It is the sixth track on his 1987 double album Sign o' the Times,[1] and was based on a true story about a girl named Cynthia Rose that went to the same school as Susannah and Wendy Melvoin.
Susannah, Prince's girlfriend at the time, would receive a writing credit for the lyrics on the track due to the story that she told of Cynthia.
At one point, Susannah brought forward a story of Cynthia Rose, a girl that she and her twin sister Wendy used to know at their school.
[4][5] After spending ten hours recording with engineer Susan Rogers, the latter woke Susannah up to listen to the track, and Prince, with a smile, simply stated "here it is!".
[3] Merchandise is sold on the website with numerous references to the song, and pictures and drawings are made of both Cynthia Rose and Susannah.