Get busy big baby cuz when dem devil come
Dem devil come dressed as light/Maybe they gon' fool the untrained mind
But nobody eye know gon' bite/Like a thief in the night/My Lord come and strike
Leave nothing but ashes to theleft, dust 2 the right
Holocaust aside, many lived and died
But when all truth is told/Would u rather b dead or b sold?
Sold 2 the one who can now mate the displaced bloodline with the white
jailbait.
Thinkin' like the keys on Prince's piano will be just fine

(Muse 2 the Pharaoh)

I do not see these lyrics as a trivialization of the Holocaust. The Devil, who may appear to some as "light" (Lucifer = the one who brings the light), so he or his "work" seem to be the solution/salvation to some people (whose with "the untrained mind"), will be destroyed by God. "Holocaust aside, many lived and died" seems to be a reference to the action of the Devil (!) on earth. Even if you leave the Holocaust, his biggest crime and act of murder so far, aside, there are still many people who lived (with their life given by God the creator) who died through the action of the Devil (just think of the drop of the nuclear bombs in Japan, terrorism, or the middle-east conflict, just to give a few examples). "But when all truth is told/Would u rather b dead or b sold?" - "When all truth is told" is a reference to judgement day. Those who are dead then will resurrect and live through the compassion of God eternally, while those who "sold" themselves to the Devil will not - "Sold 2 the one who can now mate the displaced bloodline with the white jailbait." The verse does not mean Holocaust vs. slavery imo! "Thinkin' like the keys on Prince's piano will be just fine" - If we unite (black and white as an example, like the keys on a piano) to worship God (like Prince does with his music on his piano), we will have nothing to fear.

That's just my way to interpret the lyrics. Not antisemitic, not trivializing the Holocaust or anything else. But I may be wrong as English is not my native language. Any comments on my interpretation?

might be a complex cd with odd lyrics open for interpretation, but the guitar solo in the work is PHUUUUUNKYYYY.

if it's that phunky in JW, damn, I'm in!!!

EmancipationLover said:

Okay, but if your interpretation were correct, why on earth would he bother to mention the holocaust?! If he's just saying that many have lived and died as a result of the devil's intervention - why on earth would you include the words, "holocaust aside"?

I honestly think - and it gives me no joy to say this - that Prince is in fact trivialising the holocaust.

Absolutely bizarre, and shocked me right out of my seat. Bravo to the guy for wanting to take a stand and make people think about the terrors of slavery more, but to do it at the expense of the holocaust is terrible. If it's not intentionally offensive, it's unbelievably reckless. And the reason that one might think that it's not just recklessness, is when he then pokes fun at Jewish surnames in an incredibly offensive way in 'Family Name' later on. I can't see how that's reckless at all.

"...EVEN IF prince didn't intend these messages to be anti-jewish and anti-white man, we are still left to wonder why in the hell he never changed the lyrics once he became aware that these lyrics were rather open to interpretation. anyone who's ever published something for public consumption has knows better than to ignore constructive feedback in this regard..."

Because Prince, as an artist, shouldn't have to change his art because you (mis)interpret it. Hell, even if someone meant to piss you off and be purposefully hateful (eminem, etc.) they shouldn't have to change their art just to please you, regardless of your "constructive criticism".

Would Prince have been nice of Prince to give you a definitive answer of what his lyrics mean? Yes.

Should he be required to justify any of his music to you? No.

Should he make sure it's okay with fans before he releases something? No.
[Edited 9/29/05 7:06am]

"...EVEN IF prince didn't intend these messages to be anti-jewish and anti-white man, we are still left to wonder why in the hell he never changed the lyrics once he became aware that these lyrics were rather open to interpretation. anyone who's ever published something for public consumption has knows better than to ignore constructive feedback in this regard..."

Because Prince, as an artist, shouldn't have to change his art because you (mis)interpret it. Hell, even if someone meant to piss you off and be purposefully hateful (eminem, etc.) they shouldn't have to change their art just to please you, regardless of your "constructive criticism".

Would Prince have been nice of Prince to give you a definitive answer of what his lyrics mean? Yes.

Should he be required to justify any of his music to you? No.

Should he make sure it's okay with fans before he releases something? No.
[Edited 9/29/05 7:06am]

"...It's prince's art so it doesn't matter what the content is? Well then he should be cool with answering charges of anti-semitism.

Good job prince didn't say this on an album which actually sold / back when he was a megastar, or people may have actually given a shit and kicked up a fuss. For me, it outstrips the offensiveness of "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me" on MJ's "They don't really care about us" and he ended up changing his lyrics because he realised how offensive some people found it...."

1st of all, regardless of record sales, Prince is still a mega star. [b]You only have to remember last year to see that.

2ndly, if Prince was being blatanantly anti-semitic,as you claim he was, it seems likely that people would have have gone after him just because he is Prince.

3rd of all, MJ gives a shit ton about what others think of him. That's why he changed his lyrics, that's why he changed his face. Prince, time and again, seems to have shown that he doesn't care what anyone thinks.

It seems that the only people who find "The Rainbow Children" offensive are people at this site who have mis-interpreted the lyrics.[/b]
[Edited 9/29/05 11:14am]

It seems that the only people who find "The Rainbow Children" offensive are people at this site who have mis-interpreted the lyrics.

1st of all, regardless of record sales, Prince is still a mega star. You only have to remember last year to see that.

2ndly, if Prince was being blatanantly anti-semitic,as you claim he was, it seems likely that people would have have gone after him just because he is Prince.

3rd of all, MJ gives a shit ton about what others think of him. That's why he changed his lyrics, that's why he changed his face. Prince, time and again, seems to have shown that he doesn't care what anyone thinks.

"actually it was last year and the underhanded, forced sales of 'musicology' that turned me off the guy most of all.

what kind of person forces copies of his albums on die-hard fans by (1) building the album cost into each and every ticket (2) without giving people a CHOICE about whether they buy the album or not

and THEN has the nerve to claim he 'outsold' all other artists. i mean really. it was clever, yes, but a truly sucky thing to do to fans.

naturally we forgive him around here because he really needed the money so's he could buy yet another big white mansion, hey? "

Do you have some hangups about how Prince sells records? Me ? I think record sales don't matter anyway. Proof of Prince being a megastar wasn't because of the records he sold last year (no matter how he did it). Prince still being a megastar was proved by him unequivocally having the biggest, baddest,best, tour of the year.

It seems that the only people who find "The Rainbow Children" offensive are people at this site who have mis-interpreted the lyrics.

I only agree with you that art can be good or bad in one's mind. If something is truly subjective, then it is what it is.

"Who says they have?

I agree with the Frog. The lyrics about "Holocaust aside" and the use of Jewish names are pretty straightforward and doesn't really leave much room for interpretation. It says what it says."

Fine then. Break down the lyric as I and others have. Show me exactly, word for word, what the lyric means to you." The lyrics are straightforward? Prince ends the controversial line of which you speak with a question. It's up to interpretation-obviously yours is different than mine. So show me how you interpret the lyrics post 'em and break them down. Help me understand how you see so much hate in this album.

"...but i'm starting to 'bash' prince in an effort to make my point about TRC and i don't want to go there..."

Thank you for that.

skywalker said:

Who says they have?

I agree with the Frog. The lyrics about "Holocaust aside" and the use of Jewish names are pretty straightforward and doesn't really leave much room for interpretation. It says what it says.

Annie Christian and "sexist"

For me Rainbow Children is about Prince's complete and total transformation into a Christian Zombie person. It makes me soooo sad.

There is no doubt about the blatant anti-semitism or the incredulous "man under god-woman under man" Christian sexism. There just isn't.

Put that together with tepid-Jazz-pop-lite, and there's serious cuase for mourning what has become lost.