When You Were Mine (Prince song)

"When You Were Mine" is a song written and released by Prince on his 1980 album, Dirty Mind.^[6] Though not released as a single, the song received a promotional 12" release (which included "Gotta Broken Heart Again" and "Uptown"). "When You Were Mine" was later the B-side for Prince's "Controversy" single in 1981.

"When You Were Mine"
Promotional single by Prince
from the album Dirty Mind
B-side	"Gotta Broken Heart Again" "Uptown"
Released	October 8, 1980
Recorded	May–June 1980
Genre	New wave[1][2] power pop[3] jangle pop[4] pop rock[5]
Length	3:47
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Prince

A live recording was included on his 2002 live album, One Nite Alone... Live! The original studio version was also included on The Hits/The B-Sides in 1993. Prince said he was inspired to write the rock song while listening to John Lennon. The track includes a Farfisa-inspired organ sound played on an Oberheim OB-X.

Personnel

Credits from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud^[7][8]

• Prince – lead and backing vocals, Oberheim OB-X, ARP Omni, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums

Mitch Ryder version

In 1983, Mitch Ryder released a version of the song on the John Mellencamp-produced album Never Kick a Sleeping Dog. The song peaked at number 87 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the week ending July 30, 1983, the highest charting position of any recording of this song in the U.S., according to the book Joel Whitburn's Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Ryder's version was also featured in the soundtrack of the film Hot Dog…The Movie (1983).

Cyndi Lauper version

"When You Were Mine"
Single by Cyndi Lauper
from the album She's So Unusual
B-side	"Yeah Yeah" "I'll Kiss You"
Released	April 21, 1984[9]
Recorded	July 1983
Studio	The Record Plant (New York City)
Genre	Pop[10] funk[11]
Length	5:06
Label	Epic
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Rick Chertoff
Cyndi Lauper singles chronology
"Money Changes Everything" (1984) "When You Were Mine" (1984) "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" (1985)

Cyndi Lauper's mid-tempo ballad cover version of "When You Were Mine" is also synthesizer-based for her 1983 debut album, She's So Unusual.^[6] She performed the single at the 1985 American Music Awards. It was released exclusively as a promotional single in the United States and received a commercial release in Canada and Japan.

The single debuted on the Canadian RPM Top 100 singles chart dated April 27, 1985, at number 91.^[12] It peaked at number 62 in its sixth week on the chart.^[13] The single spent a total of nine weeks on the chart.^[14]

The song was used as the theme song to the second season of the American true crime anthology television series, Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

Canada 7" single

1. "When You Were Mine" (single version) – 4:00
2. "Yeah Yeah" – 3:17

Japan 7" single

1. "When You Were Mine"
2. "I'll Kiss You"

Charts

Chart performance for "When You Were Mine" by Cyndi Lauper

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	62