Since the release of "The Rainbow Children" I have seen numerous people decribe their hatred for "Wedding Feast." I think a majority of those people just don't understand it. The song really isn't even a song-it's a musical interlude. It is also a parody. It's like "The Naked Gun." You don't compare "The Naked Gun" to "Star Wars" or "The Godfather" , and you shouldn't compare "Wedding Feast to "When Doves Cry" or "Sign 'o' the Times."

skywalker said:

What if there was a spoof scene right smack dab in the middle of the Godfather?

I see WF akin to Flava Flav's songs on PE's albums: comic relief in the midst of more serious subject matter. And since it's sandwiched between "Deconstruction" and "She Loves Me 4 Me" it doesn't seem to break up the concept and sequence of the story.

skywalker said:

What if there was a spoof scene right smack dab in the middle of the Godfather? Wouldn't that kind of interrupt the flow and make you leave the theatre with a bad taste in your mouth?

Do I think the song is serious? No. Do I think it's awful and interrupts what I consider to otherwise be a relatively consistent album? Yes. Songs like this, if they are needed at all, are best left to bonus tracks at the end of an album, especially one like TRC, designed for people who enjoy listening to entire albums and not select tracks.

It’s one the many twisted little pleasures that allow “The Rainbow Children" to work as an endlessly enjoyable concept album.

I love visualizing Prince as this slightly mad 18th century patriarch, drunk on his own power, commanding that a feast in his honor be commenced at once. Or, surely at the very least, a run-of-the-mill smorgasbord. And just like in a play fit for a king, his minions snap to attention and dutifully harmonize his orders back to him, seemingly as they dance about in preparation for the grand brouhaha of all time.

Adding further to the humorous visual he qualifies and tempers his dictatorial commandments based on their potential to get usurped by an even higher power. He wants the big banquet held outside beneath a tree, unless of course it snows (wink, Minnesota, self-deprecating humor). And then he ends the piece with a short laugh that seems to acknowledge both the absurdity and the joy of his own imagination.

Musically to me it sounds like a good-natured spoof of Mozart’s illustrious opening to “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”. He’s had a big enough ego to put forth the notion before that he’s in the same general league, now he’s switching centuries with him and trying on his garb for a brief moment of fun and frivolity.

And as Supernova points out, this all serves very much as a comic foil to the mostly serious subject matter that surrounds it. A kind of a self aware wink by the artist to the audience that, despite what you might be thinking--no, what I’m almost sure that you’re thinking at this point, I still haven’t lost my sense of humor here.

I think some of the colorfully twisted sketches on “Parade” work in much the same way, although they are obviously even more fleshed out than “Wedding Feast”. I would have little interest in hearing some of them outside the context of “Parade”, nor would I want them included in a box set. But take their playful spirit out of this album and you cut out a great deal of the magic of the whole.

Another example would be the short instrumental passages found on “Rainbow”. In another context they probably don’t work nearly as well. But heard here they are like bold splashes of color that serve as connective passageways that add depth and uniqueness to the greater scheme of things; to the journey itself.

In short, I like me some "Wedding Feast".

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[This message was edited Sat Aug 21 22:19:46 2004 by Brendan]

It's one of the high-points of the album, if you ask me!

a bunch of really smart stuff

This is the first time that I read that someone gets it too.

dualboot said:

I don't think it's a joke..but it is humorous. I think...really think that TRC is telling a story and this part of the story has more meaning than that. A wedding feast is very symbolic & ritualistic. It also signals a joyous occasion, a union, celebration.

It also breaks the album up too. Does anyone know where it falls on the vinyl version...my guess is that if TRC is 2 disks...it opens up the 2nd disk. Another point for it's inclusion...if I am correct. Just a guess here.