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Thread started 09/01/16 6:37pm

SquirrelMeat

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Appreciation of the anthem 'New Power Generation'


It never makes the greatest hits, it never gets listed in the best of list, but I think its soooo underestimated. Its a great power track and I can easily hear it as the last gig song for almost any show.

Anyone else suprised that Prince didn't bring it out ? Its arguably the best performance in Graffiti Bridge, and the name he took for the band right up until his death (26 years).

Its also one of the most positive songs he ever wrote. Lay down your funky weapon! If there was one song that I think sums up Prince fans, its this.

.


[Edited 9/1/16 21:28pm]

.
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Reply #1 posted 09/01/16 7:03pm

luvsexy4all

super...only done without him in that rehearsal

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Reply #2 posted 09/01/16 8:22pm

TrivialPursuit

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I love it. I mixed in the "Part II" on the GB record, and made it one longer song. There's a distinct moment where you have to line them up to keep the integrity of the arrangement. I think it's a lost anthem, for sure. "Lovesign" is its younger sibling, in message and ideology.

And that EP. MY GOD, the last 3 songs!

I remember always loving the lyrics to NPG. "Pardon us for living, but this is our world too. I can't help it what's cool to us, might be strange to you." If there was ever a Prince lyric that defined my life, it's that.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #3 posted 09/01/16 8:43pm

gandorb

Always thought it was an under-appreciated song on an under-appreciated album. I think the way the verses are sung with different combinations of voices makes it feel like a community song that it is meant to be. Its just fun and upbeat!

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Reply #4 posted 09/01/16 8:50pm

leslievette

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TrivialPursuit said:

I love it. I mixed in the "Part II" on the GB record, and made it one longer song. There's a distinct moment where you have to line them up to keep the integrity of the arrangement. I think it's a lost anthem, for sure. "Lovesign" is its younger sibling, in message and ideology.

And that EP. MY GOD, the last 3 songs!

I remember always loving the lyrics to NPG. "Pardon us for living, but this is our world too. I can't help it what's cool to us, might be strange to you." If there was ever a Prince lyric that defined my life, it's that.

nod This exactly.

I've always loved it. Pretty much sums everything up as far as being a fam of P. It was really cool to warm up to this song with Mayte during her class. The energy was awesome.

"Making love and music's the only things worth fighting 4"

From now on, 4 U I shall be wild 💜
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Reply #5 posted 09/01/16 8:51pm

DarlingKris

I love that song and I have to agree. Very underrated

Forever In My Life, forever in my heart. I love you Prince Rogers Nelson heart
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Reply #6 posted 09/01/16 8:55pm

Krystalkisses

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That is my jam! I love the Graffiti Bridge album too!

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Reply #7 posted 09/01/16 9:24pm

SquirrelMeat

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TrivialPursuit said:

I love it. I mixed in the "Part II" on the GB record, and made it one longer song. There's a distinct moment where you have to line them up to keep the integrity of the arrangement. I think it's a lost anthem, for sure. "Lovesign" is its younger sibling, in message and ideology.

And that EP. MY GOD, the last 3 songs!

I remember always loving the lyrics to NPG. "Pardon us for living, but this is our world too. I can't help it what's cool to us, might be strange to you." If there was ever a Prince lyric that defined my life, it's that.



That needs to be heard! lol

.
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Reply #8 posted 09/01/16 9:34pm

sro100

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Back in the day in MPLS this was the #1 song of the row 2 weeks in a row on WLOL.

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Reply #9 posted 09/02/16 2:35am

NorthC

I always liked it too. cool
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Reply #10 posted 09/02/16 4:45am

BobGeorge909

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SquirrelMeat said:


It never makes the greatest hits, it never gets listed in the best of list, but I think its soooo underestimated. Its a great power track and I can easily hear it as the last gig song for almost any show.

Anyone else suprised that Prince didn't bring it out ? Its arguably the best performance in Graffiti Bridge, and the name he took for the band right up until his death (26 years).

Its also one of the most positive songs he ever wrote. Lay down your funky weapon! If there was one song that I think sums up Prince fans, its this.

.



[Edited 9/1/16 21:28pm]


Never like the song and never liked it as the name of his band. Granted, it's hard to follow up the Revolution. Supurb band name. But New Power Generation always sounded, sour, or strange... Or like he was trying to hard to be cool. Cool always came so easy to Prince when he shot for it that for no reason I can squarely put my finger on, I just didn't like it. New Power Generation.... Still don't work, even with the sympathies of death lurking around.
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Reply #11 posted 09/02/16 5:16am

PurpleColossus

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I've always loved the song, it has such powerful instrumentals as well...It would have been incredible if he performed it in his early 90's tours.

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Reply #12 posted 09/02/16 5:41am

Angelsoncrack

It's one of my top 5 Prince songs! I love it. People always put it down for being 'theme-tuney' but I love the fact it's like that. Great opener to the movie too, it tells you who the Kid and his band are and what they believe in.

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Reply #13 posted 09/02/16 5:50am

Musze

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So. Damn. UNDERRATED. LOVE that track... when I think of ONE track I could play to a newbie that encapsulates Prince's message/sound... this is the one at the top of the list.

I Love U, But I Don't Trust U Anymore...
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Reply #14 posted 09/02/16 6:57am

dodger

I was playing it in the car one time and my wife asked if it was out of High School Musical confused

.

I think it was the sword and ice cream man sound effects that done it. I haven't listened to it since

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Reply #15 posted 09/02/16 7:35am

thedance

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Yes.. I love New Power Generation... cool

music

I made myself a "Part 1 & 2 long version" as well...

Prince 4Ever. heart
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Reply #16 posted 09/02/16 7:52am

RodeoSchro

Great song! I've played it a few times acoustically/electronically and it's really fun to play.

Your thread prompted me to think about whether I'd ever heard Prince play this live, and I didn't think I had. So I checked Princevault and according to them, he never did play it live. Dang, too bad.

But I'm going to suggest it to our local Prince cover band, The Breakdown. If they can slay "Condition of the Heart", I can't wait to see how they do this one!

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Reply #17 posted 09/02/16 8:04am

AnnaStesia91

That is my song biggrin
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Reply #18 posted 09/02/16 9:02am

tish9311

I also felt that if we han an anthem on the org that New Power Generation would be it. I loved this song!!!! I hate that a late of the folks on the org don't like this album.

Beautiful, Loved and Blessed

Thank You Prince
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Reply #19 posted 09/02/16 9:12am

TrivialPursuit

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BobGeorge909 said:


Never like the song and never liked it as the name of his band. Granted, it's hard to follow up the Revolution. Supurb band name. But New Power Generation always sounded, sour, or strange... Or like he was trying to hard to be cool. Cool always came so easy to Prince when he shot for it that for no reason I can squarely put my finger on, I just didn't like it. New Power Generation.... Still don't work, even with the sympathies of death lurking around.


Your thinking might be temporarily stunted. Perhaps you've forgotten Prince's band before Wendy joined. The one with Gayle, then the one with Lisa. Then it was Brownmark. Fast forward to the SOTT band, which knocked that shit out of the park, and the most diverse band to that point. More women in band, a few older members from the past, and a vocalist like he'd never had before. Hell, the NPG in GB wasn't even permanent. (The guy on keyboard was a make up artist or hair stylist and acted as a stand in).

The NPG was ever-changing, too, of course. I still hold that the stripped down mid-90s version was the best incarnation of any NPG before or since. While Renato Neto was cool and all, I really hated his jazzy influence on Prince's music, and his noodling solos sometimes. (This coming from a keyboard and piano player.)

PS You are correct in that Prince did try too hard to be cool by 1991 or so. I'm not against rap, even in P's music, but we could talk for days about the inclusion of Tony M.'s nonsense. Also, Prince started using production and sound that was timely, which makes some of that stuff (especially the remixes) sound terribly dated. You could listen to "Girl" or "She's Always In My Hair" and it stands today. Put on a remix of "Cream" (while the EP is great as a whole), and you feel like it's 1991 again. The tin-can reverby hollowness that engulfed a lot of R&B music at that time and beyond was in Prince's music during the early 90s. He became only in-the-moment, and the eternalness of his music was lost for a while. He almost seemed desperate at that point, which he didn't need to be. When you hear that early Diamonds and Pearls Beginnings boot, and those songs without Tony M in them, you hear the song as it was meant to be. You hear how he's reaching for something cool with things like "Schoolyard". Then, you realize he's off track with silliness like "Horny Pony". God, I'm so glad that was never a song on that record. It's just not good Prince stuff. It's a fun trinket at best.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #20 posted 09/02/16 9:25am

NouveauDance

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I mean, it's fun enough - but it's corny as hell. The lyrics like "we're young and fresh and you old fogies don't get it" - bitch YOU are the old guys, it's not Dirty Mind any more, it's a decade later. Sorry, this song doesn't cut it for me. Not saying I don't sign along and act goofy when I listen to it, but I recognise it for how lame it is, and I'm fine with that.

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Reply #21 posted 09/02/16 9:43am

TrivialPursuit

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NouveauDance said:

I mean, it's fun enough - but it's corny as hell. The lyrics like "we're young and fresh and you old fogies don't get it" - bitch YOU are the old guys, it's not Dirty Mind any more, it's a decade later. Sorry, this song doesn't cut it for me. Not saying I don't sign along and act goofy when I listen to it, but I recognise it for how lame it is, and I'm fine with that.


Um.....huh? Are you saying the lyrics are like that, or that those are lyrics. Because I'm going to assume the former, cuz you a Prince fan and all. And come on. Ol' boy was only 32 at that point. That ain't old! Hell, that's still the last bits of act 1 of your life (considering each act is about 33 years).

You just hateful. Sumfin' wrong wif you. Ya old too. Just old. What boat u ride in on? poke

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #22 posted 09/02/16 10:07am

BobGeorge909

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TrivialPursuit said:



BobGeorge909 said:



Never like the song and never liked it as the name of his band. Granted, it's hard to follow up the Revolution. Supurb band name. But New Power Generation always sounded, sour, or strange... Or like he was trying to hard to be cool. Cool always came so easy to Prince when he shot for it that for no reason I can squarely put my finger on, I just didn't like it. New Power Generation.... Still don't work, even with the sympathies of death lurking around.


Your thinking might be temporarily stunted. Perhaps you've forgotten Prince's band before Wendy joined. The one with Gayle, then the one with Lisa. Then it was Brownmark. Fast forward to the SOTT band, which knocked that shit out of the park, and the most diverse band to that point. More women in band, a few older members from the past, and a vocalist like he'd never had before. Hell, the NPG in GB wasn't even permanent. (The guy on keyboard was a make up artist or hair stylist and acted as a stand in).

The NPG was ever-changing, too, of course. I still hold that the stripped down mid-90s version was the best incarnation of any NPG before or since. While Renato Neto was cool and all, I really hated his jazzy influence on Prince's music, and his noodling solos sometimes. (This coming from a keyboard and piano player.)

PS You are correct in that Prince did try too hard to be cool by 1991 or so. I'm not against rap, even in P's music, but we could talk for days about the inclusion of Tony M.'s nonsense. Also, Prince started using production and sound that was timely, which makes some of that stuff (especially the remixes) sound terribly dated. You could listen to "Girl" or "She's Always In My Hair" and it stands today. Put on a remix of "Cream" (while the EP is great as a whole), and you feel like it's 1991 again. The tin-can reverby hollowness that engulfed a lot of R&B music at that time and beyond was in Prince's music during the early 90s. He became only in-the-moment, and the eternalness of his music was lost for a while. He almost seemed desperate at that point, which he didn't need to be. When you hear that early Diamonds and Pearls Beginnings boot, and those songs without Tony M in them, you hear the song as it was meant to be. You hear how he's reaching for something cool with things like "Schoolyard". Then, you realize he's off track with silliness like "Horny Pony". God, I'm so glad that was never a song on that record. It's just not good Prince stuff. It's a fun trinket at best.


I was strictly referring to the names of the bands. Not the memberships and output.
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Reply #23 posted 09/02/16 11:08am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Lay down your funky weapon.
Yeah y'all, here we go
Pumpin' the big noise in the 90's.

Pardon me for living, but this is my world to
I can't help that what's cool to us might be strange to you
Pardon me for breathing, can we borrow some of your air?
The problem with you and your kind is that you don't know love is there

Lay down your funky weapon, come join us on the floor
Making love and music's the only things worth fighting for
We are the new power generation, we want to change the world.
The only thing that's in our way is you.
Your old fashioned music, your old ideas,
We're sick and tired of you telling us what to do.

Pardon me for thinking, but there's something under my hair
I bet you thought the lights were on but no one's living there
You think that if you tell enough lies they will see the truth?
I hope they bury your old ideas the same time they bury you

Lay down your funky weapon, come join us on the floor
Making love and music's the only things worth fighting for
We are the new power generation, we want to change the world.
The only thing that's in our way is you.
Your old fashioned music, your old ideas,
We're sick and tired of you telling us what to do.

We are the new, We are the new, We are the new,
Making love and music
New power, we stand

Pardon us for caring, we didn't know it was against the rules (shout it out)
If we only want to love one another
Then tell me now who's the fool (tell me, tell me)
No father, no mother, no sister, no brother, nobody can make me stop
Said if you didn't come to party child, I think you better get up off of my block.

Lay down your funky weapon, come join us on the floor
Making love and music's the only things worth fighting for
We are the new power generation, we want to change the world.
The only thing that's in our way is you.
Your old fashioned music, your old ideas,
We're sick and tired of you telling us what to do.

Why don't you just be happy, baby.

Lay down your funky weapon, come join us on the floor
Making love and music's the only things worth fighting for
We are the new power generation, we want to change the world.
The only thing that's in our way is you.
Your old fashioned music, your old ideas,
We're sick and tired of you telling us what to do.

Go on and get up off of my block
Get up off of my block, because
Love is there if you'd just open up to it.
If you'd just believe your whole world would change

New power generation, you've got to rearrange. We've got
We are the new power generation, you've gotta give up all the fight
We gotta try to love one another, baby. we are the new power generation
We are the new power generation.
We are the new power generation.

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Reply #24 posted 09/02/16 11:18am

mikeyaddict

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I still have the picture disc. Loved it when it came out - and then get the maxi single in all its TC and Tony M glory! Are there any angels? Even wrote an essay about it for English - second year of high school. Never played live right? Other than a rehearsal where P isn't present and Rosie takes lead vocals? Was just listening to the maxi - Brother With a Purpose is gonna be the first track on my Tony M playlist.
Comin str8 outta Preston...
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Reply #25 posted 09/02/16 3:33pm

NouveauDance

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TrivialPursuit said:

NouveauDance said:

I mean, it's fun enough - but it's corny as hell. The lyrics like "we're young and fresh and you old fogies don't get it" - bitch YOU are the old guys, it's not Dirty Mind any more, it's a decade later. Sorry, this song doesn't cut it for me. Not saying I don't sign along and act goofy when I listen to it, but I recognise it for how lame it is, and I'm fine with that.


Um.....huh? Are you saying the lyrics are like that, or that those are lyrics. Because I'm going to assume the former, cuz you a Prince fan and all. And come on. Ol' boy was only 32 at that point. That ain't old! Hell, that's still the last bits of act 1 of your life (considering each act is about 33 years).

.

You just hateful. Sumfin' wrong wif you. Ya old too. Just old. What boat u ride in on?

I said the "lyrics are like" which means I'm paraphrasing. Are you unfamilar with the term?

.

When I say old, I'm talking about the music business. At this point Prince has been on the scene since the late 70s, he already released his career-defining albums. In 1990 we're 3 years past the Black Album which was a reactionary statement, in part, to Hip-Hop - which is the new shit as far as pop/R&B is concerned, and Graffiti Bridge is the album where Prince really starts to chase this genre to stay current - which goes against the message of this song in particular, which was my original point.

I already said I liked the song, but at the same time I can say honestly that I also find it to be lame, I don't see what's so "hateful" about that. This isn't the NPGMC forums, we can be critical without getting blowback by people who can't accept their hero made a duff song or two.

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Reply #26 posted 09/02/16 3:58pm

QueenofCardboa
rd

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.

I am glad to see that so many people like this song.

.

I thought that I was the only one who didn't think this song was lame.

.

"I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters," Donald Trump
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Reply #27 posted 09/02/16 4:39pm

TrivialPursuit

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NouveauDance said:

I said the "lyrics are like" which means I'm paraphrasing. Are you unfamilar with the term?


Nah, it was just one of those things were sometimes "like" is used as a comparison or "they be all like DUH". I lurrrvv the song, but for a second I thought maybe I missed something all these years later.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #28 posted 09/02/16 4:44pm

purplepolitici
an

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"Get up off my block, get up off my rock cos..." deal. Great drums, nice tune.

For all time I am with you, you are with me.
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Reply #29 posted 09/02/16 6:43pm

Marrk

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'Get Off/The Lubricated Lady' & 'Loveleft, Loveright' are better crafted, more interesting songs on NPG's own maxi single. Sure i like it more than i did upon release but the "old fashioned music, your old ideas" lyric was lame back then, Alarm bells were ringing back then, and i can't get past that feeling i had. Prince was chasing for the first time. It's ok only.

Did i mention the taint of Tony M and his first appearance on record?. No. I was kind.

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