Rare Prince B-side ‘United States Of Division’ has been shared to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his 2004 album ‘Musicology’.
The track, which you can listen to below, was first released in the midst of the war in Iraq on July 4, 20 years ago as a virtual B-side download for ‘Cinnamon Girl’ exclusively from Prince’s NPG Music Club before it eventually came out as a non-LP bonus track for the UK CD single of ‘Cinnamon Girl’. This is the first time it has been shared on streaming services.
It sees the late singer-songwriter venting his anger at the war with the lyrics: “How far from heaven must we go? / Before the winds of change will blow and show / This world how it’s supposed to be / Land of peace and harmony.”
The 20th anniversary of ‘Musicology’, Prince’s 28th album, is also set to be celebrated on April 20 with the the album available on CD and vinyl along with a line of ‘Musicology’-related merchandise, which can be found on Prince’s website here.
The last posthumous release from the late icon was ‘Welcome 2 America’, in 2021, his first full album of unheard material. NME awarded the record four stars and said that it “speaks to today’s problems and demands to be heard. It’s better to have it now than never. His name was Prince and he was funky, and it seems he has so much more to tell us.”
Meanwhile, the late singer’s music will reportedly be used in a new jukebox musical movie.
