When Prince is angry, lonely or heartbroken it seems to bring out his best lyrics.

Is a more content Prince (probably now and when he first got married to Mayte) more "boring" than a "wounded" Prince?

Perhaps. That's pretty standard for a lot of songwriters. Their grief is our gift. Kinda sad. But true.

sro100 said:

that's a good question and can be argued to death lol


i think it's more like (coming from a novice fan) the Prince that was still in the process of learning about himself (in WHATEVER way youd like to take that ) was better....but then again i like the prince now... the "wise" prince lol imho judging from what i read from the more hardcore fans...


what you said is a good point tho, madartista, grief is our gift...some of my best poetry comes from being in an emotional slump

"Good Love" is said to have been at a sad time when Prince was fighting with Warner Bros.

that's my favorite Prince song of all time although i played it out and havent listened 2 it 4 about 2 months.

madartista said:

have you seen THE ROSE with the marvelous Bette Midler?

I always liked what U2 said in The Fly:

"Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief
All kill their inspiration and sing about their grief"

Basically, that pop stars turn their troubles into fuel for their songs. Prince can definately be said to fall into that category. But he also takes the good things in his life and puts them into songs.

I remember an English teacher once told me that you couldn't have a novel without some problem to be overcome, something negative - you couldn't have an interesting novel that was upbeat and happy from beginning to end.

Personally, I prefer Prince when he is ugent in his music and has something to say. If he's too happy he tends to write endless sappy ballads. Not that I'd wish him any harm. But as he himself said, 'It's flyer to be hungry than phat'.

Yes and No.


When Prince sings about how love hurts and about relationships from a frustrated and betrayed point of view, it makes for good drama.

When he's unahappy about politics...Well, Bob Dylan--he ain't.

I remember seeing an interview with Sting where he was saying that he used to think to make great art you had to be in some sort of pain, but he came to the realisation that wasn't so, because now he was happier doing the music he was doing, and it wasn't coming from a negative/unhappy place.

Of course, we all know what happened to Sting's music

If you're a good writer or musician, you don't need to be "sad" or "lonely" to write good stuff. All it takes is a good imagination and good writing skills. But loneliness might be necessary if you want to daydream and make use your imagination.

I remember this singer Leona Naess said that if she were to get married, she'd give up writing. She said that she writes because she needs to because she is unhappy or something like that. So if she were to get married and found happiness, she wouldn't write anymore or need to write anymore.

But if your imagination is big and you are clever, you can come up with something good, even if you are not sad or lonely
[This message was edited Tue Aug 24 5:48:31 2004 by TheDreamingPeasant]

Qualifiedly, I say yes. My reason for saying this is partly because of the liner notes in Crystal Ball. According to the notes, Prince penned Crystal Ball (the title track) when he was in a deep "bluefunk" depression. I can only assume that he was writing the rest of the original Crystal Ball album around the same time during this depression. These songs, IMO, are some of his funkiest, best work. This leads me to believe that a depressed Prince is a more funky Prince. (This is true of course, only if you believe the liner notes)

However, I don't think that only depression leads to good songs from him, I think probably that any high emotional state would work (i.e. angry Prince, euphoric Prince, confused Prince, bitter Prince). A perfect example of this is Lovesexy (a euphoric/spiritual Prince).
I think that the umm.... less inspiring ..music only comes from a satisfied/complacent Prince. For example, I like Musicology fairly well, it's a pretty good CD, but when I compare it to SOTT, I notice the difference. (And I feel that he is probably more satisfied now than then.) It just does not compare. Is there ANY track on Musicology that is quite as funky or memorable as If I Was Your Girlfriend? I think not.

Just my opinion

S
[This message was edited Tue Aug 24 5:57:35 2004 by Redayh]
[This message was edited Tue Aug 24 9:06:30 2004 by Redayh]

a poet needs pain like the roses need rain!!

Of course he was going to be sad in the 80s during his heyday. He had so many women to have sex with and break his heart over. The problem with this guy was always though that even though he cheated on his girls he still got depressed when he broke up with them.

Just my three nickels.

I'd chuck out all of my Prince albums and forget about him if it wasn't for his dark side; it makes him a credible artist. The best Prince is a 24-carat Prince, and I wish we could know how HE feels about various pieces of his work.

Maybe lack of Sex for a Month Would Frustrate him so much he 'd write Angst Ridden Songs??? I Don't Really Know the man's Temperment I Can Only Conjure a Picture ya Know. Like he's gotta Deprive himself of things ya Know so he can have all kinds of Emotions coming out. Ya Know Longing and Wanting for Stuff...

madartista said:

Mmm hmm. It's kinda bitter sweet then, eh? I’m sure every1 wants something, in this case songs 2b dripping in truth & emotion, but is it worth gettin thru some1 else’s unhappiness?

Tho... I think 2b an honest song writer u have 2b highly in tune with everything u feel, in the 1st place, even the pains. Or perhaps u have 2b way outa this universe & far away from everything. & the purpose of songwriting then is 2 ground u & bring u face 2face with ur human emotions (& I’m totally gonna use something like that 4a new song title… ‘bringing u back home thru songs’ ).



Either way I'm sure writing while having the weight of a particular emotion on ur shoulders is frustrating, mayb esp. 2Prince? But in the end 1ce he's felt what he's felt & he is able 2 listen 2 what's come out of it... the whole process is probably more revealing & satisfying than anything. Ex: The Beautiful 1s … hell yes that is total solace, no disputing that! So keep that angst comin

That's the reason I'm a fan actually. B/c I don't think there is a single emotion Prince hasn't felt & conveyed thru his work. Who else’s guitar could speak 4 him in most cases… C: Eye Hate U solo. It’s more emotional than me hehehe

Well, much as I would like to think not, I'd have to say it's definitely true in Prince's case.
The evidence is there for all to see, just look at his body of work. The 2 eras when he was
in the most emotional turmoil and conflict were the same 2 that produced his most
prolific and consistently excellent musical output. The Dream Factory/Camille/Crystal Ball/
Sign O' The Times period, and the Come/Gold Experience/Initial Name Change era.