I agree his early 80s use of swearing had a lot more context, the language kind of fit in with the agressive sexual nature of songs like Sister and Lets pretend we're married. But songs like Sexy MF and My name is Prince are less convincing, where the liberal usage of a word suggesting maternal incest is added for decorative purposes only. Sexy MF is the weakest song on Symbol, all that saves it, is the horn parts and the 1937 jazz feel to the song, and the video with the 1940s Cab Calloway look and those streamlined bubble cars of the period.

I have noticed a lot of you are swearing like troopers throughout this thread and its not really enhancing your argument. Why?

etifaim said:

clovesandtea said:

Hahaha, but does the "purple Yoda?" I mean, COME ON. That's embarrassing. "Funky town?" "Dirty new sound?" Really? There's nothing dirty or new about it. Grow up, P.

Oh and making a Purple Yoda dance would attract the kids that like that "Crunk" shit-hop...

"Do the Purple Yoda! Do the Purple Yoda!"

Lol, perhaps the only silver linning of the song.

PurpleLove7 said:

sro100 said:

The first few "clean" albums Prince played coy with dirty words; you know what he "would've" said. By calling attention to itself, Prince was "joking" with the fact you'd know what he "meant to say." Not so cool to me.

He also did this in concert. Even worse.

But, on this new album there really is none of that. No coy references to "what he really meant to say." I love that he throws in "doing it" on "Walk in Sand." It says it all.

Whatcha' all think?

I know cat doesn't believe he's 52 or in 'Time' unless that's changed but, if I wanna hear raunchy 'Rude Boy' Prince, I can just throw on the old album. I'm older and wiser and profanity doesn't fit much in my life anymore. I have kid that looks up to me and I have to be responsible for what comes out of my mouth now, just like P does lyrically.

It doesn't bother me. It's a trip (or odd) to hear an older song live with different lyrics though ...this i'd rather he not sing a song at all then change the lyrics but i'm cool wiyh no cursing

id rahter he not sing a song at all then cenor it

[Edited 8/3/10 19:53pm]

OldFriends4Sale said:

I think his cursing really picked up in the 90's actually

the 80's music had a word here n there

1999 had a few, and Controversy & Dirty Mind had very few actually, the 1st 2 I don't remember any

Like nothing on Purple Rain had curse words, Erotic City-B side only used the F word

Around the World in a Day had none, Girl-extended had some near the end

Parade had none that I can recall

Sign o the Times had dam on Housequake but that is hardly a swear word

and nothing else that I can recall, if it was it was very minimal

Lovesexy? I don't think it had much, B side Scarlett Pussy- I think is covered by the connection to being a cat

Batman I don't think had any

Not to be nit-picky, OF4S, but Housequake also had "bullshit" in its lyrics.

alexnvrmnd777 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I think his cursing really picked up in the 90's actually

the 80's music had a word here n there

1999 had a few, and Controversy & Dirty Mind had very few actually, the 1st 2 I don't remember any

Like nothing on Purple Rain had curse words, Erotic City-B side only used the F word

Around the World in a Day had none, Girl-extended had some near the end

Parade had none that I can recall

Sign o the Times had dam on Housequake but that is hardly a swear word

and nothing else that I can recall, if it was it was very minimal

Lovesexy? I don't think it had much, B side Scarlett Pussy- I think is covered by the connection to being a cat

Batman I don't think had any

Not to be nit-picky, OF4S, but Housequake also had "bullshit" in its lyrics.

And he said "bullshit" twice in that one lol it's too funky to hear it though

To me Prince never really cursed that much if any. His songs were very sexually suggestive. The nastiest song he ever did "Head" didn't have any curse words in it. He did most of his cussing in conxert.....But Prince doesn't need to curse. He has enough talent not to do that. Larry may have convince him that its not needed.......Plus he is 52 years old. So that would just not be the business anymore........

jtfolden said:

Also, doesn't "intent" matter more than the words themselves??? If he's still singing about the same thing but simply couching it in different terms then what has he really accomplished? "I wanna go down south" = "head until your love is red"

Exactly!! That's why his "no cursing" is stupid. They're just words. If we all know what he's implying, then it's the same as cursing.

Granted, a 52 year old man singing "Sister" might be a little odd, but a well placed "damn" now and then would spice up his lame lyrics of late.

Timmy84 said:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

Not to be nit-picky, OF4S, but Housequake also had "bullshit" in its lyrics.

And he said "bullshit" twice in that one lol it's too funky to hear it though

And in that most perfect of songs "Adore" He says "I ain't fucking just for kicks"

Huggiebear said:

Timmy84 said:

And he said "bullshit" twice in that one lol it's too funky to hear it though

And in that most perfect of songs "Adore" He says "I ain't fucking just for kicks"

Yep Lol

It's not the cursing. In recent years, P has seemed to be coasting on many of his projects.

But, since you're asking, I'd like Prince better if he'd ditch the wigs and makeup.

ThreadBare said:

It's not the cursing. In recent years, P has seemed to be coasting on many of his projects.

But, since you're asking, I'd like Prince better if he'd ditch the wigs and makeup.

I guess if Prince was really conservative he'd ditch them Lol

But no the cussing-free stuff is not the problem with Prince lol

NelsonR said:

no, i dig his new vibe...it's refreshing.

just read this quote from him also:

"There's an incredible peace in my life now and I'm trying to share it with people."

But what he REALLY wants to say is:

"Yo, I'm at peace now motherfuckers and I'm just trying to share it with some of you cunts"

violetblues said:

No, there comes a time for all of us grow out of it. A young man "might" be able to pull off something like cussing, a tight blouse, performing simulated oral sex on a microphone, and shaking his ass,

but i think even a gay porn actor on drugs in his early 40's would find it demeaning.

Not necessarily true. Redd Foxx was old as dirt and he cussed a lot in his stand-up routine. If he didn't it may not be half as funny. Cussing is fun and more people should do it and stop being all nicey-nicey.

NelsonR said:

nah, i accept him for who he is now.

i do not want him to go back in time.

if he started being what other people

want him 2 b again, it would b hard 4 me,

but i would also accept...but i think he

would be pretending coz its not where

his heart and mind are now...

[Edited 8/2/10 2:49am]

On the contrary, I think he's pretending now for the most part or he wouldn't so consciously focus on how much he's not cussing or go to such lengths to find "tame" ways to say the same nasty things.

Like I said in a prior post "I wanna go down south" is no different in intent than "I wanna give you head until your love is red"... They are both referring to exactly the same sexual act. There's no rational argument as to how the former makes him more grown up or spiritual. It might sound a little classier in polite company but he still wants to eat her out...

If he were truly different, deep in his heart, then he'd just not sing about it at all... instead he just puts some wax on it.

A previous band member has said that if you get a little alcohol in him then the old/real Prince comes out.

Huggiebear said:

Not really, he did it a bit in the early days when he was a cutting edge rebel. The context and the music was right then, up to about the 1999 period, the Purple Rain til Lovesexy he didn't need it, but it came back in the early 90s with his pap rap phase. But really his last f worded laded music was on the Truth album back in 98. Prince is now too mature and grown to resort to childish language. Swearing is left for youth metaller types (Slipknot, Linkun park) and Shit hop music. I read somewhere, that people curse when they are lacking in vocabulary.

BTW, Linkin Park rarely if ever curses at all.... research before you decide to condemn.

I have no problem with him not cussing I just want him to be true to himself and sometimes I seriously have my doubts. He sounds all nice and cleaned up but somewhere inside the "rude boy" is alive and well. All he is doing is repressing him. If he lets him out again it does not mean he has to cuss but it might be a byproduct of him truly being passionate again. It is Prince's passion that was one of the keys to his success. The passion that said there are no rules and no restrictions about this music that is coming from me to you.

No, the problem isn't whether he cusses or not.

The problem is, that he limits his art, because he now morally objects to certain words and themes.

And interestingly enough, I think that his lyrics suffer from those restrictions set on himself. It's like he wrote a power house song and came up with brilliant lyrics, but then said "Hey, wait, I can't go there" and rewrote "Bitter the devil brings me doe" to "Take me to the streets of Lavaux".

It's sort of the equivalent to a musician suddenly morally opposing minor chords, "They're too depressing and deprecating, music should be uplifting and happy happy", he could tell himself, and then never play another minor chord. The music might be great .. but anyone would have to admit it wasn't played with full potential.

Doesn't he slip up on 20ten - In Compassion he states that someone "acts like a bloody fool". Now where I comes from that's a swear word right there.

If I heard my 7 year old say "bloody" he'd get told off. How come that gets past the Prince moral swear-o-meter?

When I was a kid, it was a joke to say bloody wasn't a swear word because it was in the bible - but not in the sense it means here. You can say Lady Macbeth's hands were bloody. But to say bloody hell, bloody idiot, bloody stupid - that's the equivilent of saying fucking hell, fucking idiot fucking stupid.

Just saying.

I wouldn't care if he cusses in the sense of using actual four letter words or not in new songs. I just wish he wouldn't hold back and sanitize when he has the urge. And I hate that he won't perform old songs or changes the words to act like we will be clean along with him. I will never start singing different words to DMSR. It's not Dance, Music, Saviour, Romans 12:10.

While it's hard to listen I admire him for Rainbow Children, because at least he didn't hold back speaking his mind. But he should apply that in all aspects of types of songs. But don't pretend you're all sterilized and then write something overtly sexual like "Elixer". Words are just words. They are just a tool to get the point across. What's the difference between "I want to play in your river" and "With my tongue in the crease.." and "Can I suck you baby"? simply the words used to describe or be vague. Same point though. We know what Prince wants to do in both instances.

I'm at least happy that "Sticky With Glue" gets the feel across. If you arent gonna cuss, because its evil, then use creative words to get that point across. But don't say "we'd be the sh... uh-oh".

My favorite recent part sis the dramatic pause in..

"Don't you wanna come?"

3121..

[Edited 8/5/10 11:57am]

cosmicslop said:

Doesn't he slip up on 20ten - In Compassion he states that someone "acts like a bloody fool". Now where I comes from that's a swear word right there.

If I heard my 7 year old say "bloody" he'd get told off. How come that gets past the Prince moral swear-o-meter?

When I was a kid, it was a joke to say bloody wasn't a swear word because it was in the bible - but not in the sense it means here. You can say Lady Macbeth's hands were bloody. But to say bloody hell, bloody idiot, bloody stupid - that's the equivilent of saying fucking hell, fucking idiot fucking stupid.

Just saying.

Gotta agree. I say "aww bloody hell" in place of "aww fuckin' hell" because it doesn't sound as harsh. But I certainly *mean* the same thing when I say it.

[Edited 8/5/10 11:46am]

clovesandtea said:

etifaim said:

Oh and making a Purple Yoda dance would attract the kids that like that "Crunk" shit-hop...

"Do the Purple Yoda! Do the Purple Yoda!"

Lol, perhaps the only silver linning of the song.

I actually like when he says crazy stuff. It may not make sense but at least it isnt the same thing others are saying..

Remember crazy things he's said in more of his "classic' songs like:

"Let's slip on a purple banana til they put us in the truck"

"You sure look do-be-cookin'"

"Have a feather flick a nipple baby scam water ripple"

makes it more insteresting. I'd take 'stella" to "shawty" anyday

[Edited 8/5/10 8:59am]

ThreadBare said:

I'd like Prince better if he'd ditch the wigs and makeup.

No way!

I've gotten over him not cursing - but what is really lame is his intolerance of other's cursing. I remember a concert where the chant was "Play that motherfuckin bass..." - - he stopped the show and asked the audience to change the chant to "play that funky bass" or something like that. SO lame.

Jatrig said:

I've gotten over him not cursing - but what is really lame is his intolerance of other's cursing. I remember a concert where the chant was "Play that motherfuckin bass..." - - he stopped the show and asked the audience to change the chant to "play that funky bass" or something like that. SO lame.

Yeah.. um. Prince, is that being "free"? Come let's get free. Be free! Ok not that free.

Timmy84 said:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

Not to be nit-picky, OF4S, but Housequake also had "bullshit" in its lyrics.

And he said "bullshit" twice in that one lol it's too funky to hear it though

Lets not 4get " i ain't fuckin just 4 kicks " on Adore...LOL.... and Kat says "Fuck off" on Play in the sunshine.

I bet he cusses like a motherfucker in private.

Spinlight said:

I could not care less if he swore in his music, but I sure as fuck am bored of his euphemisms for swearing. I knew when I heard "let me see you shake your pants" that it was all heading down a corny as fuck road.

That's how I feel about it. A couple of examples are in Feel Good, Feel Better.... where he says 'what the ---- was I thinking when I threw you the ball' and 1+1+1=3 where says 'we dont give a duck what you got on'. Thats not swearing for the sake of it, if it happens to fit into the line and you're leaving a blank or replacing 'duck' for 'fuck', it just sounds stupid.

NouveauDance said:

ThreadBare said:

I'd like Prince better if he'd ditch the wigs and makeup.

No way!

Yes way!

Spinlight said:

I could not care less if he swore in his music, but I sure as fuck am bored of his euphemisms for swearing. I knew when I heard "let me see you shake your pants" that it was all heading down a corny as fuck road.

It's "I COULDN'T care any less! Just a pet peeve. All due respect.

PurplePerson said:

Spinlight said:

I could not care less if he swore in his music, but I sure as fuck am bored of his euphemisms for swearing. I knew when I heard "let me see you shake your pants" that it was all heading down a corny as fuck road.

It's "I COULDN'T care any less! Just a pet peeve. All due respect.

Isn't "couldn't" a contraction of "could not"?

Now "I could care less" that's different.

I mean I couldn't care less.. but I care a little more than someone who could care less than the average person who cares.