Darling Nikki (4:14)

“Darling Nikki” is a song produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince and originally released on his Grammy Award-winning album Purple Rain (1984). Though the song was not originally released as a single, it gained wide notoriety for its sexual lyrics. Partly because of the lyrical content of “Darling Nikki,” Tipper Gore founded the Parents Music Resource Center, which eventually led to the use of “Parental Advisory” stickers and imprints on album covers. Trinity Broadcasting Network and Jimmy Swaggart both attacked the song as being “pornographic” and “satanic.”

The song tells the story of a “sex fiend” named Nikki who seduces the singer. In the film Purple Rain, the song is directed toward Apollonia Kotero’s character when she decides to work with Prince’s character’s rival, played by Morris Day.

Near the end of the song, the music changes. There is singing, but played in reverse. The vocals, unreversed, are Prince singing,

“Hello, how are you?
I’m fine ‘cause I know that the Lord is coming soon
Coming, coming soon.”

During the Purple Rain tour performances of “Darling Nikki”, the recording at the end was played forward. This can be heard in the live video Prince and the Revolution Live.

A circulating outtake of “Darling Nikki” contains an instrumental subdued section in the middle of keyboard onslaught at the end of the song. Also, it does not have the backmasking segment tacked on to the end, instead Prince performs an extended hard guitar solo devoid of any other instruments.

The song has been covered by many artists.