I finally found out what prince meant when he says may you live too see the dawn it's spiritual last night when i was reading the bible i happen to come across matthew 4:16 and it says
the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death have lived 2 see the dawn

so now i understand why he says that he hopes that the people of the kingdom of the lord shall live 2 see the dawn interesting isn't it now i can go tell my grandmother that could not have been a devil worshipper for all those years
[Edited 1/10/06 17:24pm]

I think, as a 24 year old, he thought the line was cool.

Purplerain7772001 said:

Wrong.

It meant a few things such as a

1.A thrown away project/movie.

2. The Dawn was supposed tot later signify this "ultimate" album with only some of his mindblowing songs that the public had not heard yet. He alluded to this in an interview during the D&P era in which he stated he had a song that was so amazing that he saved it to put on The Dawn instead, "the world aint ready for thatone yet." I think it was in the Spin 1992 issue.

3. This has also been scraped as his "Welcome To The Dawn" song made it again take on newer meaning and non released album project. Cause that Welcome To The Dawn song is anything but spectacular.

Actually if you review the Knowledge Section of the NPGMC website, it explains in great detail what he meant by "the dawn". It is somewhat buried in the website, but if you take the time you can find it. First Click on the "knowledge- a library of inspiration" icon. Once that opens up you will find several lamps (lights of knowledge) displaying where in biblical scripture one can find information on certain subjects. But there's more to the site than it seems. I got curious after reviewing all the lamps and went to the wall on the right of the screen. Click on the "stacks" of books on the right side and it will take you to a closer view of the lamps. In this section you will find detailed and thought provoking messages from NPGMC/Prince. There are about 12 different lamps to click on for deeper understanding of Prince and his thoughts on the music industry etc. In these stacks you will find the meaning of "the dawn".
Stay brave and strong, Maria

Wow.
I always thought it meant,
"Hope U don't die tonight."

DiamondGirl said:

Yes all of these things are true; but the phrase had to start somewhere and I think more than likely this bible reference is where Prince got "The Dawn" from. I also agree with the other org'er who posted "At 24 Prince probably just thought the line was cool"

PS, how can you tell someone they're flat out WRONG? You're not Prince and you're not inside Prices head.Go play "Coco Boys" since you know so much.

Also, thanx MPINK for sending us on a NPGMC wild goose chase; you could have at least told us which lamp (article) this information was in.
[Edited 1/10/06 22:28pm]

PurpleKnight said:

I don't think it's vague at all, if you just catalogue his sayings about it throughout his music and statements.

Illustrator said:

you must be joking?

MickG said:

The phrase in and of itself is extremely vague.

"May you live to see the dawn" is as cryptic as it gets, and can be made to mean anything.

PurpleKnight said:

yes, if you seen the phrase somewhere written on a wall, without prince having said it, I would agree with you, however I can boaringly point out the track of the term and phrase throughout his music so that it does mean something like the begining of the peace time after the pain.

However, I have nothing to prove.

Hey sorry for the "wild goose chase", but it had been a while since I actualy read the information on the dawn in the library stacks. I truly did not remember which one it was in when I made the post. When I read it several months back, I was in a reading mood and read all of the lamps in one night. They flowed well. Anyway, after my post, it took me several hours of trying to re-find it, and by the time I found it I was in no mood to share. I said to myself, if they are serious about it they would take the time to read and absorb it all, like I did, to find it for myself. No poverty time cop outs!