JediMaster said:

Its intresting that he does that"New breed leader stand up organize" chant on both sexuality and TRC.

I agree wholeheartedly about "Uptown" & "Sexuality". I fully intend to adress "Sexuality" and its relationship to TRC, once I get to that album. Needless to say, I think you're spot-on.
[Edited 2/8/05 14:30pm]

Prince's first album of the 90s was the soundtrack to the film Graffiti Bridge. While the film was a convoluted mess, it still touched on the themes Prince had been exploring. One of the characters, Aura (played with such a lack of emotion by Ingrid Chavez, I'm fairly certain that she's just an android Prince put together in his basement), is even hinted to be some sort of angelic being. The film was an attempt at a spiritual statement, and Prince became quite frustrated when it tanked at the box office. He was certain that people just didn't "get it" because of a lack of spiritual enlightenment on their part. (Actually, we got it Prince. Its just that it was so poorly written and acted we couldn't take it seriously). Its a shame, really, because it could have been decent if Prince had just hired a screenwriter and director to give it some sort of cohesiveness. I digress.

The soundtrack album was much better, proving that Prince's strength definitely lies in crafting cohesive albums. The album comes across as a concept, and the story almost makes sense in this context. Thematically, its almost Lovesexy, Part 2. The optimistic declarations of "Can't Stop This Feelin' I Got" and "New Power Generation" open the album. The former is, lyrically, similar to "Lovesexy", with Prince hardly able to contain his excitement over discovering God. The latter serves as a manifesto to the New Power Generation that was introduced on Lovesexy. It is, once again, Prince myth-making. He defines the NPG as a quasi-religious movement. A group of like-minded individuals who band together to love one another, love God, and battle the forces of evil. Oh yeah, and to have lots of sex. Oh, and making music is pretty damned important too. This is, in some ways, a revision of his "New Breed" from "Sexuality". Now, it becomes a little more refined.

Of course, Prince's questing hardly ended with his discovery of "Lovesexy", as illustrated on "The Question Of U". Prince is obviously still at odds with some elements of his spirituality. The "U" in the song could be addressed to a lover, God, or even himself. In many ways, this song is quentissential Prince, summing up much of his own inner-dichotomy.

Much more assured is "Elephants & Flowers" which tells the tell of a young man who is lost, but discovers peace by loving "God Alive". Obviously, Prince is trying to spread the Gospel, even if its his own personal interpretation of it. This is revisted again on "Still Would Stand All Time". The track is Prince's attempt for a Purple Rain-esque anthem number. While it doesn't quite achieve this, it still sums up this time period quite well. Prince sings about how many times he "couldn't make it" until "Love opened its arms" (and remember, Love is God, God is Love). He then urges the listener to "run 2 the light, leave your past behind". The pulpit of Prince is open!

This album does introduce an new, mythic place in the story of Prince. The title location of "Graffiti Bridge" takes its place next to Uptown, Paisley Park, and The Ladder as figuritive refuges from evil, where the faithful can commune with God. Like The Ladder, everyone wants to find this Bridge, and both act as a metaphor for Christ: the path to salvation. Too bad this song sounds like a commercial jingle, and its represented in the film by a cheesy, styrofoam set piece. As a symbolic image, it could have been quite powerful. The Bridge is a marked up, vandalised structure, yet it leads to life eternal. Likewise, Christ was an unassuming man, "marked" and defiled by his oppressors, yet he is the Way to life eternal.

JediMaster said:

Loves God alot.

nice read jedi. I think it will be interesting to see whatyou view of TRC is as an entire work. I've been writing one up myself.

JediMaster said:

Something worth mentioning, on the Uptown/Sexuality subject...

I'm probably stating the obvious, but Prince mentions "Uptown" in how many "headlines" on the liner notes of Controversy?

"Uptown" becomes the new US Capitol, 89 "tourists" beheaded in Uptown "invasion" (haha)...

("lingerie - new fashion trend" - hahahaha that always cracks me up)

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

Crap! You're right! I never realised that's what he said. I think I like my mis-heard lyrics better!

Soulchild82 said:

Yeah, that threw me for a loop the first time I heard it! Considering that Controversy was the first Prince album I ever bought, the one that really marked me.

I envision a comparative study of the two albums...

JediMaster said:

The idea is very intriguing. A friend of mine wrote a novel with a person called "Laura" her main protagonist; like "l'aura" - the aura in French.

I think Prince was working with "incomplete" information here... Lesser mortals trash screenplays and novels when this happens. He had the $, power & drive to bring any idea to fruition... which is not always a good thing. To say the least.

By 1991, Prince was still a popular artist, but his record sales were slipping. His answer to this problem was the ultra-commercial Diamonds & Pearls. At this point, he had named his band The New Power Generation (which, in truth, looks to have been the plan all along. Several members of the Lovesexy era band wore outfits with "NPG" emblazoned on them), thus solidifying the concept as a permanent fixture in the Prince mythos. On the whole, the majority of the album side-steps the spiritual themes of the past several in favour of straight-foward topics like love and sex (imagine that!). Still, Prince cannot resist book-ending the album with message songs.

"Thunder" kicks off the album with a tale of Prince's encounter with God one night. The almighty takes the form of a woman who comes to Prince while he listens to the radio (natch') and promises he will see Jesus "in the morning light". Ever since "Purple Rain", Prince had put declarations of "May U Live 2 See The Dawn" on his albums and films, and this line may clarify what he was referring to. A few years after this, Prince would revist the "Dawn" concept again.

Its interesting to note, at this point, how many times Prince would use the feminine to describe both God and Satan ("Annie Christian","Anna Stesia" and "Thunder"). In modern society, its common to use a masculine pronoun for both, in spite of their being spiritual beings who would really be without a gender. Prince, obviously identifying with women more, chooses to go the feminine route on a select few tracks (he would also use the masculine at times. Just depends on the imagery he was trying to convey). It could be that Prince connects the love he feels from women with that of God, while the women who scorn him are nothing short of pure evil. Prince is frequently extreme in his viewpoints.

The album closer is the anthemic "Live 4 Love". Since this album came out during the first Gulf War, Prince was addressing his concerns with it at the time. This track is from the point of view of a fighter pilot who struggles with his mission, deciding that he would rather live for a higher power and purpose than killing people. As he is shot down, he gives his life to God, rejecting the path his life has taken. Prince attempts to provide a back-story for the character, to give him a motivation for even choosing such a life. Ultimately, the lyrics are rather pedestrian, since Prince is trying too hard to make both a political and spiritual statement at the same time.

Heiress said:

More than anything, I think the film went through too many permutations. At one point, Aura was a seperate character from another called "The Angel", originally to be played by Kim Basinger. After Prince and Basinger broke up, he chose to fuse the two characters into one.

Also, I think Prince really just had too many ideas he was trying to cram into this one movie. Originally, it was suppossed to be a stage play, and it had nothing to do with Purple Rain. Somewhere along the way, somebody decided that the film would make more money if it was a sequel (and yet, they didn't bill it that way at all). Prince then layers all these spiritual ideas on top of it, trying to make them fit the story. The whole thing just became this giant mish-mash.

JediMaster said:

Do you think of Prince as something of a Romantic, in this obsession with twinship & the higher power?

Heiress said:

I think Prince is a Romantic through and through. No doubt about it. His obsession with the twin thing goes far beyond being a Gemini, and his association of sexuality and spirituality just nails it.


I've always been surprised that he didn't get associated with the New Romantics movement of the early 80s. Sure, his music was fairly distinct from that, and he wasn't British, but other than that he fit right in. His music had the themes of a Romantic, and he CERTAINLY had the fashions!!

JediMaster said:

Friend, that is one of my goals. I am planning write about this! Among other things.

JediMaster said:

So... it's "new breed" to "new power generation" to "the rainbow children?"

JediMaster said:

Not at all! I want to hear more!!!
I feel like I had a crash course on Prince music. I like to think I am intelligent, but to really delve into the hidden meanings behind Prince's music is really too heady for me, I don't have the time to reflect and comtemplate, so thank you thank you for the Cliff notes.

JediMaster said:

Jedi, you are the Master!
Reading your interpretation makes me want to pick up GB and listen again and this time listen to the words, instead of concentrating on the melody. I have been experiencing my "new" Prince CD's in the car while driving. I am missing out by doing this. It would probably be better to listen to it on my computer.

Thanks again!

Jedi where is the rest??
Your writings have quieted the fire raging inside of me (about HQ). I am actually feeling less angry about the whole deal and just want to enjoy the music and continue having fun discovering it.
May the force be with you. (I always wanted to use the emoticon. )

JediMaster said:

I'll have to disagree with you here.

Anna Stesia is the feeling, the "anaesthetic" he is searching for. He's looking for a beautiful woman to numb his pain. He realizes that only God can take away his loneliness and pain. He never refers to God in a feminine way... not once in this song.

Not saying it would be bad if he did, he just doesn't.

JediMaster said:

But it doesn't fit the rhyme scheme:

One who will listen when all others will not
There will be peace 4 those who love God a lot

prodigalfan said:

Thanks for the kind words. I've been doing this at work, so I'm fairly limited on time! I'll be back with notes on soon!
[Edited 2/9/05 13:06pm]

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

I think your interp is totally valid, and in that context you're right. HOWEVER, if you scroll back up to my analysis of Lovesexy, I explore some of the double meanings behind the title character. I think that, at the point in the song when Prince has called out to God, the meaning of "Anna Stesia, come 2 me, talk 2 me, ravish me, liberate my mind...etc" changes. It goes from being anasthesia to annastasia (a name which literally means "ressurection")

JediMaster said:

Then we're on 2 totally separate pages.

Anna Stesia is not meant to represent God. He is not asking God to talk to him, ravish him, etc. He is looking for an anaesthetic (in the form of a "beautiful girl the most"), to numb his pain.

I didn't mention it before, but Prince is talking about 2 completely separate entities in the song. A beautiful woman to take his pain away, and then God, who is the only one that can do it.

The song has absolutely nothing to do with the greek word: anastasis, nor the Russian name Anastacia.


_
[Edited 2/9/05 18:54pm]

Wow...this is a nice thread!
I have nothing to add...but I certainly enjoyed the read.

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

I do agree that the first half of the song he is wanting a beautiful girl to numb his pain. I just think when he sings it after the "Save me Jesus, I've been a fool..." it could change meanings. Note that he sings the line AGAIN during the whole "Love is God, God is Love" bit. Why reprise this if he's found God to TAKE AWAY the pain, rather than numb it?

I think his choice of Anna Stesia is multi-layered in that regard. The fact that the name sounds like anaesthesia, as well as Annastasia (or Annastacia, if you prefer the Russian spelling), is not a coincidence.
[Edited 2/10/05 8:40am]

Great thread!

JediMaster said:

I see your point. I didn't take that into consideration. I think he did cause it sounded good, and to reiterate the name of the song. If not, maybe he was mixing the two to show the confusion he had. Just speculating, cause he ends the song abundantly clear, that Love is God.

The word: anaesthesia, pronounced with a long E sound, is not pronounced the same way as "Annastasia" with a long A sound.

Anastacia, ryhmnes with Natasha, and who knows how to pronounce "Anastasis?" The way it's spelled, I would pronounce it with a long A sound as well.

I know it's nitpicking pronunciation, but Prince says the title of the song with a long E sound, therefore I don't see any connection with these other words. He is strictly singing about the anaesthetic.

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

I don't completely disagree with you. I'm just exploring the different possibilities within the song. That's the cool thing about Prince's lyrics (especially songs like this) is that they can be open to different interpretations. Ultimately, I agree overall with your interp. This song is fairly important to Prince's spiritual path, so I felt I should put everything on the table.

Funny side note about interpreting this song: I remember a few years ago, there was someone posting on the Org who was CONVINCED that the song was about a transexual. Her arguments made NO sense, but she couldn't be swayed. SHe had the most nutball logic I've ever heard (I wish I could remember specifics, it was pretty damned funny!)

prince's spiritual journey is no different than most. I find many that have the battle, being called of God and yet still yielding to the call of the flesh.

Prince simply had a creative outlet to explore the battle that is in many of us.

The end of 1992 saw the release of , an album distinctive for the unpronounceable symbol as its title. Prince had used variations of this symbol, a combination of the male and female glyphs, for years (it made its first appearance on the album cover to 1999, although some of his friends from high school claim he was doodling versions of it back then). For this release, Prince had added a new bit to the design: the alchemical symbol for soapstone. While he has never actually explained the meaning of his glyph, it has been widely thought of as the “love symbol” (some have argued that it represents his androgyny. Personally, I think it’s a bit of both). More about that later.

The album is a loosely constructed concept album, telling the story of Prince and his new paramour, “Princess” Mayte. During the “Diamonds & Pearls” tour in the early part of the year, Prince had added dancer Mayte Garcia to his entourage, and he became quite obsessed with her. He created the tale of their courtship in album form, recasting her as an Egyptian Princess (in reality, she was a Puerto Rican belly dancer). Obviously, the disc was intended to be a fictitious representation of the story, and in reality its probably only meant to further the myth of Prince.

The album begins with the track “My Name Is Prince” (we would later find out that this was actually quite ironic). Prince declares that, on the Seventh Day of Creation (when the Bible declares God rested) he was created by the almighty upon hearing a guitar “cold getting down”. Here, Prince himself is recast as a sort of demi-god, come to earth to teach us the error of our ways. “I’ve got 2 sides” he exclaims, “and they're both friends”. Again, we have the duality theme, this time ambiguous as to what “sides” he means. Male & Female? Sexual & Spiritual? Possibly all of that and more. This yin and yang dichotomy is explored several times throughout the album, with Prince at one point stating he’s “man enough 2 say he’s 50/50 girl”.

It is quite possible that the meaning of the album title can be found in the track “…And God Created Woman”. The song references the creation story of Genesis, where Eve is created out of Adam (of course, here it is Prince who has Mayte pulled out of him). Through sexual intercourse, Adam is made whole with his soul mate once again, both physically and spiritually. This “fusion” of the male and female could be exactly what the is actually all about. By finding his “soul mate”, Prince has been made whole. While Prince would not marry Mayte for several more years, and he would continue to date other women until then, it was seems that he thought he had found the one for him. In fact, he believed it to be divinely inspired.

The albums most spiritual moment comes with the track “7”, a tune that references the apocalyptic Book Of Revelation from the New Testament (in fact, some of the lyrics are directly from the scripture. Once again, Prince ties his spiritual battle into his own personal myth. He and Mayte face the evil forces of the world, but he tells her to have faith, for one day those forces will fall. It’s interesting to note that, in the video for this song, Prince destroys seven images of himself, as if purging himself of the seven deadly sins. Like Lovesexy, this represents a transformation and attempt to escape his past. The album’s closer, “The Sacrifice Of Victor” casts Prince in his very own Biblical book, as the character of “Victor”. The song tells an autobiographical tale of Prince’s childhood, and how, with God’s help, he will one day be a victor.

On Prince’s 35th Birthday, the following June, he announced to the world that he would be changing his very name to . No explanation was given, other than his spirit told him to do it. In retrospect, it seems as if the album was setting the stage for this all along. The opening track that declared his name to be Prince could be seen as establishing the character of his story that would later “die”. While this is all metaphoric, Prince took it quite seriously.

To this day, Prince has never given a complete explanation for his name change. He has given bits and pieces, but never an in-depth reason. One tidbit he dropped in 2000 (when he changed his name back) was that it was to separate him from contractual obligations. Personally, I theorize that it was much more. Repeatedly, he stated that he did it for “spiritual reasons”, and I believe that the clues can be found on the album. He felt he had found the mate who would “complete” him, coinciding with a time that he was growing increasingly frustrated with Warner Bros. Records and the way they were handling the distribution of his material. I think he decided to change his name, so he could record outside of his contract (which wasn’t exactly legal, but perhaps he thought he could get away with it). It certainly wasn’t the first time Prince had used a pseudonym in his career, and it had hid his involvement on projects before. By changing his name, he reasoned he could give vault material to WB under his former moniker, while recording what he wanted on his own under the new name. Another element that may have played into the decision was his resentment over WB actually having ownership in the name “Prince” through his publishing. Having decided he was now “whole” with Mayte, he used a new version of his trademark symbol that most fans already associated with him, a symbol that represents his newfound completion, as well as his androgynous duality. Of course, in order to convey that, it had to be in the form of dramatic song. The story of finding a new love and having a contractual dispute becomes a mythic battle of the hero and heroine fighting against the forces of evil. Classic Romantic fiction, really.

One other point that must be touched on here is the use of the alchemical soapstone symbol. Alchemy, the medieval practice of trying to transmute lead and other metals into gold, was once thought of as a science. In fact, it wasn’t until the Catholic Church declared it heretical that it became thought of as an “occult” practice. Soapstone was considered a key ingredient to this process. Prince’s inclusion of this symbol into his own personal design can be seen as a metaphor for transformation once again. He is “transmuting” into something new. There certainly were plenty of references to gold throughout this time period (and it would only increase with the recording of The Gold Experience later on). Gold chains and set pieces filled his videos, concerts and promo pictures. Becoming something “golden” in this case, can be seen as metaphoric of becoming something shining and precious in a spiritual sense. Its also interesting to note that Prince’s spiritual beliefs were starting to broaden at this point. While still Christian based, he was beginning to have more New Age style ideas creep in, such as reincarnation (he tells the Kirstie Allie character that he is into his “mid-soul”, so he is actually 320).