Can any1 tell what Prince meant by "was it a boy when U wanted a girl, don't U know straight hair aint got no curl?" And who was he talking 2? I wonder if it was Morris Day. Could this have been an answer 2 'The Color Of Success'? I remember back then that Prince, Sheila E. & Jerome made fun of Morris' 'Oak Tree', they cut it down into a wooden stick during a performance of 'A Love Bizarre'. It's very possible that boy meant cocaine & girl meant heroine. And it is very possible that he meant the obvious. They were hanging around Eddie Murphy & Micky Free back then, U know!

I think you might be reading a little too much
into the song, but hey you never know I guess

Well, purple
rain was a-
bout LSD...

Puhchoolee said:

Really? I thought it was about the slow degradation
of the ozone layer?

thekidsgirl said:

A common mis-
perception.

thekidsgirl said:

Bingo!

Use Ur mind man, think. He said "Whats the matter with Ur world, was it a boy when U wanted a girl." Its pretty self explainitory(did I spell that right). He means, whats the matter with Ur life, some1 seems unhappy with the problems of a boy when she wanted a girl. Everybody knows straight hair aint go no curl.

Rinluv said:

I know exactly what you mean.

MadameS said:

well you've bloody got me then...explain that again!!

BEAUGARDE said:

I take those lines to be about moaning about minor problems when there are greater problems in this world. For instance, when a baby is born being disappointed that it was a boy instead of a girl. Similarly, wishing your hair was curly rather than straight is another petty problem.

I've always just taken the song to be a general observation on life, not specifically about Morris or anyone in particular, but you never know.

I always thought he said that you have to be happy about you get even though it doesn't have that 'pop' (being famous, have a very pasionate relationship, or something else).
Having a happy family where nothing special happens is still worth living for.

Eline said:

Yup. Prince is the perfect example of that.

Puhchoolee said:

Where did you get that Purple Rain was about LSD? Just courroius.

Mstar - Denmark

The better question to me is, what the hell is the reason for the break in the song and what is it? I can hear people cheering in the background. Was it a basketball game or the fans at one of his shows?...
[Edited 8/30/05 9:12am]

purpleizpassion said:

"throw the bum out"

maybe a wrestling match

muirdo said:

Is that what it says? It totally messes up the flow of the song for me so I was hoping that P had a good reason for it. Maybe he was just having a moment... Still

Rinluv said:

I don't agree

purpleizpassion said:

I always heard that part was a recording from when the crowd booed him offstage when he opened for the Rolling Stones back in the day. (Could just be a rumour, see this thread: http://www.prince.org/msg...688?jump=5 )

jone70 said:

Yeah, that rumor started in a record review of ATWIAD when it came out. Since proven to be false by insiders.

purpleizpassion said:

The rumor being tossed around at the time was that it was part of a recording of the infamous Rolling Stones incident. Who knows though?

yeah ive always wondered wat the hell is the deal wid the interlude in pop life i mean it breaks down the song 2 much its just annoying makin this madd song go all strange for a few secs then bak 2 normal WTF!

jone70 said:

No, no, no...It's actually from a sound effects library. When I used to edit video for a living, one day the music guy came in with all these sony sound effect cds and I cut them into the movie we were working on. The sound effects we chose were hospital sounds, cause that's what we needed. A year or so later I was watching some unrelated hospital show on television and lo and behold they had the EXACT same hospital sound effects that we had used!

Now, either I heard that Pop Life sample on one of those Sony sound fx library CDs or I heard it on a televsion show that had a boxing scene, I can't quite remember. Either way...it's a stock sound effect, and not an original recording.

JudasLChrist said:

Thanks but, I like the Rolling Stones rumour better...

Rinluv said:

WHAT?

Speaking of Micky Free, does anyone have a pic or know where I can see his pic online? I don't recall what he looks like but, I love when Charlie Murphy says "Micky Free is not a girl" that just cracks me up.

New Album Please!!!!!

JudasLChrist said:

There's a song from the '60s that had a similar break. It's called "My World Fell Down" by a band called Sagittarius. A very psychedelic pop song and there's a part where the music cuts off and there are sound effects of a crowd shouting, an orchestra tuning up, and other random noises, and then the song comes back in. When I first heard it, I thought, "whoa, that reminds me of Pop Life," and since Prince was going for a psychedelic sounding album, he might have been influenced by that track or other similar songs.....

duggalolly said:

It is well known that ATWIAD was Prince's attempt at a vaguely Beatlesesque sounding album. So you could argue that the break was inspired by the break in A Day In The Life.

Everybody needs a thrill...

What's the matter with your sex? Is 15 mins your best?