I'll start...

"It's Gonna Be Lonely"

I knew this girl (Anastacia Anderson) from the time we were each five years old in kindergarten. She was the first girl I ever asked to marry me -- we were in first grade at the time. I even asked to carry her jacket for her. I used to wait for her as she got off the bus to school. We got along very well -- never got in a fight. In third or fourth grade, she moved away. And then in seventh grade -- I saw her! She was one of my teacher's assistants. Everyone who knew us said we should start dating. But my girlfriend at the time was the most popular girl in school, Kelli. Anyway, Anastacia and I started to get to know each other again. She invited me to her birthday parties, and her mother often invited me to spend the day at their house. In high school we started dating. Both of our parents thought we were meant to be and that we should get married. But at 16 years old, I moved away. I left her a poem, but it wasn't mine. It went something like this...

We've been together for quite some time
I'd think by now you'd know
It would take forever to get you off my mind
And now I have to go
I guess I got a little insecurity when it's concerning you
I guess I'm just afraid that when I leave
I'd be in a messed-up state of blue
And I'd be so lonely
Without you loving me
I know it's gonna be lonely
Without you giving me everylittlesinglething that I need, lonely
Whatever's in your kiss, it really turns me on
Til I go right out of my mind
I betcha thatcha never knew that in my dreams you are the star
The only bummer is that I've got to leave
Who do I think I are?
Don't you know it's gonna be lonely
Without you loving me
I know it's gonna be lonely
Without you giving me everylittlesinglething that I need, lonely

She loved the poem, and wrote me to tell me so. We continued writing each other, remaining boyfriend and girlfriend. We wrote up to a letter or two a day. At least two a week. I would often send her mix-tapes of my favorite Prince songs and related artists. "Adore" sort-of become our song as well. And then Lovesexy was released, and I sent her the lyrics to "Anna Stesia." She thought I wrote the song for her, and I said, "No, Prince wrote it." Wow, she thought that was strange -- Prince had written a song with her name. I visited her that summer, and we made plans to go to a Prince concert together. At 18 years old, both of our parents let us go to Oakland and spend a weekend in a motel room together so we could see a Prince concert. What an experience -- all around. Me and Anastacia. Oh, and Prince too.

Unfortunately, the sad conclusion of the matter is that Anastacia went back home, graduated from high school, went to college, and met another guy who she eventually married. Of course, the letters between us diminished and we don't write to each other anymore. And I'm still...

So lonely...
So lonely, baby
So lonely, baby
Woo ooo... Woo ooo...

Anyway, your turn. Please share a true story about why a particular Prince song is special to you. Thanks!
[Edited 2/1/05 0:41am]

Sorry to hear that man.

Go Oaktown!

Wow, those are all very intense connections to some songs. I wonder if Prince knows how much a part of us his songs have become? When he plays those songs live, he's making some serious connections to a lot of people in the audience. Those songs can be like medicine -- better than any drug... to see us through life's ups and downs.

Thanks for sharing!

susannahs pjamas..it involved a hot summer in 89..cheese pasties and that intensive teenage love thing!!!

when i split from my wife i had to leave my daughter vikki behind, the song for my daughter just had to be ,.... dont talk 2 strangers.

little darling, i gotta go now
dont know when i'll be coming back
got my future all planned out
got my bags packed

things dont always turn out right
thats just the way it goes
before i leave u
theres just a few things u should know

dont talk 2 strangers
dont forget 2 say your prayers at night
remember god he made u
and one day he'll make everything alright
dont cross on yellow
u always got 2 wait 4 green light

nobody will ever love you as much as i do
but that doesnt mean other people wont love u 2

great song very apt. i gave my daughter a copy of the song and the lyrics when she was 7 yrs old she is 15 yrs old in a couple of weeks , she still has the cd and lyrics and you know what ???

she's the most beautiful girl in the world !

That is very cool! I know it must've been hard to leave her behind, and that was definitely the perfect song it seems. It's beautiful that she still has it and has grown into a beautiful young woman!

theres 2 that are very dear 2 me:
she's always in my hair was always special 2 me because it reminded me of my mother and grandmother because they both were always there 4 me whenever and i wrote a letter 4 my godmother a few years back and included the 1st verse and she loved it.

the 2nd one adore was another cause i met this girl trenesha back in high school and ever since i met her i always wanted to b with her we talked alot during school but i was still in my stage of wanting the hot girl in school cause she was it so i kinda lost interest and we talked again the next year but there was alot of dumb shit i was doing and it work again. i thught of her every night and day and she never left the mainstay of my mind and i used to work with her aunt and i told her all the time i adore the hell out of her niece and wrote her a letter and put 2 verses of the song in it:

From the first moment I saw U
Ooh, I knew U were the one
That night I had 2 call U
I was rappin' till the sun came up
Tellin' U just how fine U look
In a word, U were sex
All of my cool attitude U took
My body was next
U made love 2 me
Like U were afraid
Was U afraid of me?
Was I the first?
Was I your every fantasy?

Everytime U wander, I'll be your eyes so U can see
I wanna show U things that I show no other
I wanna be more than, more than your mother
More than your brother
I wanna be like no, like no other
If U need me, I'll never leave
I know that U know without U there is no me, there is no me
Without U there is no sea, there is no shore
Love is 2 weak 2 define how much I adore
U child, U child
The last words U hear, the last words U hear

wow..i this is a pretty deep thread yall...

uhmm... the first one that i can think of off the top of my head is Starfish and Coffee..now, i havent heard the original yet ive only heard the version he did on the muppets 2nite show...and i can totally relate to that song...im not saying that im retarded or mentally disabled but im not like everyone else -- at least thats what i'm told...but i never let it bother me (@ least on the outside...) and im jus a real colourful creative person and i feel that when he's singing about cynthia rose he's singing about that part of me...i think in everyone lies a cynthia rose..but thats just me...

the next song is thieves in the temple...it hit me when i heard that song cuz the words symbolized me losing not only my first and only boyfriend but many of my best friends (i dont know what went wrong) but i lost faith in love and at the end of the song when hes yelling out stuff like " i thought u loved me" "u lied" i never got the chance 2 say or yell those things..and it was like he was going thru me and purging those feelings...


the next is a million days...the first time i heard that song i instantly had the feelings i had felt moments after i split with him...and i cried...which was such a low feeling, especially listening 2 the cd 4 the first time on the way back from my first time seeing prince lol i was so pumped and hearing that song...it was a bad feelin..i love the song but such a low feeling

the next one is dont play me...and not neccessarily the whole song...i jus love the line when he says "im the wrong colour and i play guitar" i play guitar and i get a lot of flack for trying 2 learn 2 play the guitar cuz i'm "of colour"...i get it from both sides...laughs...sneers...the whole bit - so that line in the song really hit me...

condition of the heart is a hard song 4 me 2 listen 2 -- for obvious reasons...i give my heart and my all and its usually all in vain... and im always hurt - its like a terminal condition of the heart

sometimes it snows in april - a song that i like 2 cry to...i've lost many people and that adds to the meaning...but when i feel the need 2 cry i put that song on...

purple rain - welll....it never really had much meaning until i saw prince perform it live...for the first (and who knows...last) time in my life...and i had to sit down because it was so powerful..everytime i hear it now im instantly moved.

(damn this is long sorry! lol)

but yeah that's it that i can think of right now....i think im gunna go listen to sometimes it snows in april now...

What album is "Don't Talk 2 Strangers" from, danielboon? Sounds like a great song but I've never heard of it.

As well as It's Gonna Be Lonely, what album is that from?

RazzBeret said:

its on the girl 6 soundtrack = great album tracks chosen by spike lee.

danielboon said:

Oh, that's grand, I'm waiting for that album to come in the mail.

RazzBeret said:

from the self titled album = prince , (my favourite p album)

Extraordinary...cuz when I first heard it he was singing it right in fron tof me...

Damn U...because it signified my first true favorite Prince ballad...

Gold...because it reintroduced me to the realization that I was gonna be a diehard for life and it is the only song that can calm me when Im on a plane...

Crazy U...because it was the first song I decided I would like to make over...

I think I can come up with thousands of reasons...
[Edited 2/2/05 18:44pm]

Power Fantastic

Its not so much the lyrics but the melody and arrangements. It reminds me of me pulling myself back together slowly but surely after I loss someone very close to me. I must've cried an ocean of tears listening to it.

Prince - Power Fantastic Lyrics
Late at night, when the world is sleeping
U r frightened, ?cause the power?s creeping
In your room is something u?re afraid of
Life or doom is what this feelings made of

Power fantastic
Is in your life at last
U?re a little apprehensive
?cause what it is is what u want and need

Minor g is the chord of pleasure
It will be played eleven measures
U will see fire, but u?re cool as ice
U lie if u say this isn?t nice.

Power fantastic
Is in your life at last
U?re a little apprehensive
What it is is what u want and need

Power, power

Power fantastic
Is in your life at last
U?re a wee bit apprehensive
?cause what it is is what u want and need

Power, power, power fantastic

Good question. Let me give ya'll my story...

The one Prince song that has the most signifigance to me has to be "17 Days".

When I was pregnant with my first son, my hubby (then we were just dating) wasn't ready to be a father. He was really negative toward me, didn't sleep in the same room with me, didn't go to the dr appointments with me... just a total DICK all around.

I was working at the local gas station and there was this new guy that started a few months into my pregnancy. We talked alot, he would hang out after his shift just to keep me company... he was real cool. Then after constantly getting the shaft and being pushed away at home, I was turning to the guy at work. He couldn't believe the way that I was getting treated at home. So he would bring me breakfast, rub my back, he'd stay and run my shift before my manager would come in, just so I could sit and put my feet up. He knew that I was in need of attention and made sure, no matter what, that I got it. The emotions were so strong between him and I that "17 Days" just described our relationship perfectly.

Example:

"Called u yesterday
U didn't answer your phone
The main drag is knowing that
U probably weren't alone"

(If he would call during the day, and my hubby was home for some reason, I wouldn't answer of course. "I wasn't alone")

"So here I sit in my lonely room
Lookin' 4 my sunshine
But all I've got is two cigarettes
And this broken heart of mine"

(Now he wasn't dating anyone, and he smoked too.)

"You've been gone 17 days
17 long nights
The main drag is knowing that
You're holding someone else tight"

(Now my hubby didn't know about this other guy of course, so I had to play the part at home. Whenever my hubby snapped out of his mood, that is.)

"I wanna to call u everyday
And beg u 2 be near me
But I know your head is underwater
I doubt that u could hear me"

(Of course I wouldn't see this guy everyday, so I knew that he wanted to call.)

"Called u yesterday
U didn't answer your phone
If you're the one who's always lonely
Then I'm the one who's always alone"

(Key phrase here. I was *SO* lonely during this time and I swear this guy saved me from going insane. You all know how bad pregnant women need extra attention and for me to not get barely any at home... this guy was heaven sent. "I'm the one who was always lonely and he was the one that was always alone.")

I could go on and on justifying this song and what it means to me. But I have to add that a month after my son was born, my hubby and I split up for 2 years and I was with the guy in question. It didn't work out though, and my hubby and I ended up working things out, getting back together, getting married and having another son.

And just because everything worked out in the end with my hubby and I, doesn't mean I've forgotten anything either.

I'm sure that my hubby would shit his pants if he knew all this... that this song has such strong ties to me still. You'll find me bumpin' this song 20 times in a row on any given day, you know? You just can't change the past. That was a tough time in my life and it's something that I will never forget. Ever. It just so happens that Prince had a part to do with it.

Now, don't laugh, but the one song that holds a major significance in my life, and the lives of my wife and oldest son, is "Face Down."

Emancipation came out when my wife was in her second trimester with our older son and we both loved it for all of the lovey-dovey, we're having a baby vibe that the second disc had, but around the mid-third trimester, we were told that our child was positioned wrong inside. He was, in two words, face down. We had to have what was called an "external version." And I remember the night before and on the way to the hospital the day of the procedure, we played that song and it became our son's "theme song" before he was born.

Hey, we thought it was cute.

My first was much more into Prince than I was, at the time. When we were still friends, he told me his favorite song was Insatiable. I hadn't heard it a that time, but i never let on that i was that ignorant of P's work.
I downloaded the song as soon as I got a foot in the door--
and listened to it repeatedly. Just so I could know the words--

I thought he said, "I cant have a hoe unless i have a pimp"


I also read the lyrics--

I went up to him the next day and said "I'm insatiable and i just cant stop..."

He says, "Even if i wasn't thirsty, I'd drink every drop..."

Now, he was multiracial-- a lil' Princely looking thing-- so I called him Prince for months thereafter...

Later, when things got rocky, or i felt really down, I'd blast Insatiable to remind me of the man I had feelings for, not the one he later became.

So many come to mind...a few.....

"4ever in my life"- I was just getting over a failed relationship and decided that the summer was going to be my summer of just hanging out in my own skin.
NO GIRLS to get in the way, just me and my homies. But, then, at a party I saw a friend of my X in a new light."When I am with you, I have no past" and that song was everything to me and us. I knew I would marry her after six weeks and guess what? We are still going strong after 14 years and 4 kids. 4ever in my life is my song to her.

"I could never take the place of your man"- I had a friend (a girl) that I had your typical teenage crush on. But, we could never quite get it together at the same time. She liked me when I was dating someone and I liked her when she was dating someone else. It was like that for about 3 years. At one point, I even froze her out, not talking to her for about a year. But anyway, She found out that I was single and called me up, we went out, talked etc etc and then she went home and decided to break up with this really nice guy that she had dated for about 2 years for me. I sent her this song and told her, as much as I always wanted to go out with her, she shouldn't break up with such a good guy for me because I could never take the place of her man

Sometimes it snows in April- Without getting too personal here. In the spring/summer of 86 about everything bad that can happen in a life happened to me. that song made me cry and get out all of my feelings and heal me at the same time...

How come u don't call me anymore- failed relationship, not understanding why one day you can love someone, the next day you can't call em.

and sooooo many spiritual songs that have helped me along the way..

my life soundtrack IS Prince

danielboon said:

I'm really glad you still have a relationship with her.


Miguel

Purple Rain always reminds me of my grandfather. My grandpa used to kid me about liking Prince, making the various, obvious dresses like a girl, wears makeup, blah blah blah comments. It didn't surprise me that a deeply Southern "set in his ways" man in his 70's didn't understand the appeal of Prince but the cool thing is that my grandfather always respected that I dug him. He watched Purple Rain with me on several occasions and would always tell me if he saw Prince on Entertainment Tonight or something. And, just to razz me, sometimes he would just break into the chorus of "Purple Rain" and it became our little in-joke. If somebody was talking about bad music or something he would always say, "You know what's bad music...Purple Rain, Purple Rain". I stayed with him and my Aunt in a rented beach house in Wilmington, NC and when we went down there and saw the house, damn if the place wasn't painted purple. The whole weekend he was singing "Purple House" to the tune of "Purple Rain". One Christmas, just to get him back for the years of making fun of the song, I got him a pair of the most purple socks you could imagine as a gag gift. And he wore them too.

When my grandfather passed in 1998, I so desperately wanted to play "Purple Rain" during the funeral services as one final acknowledgement of the weird bond that song had had for us over the years. My parents played "Wind Beneath My Wings" which was fine but PR would have been a much better tribute.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

thanx, we were at the cinema tonite ! to see the movie RAY .

"Purple Rain" is of special significance to me because it represents so much regarding a very special time in my life/past, and about some old friends of mine who were all into Prince back then but who have long since moved on and out of my life, but mostly because of my very first boyfriend who I loved so much and was with for 3 years (whom I met at a PR concert) and our breakup that really devestated me for a long time. He was a big, big BIG Prince fan also and the whole time we spent together was so enmeshed with all things Prince, it was hard to separate the two after he left.

In fact, for many years I didn't listen to any Prince music at ALL and I couldn't watch PR the movie for years, either, because it just hurt too much to do so. I actively avoided all things Prince and Prince related, which is why I sometimes feel so out of the loop about what transpired in the Prince world between the years of approx. 1989/90 and 2000.

Thankfully, though, the intense pain finally did pass and I eventually found my way back into the Prince scene and am now able to completely enjoy Prince and all his music -- although the song Purple Rain, whenever I hear it even to this day, still makes this little place in my heart ache and makes me feel melancholy (and not just because the song itself is a 'sad' song). I think that it will always do that to me.
[Edited 2/3/05 17:35pm]

My goodness, if I had to name all the Prince songs that were special to me, I'd be here all nite. But I'll stick to the ones that really just rang my chimes, and I'll leave out the dance stuff, cuz I've been there already.

Sometimes It Snows In April: This was the song I sang for my final exam in choir class in my junior year of high school. There was me, singing note for note, along with the music, and the class loved it. I got an A. Also, it was the first song that ever made me cry.

The Love We Make: I was just getting over being deathly ill, and really wondering why I was still alive, and I started listening to this song, and it became my favorite ballad of his for years. This song is definitely aimed at certain types of people, and although I don't believe the same as I did then, it still can get to me.

Reflection: The wistfulness in the song and nostalgizing are one thing, but when he says the line, "I don't know, I was just thinking about my...Mother. That little pause before he says the word Mother (it's doing it to me now) always makes me stop and think of my own passed mother.

Just three of undoubtedly dozens of songs I could give an explanation for, but the one thing I have finally begun to see about Prince: The reason why I like his music so much is not because he writes monster jams or any of that, but because of the "little things", like this break before he says the word Mother. More than anything, I think he is the most THOUGHTFUL musician that has ever lived. There are such tiny nuances on the most unexpected of songs, that make it classic, and I think he knows this, and does it on purpose. Like the guitar section of East from NEWS. Apart from the end solo on the opening track to The Rainbow Children, is one of the most mind-blowing solos to come along. There's power and freedom in it.

poetbear68 said:

We have the same tastes. SOMETIMES IT SNOWS IN APRIL totally made me cry when I heard it. The REFLECTION performance alltogether got me really emotional. The mother part hit me like a ton of bricks, my mom passed away in 1994. The part leading up to it "I was just thinking 'bout my....." is perfection.

Miguel

Prince's music was my religion when I was younger. I believed in God just in case there was one. I often found a song that that soothed my soul, no matter the situation ( Space, Blue Light, Another Lonely Christmas, I Wish You Heavan, Condition of the Heart, etc...

I couldn't find a song to go with the joy I felt after getting baptised, getting engaged and moving forward with my new life.

Then came The Holy River.

"If you ask God to love you longer,every breath you take will make you stronger keeping you happy and proud to call his name"

I did go down to the Holy River
I did ask her to marry me
She did say yes
I cried.

This tread is wonderfull people. I am impressed. I feel like I need to read it again, some of the stories are so full of feelings. I wish P would also read this. Then what can I say ?

Many P songs are special to me, in 20 years I had the time to dig many. I am afraid to make the wrong choice if I had to pick one. I realise almost all of you picked up ballads and I could have done the same. But I shall also say that "days of wild" is special to me. I was listening all the time to it when I was 23. To finish my studies I moved from France to Iceland for 5 months. It was the happiest time of my life. I met many new people, good friends and of course one girl I would never forget. In Iceland the sun would shine 24h during the peak of summer. The landscapes there are also incredibles, almost moonlike, with volcanoes and glaciers.
It was a very high time for me. A time of changes, and these were my days of wild. Not that they are over by the way, but it was better then. Of course as I was there for 5 months only I went to Iceland only with a few clothes (like a polar jacket) and only one Prince tape. I left all my collection home, all my purple CDs. Then of course I was missing Prince music and that's also why I was looping to days of wild.
Now the song always remind me of this always-sunshining period. I did not had "play in the sunshine" on the tape because then my choice would have been maybe different.