Reality close. Great video. Godd actress, empathic, touching.
[Edited 10/16/04 3:18am]

I couldn't possibly hate the song or video any more unless the REAL ORIGINAL artist of this song AND WE ALL KNOW WHO THAT IS....JOHN COUGER MELLONCAMP...himself showed up in a PVC thong, cowboy hat and boots and played this all over again! HELLO UUUHHHHH why for someone (Prince) who professes and proclaims to be the almighty original orginator of music, have to take a bite out of John Couger Melloncamp's (When The Walls Come) Tumblin' Down? Even a hearing-impaired person can hear that being sampled, it's sooooo obvious it's sickening! I sure hope he gave Mr. JCM the deserved credit for that. IMHO, you sure don't make them like you used to Prince, what a waste of real talent and brains!

great video, thanks for the link

DaVanity said:

I find it humous and interesting that you would make a link between P and John Couger Melloncamp.

Neo-cool and fantastic. Great video! Was this originally supposed to be a single for the UK, at first?

what does the "2:5" mean across his forehead at the beginning of the video?

I watched it over at NPGMC...good stuff. I liked CG anyway because of its lyrical content, even tho so may others hated the song. So it's going to be a single in the US? Awesome! And good timing, just before the election!

Here's a good article about it. (login: crockett@tubbs.com, password: miamivice, courtesy of BugMeNot.) Apologies if this was linked earlier- didn't see it

I was brought out of my Princeless stupor when I saw about the Cinnamon Girl video this morning on the Early Show. I didnt even know he had made a video.

I only saw the conbtroversial clips, but what I do know is this. I think the video only serves to perpetuate stereotypes of Arabs further. AS someone who is Muslim but not Arab I can safelt say that most Arab Americans who are harassed just want to clock somebody in the nose. The vast majority don't fantasize about blowing up something. This video kind of makes it seem like the first things Arabs think about is blowing something up when they get angry. Often a punch in the nose will suffice. Also, if you really want to extrapolate from this video you could interpret it as saying "most suicidde bombers were picked on as kids" and that's why they are driven to these actions...which I think is utter crap.

Also, I think they played it safe by showing an Arab American and not a Muslim. If the girl had worn a headscarf, this video would be getting a lot more flack. Yet it's mainly girls with headscarves, and not "tan girls" who get harassed. But I understand wanting to play it safe.

I think music videos are a bad place for political commentary since there is only 3 minutes to cover an issue that deserves far more time. In the end most people walk away saying, "OK, yeah, harassment is wrong and we KNEW that...but what the hell was that?!"

Took a while to stream with my dial up..but well worth the wait..Love it

great video... love the fact that this video makes us think of the world we live in 2day..u cannot judge a book by it's cover..it really sucks if video doesn't get air play.. what happened to freedom of speech... u rock prince (>> talk guitar talk << )

I just watched the video, and to be honest, I really see the underlying message as violence and hatred begetting more violence and hatred, as usual the self-righteous ones in the media who condemn this type of artistic expression see a combination of 9/11, an arab american, and a bomb and miss the whole point of the message...

btw..I have seen a few posts her mention "airport harrassment." In Europe, it certainly isn't limited to the typical stereotype security people look for. I was travelling with my wife and child and I look about as Arab as the pope...Crew-cut blond hair, blue eyes, american passport, but I was stopped four times, once at the door, once before check-in, once after check-in, and once before boarding. at the Da Vinci Airport in Rome...

Neversin said:

Git emmmmm

Hotlegs said:

I think it is about how the 9/11 attack and the wars in the middle east can confuse young people that are caught in the middle of all of this. It's not trying to say that "all Arabs or Muslims think like this".



WTF? Maybe it has the same chords, but the tempo and lyrics are different. JCM prolly ripped off the chord progression from someone as well.
[Edited 10/15/04 12:24pm]

319 said:

I was thinking the same thing.

Interesting concept. Homeland Security falls a bit short of what the government did to Japanese Americans(the interring of thousands in camps) after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but in spite of all the strides of Civil Rights in this country there is still an underlying current of stereotypical racism toward anyone not white. The "statist" media hacks make sure of it.

I'm an arab (well, partially, anyway), so I was very interested to see what Prince would come up with for this song. All in all, I think it was a thoughtful attempt to show an increasingly common form of racial prejudice that's often over looked. I hate to quote Jermaine Jackson of all people, but arabs really are "the new negroes in america," (and I say this as someone who is also part black...and white...as well as arab...oh, damn, Prince was singing 'bout me, wasn't he?). Personally, I don't have any fantasies that involve blowing up airports, but I can see why he chose to depict such a vision.

I know people like Prince's stance with the new video for Cinnomon Girl -and how it's questioning people's ideas about terrorism---What Prince is doing is great but There is a project I heard about by Warbux Records is putting together called "Five Pillars, Five Elements" whose purpose is to dispell the misconception of Islam by using Hip Hop. Check out www.warbuxrecords.com and in regards to this project. What Prince is doing a start and I think even Prince would appreciate Warbux Record's efforts with the "Five Pillars/Five Elements" CD.....as it's a noble cause it today's political/social environment. Support this project and check out www.warbuxrecords.com.

Temptation said:

I swear that's what I thought when I looked at it.
Glad it wasn't just me.
I saw it and it made me sad/horrified at first... esp. after the "climax". I felt for the girl. But I liked it a lot. I really saw it as just a story being told from his pov about how sometimes someone may have been convinced to do something that radical... I read a huge article about these successful women-- one was a lawyer-- who go and strap bombs on in the name of their beliefs (and by that I don't mean their religion)... it's a reality, and he was just giving us his perspective on it. In the end, "Cinnamon Girl" seemed to just be envisioning what could have happened, as opposed to actually having had done it. The whole climax reversed itself, and I think that said she changed her mind...
Now this may just be me, but lyrically, it reminds me of stuff like "Sweet Baby" and "Don't Talk To Strangers". Just not as political, tho'... (shrugs)
YMMV

To start off.. this is the longest thread replys ive seen in my life. Anyway yea I saw the cinnamon girl video. There is a lot of people bitching about it though. I heard he is being suied by MTV or something. Like MTV even knows what good music is or something. Yea I don't know I think everybody has their own oppion on this and like they say oppionions are like assholes everybodys got one so I guess I should state mine. I think that Prince was trying to get a vaild point across he wanted people to think. Use the brains they were born with. On top of that I also think the point he was making is the steroytpical "arabic" girl how she was stereotyped and so forth.It's not just arabic it's everywhere but that just happened to be forming from current issues.

I watched it last night, and it is provocative but not inappropriate. What was most telling was, as Cinnamon Girl was dreaming about being in the airport, she saw some "cinnamon toddlers" there too, which appeared to make her rethink.

Just because terrorism is evil doesn't mean we shouldn't try to understand what makes people sink to such a level. Bigotry could be one of those things. That's the point that Prince is apparently making.

namepeace said:

EXACTLY! EXACTLY! THANK YOU!

piscesglenn said:

no problemo!

IMO it's a good video, but the song is still so lame

Serious said:

You're kidding!

sataninas said:

No, not at all It's one of the top 5 most terrible songs Prince ever released IMO. I still can't understand that it was chosen as a single