Cover art for The Ladder by Prince and the Revolution
Apr. 22, 19851 viewer12.6K views

The Ladder Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Once upon a time in the land of Sin-a-plenty
There lived a king who didn't deserve to be
He knew not where he came from nor where he was going
He never once said thank you, never please
Now, this king, he had a subject named Electra
Who loved him with a passion uncontested
For him, each day, she had a smile
But it didn't matter
The king was looking for the ladder

[Chorus]
Everybody's looking for the ladder
Everybody wants salvation of the soul
The steps you take are no easy road
But the reward is great
For those who want to go

[Verse 2]
A feeling of self-worth (Everybody's looking)
Will caress you (For the answers)
The size of the whole, wide world will decrease (How the story started)
(And how it will end)
The love of God's creation will undress you
And time spent alone, my friend, will cease
[Chorus]
Everybody's looking for the answers
How the story started and how it will end
What's the use in half a story, half a dream?
You have to climb all of the steps in between, yeah, yeah
I say everybody, everybody's looking for the ladder
Everybody wants salvation of the soul
The steps you take are no easy road (It's not that easy)
The reward is great for those who want to go
(I do!)
Oh, everybody, yeah, everybody's looking for the answers
Everybody wanna know how the story started and how it will end
What's the use in half a story, half of a dream?
You gotta climb, you gotta climb all of the steps in between
Everybody, everybody's looking for that ladder
Everybody wants salvation of the soul (Oh, salvation)
The steps you take are no easy road and, uh, that's for sure
The reward is great, is great for those who wanna go, those who wanna go
Everybody (Everybody's looking for the answers)
Everybody wants an answer (Oh, yeah)
They wanna know how the story started
How it will end, what it would be like every day?
What's the use in half a story, half of a dream?
You have to climb all of the steps in between

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About

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Genius Annotation

“The Ladder” is the eighth song from Prince’s sixth studio album Around The World In A Day

According PrinceVault the basic tracking was done on 31 October 1984, during the last day of rehearsals for the Purple Rain Tour at the Saint Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, Minnesota. The basic recording was taken to the Flying Cloud Drive Warehouse in Eden Prairie afterwards, where Wendy & Lisa, together with Susannah Melvoin and Taja Sevelle (as “Taj”) recorded background vocals.

The song starts with Wendy & Lisa-composed strings, lifted from the track Our Destiny. Either way, the string interlude allows us to take stock and Clouds of reverb, through alto sax and gospel.

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