ok, a part of me is saying it's conincedental because it's hard to imagine him glued to prince.org, however i do think it is a bit too conincedental so it could be that he does read what's on the org.

anyway, as to that video clip speech thing, loved it. and i love the interview, just last night i was watching madonnas confessions tour, he has a point. she is something else, full on energy. doesn't compare to say, beyonce or rihanna.

flyorra said:

ok, a part of me is saying it's conincedental because it's hard to imagine him glued to prince.org, however i do think it is a bit too conincedental so it could be that he does read what's on the org.

anyway, as to that video clip speech thing, loved it. and i love the interview, just last night i was watching madonnas confessions tour, he has a point. she is something else, full on energy. doesn't compare to say, beyonce or rihanna.

Nobody's saying he's glued to the org - he would have someone looking it over as a filter, and mentioning anything of interest to him (like the general fan temperature in response to his concerts, music, etc., or any interesting or even amusing discussions, maybe). He wouldn't personally look at all the drivel on here, of course! He doesn't want his eyes to pass over thread titles like "How did his baby die?" "Whatever happened to his baby?" "Why did he leave Mayte" "Reasons why he's an asshole," ad nauseam.

But he's a pretty "intellectual" guy - likes foreign films, watches PBS, listens to NPR. That thread on Elizabeth Gilbert would interest him and someone might have brought it to his attention. And come on, the thread is exactly about his attitude toward the creative process and how to deal with creating after attaining great success, and including mentioning Whitney as an artist who did not make it. And that video was from 2009, totally random, and not even the most popular TEDtalk like the one with Al Gore or something that tons of people might have seen even in 2012. Then he mentions it in an interview when asked about how he's made it and other stars like Whitney have not. What are the chances?

This should be on the News front page, much more revealing and better than the email interview IMO....

That Liz Gilbert interview is fascinating and so true, I think Prince has often maintained he is a vessel for the gifts that he has received, it's just perhaps God/a higher force saw Prince's work ethic and ability to listen to the ethereal that enabled the channel to get stronger and stronger. When and if he lost touch with it that could have been when things changed but then again as Liz was saying these things aren't always consistent and don't come when you always expect them and can appear at seemingly random and strange moments.

nursev said:

artist76 said:

I read the interview again, and it's so uncanny - he MUST have read our posts. He urges the TEDtalk video when asked about MJ and Whitney - my post totally said that P was resilient in the face of success bc of this "genius" outside yourself thing, unlike Whitney. (And I've posted about perfectionism and expectations bringing artists down, like MJ, in other threads too). This is almost like when I commented on FB that I fondly remember Siskel & Ebert speaking at my law school, and Ebert himself posted on there that he remembered that too! Made my day.

He reads them and has been for years-funny thing is I made a post after years of seeing Prince in suits and asked if he could show chest hair just for fun and next time we saw him he had his shirt open in concert The people that say he doesn't glance at our post are crazy. He may be a busy man, but not that busy not to check out what his fans are saying about him.

This man may just learn how to market himself after all. He is almost there. Almost.

I agree, people should experience Purple Rain Live. As well as his other great songs including "The Dance", which happens to be one of my favorite Prince songs. I do not know if he has performed "The Dance" at any of his latest concerts?

Well purple rain, and gold and .....more..

But this tour's PR with Andy McKee's acoustic is simply the best I've ever heard. It sounds like...and I have to use a song title 'jewellry by nature' coz it's hard to describe.

The comments at the bottom of the page are kind of unfortunate. However, I do understand where they're coming from. A lot of people don't want to hear a bunch of covers and songs that were never really hits. Dance Electric gets respect in the tiny (comparatively speaking) group of diehards. But aside from us, who in the hell cares about a throwaway song for a protege who never really hit the big time?

I think Jam O The Year and Musicology nailed it in terms of setlists that a majority of concert goers want to hear. Tours like One Nite Alone and Love Experience were a treat for us, but nobody else really wants to hear that shit. I think he should get real and give the audiences what they want before he ends up shooting himself in the foot by disappointing people who spent a bunch of money and didn't enjoy the show.

I've heard recordings of him performing PR in the late 90s and in the 00s that were some of his most heartfelt renditions ever, and it's amazing to think it was probably like the millioneth time he was performing it! He has said that he'll never tire of PR. I wonder how an artist keeps something fresh when they've done it at every show for decades.

Here's an excerpt from an interview with Carlos Santana that might shed some light (thanks to soulalive in the Santana Shapeshifter thread pt. 2 - btw, you know P will be taking a listen to this CD):

With your upcoming residency at the House of Blues, I’m sure the audience is expecting to hear the hits. How do you keep it interesting for yourself when you play something like “Oye Como Va” for the millionth time?
I keep it interesting by accessing something that I have inside me. There are switches that I have in my brain and my heart that I click on … here’s the secret for a lot of people. I call it the “First French Kiss.” You can will things to feel and be, and become. For example, I will this “first-time ever” for everything. If I want to play “Black Magic Woman” how I felt with the innocence, purity, and first-time sensuality, then I remember how it was when I played it for the first time at a rehearsal in Fresno, before a concert. That’s the first time we played it. Gregg Rolie said, “Man, I got this song from Peter Green called ‘Black Magic Woman,’ and I think we should do it.” We did it at the soundcheck, and I go back to that soundcheck, or back to the first time I played “Oye Como Va” on the radio in San Francisco. I just go back to that place and make it as real as I can, and I do, and therefore I don’t get tired of playing that song. I don’t count how many, I just feel how deep.

Pentacle said:

I can never decide if the use of 'we' and 'us' is delusional of just hypocritical - as we all know it's him who makes all the decisions.

Oh, and WE all knew what LRC was about from the first listen. About f-king.

I think it's just a pluralis maiestatis, the royal plural...

I get the impression he may be using pronouns (we, us, etc) to be inclusive of band members, but, it often seems a little off and in an almost distancing or deflective way. But, it could just be a speech pattern he has gotten into.

It is somewhat interesting to see that he holds Gilbert's derivitive talk up as an insight into his work, . The dumbing down of America continues. Her work seems like standard boring predictable drivel. Upper middle class privledged woman "suddenly" realizes she is unhappy and goes on a year long vacation to find herself. More consumption and trite story follows including the romance with a handsome dark mysterious foreigner who seems to have some kind of sweat shop biz going on in Indonesia...gee how romantic. Would have expected Madonna to be into Gilbert not Prince. Uhhh.

[Edited 5/18/12 5:01am]

Pretty normal sounding too - except the we and us garbage and revisioning a song about hooking up. Can't ya just admit that when you were in your 20s sex was all over your work. Nothing wrong with that dude. Nice pic as well. Dig the threads. Kinda carnivalesque (in the freak show sort of way- not the Brazil sort of way)

juliejuliejulie said:

I get the impression he may be using pronouns (we, us, etc) to be inclusive of band members, but, it often seems a little off and in an almost distancing or deflective way. But, it could just be a speech pattern he has gotten into.

It is somewhat interesting to see that he holds Gilbert's derivitive talk up as an insight into his work, . The dumbing down of America continues. Her work seems like standard boring predictable drivel. Upper middle class privledged woman "suddenly" realizes she is unhappy and goes on a year long vacation to find herself. More consumption and trite story follows including the romance with a handsome dark mysterious foreigner who seems to have some kind of sweat shop biz going on in Indonesia...gee how romantic. Would have expected Madonna to be into Gilbert not Prince. Uhhh.

[Edited 5/18/12 5:01am]

I loved the book, I'm surprised you call it drivil. Never saw the movie and don't want to as it will spoil the book for me. Prince I don't think is into the book, he's align with her thoughts that she'll probably never surpass Eat, love & pray coz that's what made her famous and how to cope constructively from there on with the fame and further creating.

apples1999 said:

My 2 cents......1st, Purple Rain is amazing live. It will send shivers down ur spine. 2nd, even if ur not a "die hard" fan, it's neat to newbes to hear some of those "throw away" songs. I took a friend with me to a show so I would have someone to go with and she really enjoy the oldies she was use too and hearing what she thought was new stuff. 3rd, as a former NPGMC member, he hangs out and lurking more than u think. He use to pop in to chat before or after a show and see who was going or what we thought of the show. He also read threads we would post, make comments to touch his ear or something little the next time he was on an award show, and bygeorge he did it. Former NPGMC will agree. Thats my 2-cents....sure it anit worth much.

To your point #3 - thanks for info. I was not aware at all, so imagine the surprise and seeing a nod to something discussed here in an interview! I'm sure he was getting fan input ahead of the Australian leg of the tour and somehow stumbled on this.

Bohemian67 said:

juliejuliejulie said:

I get the impression he may be using pronouns (we, us, etc) to be inclusive of band members, but, it often seems a little off and in an almost distancing or deflective way. But, it could just be a speech pattern he has gotten into.

It is somewhat interesting to see that he holds Gilbert's derivitive talk up as an insight into his work, . The dumbing down of America continues. Her work seems like standard boring predictable drivel. Upper middle class privledged woman "suddenly" realizes she is unhappy and goes on a year long vacation to find herself. More consumption and trite story follows including the romance with a handsome dark mysterious foreigner who seems to have some kind of sweat shop biz going on in Indonesia...gee how romantic. Would have expected Madonna to be into Gilbert not Prince. Uhhh.

[Edited 5/18/12 5:01am]

I loved the book, I'm surprised you call it drivil. Never saw the movie and don't want to as it will spoil the book for me. Prince I don't think is into the book, he's align with her thoughts that she'll probably never surpass Eat, love & pray coz that's what made her famous and how to cope constructively from there on with the fame and further creating.

I TOTALLY agree with juliejulie that Eat, Pray, Love is a horrendous story for the reasons that she states.

However, bohemian is TOTALLY right that Prince is not talking about Eat, Pray, Love giving insight into his work, but just her speech - if you actually watch it, you'll see it has nothing whatsoever to do with her book, and you don't have to like that book or have even read it; she's talking about what bohemian accurately stated above.

"crashing majesty" that's a good phrase to describe that song.

artist76 said:

Bohemian67 said:

I loved the book, I'm surprised you call it drivil. Never saw the movie and don't want to as it will spoil the book for me. Prince I don't think is into the book, he's align with her thoughts that she'll probably never surpass Eat, love & pray coz that's what made her famous and how to cope constructively from there on with the fame and further creating.

I TOTALLY agree with juliejulie that Eat, Pray, Love is a horrendous story for the reasons that she states.

However, bohemian is TOTALLY right that Prince is not talking about Eat, Pray, Love giving insight into his work, but just her speech - if you actually watch it, you'll see it has nothing whatsoever to do with her book, and you don't have to like that book or have even read it; she's talking about what bohemian accurately stated above.

Yes, I agree with you. I read this really late and was just a bit suprised he mentioned her when others have written/talked on the subject in a much more in depth and relevent manner.

juliejuliejulie said:

artist76 said:

I TOTALLY agree with juliejulie that Eat, Pray, Love is a horrendous story for the reasons that she states.

However, bohemian is TOTALLY right that Prince is not talking about Eat, Pray, Love giving insight into his work, but just her speech - if you actually watch it, you'll see it has nothing whatsoever to do with her book, and you don't have to like that book or have even read it; she's talking about what bohemian accurately stated above.

Yes, I agree with you. I read this really late and was just a bit suprised he mentioned her when others have written/talked on the subject in a much more in depth and relevent manner.

He mentioned it because he saw it on the org!

Great thoughts on the creative process by Elizabeth Gilbert !!! Love what she says in the video!

"Purple Rain" is my favorite Prince song and I've yet to see him perform it live in concert. 5 years ago, I was in the third row of a Fantasia concert where she performed a beautiful and emotional version, but it would be an honor to see the man himself sing and play it in the flesh.

The speech by Elizabeth Gilbert is one of the most inspiring things I've seen in a while!

[Edited 5/20/12 13:56pm]

Purple Rain is not only my favourites Prince songs EVER, but also the song why lots of people who aren't Prince fans want to see him in concert. Purple Rain live is still an amazing moment - he can change his tracklist as he wants to, but Prince knows that he HAS to play Purple Rain, because the people (including his long time fans) want to hear this song live.

Wow... I posted this clip he mentions in this forum - he must have seen it!!!

http://prince.org/msg/7/377914

Hey Prince if you're readng this a beautiful young blonde lady is waiting to see you in London. If you want to play in january (when my birthday is thats fine with me ) If you want you can show some chest hair . But seriously come to London soon yeah?