Prince, Dez Dickerson, Bobby Z, Andre Cymone, Dr Fink & Gayle Chapman spent… Read Full Bio ↴Prince, Dez Dickerson, Bobby Z, Andre Cymone, Dr Fink & Gayle Chapman spent 12 days recording in July 1979. The idea was to put together a side project album called "The Rebels". The lead vocals were to be sung by the band members rather than Prince, so as to hide the fact that it was really him. The album cover was just going to be silhouettes of the band members. They recorded 7 songs plus 2 instrumentals during the sessions, wuth the intention of cutting more tracks later. However, the project was never finished or sequenced. The more 'new wave' rock sound of the Rebels session was a precursor the new direction the Prince was going to take with his sound, as his next proper album he would release would be the radically different "Dirty Mind".

Prince wrote: "You", "Hard To Get", "Turn Me On" & "If I Love You Tonight"
Dez wrote: "Disco Away", "Too Long" & one of the instrumentals
Andre wrote "Thrill You Or Kill You" and the other instrumental.

Thrill You or Kill You
Prince & The Rebels Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Prince
Miscellaneous
Thrill You Or Kill You
Call your ass up on the phone
Your momma tells me U ain't home
What the hell's wrong with U
U must think that I'm a fool
U gotta be crazy 4 playin' with my mind

I could kill U anytime

One way or another, girl
I'm gonna make U mine
I'm gonna thrill U or kill U
I'm walkin' the line
One way or another girl
I'm gonna make U mine
I'm gonna thrill U or kill U
I'm walkin' the line

Took U out 2 eat one night
U ate up everything in site
Heaven knows I wanted 2 fight
When all I got was a kiss goodnight
Ooh, what a kisser
Your face could stop a clock
But I still love U, baby
I still wanna bust your clock
Hey, hey!

{x2}

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Prince & The Rebels's song "Thrill You or Kill You" are quite intense and tell a story of a man who is determined to win over a woman he desires. The song starts with him being upset that the woman isn't answering her phone, making him think she's playing games with him. He warns her that he could kill her anytime, which shows just how intense his feelings are. He then goes on to say that he's going to make her his one way or another, and he's "walking the line" between thrilling her or killing her.

The second verse talks about a night they went out to eat, and she ate everything in sight. He was apparently bothered by this but was still happy to receive a kiss goodnight. He describes her as a great kisser, but also suggests that her face could stop a clock. Despite his seemingly conflicting feelings, he still loves her and wants to be with her.

Overall, the lyrics to "Thrill You or Kill You" are a bit disturbing because of the violence hinted at in the song. However, they also reveal the intensity of the man's feelings toward this woman and how he's willing to do whatever it takes to make her his.

Line by Line Meaning

Call your ass up on the phone
I tried to reach you on the phone

Your momma tells me U ain't home
Your mother said you're not at home

What the hell's wrong with U
What's going on with you?

U must think that I'm a fool
You're trying to make me look like a fool

U gotta be crazy 4 playin' with my mind
You must be insane to mess with my head

I could kill U anytime
I could harm you whenever I want

One way or another, girl
In any case, girl

I'm gonna make U mine
I'm going to have you

I'm gonna thrill U or kill U
I'll either make you happy or hurt you badly

I'm walkin' the line
I'm taking a risk

Took U out 2 eat one night
I took you out for dinner one evening

U ate up everything in site
You ate a lot of food

Heaven knows I wanted 2 fight
I was really angry

When all I got was a kiss goodnight
All I got was a goodnight kiss

Ooh, what a kisser
You're a good kisser

Your face could stop a clock
You're not very attractive

But I still love U, baby
I still love you, baby

I still wanna bust your clock
I still want to harm you

Hey, hey!
Hey, hey!

Contributed by Jake B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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Comments from YouTube:

@user-wb3sq4mn9v

6w↑1

Prince... the greatest musician humanity ever produced! Love and miss him!!!

@thissucks110

8w↑1

Love this funky kick.

@zroy9263

13w↑8

This is what the PRINCE estate needs to release! They need people that know what they're doing in that company.
This is some funky shit for real! It captures a time when the funk was pure uncut and organic!