PeteSilas said:

who knows, i know with my ma, my grandma would use any excuse to kick her out or punish her and she spoiled my aunt. Sometimes there reallys isn't much reason but people do try to understand, they usually internalize the issues, meaning, if the parent abandons the kid, they think that it's them. As for Prince being caught with a guy? I doubt it, more than likely his dad was just a controlling asshole like many dads were back then. My parents were strict as hell, didn't let me cuss, but they'd cuss up a storm, like I say, not much rhyme or reason.

also, as for the dirty mags, prince lied a lot in those early interviews, I think that was probably a lie.

He repeated the 1983 comments about his mums dirty books in 1998 with the addition that she deliberately left them for him to find to "initiate [him] heavy and quick". I doubt he would suddenly bring this up again aged 40 if it was a lie. He always said his wild side came from him mum.

rightbluecheek said:

GirlBrother said:

That never made much sense to me. John L. Nelson never struck me as a paragon of virtue. He later reentered Prince's life at the height of Prince's lewd lyricism, and sexualised imagery. I always wondered if his father had found him fooling around with another man. If Prince was bisexual to some degree and experienced that level of rejection from being so, it could explain much of his later art, beliefs, and lifestyle.

That story never convinced me, either.

We was his famliy. He always had us hope he took some comfort from that and i know he would rather had his parents full support all his life.

sunset3121 said:

PeteSilas said:

who knows, i know with my ma, my grandma would use any excuse to kick her out or punish her and she spoiled my aunt. Sometimes there reallys isn't much reason but people do try to understand, they usually internalize the issues, meaning, if the parent abandons the kid, they think that it's them. As for Prince being caught with a guy? I doubt it, more than likely his dad was just a controlling asshole like many dads were back then. My parents were strict as hell, didn't let me cuss, but they'd cuss up a storm, like I say, not much rhyme or reason.

also, as for the dirty mags, prince lied a lot in those early interviews, I think that was probably a lie.

He repeated the 1983 comments about his mums dirty books in 1998 with the addition that she deliberately left them for him to find to "initiate [him] heavy and quick". I doubt he would suddenly bring this up again aged 40 if it was a lie. He always said his wild side came from him mum.

which interview was this? I'll check it out. She chewed him out for saying that the first time too. If she did do this, she was definitely a little weird. Like you, i think 40 is too old to be doing passive aggressive shit to his ma so maybe it's true.

and also, his interviews came out all distorted, as the media is wont to do and that's when he just figured, I'll just lie if they're going to make up stuff anyway. The media does a lot of underhanded shit, he wasn't lying about that.

GirlBrother said:

PeteSilas said:

sunset3121 said:

He repeated the 1983 comments about his mums dirty books in 1998 with the addition that she deliberately left them for him to find to "initiate [him] heavy and quick". I doubt he would suddenly bring this up again aged 40 if it was a lie. He always said his wild side came from him mum.

which interview was this? I'll check it out. She chewed him out for saying that the first time too. If she did do this, she was definitely a little weird. Like you, i think 40 is too old to be doing passive aggressive shit to his ma so maybe it's true.

Chris Rock interview. Near the beginning - from 3 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd97mAsvR0g

[Edited 6/11/16 5:43am]

sunset3121 said:

RJOrion said:

sunset3121 said:

Chris Rock interview. Near the beginning - from 3 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd97mAsvR0g

[Edited 6/11/16 5:43am]

the original Purple Rain movie script had a scene in it, that implies a slightly incestuous episode ...but the scene was cut out....if there is any truth to it, it would explain ALOT... MOTHER It's nice here. It's a nice house. Nothing wrong. (a beat) It's a good family. Believe me, I know. Nothing wrong here. (a beat) Your father is okay. He's a good man. You could learn somthing. She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror, stops-- MOTHER My, my! Don't you think I have a good figure? Your Father did. She sits in front of the mirror, studies her face, her eyes...her breasts-- MOTHER I was beautiful when your Dad met me. I was out-a-sight! She giggles, starts applying makeup-- MOTHER I looked just like a movie star. The minute he saw me singing, I knew just what he wanted. She fixes him with a conspiratorial look, whispers-- MOTHER He wanted to get into my panties. She makes funny, "jazzy" eyes at him, then stops suddenly, staring. His face, mouth, eyes...a sudden stirring in her loins. Her lips part, she moistens them unconsciously... She turns from the mirror and stares at him -- his look connects with her groin. She rises suddenly, walks slowly toward the bed, sits facing him-- MOTHER You look so pretty. Just like me, honey. You coulda been a girl. She outlines the mole on his cheek with a makeup pencil, then draws one on herself. She takes her earring off, and puts it on his ear. They are face to face -- identical-- MOTHER So pretty... She looks at him drunkenly. He tries to hold it in, but can't. A tear, hot and hard as a bullet flows down his cheek. She puts her index finger in front of his face, moves it back and forth hypnotically. Suddenly she pulls her hand away, stretches it to the ceiling like an escaping bird. He swallows, tries to smile -- she leans close -- MOTHER (secretly) I have to go now, see some friends. Don't tell your father, okay? She gets up, leaves the room-- MOTHER Bye, skipper...bye.

CalhounSq said:

RJOrion said:

sunset3121 said: the original Purple Rain movie script had a scene in it, that implies a slightly incestuous episode ...but the scene was cut out....if there is any truth to it, it would explain ALOT... MOTHER It's nice here. It's a nice house. Nothing wrong. (a beat) It's a good family. Believe me, I know. Nothing wrong here. (a beat) Your father is okay. He's a good man. You could learn somthing. She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror, stops-- MOTHER My, my! Don't you think I have a good figure? Your Father did. She sits in front of the mirror, studies her face, her eyes...her breasts-- MOTHER I was beautiful when your Dad met me. I was out-a-sight! She giggles, starts applying makeup-- MOTHER I looked just like a movie star. The minute he saw me singing, I knew just what he wanted. She fixes him with a conspiratorial look, whispers-- MOTHER He wanted to get into my panties. She makes funny, "jazzy" eyes at him, then stops suddenly, staring. His face, mouth, eyes...a sudden stirring in her loins. Her lips part, she moistens them unconsciously... She turns from the mirror and stares at him -- his look connects with her groin. She rises suddenly, walks slowly toward the bed, sits facing him-- MOTHER You look so pretty. Just like me, honey. You coulda been a girl. She outlines the mole on his cheek with a makeup pencil, then draws one on herself. She takes her earring off, and puts it on his ear. They are face to face -- identical-- MOTHER So pretty... She looks at him drunkenly. He tries to hold it in, but can't. A tear, hot and hard as a bullet flows down his cheek. She puts her index finger in front of his face, moves it back and forth hypnotically. Suddenly she pulls her hand away, stretches it to the ceiling like an escaping bird. He swallows, tries to smile -- she leans close -- MOTHER (secretly) I have to go now, see some friends. Don't tell your father, okay? She gets up, leaves the room-- MOTHER Bye, skipper...bye.

[Edited 6/12/16 2:31am]

I always felt like I had a lot in common with Prince, or at least through our formative years. Our stories weren't exactly the same, but I think the emotional outcomes were similar enough. My mother died when I was 7. My father, a truck driver, would leave my 5 month old sister and myself alone for days and weeks at a time. I had to take care of her. If I got scared at night, I would bundle her up, take diapers, her bottle, etc., and go to a neighbors, asking if he we could sleep there for the night. They would often let us and by the time they got up in the morning, I'd be gone with my sister again. Sometimes, we would be running low on food and I would stop eating to make sure my sister had enough to eat. I would eat whatever was left on her plate, which usually wasn't much. Sometimes the neighbor would bring over left-overs, which I really appreciated. When I was 8, my dad came home one day and told me he was putting my sister and I up for adoption. And it did feel like he was saying that he didn't want us.

Moved in with an Aunt and Uncle, lived there until I was 14, when I ran away from home. After that, I lived in foster homes and group homes. My aunt and uncle hadn't wanted me, only my sister, but dad wouldn't let us be separated, they had to take me to get her, so my time with them was less than ideal. I had a cousin who would call me Cinderella when she visited and saw how I was treated. By the time I was in 10th grade, I'd been to 5 different high schools, lived in 4 or 5 different homes. It never dawned on me until years later, that I had actually been on my own since I was 7 years old. It forces you to grow up early, to take on responsibilities that are usually reserved for the adults in your life. I became an emancipated minor when I was 17.

Through this, though, you never stop loving your parents. You do get a sense of abandonment and due to that, you never trust fully. And trust becomes a precious gift you give to someone. If they betray that trust, they never get it back. And because the one thing you craved at such tender ages is love, love becomes a central theme in your life. You can see (though you may not have experienced it) how simple it is to love someone, that love is key to happiness and how if people actually loved each other, gave of themselves so unconditionally, how it would improve our society, the mood of the world. You never quite understand how people can be so mean to each other. I think because you, yourself, love deeply and unconditionally (because to love someone that abandons you, abuses you, forgive them the pain they've caused, knowing the reason they cause pain is because they are in pain, then the love you give them is unconditional, and you cannot understand how others cannot give that same unconditional love). When I was a teenager, long before I ever heard of Prince, I would tell my friends that "love is the key to everything". When adults meet you, they describe you as an "old soul" and say things like, "you are wise beyond your years".

When I found love4oneanother.com, I actually cried as I reading the things on that website, because I felt like I had found a kindred spirit, someone that actually understood, and what he had written on those pages were things I had believed my whole life, but could never put into words. It also does drive you to succeed at whatever it is you put your passion into. For myself, though I had dropped out of high school the first month of 11th grade (because I had moved so much, it would have taken me another 2 years after my graduation year to be able to earn enough credits to get my diploma), I have gone on to get my Master's degree in social work. You find ways to give because you received so little.

sunset3121 said:

FunkiestOne said:

purplethunder3121 said:

MissMarySharon said:

There are so many complexities within human relationships. I think Prince idolised John L and a lot of his drive came from wanting to prove to his father that he could make it as a musician. He has said that his father was "very strict, but then so were most parents back then". I got the feeling he felt the "tough love" had provided him with the discipline and armour he needed to make it in the cutthroat music industry.

Perhaps Prince was just being a normal teenager, but the relationship with his mother had deteriorated at that stage to the degree that she felt they would both benefit from some breathing space and that's how he was allowed to go and live with the Andersons. I don't think this indicates that she didn't want him, more that she wanted the best for him, and perhaps this was the best solution. Later in life, I certainly got the feeling that Prince loved his parents and had nothing but respect for them.

[Edited 6/10/16 23:12pm]

Co-sign to all of that. Sometimes, honestly, the best thing is to seperate. One of the best things that my mother did for our relationship was allow me to live with my favorite aunt off and on between junior high and high school. Our personalities clashed tremendously and frankly I could be a little jerk at times. It was not an easy decision and it was not a completely peaceful decision, but it was the best one to be made and I think had it not happened our relationship would be much different than what it is. I don't know what went on in Prince's relationships with his parents out side of the decision for him to no longer live w/ either of them, but i know what an old school black household is like and Prince definitely seems to have come from one on both ends. Abuse has been mentioned and I do wonder specifically what that means, though I have my ideas.

What I will say and what I think we should all acknowledge his this: his parents, or at least his mother, loved him enough to sign his guardianship over to Andre's mom. She didn't have to do that and things could have turned out very differently for him had she not.

craft6 said:

I can see many sides: His mother saw P's father's demeanor and feared if she allowed her son to go down the same musical route, he'd end up the same way. Her feelings aren't illegitimate but they also aren't fair on P. She also had every right to focus on her needs as far as having a new partner but she also should've stuck up for her son more, if what was said about the dynamic between P and his step dad is true. P's dad was right to punish him for refusing to follow the house rules and invite a girl in bed, but throwing him out of the house and refusing to let him come back was the wrong approach. I can understand why his dad was made about finding a girl in bed with P: my dad grew up around the same time and told me he was warned by both his parents that they never wanted to hear he got a girl pregnant (he started dating early). My grandma would tell him that while he could simply move on after a pregnancy, the girl's life would be changed forever and while he's moving along in the world thinking "it was only a night of fun, I don't want to be a dad." So in that regard I get it. As we all know, P never liked to hear the word "no" and didn't care for rules, so I wonder if his upbringing wasn't a mixture of those two factors plus his parents tendency to use extreme measures...?

Right I agree there and my question regarding this has been clearly this was the straw that broke the camels back but were there any disciplinary issues early on? His parents definitely came from a differnt time period, with different morals, and standards and solutions. Some things that we now recognize as abusive were just standard child rearing back then

RJOrion said:

anangellooksdown said:

RJOrion said:

the original Purple Rain movie script had a scene in it, that implies a slightly incestuous episode ...but the scene was cut out....if there is any truth to it, it would explain ALOT... MOTHER It's nice here. It's a nice house. Nothing wrong. (a beat) It's a good family. Believe me, I know. Nothing wrong here. (a beat) Your father is okay. He's a good man. You could learn somthing. She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror, stops-- MOTHER My, my! Don't you think I have a good figure? Your Father did. She sits in front of the mirror, studies her face, her eyes...her breasts-- MOTHER I was beautiful when your Dad met me. I was out-a-sight! She giggles, starts applying makeup-- MOTHER I looked just like a movie star. The minute he saw me singing, I knew just what he wanted. She fixes him with a conspiratorial look, whispers-- MOTHER He wanted to get into my panties. She makes funny, "jazzy" eyes at him, then stops suddenly, staring. His face, mouth, eyes...a sudden stirring in her loins. Her lips part, she moistens them unconsciously... She turns from the mirror and stares at him -- his look connects with her groin. She rises suddenly, walks slowly toward the bed, sits facing him-- MOTHER You look so pretty. Just like me, honey. You coulda been a girl. She outlines the mole on his cheek with a makeup pencil, then draws one on herself. She takes her earring off, and puts it on his ear. They are face to face -- identical-- MOTHER So pretty... She looks at him drunkenly. He tries to hold it in, but can't. A tear, hot and hard as a bullet flows down his cheek. She puts her index finger in front of his face, moves it back and forth hypnotically. Suddenly she pulls her hand away, stretches it to the ceiling like an escaping bird. He swallows, tries to smile -- she leans close -- MOTHER (secretly) I have to go now, see some friends. Don't tell your father, okay? She gets up, leaves the room-- MOTHER Bye, skipper...bye.

Yes, but Prince didn't write Purple Rain, if I remember correctly. That scene was obviously taken out though, wasn't it.

It's just a song, like Sister. It may not have any personal associations at all.

RJOrion said:

sunset3121 said:

Chris Rock interview. Near the beginning - from 3 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd97mAsvR0g

[Edited 6/11/16 5:43am]

the original Purple Rain movie script had a scene in it, that implies a slightly incestuous episode ...but the scene was cut out....if there is any truth to it, it would explain ALOT... MOTHER It's nice here. It's a nice house. Nothing wrong. (a beat) It's a good family. Believe me, I know. Nothing wrong here. (a beat) Your father is okay. He's a good man. You could learn somthing. She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror, stops-- MOTHER My, my! Don't you think I have a good figure? Your Father did. She sits in front of the mirror, studies her face, her eyes...her breasts-- MOTHER I was beautiful when your Dad met me. I was out-a-sight! She giggles, starts applying makeup-- MOTHER I looked just like a movie star. The minute he saw me singing, I knew just what he wanted. She fixes him with a conspiratorial look, whispers-- MOTHER He wanted to get into my panties. She makes funny, "jazzy" eyes at him, then stops suddenly, staring. His face, mouth, eyes...a sudden stirring in her loins. Her lips part, she moistens them unconsciously... She turns from the mirror and stares at him -- his look connects with her groin. She rises suddenly, walks slowly toward the bed, sits facing him-- MOTHER You look so pretty. Just like me, honey. You coulda been a girl. She outlines the mole on his cheek with a makeup pencil, then draws one on herself. She takes her earring off, and puts it on his ear. They are face to face -- identical-- MOTHER So pretty... She looks at him drunkenly. He tries to hold it in, but can't. A tear, hot and hard as a bullet flows down his cheek. She puts her index finger in front of his face, moves it back and forth hypnotically. Suddenly she pulls her hand away, stretches it to the ceiling like an escaping bird. He swallows, tries to smile -- she leans close -- MOTHER (secretly) I have to go now, see some friends. Don't tell your father, okay? She gets up, leaves the room-- MOTHER Bye, skipper...bye.

bullshit, just bullshit.

benni said:

I always felt like I had a lot in common with Prince, or at least through our formative years. Our stories weren't exactly the same, but I think the emotional outcomes were similar enough. My mother died when I was 7. My father, a truck driver, would leave my 5 month old sister and myself alone for days and weeks at a time. I had to take care of her. If I got scared at night, I would bundle her up, take diapers, her bottle, etc., and go to a neighbors, asking if he we could sleep there for the night. They would often let us and by the time they got up in the morning, I'd be gone with my sister again. Sometimes, we would be running low on food and I would stop eating to make sure my sister had enough to eat. I would eat whatever was left on her plate, which usually wasn't much. Sometimes the neighbor would bring over left-overs, which I really appreciated. When I was 8, my dad came home one day and told me he was putting my sister and I up for adoption. And it did feel like he was saying that he didn't want us.

Moved in with an Aunt and Uncle, lived there until I was 14, when I ran away from home. After that, I lived in foster homes and group homes. My aunt and uncle hadn't wanted me, only my sister, but dad wouldn't let us be separated, they had to take me to get her, so my time with them was less than ideal. I had a cousin who would call me Cinderella when she visited and saw how I was treated. By the time I was in 10th grade, I'd been to 5 different high schools, lived in 4 or 5 different homes. It never dawned on me until years later, that I had actually been on my own since I was 7 years old. It forces you to grow up early, to take on responsibilities that are usually reserved for the adults in your life. I became an emancipated minor when I was 17.

Through this, though, you never stop loving your parents. You do get a sense of abandonment and due to that, you never trust fully. And trust becomes a precious gift you give to someone. If they betray that trust, they never get it back. And because the one thing you craved at such tender ages is love, love becomes a central theme in your life. You can see (though you may not have experienced it) how simple it is to love someone, that love is key to happiness and how if people actually loved each other, gave of themselves so unconditionally, how it would improve our society, the mood of the world. You never quite understand how people can be so mean to each other. I think because you, yourself, love deeply and unconditionally (because to love someone that abandons you, abuses you, forgive them the pain they've caused, knowing the reason they cause pain is because they are in pain, then the love you give them is unconditional, and you cannot understand how others cannot give that same unconditional love). When I was a teenager, long before I ever heard of Prince, I would tell my friends that "love is the key to everything". When adults meet you, they describe you as an "old soul" and say things like, "you are wise beyond your years".

When I found love4oneanother.com, I actually cried as I reading the things on that website, because I felt like I had found a kindred spirit, someone that actually understood, and what he had written on those pages were things I had believed my whole life, but could never put into words. It also does drive you to succeed at whatever it is you put your passion into. For myself, though I had dropped out of high school the first month of 11th grade (because I had moved so much, it would have taken me another 2 years after my graduation year to be able to earn enough credits to get my diploma), I have gone on to get my Master's degree in social work. You find ways to give because you received so little.

that was definitely a large part of the attraction to Prince for me, the lean outsider, the loner, the troubled upbringing I believe many of his fans identified with that. Fighting parents just ain't that uncommon but it wasn't something people put on the big screen much. some of our posters here don't see anything wrong with what P's parents did but I've seen firsthand what happens to a kid when no one looks out for them. My sister was in the documentary Streetwise, she was on the streets at about 14, prostituting. She died of aids at 29 but I always thought the things that really started her down that path came from my parents. It was hard forgiving for the longest time but not so much anymore. This is an oppressive system we live in, stress riddled and with lots of pressures. I look at those forces as the enemy more than my dear old ma and black stepdad.

RJOrion said:

I've been watching old photos and video clips of John L. Nelson and something about him strikes me as a bit off, like he perhaps had some mental problems. Anyone else get the same impression?

paulludvig said:

I've been watching old photos and video clips of John L. Nelson and something about him strikes me as a bit off, like he perhaps had some mental problems. Anyone else get the same impression?

Not particularly, he was a pretty uptight guy though, not all in a bad way either. I remember him saying that women were a distraction, he said they were for him and for Prince. so there were probably some weird Madonna/Whore issues going on who knows. women are a huge distraction, he's correct about that, but with that attitude i could see some extreme discipline being meted out, like we heard. I don't think he holds a fucking candle to Joe Jackson though.

MissMarySharon said: