It seems like the lyrics are directed at a specific artist/group of artist and these lines kinda give it away.

“A girl with a guitar is 12 times better Than another crazy band of boys”

“Tryna be a star when U’re just another brick In a misogynistic wall of noise”

so I was wondering which current " crazy band of boys " who write misogynistic lyrics is Prince talking about .

Turns out the only group out who fit this description is the " crazy band of boys" Odd future who are know for their misogynistic lyrics.

and the line about being toast in London.. what i got from that is that he's telling them they are sure to be toast in London because it's all about great music there. ..

i didn't go over all the lyrics obviously.. but u get the idea..it's seems to be about artists (maybe in general) Prince aint fond of and not about us the listeners as some of us thought..

I might be off the mark though..

[Edited 1/18/14 8:28am]

He probably wrote this song while looking in the mirror

m22 said:

this song is about all of us

1rst verse could be about bad people in general. but i don't know what the London line would mean looking at it this way..

2nd verse seem to be addressing some artists. He makes it clear by saying band of boys and touching on misogynistic lyrics in songs

and the spoken words at the end could be about anyone...

[Edited 1/18/14 8:51am]

It's a song about individualism and empowerment. Prince has written these kind of lyrics during all his career. However, many fans like them when it's an 80s song but think the lyrics of this one are self-help crap.

[Edited 1/18/14 13:16pm]

Javi said:

It's a song about individualism and empowerment. Prince has written these kind of lyrics during all his career. However, many fans like them when it's an 80s song but think the lyrics of this one are self-help crap.

For me it's also about choosing to focus on values that matter.

The song questions what you think is important.

Shallow succes that one gets when you sell out your dignity and harm other people, just so you will be earning money?

Or spreading wealth so everybody can attain a life? Leaders could be serving the welfare of all, so everybody gets what they need. In stead of serving a few rich men, who get everything at the cost of the welfare of the rest of the population.

For me it's also about not being afraid to follow your own path. If you don't because you are afraid of judgement by others, you are replaceable for any other human being. If you are true to yourself, you are not.

I think the great thing about songs is that it can inspire different people in different ways.

dJJ said:

Javi said:

It's a song about individualism and empowerment. Prince has written these kind of lyrics during all his career. However, many fans like them when it's an 80s song but think the lyrics of this one are self-help crap.

For me it's also about choosing to focus on values that matter.

The song questions what you think is important.

Shallow succes that one gets when you sell out your dignity and harm other people, just so you will be earning money?

Or spreading wealth so everybody can attain a life? Leaders could be serving the welfare of all, so everybody gets what they need. In stead of serving a few rich men, who get everything at the cost of the welfare of the rest of the population.

For me it's also about not being afraid to follow your own path. If you don't because you are afraid of judgement by others, you are replaceable for any other human being. If you are true to yourself, you are not.

I think the great thing about songs is that it can inspire different people in different ways.

I may not agree with some detail of what you say, but for the most part I agree.

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These are the kind of Prince lyrics I've always liked.