I have noticed that some people have started to discuss again the lyrics of The Rainbow Children. Which is pleasent to see happening.

I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but I would like to share my personal understanding on the least to say controversial line "Holocaust aside, many lived and died..."

To me Prince is NOT comparing Holocaust and native americans slavery, cause he is saying precisely "holocaust aside", which I read it as: that it was too terrible to even talk about it.

So what he is in fact comparing is provoked death and slavery.

Finally, it also seems to me that the question he asks right after that affirmation: "would you rather be dead or sold?" is followed by a chorus saying: "sold", which may indicate that it is still better to be slave than to be killed. A slave can always free himself...


Just my opinion. Peace.

When Prince is continuing with "sold . . ." IMO he's NOT saying that is is better to be sold. IMO he's just offering a description of what followed being sold.

He talks about a displaced blood line, so I think he's talking in the negative.

Nickfunk...well ..it's just ur opinion.

And I would say a very good opinion at that :0)

Hey...i'm feeling it! It's something about when u hear the truth, it rings like a bell...like Ding

-thanks 4 sharing fell free 2 continue

?...hey Jimmy could the displaced bloodline b:

The mating with the slave masters & the winches?
I mean we now know about...was it Thomas Jefferson and the children he had with his slave girl. Thank God 4 DNA:)

Hey just a ?...this line intrigued me 2.

Keep it going...were bound 2 get 2 the bottom, and he said his mind was mellow...yea right

In trying to figure out what some of the lyrics say, I feel like a detective! I suppose he's writing like that cos its his style.

I'd like to hear him explain what his meanings to the whole album are. In fact, I'd like him to explain lots of his tunes, in his own words. Just to cement that I was on the right track! Its not that i dont have any idea, its that unless I hear it from the man who created it, I can only assume what it means to him.

the displaced bloodline- black people
nothing negative or racist in these lyrics. he's just talking about the evils of slavery...

When Prince says "holocaust aside", I think he is attempting to focus on the issue of the affects of slavery in America without disrespecting the attrocities of the holocaust. He doesn't want to get into a debate of "my slavery was worse than your holocaust". So he's acknowledging that the holocaust was terrible, but he's focusing his attention and the listener's attention on the issue that matters most to him - the affects of slavery in America.

This album is one of the greatest pieces of social commentary in the 21 century.Prince covers many different issues in individual songs & in usual Prince style he delivers the only solution to these problems.

5 or 10 years from now after the album has marinaded on the minds of serious thinkers the impact will be felt.

muleFunk said:

WHOA...slow down Mulefunk

Just one example of the stupid lyrics in "TRC"
"So we must eat a leaf.
We'll dine under a tree,
Unless it snows"


In 5 to 10 years are these "serious thinkers" going to be able to tell me that this is not a stupid lyric? Didn't think so.

Musically the album is good, but lyrically it is naive at best.

Sorry Mulefunk, but this record will have been completely forgotten in 5 to 10 years.

you might not like trc.. that's left up to the individual listener.it will be remembered as prince's awakening. think about him and his music before trc and think about him after trc.there is a significant difference between pre-rainbow and post-rainbow. after reading the celebration reviews and the ona tour reviews the experiences that we all shared is somewhat (not entirely)related to trc and its inspiration. therefore, trc WILL be remembered 10 years from now.

oh yeah..wedding song is stupid...that's the purpose of it..it's a joke..it's not intended to be a 'real' song...

lovemachine said

agreed...

motherafrica said:

agreed...but i'll hold out my for the follow-up TRC...rather listen to prince when he is awake then half asleep...

SkletonKee said:

Completely forgotten by who?

Okay can I laugh real quick?

...there

Well as far as the Jokes ...since he is married now ...mayb not. There as several funny moments n the story...and with it being so deep...u need a submarine It was nice 2 break it up...don't ya think?.

Can we just continue with the break down...which chapter is next?...


oh...by the way. 4gotten?...naaa

There is one thing that i always admired about this man, and this is his ability 2 get minds 2 think...something I found people don't do anymore.

Sankofa...i think i spelled it right...Mother Africa can u help me?

Sankofa= We must remeber are past/were we come from so we can c see and move 4ward.

I guess this way we don't make the same mistakes.

Very good interpretation on slavery & the holocaust...i might add.


-"Until the color of a mans eyes has no significants, no man shall b free." - Bob Marley

lovemachine said:

Do you guys always take everything so darn seriously?

Do you not hear Prince laughing at the end of this off the cuff track?

Do you think even Prince took it seriously?

Does anyone have a sense of humor anymore?

Do you realize even in some other albums/movies/tv shows that are dramatized that there is sometimes comic relief within it?

Was Public Enemy's music taken less seriouly because of Flava Flav's comedy songs/antics/persona? No.

It's very easy to decipher, really.

abucah said:

the public at hand... we musnt kid ourselves...this album has *not* sold...and it hasnt registered at all with the public at large...

is this because the music is bad? no...prince is just out of touch with the rest of the world right now...or vice verse.

motherafrica said:

Of course us hardcore fans will remember it, but the general public doesn't even know it exists so it seems doubtful that they will remember it in 10 years.

It's funny though; it took Lovesexy, one of Prince's best albums according to his hardcore fans, awhile to go gold after it was released.

TRC can't exactly be compared to any major label albums because it doesn't get the promotional push AND payola airplay that a major label album is capable of receiving. To say lack of sales mirrors the album's perceived lack of quality isn't exactly logical in this case.

SkletonKee said:

So you're saying whether or not TRC is remembered is a question of how popular the album is right now with the public at hand? So ultimately, what this gets back to is whether or not TRC is *commerically* successful. And it is commercial success that will determine whether or not this particular work of art is remembered. Is that what you're saying?

In my mind Prince has always been out of touch with the rest of the world. It just so happens that he caught a wave of commercial success at a time when young hearts and minds were eager to hear what he had to say. That time of commericial success has now since passed for him. So surely the people who are only "1999/Purple Rain" era fans have long since gone on to other things. But because of its huge commercial success, those people and perhaps the public at large will remember that era thanks to re-runs of videos and movies etc.

But, I for one, will remember TRC 10 years from now and it will carry the same level of significance to me then (if not more) as does the more commercially successful Prince works carry for the casual "1999/Purple Rain era" fan.

So to me, the question of whether or not the public at large will remember TRC is really irrelevant unless someone is needing validation from others that Prince's art has value.

I guess my counter-question then would be "so what if the public at hand doesn't remember TRC or anything Prince releases from now on? Then what? What does that mean to you as one who continues to appreciate his work (I presume)?

Godsloveistrue -

Yes, I do agree that he's talking about white masters sleeping with slaves. That goes for male masters and female masters (or female daughters of masters). Hence the line "while jail bait".

Children born of these unions would dilute (or displace) the bloodline . . .

Also, I think that when he talks about the piano keys, he talks about them as Black and White -- living together, but apart.

You are right, it was Thomas Jefferson that was recently discovered to have had children with a slave girl. Perhaps that's why Prince chose to include Jefferson's "speech" in Family Name.

i'm liking this discussion..in response to the 'public' remembering trc..unfortunately they will not..heck..what prince album do they remember (definitely purple rain and 1999,maybe sott,batman,d&p,and i'll throw in emancipation and tge for the hype). one must remember that trc was not made for 'them', it was made for 'us'.

hey godsloveistrue, i can go on about the depth of this album..how about the lyrics of the everlasting now..i'm loving that..and 1+1+1=3..talk about hidden humor..

motherafrica said:

thank god some people see this too!

The Sankofa, a Senufo symbol from Cote d'Ivoire of a bird looking backwards, has caught the imagination of a number of African American groups interested in our African heritage. The meaning of the Sankofa is "looking back to go forward," of understanding that the ancestors can show the way to the future. That symbol is relevant to both Africans and African Americans today, in that it is useful for us to look back to our history as a basis for creating the kind of unity we need to go forward with knowledge and strength into the future.

GodsloveisTrue said:

Supernova said:

WORD UP NOVA! perfect metaphor with the PE thing...flav was the yang to Chuck D's social commentary ying!!

article link: Holocaust Denial in Context

jerseykrs said:

Exactamundo!

lovemachine said:

Interesting discussions about TRC being remembered in 5-10 years time. Does anybody here seriously think they personally will have forgotten it? Probably not.

The general public can't possibly forget this album either, for a very simple reason. They are not even aware of it. You can't forget something unless you know it in the first place.

Therfore I put forward that TRC will be remembered by the majority of owners/listeners. Not though, by the general record buying public who never even knew of it's existance.

Many of Prince's post PURPLE RAIN albums did not sell well,but people regard them as being great works. SOTT & LOVESEXY did not have great sales.Both were panned by critics .LOVESEXY was not one of my personal favorites until 5 or 6 years ago.The GOLD EXPERENCE was hated by many fans & sales were not good.

After a couple of years have passed and the furor of the new Prince album has died,the general music public will recognize its greatness.Many non Prince fans will not buy an album until they hear from others who are "fans".

I really can't see how anyone can turn it into anything positive. Unless of course you take what's actually said and ascribe a totally different meaning to it. Or try to change the meaning of the English language

Whether or not he's actually attempting to downplay the holocast..I can't say. Only he knows that.

first line

"Holocaust aside, many lived and died"

Some of of the meanings of the word "aside"

Set out of the way; dispensed with; not taken into account or excluded from consideration;out of one's thoughts or mind

Now taking the meaning of the word as it REALLY is..what do you really think he's trying to say. I leave that to the listener as I don't really know what Prince was trying to say but what the word used implies.

second line

But when all truth is told/Would u rather b dead or b sold?

I read this line and have to ask myself..whom exactly is he addressing this to. Those that died or those that were sold. Either way why is he trying to lessen one groups plight in the context of the other. Where's the third choice here...none of the above.

Bad thing about the song (and the album, no matter how good it is musically) is that is is so full of mumbo-jumbo that it's hard to tell if these are Prince's thoughts or whether he's against the attitudes presented in those lines.

But if this is what Prince beleives..I can't see how one can read those lines in a positive light. You'd have to twist around the English language to do that.

Actually I can see the message Prince might be trying to convey with those two lines. But he should have found a way to get across the message of one's people's struggle with denigrating another.