"Raspberry Beret" (Prince & The Revolution)

It is so frustrating to write about Prince.  His complete aversion to putting his back catalog and performances online is confounding in this day and age.  I totally get wanting to control your output in a way that doesn't pimp your principles or your art.  But come on.  If people can't find your stuff, they're eventually going to stop looking for your stuff.
I'd bet that there's a growing percentage of people under the age of 20 who've never even heard the track "Raspberry Beret" from Around the World in a Day (1985).  Which is shame, because it's one of the few, true pop masterpieces of the 80s with an arresting melody, tasteful production, and intelligent lyrics to match.
Even though the subject matter is still somewhat "adult" (the song is ostensibly about the Purple One's first time), it has a certain innocence and strong sense of storytelling that made it a bit more accessible to me as a kid.  (Let's just say mom and dad weren't letting me listen too closely to the words of "Little Red Corvette.")  And the narrative is so full of vivid imagery—raindrops on a tin roof, crackling lightning, and the titular hat; it simply was a great song for sparking my 7-year-old pictorial imagination.
My favorite part has always been the way Prince sings the lyric I said now, overcast days never turned me on...  I think it's because the delivery of the line is so bluesy and soulful.  It counterbalances the baroque pop/Sgt. Pepper's feel of the backing track and pulls it back from the brink of being too sunny.