Everytime I listen to Emancipation, I get a sad feeling. How could someone love someone so much and then it's all over? Those are some of the most beautiful love songs I have ever heard in my life, lyrics and all. Oh, so sad, but it's all so sweet and beautiful also...if you feel me, let me know. Maybe it's just me that I love love songs so much, or just the fact that I feel for how much Prince was so much in love, (my goodness!) and that's all. I believe this is one of his greatest works, ever by any artist. I can listen to this everyday and still be touched the same way every time. Peace and much love to all of you.
[This message was edited Sat Apr 13 19:09:05 PDT 2002 by purpleleaf7]

Hey Purpleleaf7-

You are right - Emancipation does have some sad moments. But I don't just mean the songs about Mayte.

What makes me feel bad are the parts about the child, that WERE true at the time it was recorded. His feelings about being a father are forever captured in song.

Emancipation is PURE. "Lover, Sister, Mother, Wife" say it all. Sad? No: love is beautifull. Love is a moment, an eternity. When life takes it off, the reason is that it wasn't shared love. Not THE ONE. And that is the truth: Prince thought it was the ONE love (Mayte). But "the girl was only 16 years old", and she had a lot of things to see (menn too…). Prince expressed his feelings with sincerity, excessively. That the kind of honesty GOD loves. One have all known this experience. When we were just fool. no matter the age, the ONE is somewhere. Is Manuella the ONE? "She loves me For Me" say it all…

In the sense of seeing what seemed 2 B a beautiful union come 2 a close & the end of a life B4 it could really begin 2 start. Draws one 2 feel 4 such deep pains, that I would never want anyone or myself 2 go through~ But life runs its course without lookin back & keeps moving on~
But I look at that time frame that was "Emancipation" & what it meant 2 Prince. His most joyous time at this stage in his life. He was inspired by God on a deeper level, his then wife & what was 2 B his first child...and I'm sure many other things. U hear a man in (LOVE) & (HAPPY) 2 B *freed* from the chains he felt was holding him down. It was a very important record 4 him on a personal level, one that I think gave him a "new" kind of high 2 experience. I seen it all over his face during the Jam Of The Year Tour. The man really had that glow goin on~ It was a fantastic thing 2 see. It was such a fresh time where he felt open more then ever & spoke like he had just learned 2 talk again.
So at the end of the day, Emancipation, "4 myself" flows through me as being a positive & very love driven collection of music with romance & caring feelings dripping all off the 3-disc as (one) But Disc 2 (poetry in motion) really moves me, & how can it not touch the romantic spirit that lay's within all of us....

Amazing what a little bit of time can do to increase the status of some of Prince's work. I distinctly remember that when Emancipation first came out, Prince's on-line fan community ripped it to shreds - I mean it was totally trashed by the fans. Now, anytime someone has anything to say about Emancipation, it's ALL GOOD. And that's fine with me. But I think it just goes to show that fans need to put things into perspective.

If it took six years to put Emancipation into perspective, I guess it may take another six years for some people to put TRC into perspective as well.

Oh well... such is life I guess.

I feel you Purpleleaf7. I love this album - it's a real mixture of Prince's emotions, and I've said before, I think it is quite telling of his life at the time he wrote it. For me, one of the highlights has to be Sex in the Summer: it's a brilliant track, but it does sadden me when I hear that heartbeat. But who else would ever think to put that into a dance track? And looking for the positive, at least the heartbeat lives on even though the baby didn't.

Emancipation is a pretty tragic album to me - I like Disc One for its ghetto fabulousness and I like Disc Three for its energy (I've always thought it to have a late '80s - early '90s "Batman" - "Grafitti Bridge" - "Diamonds and Pearls" vibe to it), but Disc Two has always been difficult for me.

Now, in retrospect, it's even MORE difficult. Knowing how the marriage and the baby situations turned out, not to mention the folding of CBS records making the Emancipation project a bust - the album feels like an abandoned house.

I agree with the sentiments expressed by all throughout this thread. As for the "abandoned house" analogy, yeah, spot on... too many rotten memories to dwell on...

Incidentally, and I do not mean to be morbid, is that a picture of the unborn baby's scan on the artwork of Emancipation??? The more I look at it the more convinced I am that it is the baby... I feel v sad all of a sudden...

I heard about the baby's heartbeat, which is very painful and deeply felt, even as I write, but I'm really unaware of where it is present in the song "Sex in the summer". Is it the beat throughout the song, or just the beginning where no base is heard? I know it's painful but I hear many refer to this, and I just don't know exactly what they are referring to, can anyone please help me on this? Thanks to each of you so far for letting me know how you think and feel about this CD, because I find it all so very affecting, more than any other, and I love each and every song on there. Thanks so much, and much love to all of you, and Prince always.
[This message was edited Sun Apr 14 15:12:03 PDT 2002 by purpleleaf7]

purpleleaf7 said:

- It's the beat throughout.

Oh no,



Still, this makes the song even more beautiful.
[This message was edited Wed Apr 17 15:38:00 PDT 2002 by purpleleaf7]

i so hear what y'all are sayin'. emancipation almost has an air of gloom about it now...disc 2, anyway.

it's always gonna bring about memories for me b/c i was actually inspired by his tracks to mayte. my gf @ the time bought it for me, so i had it on constantly.

as i listened to the lyrics to lover, sister, mother...or let's have a baby...etc. i felt good about my own love. so much so that i was inspired to propose.

she said, yes. it's four yrs later and we have a beautiful 4 month old son.

i still think about what it must have felt like for prince to lose a child and a wife but i kinda thank him for makin' me feel so good about mine.

This is such a great topic cuz I was just about to listen to disc 2. I realize it is inspired by Prince's then new wife and child, but it also plays such an important part in my life cause every song fits in with my current situation! Also what is sad is the other day I was reading an interview that was done around the release of Emancipation and he and Mayte seemed so very happy and in love and she was very pregnant according to the interviewer she was showing quite a bit. That did sadden me quite a bit. However, that is not a bad thing because I am sure Prince still has those happy times to reflect on. You know what they say "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all." this is a damned good topic!
_____

My Computer always used to make me sad...but I haven't listened to it in a while.

TheP said:

I gotta agree. Mayte was way too young for Prince and of course she would one day grow up and want to live her own life away from Prince's castle and control. It seems that Carmen Electra did the same thing. The young ladies may be nice for awhile, but sooner or later they'll want to explore new men and things and grow up on their own.

Emancipation is one of my favorite Prince albums because it has so much great music -- from slow jams, to dance jams, wonderful remakes to joyful personal songs.
On the whole it doesn't make me sad to listen to it or think about it because it captures that moment in time for it is/was.
Looks like he's moved on from that relationship. I just hope some of those songs (not related to the child) don't get lost in the shuffle when it comes to picking songs to play in concerts.

What saddens me is seeing 10 copies of it at the resale
store! That and Rave.

Snake said:

LOL.

'sex in the summer' is his saddest song to listen to for obvious reasons, so much so that i can't listen to it anymore.

The whole album saddens me, not just Disc 2. I think all three discs suck incredibly, and that's what saddens me. IMO it's his worst album by far!

What saddens me about this CD is that I paid nearly $30 for it in 1996, but now I can find it for $7. I'm crying like a little girl with a skinned knee.

funkaholic1972 said:

What's the deal with Joint 2 Joint...it's the only song I ever bother to listen to from all three discs...but what the hell is he going on about...someone mentioned on a previous threat that it had "homoerotic" tendencies...anyone?