I Wanna Be Your Lover

Prince sang "I Wanna Be Your Lover" entirely in falsetto, playing the keyboards and synthesizers on its closing jam himself, including a Polymoog. The song was written after Warner Bros. asked for a follow-up to his debut album For You, which had sold poorly. Prince responded by recording the track for his self-titled second album, released on August 24, 1979, as the lead single. It became his first major hit in the United States, reaching number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Hot Soul Singles chart for two weeks.

The funk number detailed his love for a woman and his frustration that she thought of him as "a child". Years later it emerged that the subject was a crush he had on the pianist and singer Patrice Rushen. The album version runs past the single edit into a long instrumental passage, while the edit stops at 2:57.

To promote the single, Prince lip-synced it with his band on The Midnight Special and American Bandstand. His interview with Dick Clark was awkward, with the singer answering questions in single words and claiming to be 19 when he was 21. Clark later called it one of the most difficult interviews he had ever conducted. In the UK, the song was his debut single and reached number 41, and planned London shows were cancelled because of poor ticket sales. Two music videos were made; the version shown on television featured Prince in an unbuttoned leopard shirt, while an alternate clip, showing the band in a painted room, was pulled for its skimpy clothing and suggestive theme.