Source: YouTube
“The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” was released on Prince’s double-disk album in 1987- Sign of the Times.
Prince has a vault of unreleased music, some of which has already leaked to the internet. In some of those unfinished or unmixed tracks Prince does what he often likes to do with his lyrics-create a female character that functions throughout the song. In this particular song he uses the image of Dorothy Parker, based on an early 20th-century literary figure and described her in a contemporary way. The woman in the song is both a reflection of the real Dorothy Parker’s attitude and the use of symbols and metaphors throughout the track.
The vocals are more of a pop sound. It is unique because the majority of artist’s after 1982 were trying to replicate what Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones discovered when they made Thriller. Prince’s Purple Rain came out a few years afterwards and was his pop/rock masterpiece that many critics often compare to Thriller. However, all of his other albums are completely original and have nothing to do with anyone else’s sound (even though Purple Rain was intentionally created to be a masterpiece, it also featured new sounds). He started making sounds that audiences had never heard before with his unique instrumentation and vocals.
What makes this song interesting coming from Prince is that the instrumentation relies heavily on a drum machine rather than the live elements that are often found in his music: guitars, drums, bass, etc. The majority of the rest of the album has all the live elements, but “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” is one that takes a different trajectory and it stands out from the other songs. It is possible that Prince may have wanted to exclusively work on the drum machine to provide listeners with a break from all the traditional instruments that are found in his songs, especially while listening to a double-disk release.
The real Dorothy Parker is a pop cultural icon, known for her wit and comedic writing. The character Dorothy Parker in the song has the same personality, and ends up helping the singer (as a character) with discovering ways to mitigate the relationship issues he describes when they meet.
Many pop songs from the 90s and 2000s are based on drum machines. “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” is an early example of how pop music instrumentation works in today’s music.