PURPLEIZED3121 said:

CherryMoon57 said:

Neither.

I learned at a very young age that there is a painful side to the world of entertainment. From the blood and broken flesh in my pointe ballet shoes to my mother's suddenly deceased partner (who was also a celebrity) and many other artists gone way too early, I already knew that the strive for perfection comes at a cost.

This is not surprising: in order to 'become' a celebrity (their new identity), the artists sacrifice sometimes a little bit, sometimes a lot of themselves. The show business will not allow you to be your true self because it wants to $ell an illusion and not the truth.

Those who refuse to acknowledge this fact whilst continuing to believe the illusion are the real hypocrites. Prince himself warned us about all this. He too paid the cost but at the end of the day behind his invicible and illusory artist personna, there was a human with real pains. Nothing better, nothing worse.

very good point & thansk you for sharing your own experiences. Looking at the way Avicii sadly passed is all too a painful reminder of how showbiz works.

Personally speaking my sadness / anger comes from the fact that he was so rich [surprisingly so IMHO] & frankly could have walked away for a few years & released vault stuff whilst in recovery. The self care button was non existent as he continued to play health roulette in the pursuit of $, fame & his art.

but what if he did exactly what he wanted to do?

he said it so often: he was the happiest on stage. and "I make music because I would die if I wouldn't."
his own words.

so he would do everything needed to keep things going the way he wanted them, I guess. I don't think money or fame were priorities in prince's decisions ... he would have been better off staying with WB if they were ...

creating and making music, performing and the love and appreciation he got when he was on stage ... this was his life ... the air he needed to breathe ... of course he could have done a lot of things but this was exactly what he wanted. it might be wrong in ur perception and in the perception of many others too but it seems that it actually was his way of self care to some degree and walking away from it couldn't be an option for him ... imagine prince on a long cruise spending all his money ... or relaxing on his private beach on a tiny island without a piano or guitar ... he had enough money to do that for the next 50 years but ... I mean, seriously? he would have killed himself with a coconut on day 2.

To answer the original question - I love the Brother more every day.

He had his issues, he needed help. He was stubborn. All of that. It's tragic. But I find it easier to love Prince The Man, flaws and all, than any stage persona he ever shared with us - regardless of how much of that was really him.

His talent was otherworldly. His body, just like yours and mine, was bound by the laws of this world.

Love.

lemoncrush19 said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

very good point & thansk you for sharing your own experiences. Looking at the way Avicii sadly passed is all too a painful reminder of how showbiz works.

Personally speaking my sadness / anger comes from the fact that he was so rich [surprisingly so IMHO] & frankly could have walked away for a few years & released vault stuff whilst in recovery. The self care button was non existent as he continued to play health roulette in the pursuit of $, fame & his art.

but what if he did exactly what he wanted to do?

he said it so often: he was the happiest on stage. and "I make music because I would die if I wouldn't."
his own words.

so he would do everything needed to keep things going the way he wanted them, I guess. I don't think money or fame were priorities in prince's decisions ... he would have been better off staying with WB if they were ...

creating and making music, performing and the love and appreciation he got when he was on stage ... this was his life ... the air he needed to breathe ... of course he could have done a lot of things but this was exactly what he wanted. it might be wrong in ur perception and in the perception of many others too but it seems that it actually was his way of self care to some degree and walking away from it couldn't be an option for him ... imagine prince on a long cruise spending all his money ... or relaxing on his private beach on a tiny island without a piano or guitar ... he had enough money to do that for the next 50 years but ... I mean, seriously? he would have killed himself with a coconut on day 2.

this crush!

lemoncrush19 said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

very good point & thansk you for sharing your own experiences. Looking at the way Avicii sadly passed is all too a painful reminder of how showbiz works.

Personally speaking my sadness / anger comes from the fact that he was so rich [surprisingly so IMHO] & frankly could have walked away for a few years & released vault stuff whilst in recovery. The self care button was non existent as he continued to play health roulette in the pursuit of $, fame & his art.

but what if he did exactly what he wanted to do?

he said it so often: he was the happiest on stage. and "I make music because I would die if I wouldn't."
his own words.

so he would do everything needed to keep things going the way he wanted them, I guess. I don't think money or fame were priorities in prince's decisions ... he would have been better off staying with WB if they were ...

creating and making music, performing and the love and appreciation he got when he was on stage ... this was his life ... the air he needed to breathe ... of course he could have done a lot of things but this was exactly what he wanted. it might be wrong in ur perception and in the perception of many others too but it seems that it actually was his way of self care to some degree and walking away from it couldn't be an option for him ... imagine prince on a long cruise spending all his money ... or relaxing on his private beach on a tiny island without a piano or guitar ... he had enough money to do that for the next 50 years but ... I mean, seriously? he would have killed himself with a coconut on day 2.

I totally agree with you on here and there is nothing wrong with making music and dedicating your life to it if this is what you love doing... But you can also be a musician and not seek global stardom. My point was that all the pressures that come with this massive celebrity status (which you cannot get rid of once you have acquired it) is what triggers or accentuates imbalances in an individual. The truth is that he really did go for it at the beginning of his career and without Purple Rain/Warner, he would have never had the big audience that he kept all along.

The question that remains is whether he had any regrets over any of this? Well, actually, when you start digging into his songs it doesn't take very long to realise that they often point to the negative and superficial aspect of fame: 'I've been to the mountain top and it ain't what you say' (Dont Play Me), 'Give me back the time, You can keep the memories' (The Breakdown), or the lyrics in 'The Holy River' (to name but a few) pretty much answers that question.

He wanted the PR level stardom probably for the most basic reason, it was within his grasp and he knew it. However, he jumped off that mountaintop not long after he climbed it, sabotaging most of it in the process. In my mind, he clearly had an ambiguous relationship with stardom, he liked the freedom, the money, the attention but he didn't like the stress, the loss of privacy (other side of attention) and the artistic limits of it. I still am surprised by how it all ended, I never thought it would end like that. But my perception is softened most of all, the stories of his humanity that were kept under wraps make me think more highly of him inspite of the addictions.

CherryMoon57 said:

lemoncrush19 said:

but what if he did exactly what he wanted to do?

he said it so often: he was the happiest on stage. and "I make music because I would die if I wouldn't."
his own words.

so he would do everything needed to keep things going the way he wanted them, I guess. I don't think money or fame were priorities in prince's decisions ... he would have been better off staying with WB if they were ...

creating and making music, performing and the love and appreciation he got when he was on stage ... this was his life ... the air he needed to breathe ... of course he could have done a lot of things but this was exactly what he wanted. it might be wrong in ur perception and in the perception of many others too but it seems that it actually was his way of self care to some degree and walking away from it couldn't be an option for him ... imagine prince on a long cruise spending all his money ... or relaxing on his private beach on a tiny island without a piano or guitar ... he had enough money to do that for the next 50 years but ... I mean, seriously? he would have killed himself with a coconut on day 2.

I totally agree with you on here and there is nothing wrong with making music and dedicating your life to it if this is what you love doing... But you can also be a musician and not seek global stardom. My point was that all the pressures that come with this massive celebrity status (which you cannot get rid of once you have acquired it) is what triggers or accentuates imbalances in an individual. The truth is that he really did go for it at the beginning of his career and without Purple Rain/Warner, he would have never had the big audience that he kept all along.

The question that remains is whether he had any regrets over any of this? Well, actually, when you start digging into his songs it doesn't take very long to realise that they often point to the negative and superficial aspect of fame: 'I've been to the mountain top and it ain't what you say' (Dont Play Me), 'Give me back the time, You can keep the memories' (The Breakdown), or the lyrics in 'The Holy River' (to name but a few) pretty much answers that question.

CherryMoon57 said:

No one would, but unfortunately you cannot dissociate these two sides of stardom and sadly many young talented artists jump straight into it seeking the good part without being totally prepared for the bad one, which includes constantly being under scrutiny, mocked and criticised. And before they know it, it is too late, all the damage is done. Prince even tried to 'save' Amy Winehouse at one point but it was already too late... Let's remember that Amy Winehouse had initially been criticised for being too fat very earlier on in her career when she wasn't even 20 yet, that was followed by her very anorexic phase and then her sad demise. Prince himself got violently booted off the stage at that Rolling Stones show, which may have left some marks too. It's a cruel business which takes a tough skin to come out alive.

PeteSilas said:

He wanted the PR level stardom probably for the most basic reason, it was within his grasp and he knew it. However, he jumped off that mountaintop not long after he climbed it, sabotaging most of it in the process. In my mind, he clearly had an ambiguous relationship with stardom, he liked the freedom, the money, the attention but he didn't like the stress, the loss of privacy (other side of attention) and the artistic limits of it. I still am surprised by how it all ended, I never thought it would end like that. But my perception is softened most of all, the stories of his humanity that were kept under wraps make me think more highly of him inspite of the addictions.

CherryMoon57 said:

I totally agree with you on here and there is nothing wrong with making music and dedicating your life to it if this is what you love doing... But you can also be a musician and not seek global stardom. My point was that all the pressures that come with this massive celebrity status (which you cannot get rid of once you have acquired it) is what triggers or accentuates imbalances in an individual. The truth is that he really did go for it at the beginning of his career and without Purple Rain/Warner, he would have never had the big audience that he kept all along.

The question that remains is whether he had any regrets over any of this? Well, actually, when you start digging into his songs it doesn't take very long to realise that they often point to the negative and superficial aspect of fame: 'I've been to the mountain top and it ain't what you say' (Dont Play Me), 'Give me back the time, You can keep the memories' (The Breakdown), or the lyrics in 'The Holy River' (to name but a few) pretty much answers that question.

lemoncrush19 said:

CherryMoon57 said:

I totally agree with you on here and there is nothing wrong with making music and dedicating your life to it if this is what you love doing... But you can also be a musician and not seek global stardom. My point was that all the pressures that come with this massive celebrity status (which you cannot get rid of once you have acquired it) is what triggers or accentuates imbalances in an individual. The truth is that he really did go for it at the beginning of his career and without Purple Rain/Warner, he would have never had the big audience that he kept all along.

The question that remains is whether he had any regrets over any of this? Well, actually, when you start digging into his songs it doesn't take very long to realise that they often point to the negative and superficial aspect of fame: 'I've been to the mountain top and it ain't what you say' (Dont Play Me), 'Give me back the time, You can keep the memories' (The Breakdown), or the lyrics in 'The Holy River' (to name but a few) pretty much answers that question.

I absolutely agree with u cherrymoon! my comment referred to the part I‘ve bolded in PURPLEIZED3121s reply. yes he mentioned the negative sides of the business and stardom a lot. that’s why he left that path ... and it was the boldest thing one in his position could do. did he regret anything? I don’t think so. just because that’s not what he was like ... he didn’t look back too much at all and if he did he had the understanding that everything he did was the best he could at that point of time and brought him to where he was now and where he should be ... on his spiritual path and evolving ... I guess

Yes, I suppose this is a good way of looking at it.

lemoncrush19 said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

very good point & thansk you for sharing your own experiences. Looking at the way Avicii sadly passed is all too a painful reminder of how showbiz works.

Personally speaking my sadness / anger comes from the fact that he was so rich [surprisingly so IMHO] & frankly could have walked away for a few years & released vault stuff whilst in recovery. The self care button was non existent as he continued to play health roulette in the pursuit of $, fame & his art.

but what if he did exactly what he wanted to do?

he said it so often: he was the happiest on stage. and "I make music because I would die if I wouldn't."
his own words.

so he would do everything needed to keep things going the way he wanted them, I guess. I don't think money or fame were priorities in prince's decisions ... he would have been better off staying with WB if they were ...

creating and making music, performing and the love and appreciation he got when he was on stage ... this was his life ... the air he needed to breathe ... of course he could have done a lot of things but this was exactly what he wanted. it might be wrong in ur perception and in the perception of many others too but it seems that it actually was his way of self care to some degree and walking away from it couldn't be an option for him ... imagine prince on a long cruise spending all his money ... or relaxing on his private beach on a tiny island without a piano or guitar ... he had enough money to do that for the next 50 years but ... I mean, seriously? he would have killed himself with a coconut on day 2.

very good points BUT if he truly cared about his art he would/should have taken care of himself. He could have still been let loose in the studio & recorded BUT without all the accompanying hooha ie videos, TV, tours etc. Ahhh hindsight.

ya, he was drawn to it all though, it's that simple, the pros outweighed the cons for him. It's not hard to just fade from the public eye, people forget so damned fast it's a joke. Power,fame,the myth of eternal youth, in fact most of the things we associate with that life is a myth but the music is real.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

lemoncrush19 said:

but what if he did exactly what he wanted to do?

he said it so often: he was the happiest on stage. and "I make music because I would die if I wouldn't."
his own words.

so he would do everything needed to keep things going the way he wanted them, I guess. I don't think money or fame were priorities in prince's decisions ... he would have been better off staying with WB if they were ...

creating and making music, performing and the love and appreciation he got when he was on stage ... this was his life ... the air he needed to breathe ... of course he could have done a lot of things but this was exactly what he wanted. it might be wrong in ur perception and in the perception of many others too but it seems that it actually was his way of self care to some degree and walking away from it couldn't be an option for him ... imagine prince on a long cruise spending all his money ... or relaxing on his private beach on a tiny island without a piano or guitar ... he had enough money to do that for the next 50 years but ... I mean, seriously? he would have killed himself with a coconut on day 2.

very good points BUT if he truly cared about his art he would/should have taken care of himself. He could have still been let loose in the studio & recorded BUT without all the accompanying hooha ie videos, TV, tours etc. Ahhh hindsight.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

lemoncrush19 said:

but what if he did exactly what he wanted to do?

he said it so often: he was the happiest on stage. and "I make music because I would die if I wouldn't."
his own words.

so he would do everything needed to keep things going the way he wanted them, I guess. I don't think money or fame were priorities in prince's decisions ... he would have been better off staying with WB if they were ...

creating and making music, performing and the love and appreciation he got when he was on stage ... this was his life ... the air he needed to breathe ... of course he could have done a lot of things but this was exactly what he wanted. it might be wrong in ur perception and in the perception of many others too but it seems that it actually was his way of self care to some degree and walking away from it couldn't be an option for him ... imagine prince on a long cruise spending all his money ... or relaxing on his private beach on a tiny island without a piano or guitar ... he had enough money to do that for the next 50 years but ... I mean, seriously? he would have killed himself with a coconut on day 2.

very good points BUT if he truly cared about his art he would/should have taken care of himself. He could have still been let loose in the studio & recorded BUT without all the accompanying hooha ie videos, TV, tours etc. Ahhh hindsight.

I just don't understand anyone who thinks like this. Who are you or anyone to say he didn't truly care about his art because he woulda/shoulda taken care of himself? That is a HUGE leap.

poppys said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

very good points BUT if he truly cared about his art he would/should have taken care of himself. He could have still been let loose in the studio & recorded BUT without all the accompanying hooha ie videos, TV, tours etc. Ahhh hindsight.

I just don't understand anyone who thinks like this. Who are you or anyone to say he didn't truly care about his art because he woulda/shoulda taken care of himself? That is a HUGE leap.

dude could have used mort tact but he's right, just because the public doesn't know who someone is doens't mean they aren't doing great work, i know of many, many gifted, talented people who no one here would know of, both in music and in my old cliques in the fight world, what to make of it? sometimes people really don't have the ego to put themselves out there like that, sometimes they just don't have the whole package (a great musician might not be attractive enough, or maybe they can't do anything well besides play, with my fighter friends, luck seems to have more to do with it than anything, not all factors are controllable either). Prince wanted the best of both worlds it appears to me and I'd say he struck about the best balance i've ever seen of the unlikely matching of the cult artist as superstar.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

lemoncrush19 said:

but what if he did exactly what he wanted to do?

he said it so often: he was the happiest on stage. and "I make music because I would die if I wouldn't."
his own words.

so he would do everything needed to keep things going the way he wanted them, I guess. I don't think money or fame were priorities in prince's decisions ... he would have been better off staying with WB if they were ...

creating and making music, performing and the love and appreciation he got when he was on stage ... this was his life ... the air he needed to breathe ... of course he could have done a lot of things but this was exactly what he wanted. it might be wrong in ur perception and in the perception of many others too but it seems that it actually was his way of self care to some degree and walking away from it couldn't be an option for him ... imagine prince on a long cruise spending all his money ... or relaxing on his private beach on a tiny island without a piano or guitar ... he had enough money to do that for the next 50 years but ... I mean, seriously? he would have killed himself with a coconut on day 2.

very good points BUT if he truly cared about his art he would/should have taken care of himself. He could have still been let loose in the studio & recorded BUT without all the accompanying hooha ie videos, TV, tours etc. Ahhh hindsight.

The problem is, as time went on Prince saw his only real earning power being the live shows. He had pretty much resigned to the fact that his albums didn't sell much as he signed all royalties of his post 2014 music to Dreamcorps. He didnt see recording as something that brought in the money anymore.

If you imagine that his body was failing him and he needed a whole bunch of drugs to keep going, then it must have been pretty scary knowing his only earning potential was his most physically demanding talent - touring. To realise that the only way he could keep bread on the table for his employees, keep PP running and ensure the rest of his estate remained funded, was to do what hurt him the most must have taken a toll on his stress levels.

Maybe that is why he was planning on turning PP into a museum. Maybe he was planning on retiring from the stage and taking a step back. If he could find a way to keep on his employees through PP income, he could more easily sit back and rest a little. Perhaps...

PeteSilas said:

poppys said:

I just don't understand anyone who thinks like this. Who are you or anyone to say he didn't truly care about his art because he woulda/shoulda taken care of himself? That is a HUGE leap.

dude could have used mort tact but he's right, just because the public doesn't know who someone is doens't mean they aren't doing great work, i know of many, many gifted, talented people who no one here would know of, both in music and in my old cliques in the fight world, what to make of it? sometimes people really don't have the ego to put themselves out there like that, sometimes they just don't have the whole package (a great musician might not be attractive enough, or maybe they can't do anything well besides play, with my fighter friends, luck seems to have more to do with it than anything, not all factors are controllable either). Prince wanted the best of both worlds it appears to me and I'd say he struck about the best balance i've ever seen of the unlikely matching of the cult artist as superstar.

fair point re Tact..alas I am still in angry mode.

Rebeljuice said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

very good points BUT if he truly cared about his art he would/should have taken care of himself. He could have still been let loose in the studio & recorded BUT without all the accompanying hooha ie videos, TV, tours etc. Ahhh hindsight.

The problem is, as time went on Prince saw his only real earning power being the live shows. He had pretty much resigned to the fact that his albums didn't sell much as he signed all royalties of his post 2014 music to Dreamcorps. He didnt see recording as something that brought in the money anymore.

If you imagine that his body was failing him and he needed a whole bunch of drugs to keep going, then it must have been pretty scary knowing his only earning potential was his most physically demanding talent - touring. To realise that the only way he could keep bread on the table for his employees, keep PP running and ensure the rest of his estate remained funded, was to do what hurt him the most must have taken a toll on his stress levels.

Maybe that is why he was planning on turning PP into a museum. Maybe he was planning on retiring from the stage and taking a step back. If he could find a way to keep on his employees through PP income, he could more easily sit back and rest a little. Perhaps...

thats a great point but 1 I really struggle with. The London o2 & Welcome to America & indeed 2004's Musicology tours earned him millions..not tyoo sure what the net profit on those was BUT added to publishing royalties etc the man was not short of cash! Question being were his overheads so out of control that he had to keep out on the road with various tours such as 2010, 3EG etc.

Rebeljuice said:

i am sure the man spent but i'm positive he could have stopped everything, scaled down and been ok. the musicology tour earned him 49.5 according to an article, there was a great article by the guy who did the promotion on it after Prince passed, i thought he said he gave prince a check for 42 mill. Near the end, he didn't have compartively near the people on payroll that he did previously. that doesn't mean he didn't need money but I think he just loved to stay busy. I don't know.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

Rebeljuice said:

The problem is, as time went on Prince saw his only real earning power being the live shows. He had pretty much resigned to the fact that his albums didn't sell much as he signed all royalties of his post 2014 music to Dreamcorps. He didnt see recording as something that brought in the money anymore.

If you imagine that his body was failing him and he needed a whole bunch of drugs to keep going, then it must have been pretty scary knowing his only earning potential was his most physically demanding talent - touring. To realise that the only way he could keep bread on the table for his employees, keep PP running and ensure the rest of his estate remained funded, was to do what hurt him the most must have taken a toll on his stress levels.

Maybe that is why he was planning on turning PP into a museum. Maybe he was planning on retiring from the stage and taking a step back. If he could find a way to keep on his employees through PP income, he could more easily sit back and rest a little. Perhaps...

thats a great point but 1 I really struggle with. The London o2 & Welcome to America & indeed 2004's Musicology tours earned him millions..not tyoo sure what the net profit on those was BUT added to publishing royalties etc the man was not short of cash! Question being were his overheads so out of control that he had to keep out on the road with various tours such as 2010, 3EG etc.

Musze said:

poppys said:

littlemissG said:

I feel the same about Prince, my understanding about him has changed. He’s no longer the man behind the curtain or mask.

Wizard of Oz.

One more point...Prince had THE biggest warning signs after the sad passing of MJ in 2009...the mirror was there...the similarities too obvious to miss. Just think about that for a minute..his musical peer/nemesis died from pills, likewise Whitney died in 2012. Was P really THAT arrogant to think that he could escape death & manage his demons in secrecy & on his own?

Like I said previousy..currently in a state of anger & disbelief. The love & respect is buried deep for now.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

One more point...Prince had THE biggest warning signs after the sad passing of MJ in 2009...the mirror was there...the similarities too obvious to miss. Just think about that for a minute..his musical peer/nemesis died from pills, likewise Whitney died in 2012. Was P really THAT arrogant to think that he could escape death & manage his demons in secrecy & on his own?

Like I said previousy..currently in a state of anger & disbelief. The love & respect is buried deep for now.

no, he knew, he had to know, he was an elvis and jimi fan so of course he knew, he wrote facedown as a response to the forces that he felt were pushing him towards that fate in the 90's and he was too smart for it then. that's why it makes no sense, you could publish a thousand investigative pages proving he was a complete addict and I'd still be scratching my fat head. Maybe he just didn't give a fuck anymore. Springsteen had written about severe depression, as in, can't get out of the bed depression, i thought he was selling his book but someone on the org stated they saw him and his wife at restaurant she worked at and she was coddling him like a helpless baby. I guess it's true, what we see is all illusion, all smoke and mirrors but the music is real, the music will always be real.

I can't be angry at him. He did it to himself, not to me.. Arrogance?? Drug addicts don't want to give up the drug so they make excuses. He is no different than many of them. Fear of having to go through withdrawal and cope without chemical help is what motivates that kind of denial. He also seemed to have a somewhat unreasonable fear of doctors. Imagine how hard his life would be for him once he quit..withdrawal, pain without relief, facing life for at least a little while without performing. Of course, he is going to convince himself that drugs (if he does them right) won't kill him. From the sounds of it, he did have doctors..(according to Deborah), but they probably cut him off from the pills so he took another route. No matter how many statements of denial he may have been using, he was still willing to meet with the doctor and the rehab folks. He just gave into temptation the night before and made the mistake of thinking that if he didn't mix drugs he would be okay. None these actions are untypical of addicts. I am not angry at him for "arrogance" ebcause I don't see it as arrogance but more as fear in disguise or at worst "false pride". . I am angry at him for isolating himself so much however but that could be a result of fear as well..

Let's go back to the pain issue again. Reportedly, Prince had hip surgery but was still experiencing pain issues (possibly the other hip), pain in his hands (hands he needed to play guitar. Bad enough that he stopped playing guitar, bad enough that they kept ice buckets next to his piano so he could relieve his hands), muscle issue in his legs, ankle issues, reportedly shoulder issues, migraines (if prince was telling the truth), wrist issues (thus the reason for blingy braces), back issues, toes (he once twisted his toe so far it was folded under his foot), knees (vitamin B shots were seen put in his knees as early as 2001), something was also up with eyes (visine drops were everywhere). And that is without the withdrawal symptoms or even the drug symptoms (constipation, vomiting, nausea) All this stuff resulting directly or indirectly from doing the very things that made folks fans of him in the first place...busting his ass on stage. No wonder he would sometimes get mad at his fans. Give the man a break if he is living in denial about the danger of his drugs. I would almost want to hand him the drugs myself.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

One more point...Prince had THE biggest warning signs after the sad passing of MJ in 2009...the mirror was there...the similarities too obvious to miss. Just think about that for a minute..his musical peer/nemesis died from pills, likewise Whitney died in 2012. Was P really THAT arrogant to think that he could escape death & manage his demons in secrecy & on his own?

Like I said previousy..currently in a state of anger & disbelief. The love & respect is buried deep for now.

[Edited 5/6/18 10:31am]

[Edited 5/6/18 10:33am]

[Edited 5/6/18 11:20am]

Growing up my dad loved Mozart. As a kid, I saw his love never wane for the music. In fact it seemed to only deepen over time He would discover something new about an old favorite that he had heard 1000 times. He never tired of his favorite composer and his creativity.

I feel the same way about Prince. There is so much to discover and learn from his music and lyrics. The music of Prince resonates with me in the same way Mozart's music touched my father. One of the amazing things that Prince offered was an invitation into his home (PP) to experience his music. I only experienced PP once in my life, and I am grateful that I did. That experience will be something I treasure for the rest of my life. My dad would've felt like he had died and gone to heaven if he had experienced Mozart in real life.

By the end of Prince's life it was a mess. To me that only makes him human. Chronic and poorly managed pain is a terrible curse for those who have to live with it. Unless you've experienced that, it's hard to imagine . For many people it ends up being all-consuming. The fact that he was probably ready to die to get relief makes sense to me. I hope in death he was relieved of his pain.

BillS said:

Growing up my dad loved Mozart. As a kid, I saw his love never wane for the music. In fact it seemed to only deepen over time He would discover something new about an old favorite that he had heard 1000 times. He never tired of his favorite composer and his creativity.

I feel the same way about Prince. There is so much to discover and learn from his music and lyrics. The music of Prince resonates with me in the same way Mozart's music touched my father. One of the amazing things that Prince offered was an invitation into his home (PP) to experience his music. I only experienced PP once in my life, and I am grateful that I did. That experience will be something I treasure for the rest of my life. My dad would've felt like he had died and gone to heaven if he had experienced Mozart in real life.

By the end of Prince's life it was a mess. To me that only makes him human. Chronic and poorly managed pain is a terrible curse for those who have to live with it. Unless you've experienced that, it's hard to imagine . For many people it ends up being all-consuming. The fact that he was probably ready to die to get relief makes sense to me. I hope in death he was relieved of his pain.

Oh my word! I relate to SO much of what you said. My father loves Mozart too and used to play his compositions to me in my mother's womb before I was born. To this day I can recite huge chunks of dialoge from Amedus. That is how I feel about Prince too. He is the only artist I never get tired of.

I feel greatful too that I was able to experience Prince live on a few occassions, the only thing I regret on not seeing his Piano and Mic show at PP in 2016.

I'm not sure what was going on with Prince at the end of his life but I suspect if was a combination of physical pain, and emotional trauma that lead him to addiction. Plus all the pressure of being an international star (I can't imagine how that would feel) Judging from what I've read in the investigative reports things he said sounded like someone who was deep in the grip of addiction. It truely breaks me heart that things couldn't have been turned around earlier for him.

[Edited 5/8/18 12:34pm]

As many have said, I love him even more, seeing his humanity via the Carver County documents and photos at Paisley Park. I think it wasn't right that the police included the pictures of Prince outside the elevator, but they did give me closure and for that I am thankful. And I loved that I was able to see Paisley as it really was, how he was living, like an everyday person, in his little ordinary green bedroom with his well worn furniture. That really warmed my heart.

So, no, I'm not angry at Prince at all. I'm sickened by the society we live in. The society in which doctors do this...

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/05/09/opioids-doctors-prescriptions-payments.aspx?utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20180509Z2&et_cid=DM205577&et_rid=299109562

If that isn't enough to convince those who are thinking less of him than they used to, I have a question: What's your 'drug'? Everyone has something they use to relieve their suffering, whether it's mental, emotional or physical. Mine is as big a killer: the sugar/fat combo of crap carbohydrates.

Make no mistake, purple people, whether you're working out 6 days a week and filling yourself full of that 'man tub' protein powder and whatever the hell chemicals is in those, or you can't live without snowboarding down mountains with a GoPro, or you're nomming down however many takeaways from McDonalds, you're doing something to make yourself feel better and it will be doing the exact opposite.

Unless you've modelled your life on the Dalai Lama, of course. In which case you'll be using kindness, compassion and meditation to free yourself of suffering.

If it weren't for Prince's untimely death, the scandalous opioid addiction situation going on right across the US perhaps wouldn't have had so much press coverage and the lid wouldn't have been lifted on the shenanigans that has so many folk you'd never think of as addicts falling into the Big Pharma trap and hiding it away from you.

What is it that biblical saying? Judge not lest ye be judged.

MattyJam said: