‘Funk Machine’: The song Prince wrote when he was just seven years old
The story of the first gig that Prince ever went to, much like the artist he eventually became, is shrouded in mystery. He went to see his father perform, but how he got to the gig remains unknown. Some say his parents merely took him; others say he wasn’t permitted to go but snuck out of the family car to get in. Whatever the story, there are two constants: a parade of dancing girls and the fact that Prince decided he wanted to be an artist at that gig.
“People were screaming,” he said, recalling the concert, “From then on, I think I wanted to be a musician.” He was only young at the time, but the music was instilled in him from an early age, be it because of his name or because of his parent’s close affinity to sound. As soon as Prince was old enough to understand a tune, he hummed it.
The first instrument Prince learned to play was rocks, as he would bang them together to create as close to a jazz beat as possible. That banging motion led to the family piano, which his father decided to teach him properly. As soon as Price understood key, melody, and chords, he started writing, and his first song came about at the age of seven.
The track was initially called ‘Machine’, but many people state that it was called ‘Funk Machine’. While that’s how it’s commonly known now, this alteration likely came later. The song will have been written between ’65 and ’66 before the term “funk” was being used widely. Prince was very forward-thinking, but it’s unlikely that he invented the term before it was commonplace.
Many famous musicians likely wrote their first song when they were young, but it will unlikely have gone anywhere after that. Prince backed his track ‘Funk Machine’, though, to the point that he started playing it in one of his first bands and even recorded a version when he was young.
The song never went anywhere, but it shows how determined Prince was to be a musician. When his father was asked why he had chosen such a bold name for his son, he responded bluntly, “I named my son Prince because I wanted him to do everything I wanted to.” He certainly did that, as while being a musician was never his Dad’s primary profession, his son managed to make a name for himself as one of the most innovative artists to ever take to the stage.
While his inspiration for his work came from various sources as he got older, the initial spark that helped him know he wanted to become a musician came from his father one fateful night at a gig with an array of dancing girls.
