Morris Day, “Fishnet”

“Fishnet” is the great lost coulda-woulda-shoulda single by the Time. Bitch, please: listen to the guitar solo, totally Jesse Johnson. Listen to the party feel of the track, especially on the full-length version (not the single edit, only half the fun in less time), the Jam-and-Lewis crowd factor (cf. Alexander O’Neal’s Hearsay and the Time’s 1990 reunion album, Pandemonium). Lyrically, the only diff between this and a Time single is a switch from an obsession with camisoles (included in at least three separate Time singles I’m aware of, likely a myriad more I’ve somehow missed) to fishnet pantyhose. The clever wordplay – comparing a woman’s fishnet hose to getting caught in a fishnet like little Nemo. And for the love of God, do you hear those high, whining keyboards? That’s so Time you’d think you were listening to What Time Is It? instead of a not-entirely-successful Morris Day solo album. I know your shoulders are rocking – and I know ya bobbin’ ya head. ‘Cause I can see ya. Morris would deserve fame and fortune and obscene riches just for this one song, even if he’d never fronted the Time. But he did, and I’m glad, and you should be, too.