oooohhh...

No doubt about it, Prince is one of the most talented musicians making music today. Unfortunately, Prince does not really have that much to say. While Prince has shown that he can make relevant points with campy songs like “Controversy” and more serious tracks like “Anna Stesia” these moments of lyrical clarity and insight are far and few between. In the majority of the consciously “serious” Prince songs Prince sounds out of his league. While I enjoy the music of both “Dear Mr. Man” and “United States of Division” the lyrics are uninspired and trite. Compare “Dear Mr. Man” with the original templates “What’s Going On” and the more politically conscious Curtis and Sly and you see that Prince lacks the sophistication, wit, and verbal prowess and sensativity of his precursors. “America” is a dope track and the lyrics work because it’s pure pop-camp but when Prince goes for more he usually fails miserably. TRC? Please, while the music is, at times, brilliant, the lyrics are alienating, cryptic, and inane. Now cryptic sometimes makes for a good pop record (e.g. “7”) but generally cryptic social commentary is the product of the uniformed and naïve. But really what are we to expect? Prince spends all his time making music and today even the music sounds recycled and uninspired. Prince get out of the house, take a trip with your wife, read the paper. Any maybe you should vote too!

WHO FUCKIN' CARES!!! WHY DO YOU FEEL THE NEED TO ANALYZE EVERY
THING HE SAYS OR DOES? JUST SIT BACK HAVE A COKE AND A SMILE AND SHUT THE FUCK UP.

...I think the reason he's so vague when writing politically is that now he's marketing to a wider audience and to children, he wants to be open to interpretation to people of all political persuasions. That's probably why it's Mr. Man and not Mr. Bush. I suppose he did "Ronnie, Talk To Russia", but that's when he was out to shock and make an impression. Prince is probably more politically aware and opinionated than he expresses in his music.

Unfortunately, Prince does not really have that much to say...

[color=blue:1166090d5f]Prince's lyrical vagueness can be seen and noted throughout his career. I'm sorry, I can't agree with his reasons for being vague are "for the children". That's just how he writes. Its what a lot of hardcore fans like about Prince because they think by solving the "puzzle" in his lyrics, they are discovering something new about Prince and some even feel more clever because they "get it". Getting it doesn't mean its right, though. Some things he's very on point on, and sometimes he sounds like any other millionaire who is detached from the circumstances and understandings of people with normal lives.[/color]

BlaqueKnight said:

I AGREE! Also Prince could learn a lot from Talib Kweli. And Talib Kweli sure aint anything like the nonsense spewing Jadakiss??? Anyway, while I agree with your point, Prince's political apathy and self-declared religious interest (combined with a lost Prince rapping about niggers and whips???) paints the picture of a silly man – shallow, drifting, and out of touch. Out of touch with me cause I sure can’t see how he knows himself. But the music is nice, real nice.

bigsexy said:

yeah, we should just have threads in which we all say:

"i'm having a coke and smiling".

"yeah, me too."

"great!"

someone please explain to me why this thread should be locked?


it makes a valid point (one that all might not agree with) but there seems to be an entire fleshed out explenation of the authors views..


man, i dont visit this forum much but has this become npgmc or something? do these types of threads really get locked up? or are you all just reading the title and not the content?

Nocturnal said:

-----
No, we should stop over analyzing every thing and learn to listen to some really good music and enjoy.

It amazes me that none of you think anything Prince has to say about being self-suffient is important.

No doubt about it...bunchofstuffhere...And maybe you should vote too!

It amazes me that none of you think anything Prince has to say about being self-suffient is important.

laurarichardson said:

It amazes me that you think Prince has something to say but Talib Kwali does not.

laurarichardson said:

hey, anyone who forks out cash for a prince cd has the right to say whatever they want, and analyse as deep as they wish to.

if that analysis isn't to someone else's liking, then fine. but there should be no bar on consideration of art. prince wants his stuff to be treated as art - he's called it art himself in the past, and frankly art is critiqued.

[color=blue:40d7756c18]Ah, the ever-defensive Laura. Spare us the bullshit, sweetie. Telling people not to vote is telling people to throw away choice. PERIOD. If you agree with Prince on this issue, you Prince and Androne 3000 are all WRONG for that. Like I said, its not just about the politicians, its about the issues, too.[/color]

BlaqueKnight said:

I AGREE! Also Prince could learn a lot from Talib Kweli. And Talib Kweli sure aint anything like the nonsense spewing Jadakiss??? Anyway, while I agree with your point, Prince's political apathy and self-declared religious interest (combined with a lost Prince rapping about niggers and whips???) paints the picture of a silly man – shallow, drifting, and out of touch. Out of touch with me cause I sure can’t see how he knows himself. But the music is nice, real nice.

17ways69days said:

Both of you need to re-evaluate your reasoning. If any thing, has inluenced alot of these young artist and helped paved the way for alot of them. Like the others on the forum have said previously, Prince has always been political in some of his songs.

As for the lyrics in Mr. Man, they are some of the most millitant lyrics that he has written over years . If you are not hip to the points that he is trying convey then, it is too fucking bad and it is your loss.

DEAR MR. MAN is NOT about politics

Why do I have to explain everything?

The ruse under which he paints a semi-political picture is but a allegory of the more personal message conveyed in his song, albeit bereft of self-explanation and teeming with a mix of superfluous and necessary passages in unlikely combination. But, the code CAN be broken.

Dr Mr. Man is a double negative. Meaning “Mr.” is masculine, and “Man” is masculine, so (Mr. X Man) = Feminine. In other words Mr. Man is simply another way of saying woman.
And “Lend a helping hand” is not a social commentary on governmental intervention in social welfare programs. It’s actually much more personal. What Prince is saying is that “Look, I’m broke!! I need money.”
And when he quotes , “..they meek shall inherit the earth”, he implies that to inherit the earth, you need to breed and have offspring that will accomplish the task for you. This then tells you that “Woman” really means “VAGINA”, which is the thing from which all life originates, and is the only portal to producing offspring to inherit the earth.
So when he says, “Dr. Mr. Man, We tired of y’all” what he’s saying is : “Look, I’m sick and tired of all the vaginas responsible for all the money I’m spending and not helping me father a million children to make more money.”



The message tends to kind of muddled as he veers in many directions, but ultimately the song is a thinly veiled homage to vaginas, wrapped up in a shallow proclamation of political rhetoric—a pastiche of genitalia and politics if you will.


..
.
[This message was edited Mon Aug 16 14:55:25 2004 by AsianBomb777]

No doubt about it, Prince is one of the most talented musicians making music today. Unfortunately, Prince does not really have that much to say. While Prince has shown that he can make relevant points with campy songs like “Controversy” and more serious tracks like “Anna Stesia” these moments of lyrical clarity and insight are far and few between.

Since when does Prince have to be THE great social commentator of his time? Prince says what his view is on things and leaves it at that. He could have stopped after he recorded the song "Sign 'O' the Times" and he would have still said more than most do in their entire career.

You say Prince's messages about the state of the world are mostly "cryptic" but I think it is more like this- Prince tosses you a shovel and says "here is my point of view now dig for your own answers."

You may not prefer it, but Prince's little bit goes a long way. I much rather have him give us his social commentary like he does rather than embracing a politicians and doing a benefit for a political party.

Actions speak louder than words anyways. Jimi's version of the National Anthem speak volumes more than anything Dylan or Lennon ever sang about the USA and it's role in the world.

17ways69days said:

Both of you need to re-evaluate your reasoning. If any thing, has inluenced alot of these young artist and helped paved the way for alot of them. Like the others on the forum have said previously, Prince has always been political in some of his songs.

As for the lyrics in Mr. Man, they are some of the most millitant lyrics that he has written over years . If you are not hip to the points that he is trying convey then, it is too fucking bad and it is your loss.

Since when does Prince have to be THE great social commentator of his time? Prince says what his view is on things and leaves it at that. He could have stopped after he recorded the song "Sign 'O' the Times" and he would have still said more than most do in their entire career.

You say Prince's messages about the state of the world are mostly "cryptic" but I think it is more like this- Prince tosses you a shovel and says "here is my point of view now dig for your own answers."

You may not prefer it, but Prince's little bit goes a long way. I much rather have him give us his social commentary like he does rather than embracing a politicians and doing a benefit for a political party.

Actions speak louder than words anyways. Jimi's version of the National Anthem speak volumes more than anything Dylan or Lennon ever sang about the USA and it's role in the world.