"Letitgo" is a song by Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 from his 1994 album Come

Come (album)

Come is the fifteenth studio album by Prince, released during his public dispute with his then-record company, Warner Bros.-Evolution of the album:...

. Despite statements that the album consisted entirely of "old" material, "Letitgo" was actually newly composed for the album. The mid-tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

 song relies heavily on a drum machine

Drum machine

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...

 pattern and bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 with synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

s in the refrain

Refrain

A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...

. A keyboard and percussion solo appear toward the end. The song is sung in falsetto

Falsetto

Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...

 in unison with another track layered in his regular, lower register. Kathleen Bradford provides backing vocals, while Eric Leeds provides flute accompaniment.

The track was produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince, with the additions of Kathleen Bradford on background vocals, Eric Leeds

Eric Leeds

Eric Leeds is an American jazz and funk musician who plays the saxophone and other woodwind and brass instruments. He is best known for his work with Prince.- Biography :Leeds was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of a retailer...

 on flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

 and additional keyboards by Ricky Peterson. The lyrics

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

 speak of Prince's disappointment with Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

' decision not to release music as quickly as Prince created it. He chides them that they will be sorry when he leaves the company.

The B-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 was the album track "Solo", a downbeat number with Prince's voice only accompanied by harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

, which was composed by David Henry Hwang

David Henry Hwang

David Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...

. The title refers not to a musical solo, but actually that Prince's mood is "so low". It ties in with the slightly more upbeat "Letitgo". In addition, a CD single

CD single

A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...

 was released in the UK containing an edit of "Letitgo", "Solo", the extended version of "Alexa de Paris" (originally the B-side to "Mountains" in 1986) and "Pope", which was originally on The Hits 2 from 1993. A maxi single

Maxi single

A maxi single or maxi-single is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an a-side song and a b-side song.-The first maxi singles:...

 on CD and vinyl

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 included several remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

es of the track provided by Quincy "QD3" Jones III, Chronic Freeze., J*Swift and Gerald "G Bomb" Baillergeau.

A 7" vinyl picture disc

Picture disc

Picture discs are gramophone records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or coloured vinyl.-Development:...

 was issued in the UK.

Chart performance

"Letitgo" was moderately successful on the charts it peaked at #31 on the Hot 100, #10 R&B/Hip-Hop, #13 Rhythmic, #17 Mainstream/Pop and #30 in the UK.

Charts

Chart (1994)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	31
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	10
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	17
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	13
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	30

UK 12" single and CD

1. "Letitgo" (edit) – 4:15
2. "Solo" – 3:48
3. "Alexa de Paris" (extended version) – 4:54
4. "Pope" – 3:28

U.S. 12" and CD

1. "Letitgo" (Caviar radio edit) – 4:59
2. "Letitgo" (Cavi' street edit) – 5:02
3. "Letitgo" (Instrumental) – 5:02
4. "Letitgo" (On the Cool-Out Tip radio edit) – 4:34
5. "Letitgo" (Sherm Stick edit) – 5:42
6. "Letitgo" ((-) Sherm Stick edit) – 5:42
7. "Letitgo" (original radio edit) – 4:15
8. "Letitgo" (original album version) – 5:33