I really admired and respected Prince for standing up for what he believed regardless of what other people thought. He sure was special and one of a kind.

The fact that he didn't care what anyone thought of him has always been as appealing to me as his music, style and persona.

Latin said:

At the height of his career, Prince performed "God" during the Purple Rain tour and decided to make it the b-side of the "Purple Rain" single.

Another example of how Prince was independent, unique and like no other when it came down to expressing his beliefs. That was bold.

Wonder what Warner Brothers thought of that. Who would have done that? Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen?

Our beloved Prince did that and much more. He consistently held on to his beliefs & stood his ground.

How about the speeches he gave during the Lovesexy Tour?

Regardless of whether we agree with his spiritual beliefs or not, he deserves respect for always proudly expressing his beliefs.

Just to be technical, "Purple Rain" was a single 2 months before the tour even started, so "God" was already in the movie, and on the single before the tour started. Of course, even Prince said people wanted to see everything on the tour, so every song associated with it was performed.

I don't think it was that bold or new at that point, for him or others. Remember that he was quoting the Lord's Prayer in a song in 1981, and was quoted on subsequent tours, too. Him using religion in music or touring was nothing new by the time "God' came along in 1984/5 on tour.

As a critical side note: His need to stretch out "can u see me", for 15 minutes absolutely brought the show to a screeching halt. The whole first segment and its energy is quickly muted by the "Yankee Doodle Dandy" nonsense, then him hiding in the purple lighting before breaking into "Do Me, Baby". It also gets weird during the "god" segment, with "Computer Blue", and so on. If you take out that nonsense, it's a 90 minute stronger show.

Madonna pushed religious limits around that period, too. Remember that people were in a furor when Madonna was gyrating around as a "boy toy", and wore a dozen crosses around her neck and waist. In 1989, Madonna riled up the whole Catholic church like no other time to that point when she released "Like A Prayer", complete with making out with a saint, burning crosses, stigmata, and more. Prince was preaching in 1988/1989 on tour, too. The speeches during the Lovesexy tour were often long, rambling, and un-quote-worthy. Not always, but he was just as preachy then as he was in 2001, or 1984. They both pushed religion and sexuality simultaneously throughout their careers, things they both believed in strongly.

Springsteen was just as bold in his shows, but on a different level, while talking about Americana, politics, socio-economics, etc. We all know Bruce has 3-hour shows, because of his storytelling, and pontificating. John Mellencamp did the same thing, albeit in a shorter order.

Any great artist holds to what they believe, but of course, fans have to allow an artist's ideas to change in life, just as our own do over time.

Prince doing it doesn't make him unique, it makes him a great artist, like Madonna, Bruce, MJ, and others.

TrivialPursuit said:

Latin said:

Latin said:

Wow. Are you saying that Bruce and Madonna were as bold as Prince in expressing their spiritual beliefs throughout their careers? Please post the lyrics of the songs that convey that from both Bruce & Madonna to compare that to Prince's bold expression of his spiritual beliefs. Many of us can share numerous examples by Prince. Let's see what Madonna & Bruce did to express their personal spirituality. It's also interesting how you take the opportunity to criticize him for the way he chose to express those views in concert. It's clear in videos of his concerts and commentary of fans worldwide that whenever he boldly expressed his strong spiritual beliefs, audiences were amazed and often times gave him standing ovations whether they agreed with him or not because of the passion he conveyed. This is why there is reluctance to post on this site because of all the negative and unjustified criticism of Prince.

Wow, read it again. You glazed over it, because had you not, you'd have not said that.

And negative criticism? SorryNotSorry I'm not a fam that is blind to the good and bad in Prince's career. I never had my head up his butt. It's the fans that can love, and criticize him when it's called for, that are the fans whose opinions I can appreciate the most.

I can criticize whatever I wish. I'm a free human being.

TrivialPursuit said:

Latin said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Just to be technical, "Purple Rain" was a single 2 months before the tour even started, so "God" was already in the movie, and on the single before the tour started. Of course, even Prince said people wanted to see everything on the tour, so every song associated with it was performed.

I don't think it was that bold or new at that point, for him or others. Remember that he was quoting the Lord's Prayer in a song in 1981, and was quoted on subsequent tours, too. Him using religion in music or touring was nothing new by the time "God' came along in 1984/5 on tour.

As a critical side note: His need to stretch out "can u see me", for 15 minutes absolutely brought the show to a screeching halt. The whole first segment and its energy is quickly muted by the "Yankee Doodle Dandy" nonsense, then him hiding in the purple lighting before breaking into "Do Me, Baby". It also gets weird during the "god" segment, with "Computer Blue", and so on. If you take out that nonsense, it's a 90 minute stronger show.

Madonna pushed religious limits around that period, too. Remember that people were in a furor when Madonna was gyrating around as a "boy toy", and wore a dozen crosses around her neck and waist. In 1989, Madonna riled up the whole Catholic church like no other time to that point when she released "Like A Prayer", complete with making out with a saint, burning crosses, stigmata, and more. Prince was preaching in 1988/1989 on tour, too. The speeches during the Lovesexy tour were often long, rambling, and un-quote-worthy. Not always, but he was just as preachy then as he was in 2001, or 1984. They both pushed religion and sexuality simultaneously throughout their careers, things they both believed in strongly.

Springsteen was just as bold in his shows, but on a different level, while talking about Americana, politics, socio-economics, etc. We all know Bruce has 3-hour shows, because of his storytelling, and pontificating. John Mellencamp did the same thing, albeit in a shorter order.

Any great artist holds to what they believe, but of course, fans have to allow an artist's ideas to change in life, just as our own do over time.

Prince doing it doesn't make him unique, it makes him a great artist, like Madonna, Bruce, MJ, and others.

Wow. Are you saying that Bruce and Madonna were as bold as Prince in expressing their spiritual beliefs throughout their careers? Please post the lyrics of the songs that convey that from both Bruce & Madonna to compare that to Prince's bold expression of his spiritual beliefs. Many of us can share numerous examples by Prince. Let's see what Madonna & Bruce did to express their personal spirituality. It's also interesting how you take the opportunity to criticize him for the way he chose to express those views in concert. It's clear in videos of his concerts and commentary of fans worldwide that whenever he boldly expressed his strong spiritual beliefs, audiences were amazed and often times gave him standing ovations whether they agreed with him or not because of the passion he conveyed. This is why there is reluctance to post on this site because of all the negative and unjustified criticism of Prince.

Not just of Prince, sadly.

TrivialPursuit said:

Latin said:

At the height of his career, Prince performed "God" during the Purple Rain tour and decided to make it the b-side of the "Purple Rain" single.

Another example of how Prince was independent, unique and like no other when it came down to expressing his beliefs. That was bold.

Wonder what Warner Brothers thought of that. Who would have done that? Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen?

Our beloved Prince did that and much more. He consistently held on to his beliefs & stood his ground.

How about the speeches he gave during the Lovesexy Tour?

Regardless of whether we agree with his spiritual beliefs or not, he deserves respect for always proudly expressing his beliefs.

Just to be technical, "Purple Rain" was a single 2 months before the tour even started, so "God" was already in the movie, and on the single before the tour started. Of course, even Prince said people wanted to see everything on the tour, so every song associated with it was performed.

I don't think it was that bold or new at that point, for him or others. Remember that he was quoting the Lord's Prayer in a song in 1981, and was quoted on subsequent tours, too. Him using religion in music or touring was nothing new by the time "God' came along in 1984/5 on tour.

As a critical side note: His need to stretch out "can u see me", for 15 minutes absolutely brought the show to a screeching halt. The whole first segment and its energy is quickly muted by the "Yankee Doodle Dandy" nonsense, then him hiding in the purple lighting before breaking into "Do Me, Baby". It also gets weird during the "god" segment, with "Computer Blue", and so on. If you take out that nonsense, it's a 90 minute stronger show.

Madonna pushed religious limits around that period, too. Remember that people were in a furor when Madonna was gyrating around as a "boy toy", and wore a dozen crosses around her neck and waist. In 1989, Madonna riled up the whole Catholic church like no other time to that point when she released "Like A Prayer", complete with making out with a saint, burning crosses, stigmata, and more. Prince was preaching in 1988/1989 on tour, too. The speeches during the Lovesexy tour were often long, rambling, and un-quote-worthy. Not always, but he was just as preachy then as he was in 2001, or 1984. They both pushed religion and sexuality simultaneously throughout their careers, things they both believed in strongly.

Springsteen was just as bold in his shows, but on a different level, while talking about Americana, politics, socio-economics, etc. We all know Bruce has 3-hour shows, because of his storytelling, and pontificating. John Mellencamp did the same thing, albeit in a shorter order.

Any great artist holds to what they believe, but of course, fans have to allow an artist's ideas to change in life, just as our own do over time.

Prince doing it doesn't make him unique, it makes him a great artist, like Madonna, Bruce, MJ, and others.

I agree, he was incredibly bold and confident with his belief about God and the Scriptures.

Regarding Madonna, from what I remember it seemed she mocked religion rather than claiming it as a belief.