"Sometimes It Snows in April"
Song by Prince and The Revolution
from the album Parade
Released1986
RecordedApril 21, 1985
StudioSunset Sound Studios
(Hollywood, California)
Monterey Sound Studios
(Glendale, California)
Genre
Length6:48
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Prince

"Sometimes It Snows in April" is a song by American musician Prince. It was included on his eighth studio album Parade, which was also the soundtrack to his film Under the Cherry Moon (1986). Prince wrote, performed, and produced the song alongside Wendy & Lisa, who co-wrote the music.

The song's narrator recounts memories of Christopher Tracy, Prince's character from Under the Cherry Moon, and how Tracy's death affected the narrator; it also expresses their desire to hopefully rejoin Tracy in heaven. Prince performed the song live fairly often over the years, sometimes using it as a final encore to wind down the show.

"Sometimes It Snows in April" received significant attention after Prince's death on April 21, 2016, exactly 31 years after its recording date,[1] and it went on to re-enter several record charts worldwide.

Commercial performance

After the initial release of Parade, "Sometimes It Snows in April" was not released as a single, which made it ineligible to chart. However, after Prince's death on April 21, 2016, sales of the song increased heavily, allowing it to peak on several charts. The song was most successful in Europe; in France, it peaked at number 14, lasting a total of three weeks on the chart.[2] It fared well in the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland, where it peaked at numbers 63, 69, and 64, respectively.[3][4][5] It charted the lowest in the United Kingdom, where it lasted for one week on the chart, peaking at number 193.[6]

Personnel

Credits from Duane Tudahl, Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud[7][8][9]

Charts

Chart performance for "Sometimes It Snows in April"
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 69
France (SNEP)[2] 14
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[3] 63
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[5] 64
UK Singles (OCC)[6] 193

Amar version

British Indian singer Amar recorded a cover version of the song for her album Outside. It was released as a single on 12 June 2000, and peaked at No. 48 on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached No. 6 on the UK Dance Singles Chart, due to the popular UK garage remix by Dreem House.

Mixmag included the Dreem House remix of "Sometimes It Snows in April" in their list of "40 of the best UK garage tracks released from 1995 to 2005".[10]

Gemtracks included the Dreem House remix of the song in their list of the "top UK garage songs between 1995–2005".[11]

Chart performance for "Sometimes It Snows in April" by Amar
Chart (2000) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[12] 48
UK Dance Singles (Official Charts Company)[13] 6

Other cover versions

French R&B duo Native recorded a cover version of the song for their self-titled debut album, released in 1995.

Australian musician Gotye recorded an acapella cover version of the song that was uploaded to his YouTube channel on April 21, 2016, the same day that Prince died.[14]

American musician D'Angelo performed the song as a tribute to Prince, accompanied by Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum of the Prince cover band Princess, on April 26, 2016 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[15]

British band Coldplay performed a live cover of the song, accompanied by fellow British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas, on July 6, 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark while on tour for their album A Head Full of Dreams.[16]

Barry Hyde, the former frontman of the Futureheads, recorded a cover version of the song for his solo album Malody, released in June 2016.[17]

American musician Meshell Ndegeocello recorded a cover version of the song for her album Ventriloquism, released on March 16, 2018.[18]

In 2019, Sandra Bernhard performed the song in character as Judy in the episode "Love's in Need of Love Today" on the FX series Pose. This version was released as a single on the episode's airdate of July 23, 2019.

References

  1. ^ "Sometimes It Snows In April - Prince Vault". www.princevault.com.
  2. ^ a b "Prince & The Revolution – Sometimes It Snows in April" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Prince & The Revolution – Sometimes It Snows in April" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Prince & The Revolution – Sometimes It Snows in April" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Prince & The Revolution – Sometimes It Snows in April". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Chart Log UK: "Update 30.04.2016". UK Singles Chart. Zobbel.de. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  7. ^ Tudahl, Duane (2021). Prince and the Parade and Sign O' The Times Era Studio Sessions 1985 and 1986. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538144527.
  8. ^ Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN 9781784728816.
  9. ^ "Parade". guitarcloud.org. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  10. ^ "40 of the best UK garage tracks released from 1995 to 2005". Mixmag.
  11. ^ "Top UK Garage Songs Between 1995 - 2005 | Music Rank". Gemtracks Beats.
  12. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  13. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40 | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
  14. ^ gotyemusic (April 21, 2016), Sometimes It Snows In April, retrieved July 1, 2016
  15. ^ ET Online (April 26, 2016), D'Angelo and Maya Rudolph Perform Touching Tribute to Prince on Jimmy Fallon Show, retrieved April 28, 2016
  16. ^ Coldplay (July 6, 2016), Sometimes It Snows In April (Live in Copenhagen, w/ Lianne La Havas), retrieved July 11, 2020
  17. ^ Gibsone, Harriet (2016-04-05). "'I got my life backwards': Futurehead Barry Hyde on mental illness and his solo album Malody". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  18. ^ "Review: Meshell Ndegeocello, 'Ventriloquism'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
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