the end.

"Gotta Stop (Messin' About)" was released in the UK as two separate 7" singles, one with the Dirty Mind track "Uptown" as a B-side, and the other with "I Wanna Be Your Lover", from Prince. Each single also had an accompanying 12" single, both with the same tracks as the 7" and both including the song "Head", from Dirty Mind. Despite an extensive advertising campaign and promotion, and coinciding with Prince's first UK gig, neither issue of the single charted. The track would later be released in the U.S. as the B-side of the 12" single for "Let's Work", and become a highly sought-after collector's item. "Gotta Stop (Messin' About)" was also later released on The Hits/The B-Sides and Prince 4Ever.

The song was covered by the American alternative pop rock band Self sometime in 2003, and released alongside a multitude of other cut tracks from their (at the time) shelved album Ornament and Crime in 2004, before being featured on their 2005 compilation album Porno, Mint & Grime.

Personnel

Credits from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud.^[2]^[3]

Prince – lead and backing vocals, electric guitars, Oberheim OB-X, bass guitar, drums, handclaps

References

^ "Prince - Gotta Stop (Messin' About) (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 2014-01-28. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
^ Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN 9781784728816.
^ "Dirty Mind". guitarcloud.org. Retrieved 2023-05-02.

[1] "Prince - Gotta Stop (Messin' About) (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 2014-01-28. Retrieved 2016-10-19.

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

[3] "Dirty Mind". guitarcloud.org. Retrieved 2023-05-02.

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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"