luv4all7 said:

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I am pretty sure Forbes is refering to the USA. We all all aware that poverty exsist in other parts of the world. However, in the USA we are on a run the poor over and don't look back kick right now and we are the richest most powerful country in the world. Being that I am an African-American and Prince is an African-American I kind of think he is coming from the AA point of view. It does not mean other people are not included. Your the one that seems to think that we need to be reminded that other groups are poor.

andykeen said:

I rate the song on the same level as "Money Don't Matter Tonight". Classic? By no means. Easy listening message music to chill to? Oh Yeah.
[Edited 8/29/05 21:00pm]

Not one of my favorites but I can appreciate it
I like how he did it on the Musicology special (VH1)

destinyismine said:

Nice idea, not very coherent. He's done better.

I got mixed feelings. It is my fave on the album, and I always like when he gets pseudo-socio-political. The thing is, he never has made highly intelligent complex analyses. I mean, if you actually think about the lyrics to SOTT or the Cross - they're not really saying anything. In fact, Dear Mr man is more radical, at least, in that it takes a vague political position (okay, very vague). The thing is, SOTT wins because the lyrics r ingenious, even if themessage is unclear, and they include satire and criticism (particularly the line "when the rocket blows up, everybody still wants to fly"), and the Cross is brilliant because of what it does musically and how that interplays with the lyrics (the repeat performance creates an internal dialectic that makes the whole thing far more complex than it would be otherwise).
Dear Mr Man has none of that complexity and so ends up being diappointing. It excited me at first, coz here's P doing a Gil Scott Heron. But then I was like, yeah but GSH does GSH better! (whereas when I first heard HQ, I was like: here's P doing JB, but making it Prince - whoo-hoo!).
To sum up, I like Dear Mr Man, but it's frustrating coz P didn;t turn it into something new and exciting but instead left it as a teaser of what coulda been.

(BTW - I HATE Money Don't Matter 2nite!)

thekidsgirl said:

What and when was this Musicology special (VH1)???

laurarichardson said:

Laurarichardson, Right On.

Astasheiks said:

The Art of Musicology Special...

It came on sometime last year during the whole "comeback craze"
It was pretty good too. Prince performed "Musicology" and "Dear Mr. Man"

He also did an awesome acoustic set and gave a brief interview with Sway
from Mtv. The whole show was a half hour long and it aired a couple times on
Vh1 and (I think?) Mtv.

Funny how people have such a problem with the "voting" line, yet they still readily admit that both presidential candidates were busters.
I see no problem with Prince pointing out the fact that some men will put a feather in their cap at any cost, while not making a bit of positive difference in the world.

thekidsgirl said:

Thanks, sure Hate that I missed that.

How dare he speak for ALCOHOLICS!!!!! He doesn't even drink!


Anyways.....in your original post you said you think Prince was talking about black people when he said poor people, and I said I think he just meant POOR PEOPLE. That's all.

Astasheiks said:

One of my favorite parts was the accoustic set. I feel sorry that you did miss it.

laurarichardson said:

Furthermore, all you see on the news in New Orleans suffering looks like 90- 95% Black folks!!!

ThreadBare said:

i agree with both of you, for sure.

"ain't nothing fair about welfare, ain't no assistance in aids" ranks among the worst lyrics he's ever done.

Prince, i poop on your poopy lyrics!

Good day to you!

Astasheiks said:

Ummmm, Okay, now I'm REALLY confused.....are you saying that Prince wrote the poor people part about the hurricane, and New Orleans. Sounds like we have a Deanne Warwick on our hands.....

destinyismine said:[quote]It's a nice enough tune but the lyrics kinda lack substance for me. He lists several grievances with no real conclusions.[/quote

Since when did Prince songs solve all the problems of the world?

TheFrog said:

You poop on papers of poopy lyrics! Don't u have a bathroom, or are u typing from a laptop in New Orleans?

i think it gets better on every listening. it's fairly subtle.

luv4all7 said:

I was referring to the person that was saying there are just as many poor whites in America as there are blacks; which statistics show in even proportion is a lie.

Astasheiks said:

Nobody on this thread said that.

catpark said:

CATPARK, I know thats right!!!!

This was always one of my favorite songs on the cd. I've said it before - if he released it to radio, it would definitely go Top 10 on the R&B chart. Love the bass line.

audience1 said:

AD1, I know what you're talking about on the bass line. I wonder would it make on the R&B chart?

Seems like these bitc$es don't play anything by P anymore in my city (Dallas) even on the R&B radio(except an occasional oldie jam), which is steemed more to radio programmers who tells the radio what to play which I guess is trickled down from executives still pissed from P leaving Warner Bros.

Astasheiks said:

You have a point. Some of those Payolla bitches are still licking Warners ass so perhaps you're right.

And as for the bassline shit, it's killing. P layed it down. Regardless of whatever anybody says, that song was one of my favorites on the CD even if it wasn't PC to some.

a LOT of Prince "Classics" are overlooked these days..it was a bit diffent back in the day when Prince came out with an album and it was digested by EVERYONE...
We are in the days...where an artist has to depend on ... the man who decides who the flavor of the week is.. and that has NOT been Prince.
But listening to the whole Prince catalog and digesting it FULLY, I will jump on and say that "Dear Mr.Man" IS a classic... and is a very important song in his career.

A Point far off..is that in the 80's everyone spent a lot of money on music....they heard "Raspberry Beret" on the radio and went out and boutght the 45 single (or waited hours and hours for it be played recorded it on cassette and played it out til they COULD get the single).....and discovered "She's Always In My Hair" or bought the whole album and found the delightful opus called "Around The World In A Day'...its NOT like today....if the internet was here like it is now in 1985..."Rasperry Beret would have been on a few hundred computers..instead of the 1,000's that went out and bought the 45 or LP.... and they would have missed out on the awesome BSide or the Album.
Those who were hip on Dear Mr Man...most LIKELY didn't hear the whole Musicology album.
The hype of music is different these days....Its too bad.. a lot of the kids and yes its the kids controlling the game..taht they are so internet savy that they download a track thats hip or cool...and it kinda ends there...maybe a few years later they will stumble across the song again on their Ipod..but Music isnt' as special as it used to be..due to the internet and how people access their music these days.

Even though Dr. Mr Man isn't one of my favs.....you have a good point about music not being as special and so on. Very well said! It's too bad!

Astasheiks said:

I can understand what both you and MadameS are saying: radio is really corporate and plastic. However, my belief in the R&B chart Top10 possibility for Dear Mr. Man as a single was for two reasons. First, just a hunch, but Urban radio stations would play it a lot early due to its message. Second, the beat combined with the anti-establishment message would play well there. Almost like a John Legend song, but harder (obviously).

In addition, the Urban A/C stations, which are usually the older R&B listeners, would definitely eat this song up. Several reasons: it's an R&B record, it's by Prince, and the bass line would guarantee tons of plays there. If you recall, several Prince songs over the last couple of years have done well on Urban A/C radio (The Greatest Romance, The One, Musicology, Call My Name). These listeners are very familiar with Prince and almost always support his R&B-oriented songs.

catpark said:

wow thats cool, wish i could've seen that doc cuz i'm all for reparations

GoldenGlove said:

yea i totally agree and this line i think is my fave
aint nothin fareabout welfare
aint no assistance in aids
i aint 2 affirmative about ya actions, until the people get paid

when i seen the musicology speacil this was the first song that made me go and when i heard those above lines it made my heart go THUMP!!!!! cuz he was sayin things that i in a way could relate to.
the whole song is magnificent

PurpleKnight said:

well yea if ur gonna compare it to a weak ass line like that than yea there IS no comparrison, there are weak lines in sott y'kno (like this: Some say man ain't happy unless a man truly dies) how bout this comparin these lines:

"aint nothin fare about welfare"

comepare to

"in france a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name"

or

"sister killed her baby cuz she couldn't afford 2 feed it"

compare to

"who told me mr man that workin round the clock would buy me a big house in the hood"