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Thread started 10/27/14 7:59am

chicagotvchick

Who is The Breakdown about?

If it is about someone specific?

Every book I've read said that I would meet somebody like you
Whenever I was sorry, so sorry for the things I used to do
A journal full of numbers that I used to go through
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) all behind me now, all because of you

You keep breaking me, you keep breaking me down
I don't wanna walk out
Don't wanna go down, down, down

[Verse 4]
See there's a door that you can walk through
Where there used to be a wall
I don't care, it's cool as long as you catch me baby
(Catch me when I fall) If there's ever a fall
Closer to the breakdown, the closer we get



Read more: Prince - The Breakdown Ly...etroLyrics

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Reply #1 posted 10/27/14 8:09am

KeithyT

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(whispers like Westley) ...true ...love

Just somewhere in the middle,
Not too good and not too bad.
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Reply #2 posted 10/27/14 9:14am

Rimshottbob

Seems to me it is, more than anything, sung into a mirror.

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Reply #3 posted 10/27/14 10:01am

Pentacle



It's about Irene Lockerbay, a 16-year Chinese girl (adopted) from Torquay.

Stop the Prince Apologists ™
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Reply #4 posted 10/27/14 10:09am

timmie

I have always thought it was aimed directly to the fans

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Reply #5 posted 10/27/14 11:11am

nayroo2002

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timmie said:

I have always thought it was aimed directly to the fans

Yup.

I also think there are many more songs directed at his fanbase than we might think.

"Whatever skin we're in
we all need 2 b friends"
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Reply #6 posted 10/27/14 11:14am

NouveauDance

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His Green Flag renewal was due. *sob*

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Reply #7 posted 10/27/14 4:18pm

limoncello

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I've always figured it to be about G-O-D, although I suppose he could be singing it to a mirror. razz Can't see how it would be about his fans.

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Reply #8 posted 10/27/14 4:33pm

jobyjayy

I think its about Andy Allo. Acutally I think many of the songs on the album are about Andy.Also...listed to "anotherlove" on plectrum electrum is about Andy.Seriously.
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Reply #9 posted 10/27/14 4:37pm

TrueFunkSoldie
r2

limoncello said:

I've always figured it to be about G-O-D, although I suppose he could be singing it to a mirror. razz Can't see how it would be about his fans.

these parts really make it seem like it's about God :

"Every book I've read said that I would meet somebody like you
Whenever I was sorry, so sorry for the things I used to do"

the book that he refers to here must be the bible cause as we all know he spends a lot of time reading it..

"See there's a door that you can walk through
Where there used to be a wall"

Seems like he's asking God for help or something in that quote

[Edited 10/27/14 16:44pm]

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Reply #10 posted 10/27/14 4:37pm

TwiliteKid

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jobyjayy said:

I think its about Andy Allo. Acutally I think many of the songs on the album are about Andy.Also...listed to "anotherlove" on plectrum electrum is about Andy.Seriously.


He didn't write AnotherLove, so that would be a feat. And Andy sings on The Breakdown, which cast doubt on that theory. Actually, I doubt it's about anyone real. 30 years in, I suspect most of his songs are pure fiction these days.
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Reply #11 posted 10/27/14 5:37pm

KingSausage

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It's about Geneva's cookies.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #12 posted 10/28/14 1:03pm

peri1025

TwiliteKid said:

jobyjayy said:
I think its about Andy Allo. Acutally I think many of the songs on the album are about Andy.Also...listed to "anotherlove" on plectrum electrum is about Andy.Seriously.
He didn't write AnotherLove, so that would be a feat. And Andy sings on The Breakdown, which cast doubt on that theory. Actually, I doubt it's about anyone real. 30 years in, I suspect most of his songs are pure fiction these days.

I agree with you jobyjayy I think a lot of the songs on AOC ar about Andy. Also, he changed some of the lyrics in AnotherLove and I got the sense it was about her (e.g. sharing our clothes and even our hair) idk could just be the romantic in me. Not sure if The Breakdown is though.

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Reply #13 posted 10/28/14 2:12pm

3rdeyedude

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It can't be about God. Nothing on the album resembles or even comes close to Christian Rock. eek

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Reply #14 posted 10/28/14 6:12pm

Blixical

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Larry Graham.

มีเพียงความว่างเปล่า rose 只有空虚 rose Dim ond gwacter rose 만 공허함이있다 rose 唯一の虚しさがあります wilted There is only the void.
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Reply #15 posted 10/29/14 4:49am

GoldenParachut
e

jobyjayy said:

I think its about Andy Allo. Acutally I think many of the songs on the album are about Andy.Also...listed to "anotherlove" on plectrum electrum is about Andy.Seriously.

Nope. Anotherlove is about Bria Valente.
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Reply #16 posted 10/29/14 4:54am

psychodelicide

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Blixical said:

Larry Graham.


falloff I've thought the exact same thing.

RIP, mom. I will forever miss and love you.
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Reply #17 posted 10/29/14 4:55am

psychodelicide

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TrueFunkSoldier2 said:

limoncello said:

I've always figured it to be about G-O-D, although I suppose he could be singing it to a mirror. razz Can't see how it would be about his fans.

these parts really make it seem like it's about God :

"Every book I've read said that I would meet somebody like you
Whenever I was sorry, so sorry for the things I used to do"

the book that he refers to here must be the bible cause as we all know he spends a lot of time reading it..

"See there's a door that you can walk through
Where there used to be a wall"

Seems like he's asking God for help or something in that quote

[Edited 10/27/14 16:44pm]


Yeah, I've wondered if this song was about God too. Only Prince knows for sure, and we know he won't tell us. lol

RIP, mom. I will forever miss and love you.
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Reply #18 posted 10/29/14 6:07am

SuperSoulFight
er

It says "every book I read", so it must be about more than just the Bible. Plus, Prince wouldn't refer to God as "somebody like you". If it's about an actual person or fiction or something in between... Who knows... It reminds me a bit of the Emancipation songs like Saviour.
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Reply #19 posted 10/29/14 10:39am

Genesia

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God.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #20 posted 10/29/14 11:30am

FunkyD

SuperSoulFighter said:

It says "every book I read", so it must be about more than just the Bible. Plus, Prince wouldn't refer to God as "somebody like you". If it's about an actual person or fiction or something in between... Who knows... It reminds me a bit of the Emancipation songs like Saviour.

there are many books in the bible written by different authors

[Edited 10/29/14 11:31am]

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Reply #21 posted 10/29/14 12:10pm

TrueFunkSoldie
r2

SuperSoulFighter said:

It says "every book I read", so it must be about more than just the Bible. Plus, Prince wouldn't refer to God as "somebody like you". If it's about an actual person or fiction or something in between... Who knows... It reminds me a bit of the Emancipation songs like Saviour.

I think he's referring to God that way because the song is about losing faith

He finds out he's been in suspended animation for 45 years in "Clouds" then the song is followed by "Breakdown' where he gets pissed at God.

[Edited 10/29/14 13:31pm]

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Reply #22 posted 10/29/14 12:18pm

funkomatic

Pretty sure, it's about distorted audio recordings.

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Reply #23 posted 10/29/14 1:56pm

TrueFunkSoldie
r2

oops double post

[Edited 10/29/14 14:02pm]

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Reply #24 posted 10/29/14 3:04pm

SuperSoulFight
er

FunkyD said:



SuperSoulFighter said:


It says "every book I read", so it must be about more than just the Bible. Plus, Prince wouldn't refer to God as "somebody like you". If it's about an actual person or fiction or something in between... Who knows... It reminds me a bit of the Emancipation songs like Saviour.



there are many books in the bible written by different authors

[Edited 10/29/14 11:31am]


But all of them together form one book that is the Bible. Sorry, FunkyD, not very convincing. disbelief
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Reply #25 posted 10/29/14 3:10pm

SuperSoulFight
er

TrueFunkSoldier2 said:



SuperSoulFighter said:


It says "every book I read", so it must be about more than just the Bible. Plus, Prince wouldn't refer to God as "somebody like you". If it's about an actual person or fiction or something in between... Who knows... It reminds me a bit of the Emancipation songs like Saviour.


I think he's referring to God that way because the song is about losing faith


He finds out he's been in suspended animation for 45 years in "Clouds" then the song is followed by "Breakdown' where he gets pissed at God.

[Edited 10/29/14 13:31pm]


Well that's your interpretation, but I don't find anything in the song, or in anything of Prince's work that he was ever "pissed at God". The song is about being materialistic and realizing there's more to life than that. The "somebody like you" could be a fantasy, a real person or an angel (like Jimi Hendrix' song Angel which has more or less the same theme) so indirectly it could be about God.
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Reply #26 posted 10/29/14 3:12pm

FunkyD

SuperSoulFighter said:

FunkyD said:

there are many books in the bible written by different authors

[Edited 10/29/14 11:31am]

But all of them together form one book that is the Bible. Sorry, FunkyD, not very convincing. disbelief

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Reply #27 posted 10/29/14 3:41pm

Aerogram

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It ain't about God or the books of the Bible, unless the Bible has journals.

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Reply #28 posted 10/29/14 4:21pm

TrueFunkSoldie
r2

SuperSoulFighter said:

TrueFunkSoldier2 said:

I think he's referring to God that way because the song is about losing faith

He finds out he's been in suspended animation for 45 years in "Clouds" then the song is followed by "Breakdown' where he gets pissed at God.

[Edited 10/29/14 13:31pm]

Well that's your interpretation, but I don't find anything in the song, or in anything of Prince's work that he was ever "pissed at God". The song is about being materialistic and realizing there's more to life than that. The "somebody like you" could be a fantasy, a real person or an angel (like Jimi Hendrix' song Angel which has more or less the same theme) so indirectly it could be about God.

It's an interpretation..

He's writting from the perspective of a character (Prince in the future waking up from suspended animation).

He loses his way and tries to find his way back home.

Breakfast can Wait makes more sense in that context as well He wouldn't write a song about lust

normally since that's against religion

[Edited 10/31/14 5:32am]

[Edited 10/31/14 5:33am]

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Reply #29 posted 10/29/14 4:30pm

TrueFunkSoldie
r2

Aerogram said:

It ain't about God or the books of the Bible, unless the Bible has journals.

what?

the journal he brings up got nothing to do with the Bible razz

[Edited 10/29/14 16:45pm]

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