Do you think Prince is a conspiracy theorist?

I know that can be a 'dirty term', let's call it someone who is interested in explanations of current and historical events outside of those which are told to us by the major media news networks.

I'd say, going by many of Prince's lyrics over the past 8 or so years, you could say Prince was definately of that persuasion.
I confess, I'm interested in such topics of 'conspiracy theory', and counter-culture in general, myself, which I think is one of the reasons I enjoy the Rainbow Children so much, despite it's religious leanings.

I made a little compilation of Prince's 'conspiracy' songs of the past few years, I stayed away from the earlier Apocalyptic-themed work, like 1999, Play In The Sunshine and Crystal Ball, because I think Prince was coming from a different view-point in that era of his song-writing.

Here's what I made, and a little explanation about why each track is there - A bit of a brain-fart maybe, but what the heck:



01. One Song (8:55)
> This is a juicy, if diatribic start.
Themes: Magic(k), Impact of Language on Psychology, Impact of Mass-Media, Non-Religious Spirituality

02. Cinnamon Girl (3:56)
> A nice, easy 'pop' pill to swallow.
Themes: Terrorism, Race, 9/11, Government Lies

03. The Truth (3:34)
Themes: Alternative Time theories, Mass-Media Manipulation

04. Silicon (4:47)
Themes: Surpressed/Alternative Biological Science, Social Manipulation

05. 2045 Radical Man (6:36)
Themes: Corporate Greed, Apocalyptic Future Theories

06. Dear Mr.Man (4:14)
Themes: Ruling Elite, Mass-Media & Governmental Injustice & Greed

07. Avalanche (4:24)
Themes: Race, Surpressed History

08. When Will We B Paid (4:07)
Themes: Race, Surpressed History, Social & Historical Injustice

09. The War (25:59)
> This is pretty much Prince's biggest 'conspiracy theory' song, this one goes WAY out there! So I made it the centerpiece of the compilation.
Themes: Apocalyptic Future Theories, Future Technologies, Mass-Social & Population Control through Technology, Mass-Social Hypnosis, Mass-Media Control & Manipulation, Biological Warfare, Corporate/Elite Greed & Profiteering, Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecies, Race, Sprituality

10. Digital Garden (4:07)
Themes: Technology, Mass-Media Manipulation, Apocalyptic Future Theories

11. The Work pt.1 (4:28)
Themes: Mass-Media Manipulation, Spiritual Enslavement Conspiracy, Pro-Activism(!)

12. Deconstruction (1:59)
Themes: Apocalyptic Future Theories

13. Xenophobia (11:22)
> No lyrics here, I just liked the track, and how the title looked on the compilation ^_^

14. Family Name (8:17)
> Another juicy one full of themes!
Themes: Surpressed History, Race, Alternative Spirituality (Akashic Records), Corruption in Organised Religion.

15. The Exodus Has Begun (10:06)
Themes: Race, Social & Historical Injustice

16. 2020 (2:05)
> A nice positive, if melancholy ending.
Themes: Future Theories, Future Reward/Redemption

///

.... and no, I'm not high



» MetroArea
[Edited 2/14/05 15:20pm]

MetroArea said:

Pretty cool. I think you may be on to something. How bout "The Beautiful Ones" as a song about a class of beautiful people who always destroy love. Maybe not as deep but definitely true. You can find tons of this stuff in P's music. 1999 is about the cold war. Hey, Purple Rain may be radioactive fallout You never know!
[Edited 2/14/05 15:13pm]

he can definitely bend towards the conspiracy buff wave at times, even more so nowadays.

Thanks for the interesting topic and no, I don't think you're high I think he is something of a conspiracy buff as am I. I haven't heard 3 of these songs yet but "The War" is really outstanding and I can relate so I must be about as out there as he is. It's okay though cuz I LOVE going out there with P. And how about that "Armageddon" guitar solo? Prince is killin' that beast for sure.....I love it.

The Conspiracy Theorist Motto:
"Just because you're paranoid don't mean they aint out to get 'cha!"

"The War" ROCKS!

babynoz said:

The War is brilliant, it really restored my faith in Prince at the a time when I wasn't really diggin' the stuff he was putting out (Emancipation, NPS, the Kirky J. drum sounds...) - I always thought The War was a pre-cursor to the Rainbow Children.

This is a very cool thread !

We already had one like this a while ago, unfortunately it disappeared real quick with very little contribution, so I won´t bother to type as much as I did the last time because I gotta go in a few minutes...have any of you ever heard of Berkley Prof.Peter Duesberg´s weird AIDS theories ??
I´m sure Prince has...
Check out :
www.virusmyth.com

Robert Anton Wilson ( brilliant !) and superweirdo David Icke also come to mind..
Nice thread, MetroArea...

KoolEaze said:

Thanks for the link - I have read some stuff about AIDS theories, but not by Berkley Prof.Peter Duesberg, will check that out.

About David Icke, I have a few of his books and there's stuff in there that 'clicks' right into the lyrics of The War, I'm sure Prince must read the same kind stuff!