On my iPhone and on at least one legal pad, I’ve been keeping a list of what I believe to be the perfect pop songs. Whenever I’m reminded of a tune that absolutely must be added or another that makes a worthy candidate for contention, I jot it down. I’m not sure what my future plans are for the list, or whether I’ll ever feel the list is complete enough to share here, but the logging continues, however infrequently.

On those occasions, I’m still struck at how many times Prince has made the list thus far. That may be one reason I never share what I consider to be truly perfect pop songs, if only because I’d probably pressure myself to lessen his dominance. I might institute some totally subjective rule, like only allowing one cut per album. But forcing myself to choose only one from Purple Rain alone would make me practically apoplectic.

And so it would go with Prince songs before and since. Take “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man,” for example, which I hold in such high regard that hearing it instantly sends me into a state of euphoria. But, rule in place, following my bliss would result in the exclusion of “U Got The Look,” also from Sign O’ The Times, and equally ace. For a serious pop music fan, that’s a Sophie’s Choice-level conundrum.

Popularity-wise, “U Got The Look” beats “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man,” at least based on their original chart runs. The former spent a week at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the latter topped out at #10. Prince’s sole #10 placement on the chart, “I Could Never Take the Place Of Your Man” claimed its spot in history this very week in 1988.

The single edit of “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man” is, of course, vastly superior to the album version, but alas, the lengthier take is all that’s embeddable, so you’ll have to take my word for it. I’m certainly not going to take the risk of uploading the edit for your listening enjoyment. A sign of the times:

Purchase Prince – “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.