If it's about the fans at the TRC listening session, it's hard to explain why they would hope to see him pack his bags and leave, unless he's referring to some of the most vocal "hostile" fans on line who have said things like Prince should quit Paisley Park and move away. In any case, it's a good cryptic song.

Universaluv said:

That's how I took it to.

JediMaster said:

I wasn't there, but I don't really fault him for anything. New converts to any faith and others who've had spiritual upheavals tend to be pretty overzealous at times. He seems to have cooled down a bit thoguh, so it's all good.

It's about AMP

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

actually, it's called "dialectics" and happens almost anytime there is a "facilitator" present to guide a group's conversation and thought processes. it's used to "convert" people into believing whatever the "facilitator" wants them to believe. works for just about anything.

DiamondGirl said:

nah, Prince would've never let those AMP people (at the time) into his doors in the first place

Snap said:

The "moved tape" situation.

DiamondGirl said:

ah, okay. i thought we were just talking naysayers.

meow85 said:

I wasn't there either, and I'm just basing this on what I've heard. I totally agree that Prince got a tad bit overzealous, even though I think his intentions were good. He now seems to have settled into his faith, and seems a bit more comfortable with those who have different belief systems. I think it took him a while to get a deeper understanding, and to study with more moderate JWs who showed him he would get a better reception if he didn't beat people over the head with the Bible.

It's also a factor that, since he was new to the JW faith, he probably didn't have a whole lot of the answers to questions being posed to him. Larry Graham was there to aid him, but Larry is an "old school", ultra-conservative JW. His stances on things were not necessarily going to jive with more modern, open-minded JW members. I think Prince has relaxed a whole lot in the time since TRC.

Not really. Electro artists do that all the time, and still have the same combat boots-wearing sheeps come back on the next gig.

who said we're coming back for more????

actually, i gave away my prince collection recently and am not really interested in what he's doing these days. dunno exactly why - at first it was because his message got so self-righteous and preachy around 2000-2001, and the whole 'either you're with us or you're out' era was so gross i just couldn't stomach his lyrics anymore and then i just.... lost interest.

i haven't heard brand new orleans or SST and . . . i . . i don't care....

i do still hang around here but it's been over a year since i visited the NPGMC. tell the truth that place scares me.. . it seems to embody the opposite of creativity and the worst of 'fandom'

ahhh well. it's all good. i still admire prince from a distance these days and still wish him well. i'm just not one of those who are seeking out his 'pearls' anymore

XxAxX said:

Who said it?

You said it.

i think it was around the time of that celly (which i didn't attend, but kept tabs on as much as i could from afar) that i decided i either had to appreciate prince's work as a whole and be a fan of the "big picture" or else i was gonna have to pack it up and call it a day, because the energy and style that i always associated with being blown away by prince seemed to be dying off and heading in other directions that didn't particularly interest me.

i could have gotten pissed or indignant about his whole JW trip and i could have reacted a lot more angrily than i did when he was spouting off a bunch of semi-incendiary (but definitely polarizing) rants and lyrics.

i know a lot of people who responded with anger and disappointment, and really, i don't blame 'em. it was their trip to go on, they felt let down by their musical hero. fine. that's their perception and they moved on.

but, i dunno...i grew up with the guy. what he's doing now doesn't change the way i felt when i heard 'purple rain' for the first time or when i saw him play 'SOTT' on the MTV awards in 1987 or any of the other jawdropping prince moments i've had in my life. his image and his art came into my life when i was a kid looking for ways to express myself and become my own person. he was a great role model for individuality at the time. i can't discount that.

so whatever he's doing is whatever it is. i've branched out and gotten interested in lots of other things, but my interest in prince's work is certainly at the foundation of it all. his religious beliefs aren't my business. i'm only interested in it insomuch as it helps me understand his work as a lyricist sometimes. if my lack of interest in his chosen faith puts me on the "outside" of his fanbase, so be it - but it's always going to be about the music first and foremost. there's no turning back from that.

Anxiety said:

Exactly. I think that fans who put themselves in a position to be personally "let down" by their favorite musician needs to ask themselves: why did they held this person in such high regard in the 1st place ? Is it possible that you are little "too into Prince"?

With Prince, I think that his lyrics and music are very personal and hit a deep chord with many, so when Prince doesn't live up to expectations of fans who are a little "too into it", they take it personally.

Anxiety-

I agree that maintaining a healthy perspective and separation of Prince as your favorite artist vs. Prince as a personal role model/idol helps in not sweating it if you don't agree with his messages/behavior. At the end of the day, I don't care what Prince does with his personal life/religious beliefs, etc. I'm not so into his personal life (who he's dating, praying to, etc.) and I think that's for People Magazine.However, the day he lets his personal crap overshadow his art (like Michael Jackson and Madonna) is the day I stop tuning in.

To me, he is basically the same as he always-singing about love,sex, and God and doing things exactly as how he wants them to be done. That's why I dug him then, that's why I dig him now.
[Edited 10/12/05 9:19am]

FunkMistress said:

huh? you mean about hanging around this website?

that's because i have proposals in to McMeekle, Cloudbuster and Steadwood*. I figure one of these days one of them is bound to cave and say yes.



*and others, whose names i may have forgotten by now

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

The story goes, someone who had been magnetically attracted to Prince found him through his music. The process that had brought her to Prince had refined her to appear as smooth as a peral. The fan never thought he noticed her, eyes were Wide Shut. A thief in the temple lurked and took her away. Prince interpreted this as the pearl casting herself before the swine while the pearl was being deceived by the thief. More or less a BIG misunderstanding that could of been avoided through communication.
Relax Fans

XxAxX said:

Girl, you know I'm already married.

OdysseyMiles said:

and OdysseyMiles

DiamondGirl said:

You know, I have never been there

Yes dammit.

JediMaster said:

Which is good. Prince as religious is all cool, because he always has been one way or another. Prince as a hard-lined nut not so much.

skywalker said:

Music is a very strongly personal thing for a lot of people. There are a lot who's taste in music shapes/complements their attitudes about a lot of important things -sex, religion, tolerance, diversity or lack thereof, so many things. This can be good or bad, depending. When an artist and their work becomes that important to a person it is often because the listener feels they're being spoken to through the music, that they can make a connection, real or imagined, with the artist. The artist stops being a person and becomes an icon; a symbol of an attitude or belief or way of life.

This isn't even referring to the delusional who literally believe they have relationships with their favourite stars, but the average listener who happens to be passionate about what they hear. An artist's work can be the soundtrack to your life. It's so easy for even the sanest, most stable person to forget that Prince or Michael Jackson or John Lennon or whoever is, at the end of the day, just a human being with flaws and faults and weird little habits and quirks.

I'm not that extreme, but I can't say I don't understand when fans express anger or disappointment over Prince's newest path. For many he was a symbol of diversity and freedom; of racial, religious, and sexual inclusion. To behave as divisively as he's been reported to at times is dissapointing. It's like seeing the man behind the curtain in Emerald City, and realizing there's no magical wizard to present you with gifts of love and music-just a flawed human being who sometimes does stupid things.
[Edited 10/14/05 0:00am]

I never saw this Thread. Super,I TOTALLY Think You are OFF TRACK. PRINCE DOES NOT MEAN his FANS are PIGS by this COMMENT. Who is SLANDERING HIM? This is Someone talking HOSTILE...I think this is more about the RECORD COMPANIES than about FANS. Or about MINNESOTANS. Making him Back his Bags? I think it means get out of the MUSIC BUSINESS. Someone thinking he's Washed-Up. That kind of thing. Not about FANS being PIGS. Prince doesn't think his fans are PIGS!

I'd really like to have a comment on this but since i've never heard the song I can't. What was this song released on? Was it just an NPGMC dowload single?

Thing is Prince may have a little trouble sifting thru the followers and panning for gold.

At this point, if he hasn't come to definitive conclusion ...his method needs tweakin.
[Edited 10/23/05 19:26pm]

!!!! this weekend i opened an old box of stuff and found a whole bunch of prince music (1990s and earlier) i'd forgotten i have

a month or so ago i donated a whole bunch of prince's newer CDs to a charitable good cause but i have to admit i'm glad i've still got quite a few cool prince tunes.

Thanks to someone here I was finally able to hear the song and I think it could be about any number of a groups of people.

"Margaritas ante porcos" - latin phrase often used -meaning that one should not explain or give sth to sbd if a person does not deserve it and does not appreciate it.. I think it has nothing to do with fans being pigs or anything similar 2 that...

One thing about Prince is you never REALLY know what year he writes music. I think he is talking about a relationship in which he is asking how can we make our relationship work? Should we pray or just continue to fight? Should I continue to try and teach you about God or is it just "pearls before the swine"? (useless) That's my take on it. He could have been talking about Mayte. It's apparent that his first wife didn't take too kindly to his new religion because it did not have any profound change on her life like it changed his. Which could be the reason for feeling as though his words were useless or waisted.

But that's just my non-knowing-Prince opinion.