Is it just me or does Wendy seem to be singing about Prince?

I know that he and Wendy made friends again a year or two ago - but I wonder if they've fallen-out again?

Those years were mine
And I made us greater than our time
Why don't you see
The light you had because of me - when you were mine

The sun is gone
And I made it disappear
No lights are on but now
That is unless I'm near - shine, shine, shine - like when you were mine

Invisible
I will not be
(I will not appear)
Invisible
I will not be
(Can we make it clear)
Invisible
I will not be

I am victory
You think I'm mercenary
I'm luck, not greed
I'm extraordinary - like when you were mine - shine, shine, shine

Invisible
I will not be
(I will not appear)
Invisible
I will not be
(Can we make it clear)
Invisible
I will not be

Shine, shine, shine

What you believe in
Won't set you free
When you're high on power

All my glitter turns to gold
I owe my beauty and my soul
And for a price
I make you feel something better everytime - like when you were mine

Invisible
I will not be
(I will not appear)
Invisible
I will not be
(Can we make it clear)
Invisible
I will not be

What you believe in
Won't set you free
When your higher power is me
So I'm gonna stand here until you see
And shout "hallelujah" at my feet
What you believe in
Is what I fear
I've walked in your garden
The taste is your tears

Now, I may have a few of the words wrong, but there's a suspiciously high proportion of Prince song titles in the lyrics.

In addition to the song titles, there may be references to 'In A Large Room With No Light' and 'Roadhouse Garden'. Then there may be further reference to Prince's faith's s stance on homosexuality: "what you believe in, is what I fear". Wendy & Lisa's reluctance to complete work on the Roadhouse Garden album, due to Prince not wanting to pay their travel and accomodation expenses could be expressed by: "You think I'm mercenary. I'm luck, not greed".

Whatever it's about, it's definitely not a love song.

WX147 said:

Wax,

Now that you mention it, the song does seem to be very directed.

- JD

this song dont seem directed or nothing cant it be about a past lover or something y does everything they do has 2 b about prince?? cuz with words it would be a lie wendy didnt make prince nothing he made her so umm i dont think so
i write songs and sometimes i use my friends lives or just creatively make up stuff it doesnt b about nobody in general or nothing its just words 2 make a hit song

This is an fun thread.
These lyrics are quite interesting to me and could be reference to P's faith and the Roadhouse Garden Project:
What you believe in
Won't set you free
When your higher power is me
So I'm gonna stand here until you see
And shout "hallelujah" at my feet
What you believe in
Is what I fear
I've walked in your garden
The taste is your tears

If it is about Prince, I'd say this song was probably written around 2000 (remember they have been working on putting this album together for the past 10 years) after the Roadhouse Garden project and putting together a Revolution reunion didn't work out. Wendy, in part, blamed P's new religious views for these things falling through. But....we could be reaching here. It could just be about love gone wrong

kaptainkrunk said:

Krunk:

YOU might choose to close your eyes to all of P's faults and past indescretions, but there are too many references in this song to just dismiss it as a ploy to 'make a hit song'. I think part of the appeal IS the ambiguity regarding whom she is referring to. I am sure this was purposely done by W&L.

And sure, P made Wendy famous, but you can not discount the impact the girls had on his music during that period. They were big part of P's strongest songwriting era, and contributed significantly to his evolution.

- JD

Then again, if it is about Prince, these lyrics come across incredibly arrogant and egotistical:
Those years were mine
And I made us greater than our time
Why don't you see
The light you had because of me - when you were mine

Now that's the kind of hubris that usually accompanies a broken heart - so I'm leaning towards the song only being about a failed romance.

y it gotta be about prince when they have made up and gone on wit there life wendy and lisa cant b that far gone 2 think they made prince who he was prince and every man has faults but prince was a star be4 them and continues 2 shine yall the ones who wanna read something in2 cuz in every innerview they seem 2 cherish prince and the time they spent 2gether yall keep tryin 2 make em enemies as if u was in the band and knows what went down

wow. That's soooome stretch.
But I guess that's the job of being an orger...connecting it to Prince somehow..someway....
I for one think it isn't.

this site makes me wonder is it a prince fan site or a anti-prince site cuz yall sum haters on here if i was prince reading half the stuff yall say i would never release nothing and take my shit off the net 2 cuz u dont appreciate nothing and u always negative

Like U say...if it is about Prince its kind of arrogant... Wendy came in at the last minute adn Prince has had lots of success after them two...

It's funny because they still come runnin' when he calls...


When was this written?

When I heard it the first time I thought it was about Prince. Wendy and Lisa aint gonna penn a lyric like "When you Were Mine" and not understand the connotations of it. It's a conscious choice for them to go ahead with a lyric that will obviously be seen by their audience as a title to a Prince song.
[Edited 8/19/08 9:54am]

JudasLChrist said:

I thought about Prince when I heard that line too...only cause I then sang out loud, "I gave you all of my money" and then preceded to sing the entire song in the background to theirs.

But Prince has 100s of songs and so many lyrics that a little overlap, particularly when saying something as pedestrian as "When you were mine", is bound to happen. So I'm still not convinced.

"All my glitter turns to gold
I owe my beauty and my soul
And for a price
I make you feel something better everytime - like when you were mine"

I'm convinced.

Nah..

W & L seem to be just playing with the "internet fishers": and pro-"W&L crowd"..

I bet if you asked them , they woud say something like "its not what you think its about"..

If you read the lyrics, it doesn't even match Prince..

What you believe in
Won't set you free
When your higher power is me
So I'm gonna stand here until you see
And shout "hallelujah" at my feet
What you believe in
Is what I fear
I've walked in your garden
The taste is your tears

These lyrics could be interpreted in many ways, but it seems more like a troubled romantic relationship than anything. I think Wendy & Lisa have a lot more to write about that Prince. I love the song and I think the lyrics are pretty deep.

NightGod said:

It reads "Every Breath You Take" to me.. It's a selfish pyscho-trip of someone who doens't want a split, but has to demean the value of the other lover to convince him/her that they should not have left.

Everything about the other was better "When You Were Mine"(, and only then). Everything the other (subject) believes in now is garbage because it keeps the speaker away from them.

Similarly you could look at the lyrics to Song About and think it was about P

"So strange that no one stayed
At the end of the parade

This is just another song about it
This is just another song about"

Baylana said:

Song About IS about Prince.

'Invisible' could easily be about Prince, but again, that would be totally wrong. Why now? And even if it was written back in 2000, after the 'Roadhouse garden' affair, they could have easily shelved it and decide not to release it. Things have changed for both of them (Wendy & Lisa and Prince)

But the third possibility could be that they chose to release it, despite the fact they wrote it about Prince, while now they refer to it as a sad love song.

By the way, when is the new album coming out?
[Edited 9/10/08 1:55am]

When U've lost all things 2 say
U wish the last hour was u're 1st
Making a career after deciding 2 pray
I gave u water 2 quench your thirst

After all these years
U still hang on
As if I were still around
Let go.....of my purple coat tail
U know what 2 do.....Face Down
[Edited 9/10/08 6:40am]

JudasLChrist said:

I diagree. Unless W&L said so in an interview etc it is all interprative.

Baylana said:

I'm sure they confirmed this in an interview when the album first came out - although they really didn't need to because everyone "knew" (fans, critics, etc.) at that time who the song was about.
It is VERY Obvious that it is about Prince and the breakup of the Revolution. No interpretation needed - the lyrics are very direct! Mother of Pearl(my fav) was about Prince as well...although that song is much less overt.

simm0061 said:

Fair enough. I always feel uncomfortable stating that any song is 100% about an individual unless it has been confirmed as such by the writer/s. I know my own interpretations are coloured by my own opinion.

Graycap23 said:

What is this?

JudasLChrist said:

My response....lol

Baylana said:

I think that is the goal of many songwriters: to be able to deliver a personal song in such a way that allows the listener to bring their own interpretations and meanings to it. Therefore allowing us to share the sentiment of the song without necessarily being privy to the experience that inspired it.

NightGod said:

Amen , I wonder if they get sick and tired of people wanting to talk Prince all the time ? Sure that was an important part of their history but there is so much more to them than all that

Wow.

A Wendy & Lisa song I don't like. That doesn't happen often.