It dawned on me this morning as I was shuffling songs on The Gold Experience while driving to work.

Since his passing I listen to Prince a lot more these days.

This weekend alone I listened to DIRTY MIND back to back while cooking and grilling. I also listened to random songs from 1999 and Lotus Flower Saturday while driving around doing errands and yardwork.

Before April of 2016, while still a super fan, I would only listen to Prince a couple of times a month. Now, it's pretty much several days a week.

This morning, while working, in the background I am listening to the soundboard 1999 New Orleans show.

How about you guys? How much do you listen to Prince these days?

Not nearly as much as I used to. In fact, since he died, I am almost back to my pre-Prince listening pattern - which includes a lot of classical.

On the other hand, I am going to 4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince on Thursday, so he's not totally off my radar.

i stopped listening altogether for over a year... i just couldn't deal with it

now it's back to how it was before... i go through phases with artists where i'll completely drown myself in their music... recently it was miles davis

Genesia said:

Not nearly as much as I used to. In fact, since he died, I am almost back to my pre-Prince listening pattern - which includes a lot of classical.

On the other hand, I am going to 4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince on Thursday, so he's not totally off my radar.

bit of trivia... i visited Chopin's grave in Paris recently... he's my favourite classical composer

I think I probably listen to Prince a little less every year, and his passing didn't help since there isn't the excitement of new releases to bring my attention back to his music.

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Not that I don't like his music as much as I did, it's just that I know everything by heart so my interest goes to new things. I probably listen to each of the official albums and side projects less than once a year by now, which is funny because that means I probably won't listen to those records more than 20 or 30 additional times in my lifetime. Given how obsessively I used to listen to them, it's a somewhat disturbing thought.

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But I'll keep revisiting Prince's music on a regular basis until the day I die, that much I know: it's like an old friend, and it's always comforting.

I find that I listen more. It's easier to listen to his music now, as it is no longer influenced by the person and how he chooses to do things. For me, when he released Lovesexy, things changed and it became a love/hate relationship. Everytime he released something, it was always frustrating to see what games he would play with the marketing and music. Knowing a lot of what he could do and what he chose to not release over what he did release was galling.

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Now that he's no longer with us, I can more easily look past all the gimmicks and (imo) wrong decisions and just focus on the music. I've gained an appreciation for a lot of tracks that I never got around to before.

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Now, I'm the first to admit that it's my issue and the music was always there. I've carried along a hangup for the better part of 25 years and it's nice to let it go. A trip to Minneapolis and Paisley Park gave me a lot of closure and made me appreciated the human side of Prince a lot more. His craft and workethic, as opposed to his mythbuilding and philosophies.

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So, as much as I am sad to know he's not here anymore and not creating anything potentially marvelous anymore (he used to, every couple of years, even after I no longer deified him anymore), his passing has made it easier for me to enjoy his music again.

The same amount to less, simply because the Prince product is pretty-much shut down; obviously, there's no more new music happening by him after his death. There was a bit of silencing of his music when he died, spent meditating on the loss of his creativity, advocacy, and the discontinuation of live direct viewings--in which there was always something wonderful to see and hear.

>

I'll certainly be interested in any old/new material that is revealed to me through whatever random channel. I can now say that I will have nostalgia for Prince.

hard to not listen with all those boots that came out>>>>

MoBettaBliss said:

Genesia said:

Not nearly as much as I used to. In fact, since he died, I am almost back to my pre-Prince listening pattern - which includes a lot of classical.

On the other hand, I am going to 4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince on Thursday, so he's not totally off my radar.

bit of trivia... i visited Chopin's grave in Paris recently... he's my favourite classical composer

Very cool. I love Chopin, too. (Anyone who's ever studied piano has a soft spot for him, I think.) I always thought Prince's piano work was rather Chopin-esque - in the sense that it was very lyrical and flowing.

I listened to Mahler's third symphony yesterday, though - and that is some weird shit. Six movements - and nothing "jammin' on the box" about it.

[Edited 10/9/18 10:56am]

databank said:

I went thru a phase of not listening as I did with MJ. I was in an incredibly tough time in my life, one of the worst moments I've ever had when MJ passed. It served as a distraction for a bit but it was still sad. I remember driving down the road with a friend and almost every station on the radio was playing MJ music, back to back to back to back songs.

Fast-forward to April 2016. That day was an anniversary day because it was 4-years to the day that my mom died. It was going along okay actually, I wasn't in a horrible place mentally, but I was thoughtful and introspective that morning. Then my friend calls and tells me to turn on the news. It was a reason to just break down and cry; let it out. I did not listen to anything from Prince for a long time after that, aside from something random on a radio or Musak. I remember walking into an FYE and there was a display of Prince music. It stopped me in my tracks and I felt the air sorta leave me. I was surprised at my reaction. I started crying and had to walk out for a minute.

I think with musicians it's tough because the first thing you want to do is celebrate them and absorb as much of that as possible. It's also an immediate reminder that this voice, this person, this talent is gone forever - in the physical form. Musicians are so lively and animated, so to have that not there is such a tangible void. With Prince, or MJ, the dynamics of their personality, their music, the folklore, and mystique, it's almost safer to not listen to the music for a while. It's therapy to listen to it, and it's part of the grieving process to walk through the music and accept this new reality.

I've listened to him a lot more since he died compared to the rest of the 2000s. I listened to him all the time during the 80s and 90s but with all the jazzy releases and then the The Rainbow Children, I just had to take a break. I came back for the trio of Musicology,2121, and Planet Earth, but the blandness of some of these coupled with a huge increase in responsibility in my life (birth of twins) led to a period in which I only barely followed Prince. I know this sounds crazy for an avid fan during the first 20 years to say, but I only heard rumours about all the bootlegs but did not get them until I joined the org and realized all I had missed. Well, you can imagine all the catch-up I have been doing, going through so many studio and concert boots. I know the first 18 months after he passed I averaged about one Prince CD equivalent a day. It has been a real joy in doing so. Meanwhile, I have let go of all of my resistance/issues about his conversion to JW, and truth be told during the past month I have listened to TRC and One Night Alone Live about three times each. Perhaps I will come knocking on your door sometimes soon .

[Edited 10/9/18 12:02pm]

Even before the 3rd Eye Girl years, I had kinda drifted away from Prince - missed some shows I probably could have gone to, barely listened to the albums. When HnR Phase 2 came out though, I adored the record and found my interest in his work reawakened or whatever. Then he passed, and it was such a kick in the teeth that I sort of felt obliged to immerse myself in his work again, to remember how much it meant to me when I was younger and try to keep the music alive in my heart. I definitely find myself listening now as much as the peak of my fandom in the 80s and 90s, and also spending more time figuring how his songs were constructed musically and things like that. It's like... now the albums are all that we have left, they've taken on a bigger value than before.

Possibly it is a bit self indulgent, but it sure seems that the world is less interesting without him making new music and giving us all something to look forward to, something to aim for on the calendar. Sorry, this ended up coming across a bit bleak. The music is all we have left, so it sucks to see it mismanaged.

I still listen to his music 7 days a week, 365 days a year

Genesia said:

MoBettaBliss said:

bit of trivia... i visited Chopin's grave in Paris recently... he's my favourite classical composer

Very cool. I love Chopin, too. (Anyone who's ever studied piano has a soft spot for him, I think.) I always thought Prince's piano work was rather Chopin-esque - in the sense that it was very lyrical and flowing.

I listened to Mahler's third symphony yesterday, though - and that is some weird shit. Six movements - and nothing "jammin' on the box" about it.

[Edited 10/9/18 10:56am]

great point... i'd never thought about it, but can see where you're coming from

Only The BFTP Cd's, and now that's gone too...

Tilikum1983 said:

It kindda confuses me when people say they dont listen to him much anymore because they're on this website

That thought crossed my mind too

peggyon said:

Tilikum1983 said:

It kindda confuses me when people say they dont listen to him much anymore because they're on this website

That thought crossed my mind too

I thought of it too. It's strange indeed. I spend more time reading about/discussing Prince than listening to his music now.

Tilikum1983 said:

It kindda confuses me when people say they dont listen to him much anymore because they're on this website

Confuses you? Why? It isn't like this site plays music.

Some of us have been here a very, very long time. We have friends here and we know the music forward, backward, and inside out. We don't have to listen to it every minute of every day to know what it's about or what it (and its creator) means to us.

If I wake up in the middle of the night with an annoying song playing in my head, I will "think" Alexa de Paris or Pink Cashmere. I don't have to get up and actually play it on my phone or tablet, because I can hear it in my head - note for note.

To intimate that people who don't listen to Prince's music very often don't belong here is like telling someone they should move away from their hometown after their parents die. How dumb is that?

databank said:

I haven't listened to him properly, other than the occasional song, in about six months.

I've been a fan since the mid-90s, became proper hardcore in the late 90s, around the Rave era. I listened to Prince almost daily for about a decade after that. Around 2009/10 I started getting into a lot of other music and so naturally, I listened to Prince less frequently, but still went through phases of playing him loads and always bought the new releases.

I still listen to him from time to time, but it'll probably take a good unreleased album to really awaken my interest again.

I know that I have pretty much stopped watching those music award shows because there's no more holding-my-breath-hoping-that-Prince-would-make-a-surprise-appearance-or-perform.......

Me too.

I listen to P every day on the way to work.

I am rediscovering nuances in his songs.