.

I do agree. I love him going on a bit. He has always got so much to say and I love listening. His views are what make him so great and refreshing !

And it's funny because his public persona is so shy !

I love the song "Free" especially the lyrics


Be glad that U are free
Free 2 change your mind
Free 2 go most anywhere, anytime
Be glad that U are free
There's many a man who's not
Be glad 4 what U had, baby, what U've got
Be glad 4 what U've got

It's a beautiful lyric.
[Edited 11/28/05 17:34pm]

IstenSzek said:

Technically, Free was recorded first, so the thought that it replaced Moonbeam Levels is probably inaccurate. Free was recorded on Sunday April 25 1982 (and worked on over the next week or so). Moonbeam Levels wasn't recorded until Tuesday July 6th. In between those sessions, he was still working on 1999 (including Automatic, How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore, Delirious, Let’s Pretend We’re Married, Something In The Water, and Raspberry Beret and a handful of Time songs). Personally, if he were going for a nice ballad, I would have rather heard HCYDCMA on the album.

That said, I LOVE Moonbeam Levels and wonder why it hasn’t been released. Too bad the rest of the vault isn’t filled with gems like this one.

I've always loved "Free". I've never heard "Moonbeam Levels".

One of, if not my favorite prince song.

Amazing tune.

IstenSzek said:

I got mad when it was the first song voted out on the survivor round. I love te song and it is one of my favorites off of 1999

The intro kicks ass to.

lilgish said:

I hate the lyric. It rings false to me. A stupid 'message' song filled with reductionist concepts. On the other hand, I think the music is gorgeous. 1999 is such an awsome album for me because i keep hearing it in new ways. I recently listened to the song Free and my mind focused on the guitar part that runs through the song. It's really gorgeous! I had never quite listened to it that way before. grea song, musically. Idiotic, lyrically. That's my 2 cents.

JudasLChrist said:

Can you explain why you hate the lyric ??? To say it has a stupid message is a bit unfair. You are lucky enough to live in a country where you can go to school, get an okay job, have a car, have a mobile phone, an iPod, a tv, etc..go out clubbing, speak to your friends, speak your mind and nobody is going to arrest you.

You can read ANY book you choose, listen to ANY type of music,

And even if you can't do that you can ALWAYS, ALWAYS think for yourself..

You will always have that freedom. No-one can EVER tell you what to think.

We all have our own minds and own opinions no matter what.
[Edited 11/28/05 18:08pm]

to me it reaches back to the 60's and that mentality.
he sent me the message to refocus and not to be a "hater"

i've often paraphrased the song to others thyat i felt needed to hear the sentiment.

think about how it really is a timeless work especially in the EEUU since the country always seems to be marching the soldiers

pepper7 said:

Thank you. It's not a stupid lyric...in fact it's the opposite. Not too many songs embraced that ones concept around the time. It's a very self empowering song.

And what are 'reductionist concepts' anyhow ??

Please, I mean, I've really no idea what you're talking about here ?

I think it's also worth bearing in mind that Prince was what, in his twenties or something at the time when he wrote this song.

He had to go out and learn how to play these musical intruments, learn how to produce a record, etc, learn how to write a song.

He's just a human being like anyone else. He didn't have anything handed to him on a plate.

He relies on his own instincts to craft these songs.

Could you see Craig David writing a song with this depth of lyric? Robbie Williams ?

Even Chris Martin for that matter ?

I dig it --wish he would play the WHOLE thing live

it is the song that made me a prince freak i think...

definately spent a lot of time rewinding that baby... listening to it over and over again

pepper7 said:

Trust me -- you don't want to go head to head with Anxiety on who's the bigger Prince fan.

If you put out a statement that you don't like a Prince song because it's too sincere it will stir up a debate.

It's not about who is the bigger Prince fan. I can't say I'm a bigger Prince fan than anyone else.

We all like things for different reasons. But a lot of Prince's music is very sincere. So to say someting is too sincere is a controversial argument.
[Edited 11/28/05 20:27pm]

BlaqueKnight said:

Well said Oh Blaque One. That's exactly right. Remember that the cold war was still going on at the time and we were all culturally intrenched in the struggle for dominance between the US and Soviet world views. The US was just beginning to come out of a very hard period that had lasted for several years. Prince has always had a quasi-patriotic bent. Free looked across the spectrum of ideologies that were prevalent at that time in history and concluded that human and civil rights in a governing system was paramount and the song acknowledges the blessing that those oft taken for granted liberties that we enjoy here were far more important than any of the advances and benefits that other ideologies and regimes may have professed while denying their citizens the very freedoms Prince finds so fundamentally important to the human spirit.

I don't think I know this tune.

I can't believe the blatant disrepsect regarding Free.

Im dying inside. Its kryptonite.

I love it, but I wasn't born when 1999 came out, and had no idea that it replaced MoonBeam Levels. Now that it was recently(before this thread) brought 2 my attention, I would have rather had Moonbeam Levels.

There isn't a bad song in the bunch on 1999, and "Free" is no exception. I love it.

Perfect 10.

Moonbeam said:

dont phunk with my heart beeotch


free's alright...im more tempted to skip it than any of the other 1999 tracks. but its got its moments

look at this thread. i went to bed expecting 3 or 4 replies

IstenSzek said:

i know ..i thought someone had jacked it by the 3 post

superspaceboy said:

Christopher said:

we can still jack it now if you like

IstenSzek said:

i got a better idea .....


http://www.fugly.com/orno...111430.jpg