Prince Covers Christian Song from Renowned writer Nicole Nordeman

I'll NEVER be the type of man who tells a Christian artist that they would be leaving behind their roots if they were to branch out and write/perform in the secular industry.  Frankly, that's a total load of something stinky.  Why would God, who is the most creative being in all the universe, create you in His image, as a creative being yourself, and then say, "Oh, well about that artsy thing you do... You can only do it in the church."  Riiiiiiiiiight (insert sarcastic vocal inflection and eye roll here).  God never designed our gifts to be used strictly inside the church.

That being said, I just listened to a very interesting song that I heard years ago from a fantastic writer named Nicole Nordeman.  You've probably heard of her as she's been on the Christian music scene for years and had her hands on many different projects.  Well kids, you'll never guess who picked up one of her tracks.... Prince.  Yep!  Good ol' Prince grabbed Nordeman's tune, What If, and produced his own, rock tinged, take on the ditty.

What did I think of it?  Well first of all, let me say that I LOVE hearing about circumstances like this both because of the creativity that goes in to taking someone's song and making it your own with your own spices and flavors added in.  And secondly, it's a song that was written with a Jesus centered core and has been picked up by someone playing in the secular industry. 

As far as the new sound Prince has given the song, I thought it was good, but I actually like Nordeman's original version much better.  I'm a big Prince fan, have always loved his music, so I was kind of surprised when I responded with a "meh".  Anyway, I'll let you be the judge.  Here is the original version from Nicole.  I did some digging to try and find an audio file I could post for Prince's version, but he's rather finicky about having his music available online.  So enjoy the original, and the Easter egg hunt you'll be on looking for Prince's version. (It's funny cuz it's almost Easter.  See what I did there!? *Awkward laugh wheeze*)






Here's a great article from Billboard briefly talking about the new release.