Have you ever explained to someone why Prince changed his name to





and then back to Prince. How far did you go to explain it and were you legitimate or did you sugar coat it to not make him look like a freak for doing such a thing. I mean who on earth changes their name to an unpronouncable symbol?

i usually opt for the "he was messing with WB to prove a point" theory.

Yes I have and it is a very bad predicament(spelling ) to be in-they eventually look at you like this and you give up

I use to do it all of the time when he said it was 4 "spiritual reasons." Once he said it was because of the contract, I pretty much stopped. He really let me down. The only people that really cared, were us, his fans and he lied to us...That was when things started to switch 4 me...Just watch the Oprah interview-just a flat out lie and 4 what???

nurseV said:

wishuhvn said:

maybe at first it was for spiritual reasons but then why would he scribble slave across his face. either way at that time I don't think there was anybody that didn't know he changed his name.

Nope.
No one has asked.

I explained it back then as a way to record what he wanted..an escape clause(sp?) so to speak

I don't explain shit to non Prince fans, they don't deserve to know.

Dayclear said:

this is true

but that's just because I was kinda out of the loop when that was all going on.

EmeraldSkies said:

nope, I don't even know that they know he had the symbol as his name?

Anxiety said:

That's my story and I stcking to it!

No, I don't venture to explain Prince to a non-fan, they either get him or they don't.

Yes - I love being asked this, especially if they still call him TAFKAP.

I explain, as I see it, as Prince doing what he could to sidestep around what he saw was an unfair legal arrangement with Warner Brother's that restricted his trade. By changing his name to the Prince Symbol (which I love to say as Principle - and yes I know that's a stretch ) he was able to release work as it wasn't from "Prince".

Did it work - yes and no. Do they get it, for the most part yes.

Oh and on a humorous side note - one radio station here started to call him DAVE-O as a way of dealing with it rather than or TAFKAP. It was pretty funny at the time.

Swa

that and the "why did he have slave written on his cheek" question, keeps me busy.

"he was goin thru some shit, okay?!"

xlr8r said:

word.....

I tell folks that it really was for spiritual reasons, as part of his evolution. Regarding the change back to "Prince," I say that as he was getting more into the JWs, his understanding shifted, and whether spured by them or not, he felt the need to change back to his birth name.

I think him saying it had anything to do with the WB contract was the lie. I think he just did not want to be seen as backsliding on his previously held perceptions of his own spiritual evolution.
[Edited 3/20/09 6:36am]

Well, Warner Bros. owned the rights to the "Prince" -trademark until 1999...

I have and when I tell them, they go "Wow" or "Damn". What surprises me is how many of them already know the story or know a lot about the story. Just about all of them have told me that they respect Prince for doing what he did.

Dayclear said:

I like your way of thinking.

purplecam said:

It's just like talking to a brick wall when explaining. Loads think he's still called The Symbol or TAFKAP. I give up in the end telling people.

Anxiety said:

That's how I start. If they ask more they get more.

Dayclear said:

I think that I should go with that.

I often find myself explaining the fact that he changed his name back. Whenever I tell people that I am a Prince fan, at least 7 out of 10 of them say "dont you mean you are a fan of the symbol." I then have to tell people that he has changed his name back. I have had to explain this to my dad (who is a moderate Prince fan) about 5 times.

I've explained it quite a bit.

I would basically say that Prince wanted to make the music that he was inspired to make. This relationship somehow fell out of the guidelines expected from the record companies so Prince changed his name to this..."Love Symbol," so that Prince could be in charge of his own material.
The name "Prince," couldn't be forced to keep contracts Prince didn't agree with artistically.

Wordy...but I hope it made sense.

PEJ said:

Pretty picture.

I still find it somewhat troublesome that he went back to "Prince"....supoosedly because WB was withholding $$ from Prince and he was not legally .Prince anymore -----so he had to become Prince again. true or not ---it did go against the philosophy of the "name"