SanMartin said:

Just earlier I was jamming to The Gold Experience and happily reacquainted myself with "We March." Great energy on this song. I always enjoy it when he gets real in his writing and starts talking about the issues that effect so many lives; casting his light on the injustices in the world, while calling us to rise up and unite to create a peaceful world for all. He could wallpaper his albums from end to end with hypnotic dance tracks or seductive ballads, so it always touches my heart when he dedicates some time on an album to talk about important social issues.

.

What I especially appreciate about this song is that it is about racism, but it also addresses sexism, seeing it as an equal amongst the moral plagues on humanity. This seemed to validate something I picked up early on in life: all "-isms" are just different expressions of one thing: hatred. Most people didn't seem to get that but Prince did, which was both a validation and a great comfort to me, and I never forgot it. That should tell you somehting about the power of Music.

.

In the song he encourages (as I read it) anyone who is marginalized, to "get in line" and unite with others to take up the cause of civil rights, dignity and respect for all members of society. Prince wasn't afraid to show the world that somewhere between partying like it's 1999 and playing Sexy MF to every woman's wildest fantasies, there was this relatively, normal guy with a heart and a conscience and he wasn't afraid to use them. And he definitely wasn't afraid to wake folks up.

.

Also, I like Nona Gaye's voice on this track. Her vocals go well with his but she sounds like she can really hold her own too.

.

Great thread Arjuna and thank you for posting the lyrics here. This song deserves some org love.

one of the few that I truely dislike

I like the message,but I think the song falls flat.It's my least favorite song on TGE.

Far from his best song but i'm always surprised how much hate this gets on the org. I think it's a decent track, i'd prefer to listen to it than Dolphin myself.

So Buddhism is an expression of hatred? Judaism? Socialism? Optimism?

I think you need to clarify some stuff before you make bizarre, generalising claims like this one, below...

Bluu said:

Just earlier I was jamming to The Gold Experience and happily reacquainted myself with "We March." Great energy on this song. I always enjoy it when he gets real in his writing and starts talking about the issues that effect so many lives; casting his light on the injustices in the world, while calling us to rise up and unite to create a peaceful world for all. He could wallpaper his albums from end to end with hypnotic dance tracks or seductive ballads, so it always touches my heart when he dedicates some time on an album to talk about important social issues.

.

What I especially appreciate about this song is that it is about racism, but it also addresses sexism, seeing it as an equal amongst the moral plagues on humanity. This seemed to validate something I picked up early on in life: all "-isms" are just different expressions of one thing: hatred. Most people didn't seem to get that but Prince did, which was both a validation and a great comfort to me, and I never forgot it. That should tell you somehting about the power of Music.

.

In the song he encourages (as I read it) anyone who is marginalized, to "get in line" and unite with others to take up the cause of civil rights, dignity and respect for all members of society. Prince wasn't afraid to show the world that somewhere between partying like it's 1999 and playing Sexy MF to every woman's wildest fantasies, there was this relatively, normal guy with a heart and a conscience and he wasn't afraid to use them. And he definitely wasn't afraid to wake folks up.

.

Also, I like Nona Gaye's voice on this track. Her vocals go well with his but she sounds like she can really hold her own too.

.

Great thread Arjuna and thank you for posting the lyrics here. This song deserves some org love.

jaawwnn said:

Far from his best song but i'm always surprised how much hate this gets on the org. I think it's a decent track, i'd prefer to listen to it than Dolphin myself.

yeah, me too. love the song, quirky production included. it lightens the heavy subject matter IMO. i've learned that many on the org don't like/can't stomach when Prince is unapologetic about the injustices in America, past AND present. i'm like he IS a black man in America and a citizen of the world and his people have a unique history here.

People seem to want to derail his feelings, views and experiences and insert their own and without fail reveal a surpising lack of depth and understanding about the complexity of it all. Political and Spiritual Prince is my favorite, but like so many, We March makes certain org'ers pine for profanity spitting, hypersexual Prince......or one who agrees with THEIR belief system

Not, in fact it's a bad song, and the intro it's used by a tv network in Mexico: Televisa

fantasticjoy said:

Love this song. I remember once there was some type of TV advertisement(non Prnce)that played about a second of We March.

yes it's Televisa

Rimshottbob said:

So Buddhism is an expression of hatred? Judaism? Socialism? Optimism?

I think you need to clarify some stuff before you make bizarre, generalising claims like this one, below...

Bluu said:

Just earlier I was jamming to The Gold Experience and happily reacquainted myself with "We March." Great energy on this song. I always enjoy it when he gets real in his writing and starts talking about the issues that effect so many lives; casting his light on the injustices in the world, while calling us to rise up and unite to create a peaceful world for all. He could wallpaper his albums from end to end with hypnotic dance tracks or seductive ballads, so it always touches my heart when he dedicates some time on an album to talk about important social issues.

.

What I especially appreciate about this song is that it is about racism, but it also addresses sexism, seeing it as an equal amongst the moral plagues on humanity. This seemed to validate something I picked up early on in life: all "-isms" are just different expressions of one thing: hatred. Most people didn't seem to get that but Prince did, which was both a validation and a great comfort to me, and I never forgot it. That should tell you somehting about the power of Music.

.

In the song he encourages (as I read it) anyone who is marginalized, to "get in line" and unite with others to take up the cause of civil rights, dignity and respect for all members of society. Prince wasn't afraid to show the world that somewhere between partying like it's 1999 and playing Sexy MF to every woman's wildest fantasies, there was this relatively, normal guy with a heart and a conscience and he wasn't afraid to use them. And he definitely wasn't afraid to wake folks up.

.

Also, I like Nona Gaye's voice on this track. Her vocals go well with his but she sounds like she can really hold her own too.

.

Great thread Arjuna and thank you for posting the lyrics here. This song deserves some org love.

By mentioning racism and sexism, I thought it was clear that I meant all prejudice-based '-isms', which could also include anti-semitism, ableism, ageism, and classism. Fascism, ethnocentrism, and nationalism, could also be considered hate-/prejudice-based, depending on which defintion you are working from and the context in which those terms are used. My point here is only to show you how I was thinking when I wrote my post. In a workplace environment, isms are used to refer to various forms of discrimination. I agree I should have specified "hate-based" in my original statement, but it should go without saying that I don't think hate is at the root of optimism, vegetarianism, or environmentalism.

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After I read your response, I looked up ism in the dictionary and I see your point now because it is defined, for the most part, as indicating something as being an ideology or doctrine, and is in actuality a completely neutral term as such. So my apologies if I offended anyone, as I never intended to slander the more benevolent variety of '-isms', a few of which you cited in your reply.

.

Glad you brought this to my attention as I honestly wasn't aware that my statement would be interpreted differently than as I had intended. That's what I get for posting late night. I keep telling myself not to do that but I don't always take my own good advice.

Rimshottbob said:

So Buddhism is an expression of hatred? Judaism? Socialism? Optimism?

I think you need to clarify some stuff before you make bizarre, generalising claims like this one, below...

Bluu said:

Just earlier I was jamming to The Gold Experience and happily reacquainted myself with "We March." Great energy on this song. I always enjoy it when he gets real in his writing and starts talking about the issues that effect so many lives; casting his light on the injustices in the world, while calling us to rise up and unite to create a peaceful world for all. He could wallpaper his albums from end to end with hypnotic dance tracks or seductive ballads, so it always touches my heart when he dedicates some time on an album to talk about important social issues.

.

What I especially appreciate about this song is that it is about racism, but it also addresses sexism, seeing it as an equal amongst the moral plagues on humanity. This seemed to validate something I picked up early on in life: all "-isms" are just different expressions of one thing: hatred. Most people didn't seem to get that but Prince did, which was both a validation and a great comfort to me, and I never forgot it. That should tell you somehting about the power of Music.

.

In the song he encourages (as I read it) anyone who is marginalized, to "get in line" and unite with others to take up the cause of civil rights, dignity and respect for all members of society. Prince wasn't afraid to show the world that somewhere between partying like it's 1999 and playing Sexy MF to every woman's wildest fantasies, there was this relatively, normal guy with a heart and a conscience and he wasn't afraid to use them. And he definitely wasn't afraid to wake folks up.

.

Also, I like Nona Gaye's voice on this track. Her vocals go well with his but she sounds like she can really hold her own too.

.

Great thread Arjuna and thank you for posting the lyrics here. This song deserves some org love.

[Edited 8/27/15 14:40pm]

I think Love Sign would have been a much better choice than We march if there was to be a political song on TGE, but on the other hand I'd rather have both released than Love Sign on both 1-800 and TGE and We March in the vault

The sound quality was horrible but I remember a wonderful arrangement for We March at a German aftershow in 1994 (after the MTV awards IIRC). I wish I had this in pristine quality.

I don't like it, and never particularly did--but the whole "now's the time..." section gets in my head fairly often. But I'm not happy about it.

databank said:

I think Love Sign would have been a much better choice than We march if there was to be a political song on TGE, but on the other hand I'd rather have both released than Love Sign on both 1-800 and TGE and We March in the vault

The sound quality was horrible but I remember a wonderful arrangement for We March at a German aftershow in 1994 (after the MTV awards IIRC). I wish I had this in pristine quality.

I love LOVE SIGN. Totally agree, it would've been a great fit on TGE instead of We March.

feeluupp said:

databank said:

I think Love Sign would have been a much better choice than We march if there was to be a political song on TGE, but on the other hand I'd rather have both released than Love Sign on both 1-800 and TGE and We March in the vault

The sound quality was horrible but I remember a wonderful arrangement for We March at a German aftershow in 1994 (after the MTV awards IIRC). I wish I had this in pristine quality.

I love LOVE SIGN. Totally agree, it would've been a great fit on TGE instead of We March.

TGE was such a wasted opportunity, thanks to WB in that case for choosing Come over it in 94. By the time it was released everyone was bored with waiting for it, starting with Prince. I usually don't care for sales but at this time superstardom was a different thing (talent was still rewarded by the industry) and I think TGE could have been another D&P if released in 94 with TMBGITW and Love Sign on it (IDK in other countries but in France the Love Sign video got a lot of airplay and so did the song on the radio, and it was very popular: contrarily to TMBGITW, it was appealing to 17 year-old crowd I belonged to at the time). The Beautiful Experience video generated a lot of hype in hip circles, so did the new NPG line-up with its dirty sound and innovative sampling techniques. I remember when P appeared at Nulle Part Ailleurs on french TV, it was like the biggest event of the year for Canal +, the (very hype) TV channel. Prince was still in that rare and precious position where you're popular with both hipsters and the masses, and virtually every song on every configuration of TGE was potential single material.

However if released in Summer 94, TGE would have been a different album with a different tracklist, and I wonder if it'd be the cult classic it is today among fans.

[Edited 9/1/15 7:39am]

It's my least favorite song on TGE and one of my least favorites overall. When I first listened to it and heard that opening beat I thought it was going to be something more like P Control, but at a slower tempo....so I briefly anticipated some badass, downtempo electro-funk. Then the rest of the music comes in and my anticipation quickly fizzled into a disappointed "meh."

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I thought I remember reading that he swapped it out with Acknowledge Me. If so, then WHY???

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It's one of my favourites of TGE. Yes, i said it

Love the drum, the bass, love everything about it.

Love lovesign too, the should have both be on TGE.

I like it in the context of TGE, but there is no way I'm going to be bumpin, like some D-Train or Marvin Gaye or something and then fire up We March.

I agree with those of you who say that "Love Sign" is a better song.It has a great message and it's catchy and fun at the same time."We March",not so much.