10 Classic Rock Songs That Were Written For Someone Else
1. When You Were Mine - Prince
It's about time that we all come to terms with the fact that Prince was a genius. Regardless of which genre he was in or if you even liked his music in the first place, the Purple One's writing style was always right where it needed to be, never showboating too much and always serving the song that he played. Before he even hit the big time with albums like 1999 though, he was knew how to knock out a killer pop hook like When You Were Mine.
Granted, it's no surprise why the original version of the song didn't exactly set the world on fire. Since this was just before the rise of MTV and also on an album that was a little suggestive for most parents to approve of, this little gem of a song tended to get overlooked by far too many people. As Prince's career expanded though, it looked like his song was about to get a second wind from one of the '80s biggest pop stars.
Once he reached the top of the world with Purple Rain, he also approved of Cyndi Lauper covering the song, which became one of the bigger hits on her breakout album alongside tracks like Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Then again, there's something about the original's sparseness that keeps fans aching for more every time they hear it. Cyndi's might be the definitive version, but there's some magic that comes when the song's author sings it.