"17 Days" (usually referred to as "17 Days") is one of the most famous of musician 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...

's B-sides. It appeared on the flipside of his most successful single "When Doves Cry

When Doves Cry

A hit cover version by R&B singer Ginuwine was produced by Timbaland in 1996 for Ginuwine's The Bachelor album, Ginuwine's cover uses actual dove sound effects as texture for its jungle music-inspired instrumental track.-Charts:-Other cover versions:...

" (1984), as well as the double 7" version of the "Girls & Boys

Girls & Boys (Prince song)

"Girls & Boys" is a 1986 song by Prince and The Revolution, from the album Parade, the soundtrack to the film Under the Cherry Moon. The song was released as a single in the U.K., and as the B-side to "Anotherloverholenyohead" in the U.S.....

" single in 1986.

Written, produced and performed by Prince, the song was originally written and recorded as a demo

Demo (music)

A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 for the second album by his protégé girl-group Vanity 6

Vanity 6

Vanity 6 was a female vocal trio assembled by Prince in the early 1980s.They released one studio album, which blended the sounds of pop, New Wave, dance music, R&B, and funk.-Formation:...

. Upon Vanity's departure from the Prince camp in 1983, Prince retained the song for his own use, rather than give it to the newly formed Apollonia 6

Apollonia 6

Apollonia 6 was a 1980s female singing trio created by Prince as a continuation/succession of a previous group, Vanity 6.-Formation and Purple Rain:...

 for their debut album. Background vocals on the track were performed by Vanity 6 member Brenda Bennett

Brenda Bennett

Brenda Bennett is an American singer from Boston, Massachusetts who married the musician Prince's set-designer Roy Bennett, and then became Prince's "wardrobe mistress." Brenda's maiden name is Brenda Mosher. She started off in a CBS Records band called Tombstone Blues Band...

 and remain on the final version of the song (she can clearly be heard as the song fades at the end).

The dance-oriented track begins with a psychedelic

Psychedelic

The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...

 electric guitar loop and continues with Prince's signature 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...

 and 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...

 sound, incorporating funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 and R&B elements used throughout his 1999

1999 (album)

1999 is the fifth studio album by Prince, released on October 27, 1982. It was his first top ten album on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States and became the fifth best-selling album of 1983. 1999 was Prince's breakthrough album, but his next album Purple Rain would become his most...

and Purple Rain

Purple Rain (album)

Purple Rain is the sixth studio album by Prince, the first to officially be credited to Prince and The Revolution, and is the soundtrack album to the 1984 film Purple Rain.Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the best albums in pop music history...

albums. The lyrics refer to the number of days that have gone by since Prince's lover left him for someone else, leaving him "with two cigarettes and this broken heart of mine."

Although the track did not chart on its own (except as a double-A side on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play

Hot Dance Club Play

The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...

 chart), it received significant airplay on U.S. R&B radio at the same time that "When Doves Cry" was at its peak in popularity. "17 Days" appears on the three-disc greatest hits compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 The Hits/The B-Sides

The Hits/The B-Sides

-Disc 2 :-Disc 3 :...

. A snippet of "17 Days" was used in a hidden track

Hidden track

In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...

 after the title song on Prince's 2004 album Musicology

Musicology (album)

Musicology is the thirtieth studio album by Prince, released on April 20, 2004, which proved to be his most successful in years, reaching the Top 5 of the album charts in the U.S, UK, Germany, and many other countries....

, along with similarly short excerpts of "Little Red Corvette

Little Red Corvette

"Little Red Corvette" is a song by the American musician Prince. Released as a single from the album 1999 in 1983, the song was his biggest hit at the time, and his first to reach top-10 status in the U.S., peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart...

", "Kiss

Kiss (song)

In 1988 Art of Noise released a cover of the song, featuring Tom Jones on vocals. The song became the band's biggest hit to that point, reaching number eighteen on the U.S. dance charts and number five on the UK Singles Chart, higher than the original in that country...

", "Sign o' the Times" and "If I Was Your Girlfriend

If I Was Your Girlfriend

"If I Was Your Girlfriend" was the second single off Prince's widely-acclaimed 1987 double album Sign “☮” the Times. While it is today considered one of his most notable songs, at the time of its release the song did not chart well in the U.S....

", reinforcing the song's notoriety.

The song was covered by Living Colour

Living Colour

Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, neo-psychedelia, hard rock, and heavy metal...

 as the B-side on their "Ausländer

Ausländer

- People with surname Auslander or Ausländer :* Joseph Auslander, Poet* Leora Auslander* Louis Auslander, mathematician* Maurice Auslander, mathematician, who introduced:** Auslander algebra** Auslander–Buchsbaum formula** Auslander–Buchsbaum theorem...

" single.

Prince played this song at the December 17, 2010 Welcome 2 America

Welcome 2 America

The Welcome 2... is a concert tour by American recording artist, Prince. The tour began December 2010 in the United States. It has traveled to Europe and Canada in 2011. The tour marks the singer's first performances in North America in over six years. The show is composed of the singer performing...

 concert.