This is, frankly, news that is going to profoundly interest a very specific subset of 1990s- and early 2000s-era evangelical Christian kids, and elicit the mildest of amusement from the rest of you, but:
Prince is covering a Nichole Nordeman song. “THAT Nichole Nordeman, Mallory?” I hear you asking. YES, THAT NICHOLE NORDEMAN. “The same Nichole Nordeman who released “This Mystery” in 2000, a CD my older sister Laura played every morning as she got ready for school in the dark in order to get to campus by 6:15 so she could snag one of the twelve spots for junior parking?” THE VERY SAME.
Prince’s cover of Christian singer-songwriter Nichole Nordeman’s What If, one of two new songs he debuted leading up to tonight’s Hit & Run tour launch in Louisville, Ky., has been in the works for years.
Nordeman says she received a call more than five years ago from Prince’s management asking for permission to cover What If, a hit for her on Christian radio in 2005.
“I didn’t hear anything else, so I thought it had just died,” she said.
But a January 2013 Billboard cover story showed Prince hadn’t forgotten the song, stating that he was rehearsing it with 3rdEyeGirl, the female backing trio whose lineup was still solidifying at the time.
“That was a huge honor to me, that he was playing it, even if it wasn’t an official recording,” Nordeman says.
Louisville radio station WFBK-FM debuted Prince’s version of the song Thursday afternoon after an interview with 3rdEyeGirl drummer and Louisville native Hannah Welton.
This either interests you IMMENSELY, or not at all. WHY? WHY? WHY? NO ONE KNOWS.
In a Facebook post about hearing Prince cover her song, Nordeman compared it to Tiger Woods asking to borrow your golf clubs or astronaut Neil Armstrong “asking if you’d like to take a walk.”
IT IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. IT IS LIKE IF BEYONCÉ ANNOUNCED TOMORROW SHE WAS REFORMING DESTINY’S CHILD BUT WITH THE MEMBERS OF OUT OF EDEN. IT IS LIKE IF TINA BROWN ANNOUNCED SHE WAS LAUNCHING A NEW MAGAZINE WITH SUSIE SHELLENBERGER AND CALLING IT BRIO. THIS IS BONO JOINING DC TALK. THIS IS STEPHEN CURTIS CHAPMAN HANDING YOU YOUR MORNING LATTE WITH “DON’T TELL ANYONE YOU SAW ME” WRITTEN ON THE FOAM. THIS IS NOTHING I’VE EVER SEEN BEFORE, AND IT JUST VERY WELL MIGHT BE EVERYTHING.
