The 3121 album sounds great. But the lyrics are just basic poppy stuff. The old classic songs lyrics like Annastesia, Joy in repetition. Darling Nikki etec etc etc are whats missing in my opinion.
Oh yeah and Incense and candles sounds like a Janet Jackson song.

lust said:

I agree. Some lyrics on 3121 worry me a bit because they're kinda...immature.



ps...your sig is bad-ass. just like Rory Breaker.

Janet Jackson eh ?

FruitToAttractBears said:

Thanks. Rory is good isnt he. Should have had his own spin off.

sacredwarrior said:

Yeah, just reminds me of a Jam and Lewis 90s song.

lust said:

Oh definitely.

One more for kicks and giggles...
If you hold back anything, I'll kill ya. If you bend the truth or I think your bending the truth, I'll kill ya. If you forget anything I'll kill ya. In fact, you're gonna have to work very hard to stay alive, Nick. Now do you understand everything I've said? Because if you don't, I'll kill ya.



[Edited 3/19/06 14:50pm]

I haven't heard 3121, execpt the songs that were sent out, I am going to have to agree in some way here. Though, maybe I am not saying it in a negitive way. I don't know yet.

i dig both poetic lyrics and simple lyrics

sometimes its the simplest lyric that touches the hearts of millions

" imagine there's no heaven .. " etc

most popular song of all time

Black Sweat reminds me of Sex me sex me not. Just an aside.

Oh, there is one more thing...Its been emotional.

lust said:

Is that so, mister botanical?
[Edited 3/19/06 15:59pm]

yeah but the man's 47 and has written thousands of song's so unless he's gonna release classic vault stuff like 'people without' then we just gotta bear with it. It's pretty obvious that he is determined NOT to lose the audience gained through Musicology and make this ATWIAD 2. Give him some slack.

javed said:

you speak too truly, unfortunally this is Prince's greatest weakness. His head is clouded with the "others". Prince needs turn the focus back in and stop carring with "others" think.

MickG said:

Yeah the lyrics are weak but he needs to stop looking for the pop hit and do some innovative music again. These days he sounds too normal.

yall hit the nail on the head. His lyrics have been shit for years now. I love the music - 1+1+1=3, for example, it's all good until he opens his mouth.

Thumparello said:

Prince is two people: Prince #1 loves star power and the commercial succe$$. Prince #2 is an ARTIST, and when he explores his artistic potential, he gets slammed critically and doesn't sell records.

There's basically the "Diamonds and Pearls" crowd and the "Rainbow Children" crowd who listen to Prince.

As far as "sounding too normal": I agree. 2001-2003 aside, he has been just making records. I miss the fantasyscapes of "Lovesexy", "Parade", "ATWIAD", and "TRC" where he created these whole worlds.

smokeverbs said:

you loved Erotic City though, right?

Wow, what happened above?

Anyway, certainly I love Erotic City. I don't really find that 1+1+1=eroticcity tho. I also liked "last december" too.

yes its all a bit superficial.

but the problem is when he writes from his heart nowadays its all the God/JW stuff and its not happy God stuff but rather the "God's gonna punish all you white devils in hell" nastiness or its "my fans suck cause they dont understand me."

there are a few other honest moments (Reflection, I love you but I dont trust you, she loves me for me) but they are far between.
[Edited 3/19/06 21:09pm]

warning2all said

You nailed it.
Maybe when the cd comes out the credits will explain it and tell us that those 2 vacant twins wrote the lyrics...

Yup. It makes me cringe listening to the lyrics of Te Amo and Black Sweat.

Well, as I listen to Controversy on Ultimate Prince and read this at the same time I can certainly agree that the lyrics have gotten seriously weaker on 3121.

But the music is still very good (if not overpolished...)

Yet, as I sit here listening I realize Controversy is fuckin punk rock (in spirit and lyric at least)

And the problem is not how superficial Prince is, or how much he loves God, or anything like that.

The problem is that at Prince's age, a person has developed much more specific view of life and the way the world works, and now he wants to share some of the knowledge with us. This is something that is mostly unavoidable.

Prince in the preasent wants to write music to convey specific messages and themes of life. He thinks on these themes long and hard (at times), so that the music coneys a message that is "clear" and refined (usually a life lessons to individuals or societies). At times, the message gets too simple.

Prince of the Past writes a song about a theme in mind (controversy) and has a lot things to say. He has to jot it all down very quickly, and get recording immediately, or else he might lose some great parts to the song. Working under higher pressure, Controversy is finished and has many gems, although some may be unpolished., Controversy (the song) contains thought provoking verses, The Lord's Prayer (follow by the word contoversy), and the "People Call Me Rude" speech. (controversy!)

Imagine Present-Day Prince trying to write Controversy and record it for the first time. If he doesn't edit out "People Call Me Rude", imagine Prince actally performing it!! First let me remind you of the desperation of youth that reaked all over that chant (Ultimate Prince and headphones... very important to truly get what I mean)

Prince would either:
- Perform the section in hot dark sexy prince tone
- Perform like he was chnnelling James Brown (like he did on the musicology tour)
- Mumble it. pangs of sarcasm laced throughout

None of which would be as effective as the original recording. Prince today is simply not the same man.

Diffeent point of views: Young Prince shouts that "I wish we all were nude!" because as a young man hes desperate for the world to stop fighting with each. Why everyone see everyone as the same, but unique?
Old Prince would shout the same line all sexy-like or maybe just skip it all together and insert ("I wish somebody would dance tonight!").

When it comes down to it, Prince doesn't always rush into the studio now. He revises for a longer lengths of time. Current Prince will give you some radio friendly hits, some funky tracks, and a gem hear or there, but he knows what life looks like now and he's cozy with it. Once life gets too far in a grove, the creativity whittles... when everything is status quo there is naturally less to write about.

Young angry but lyrical genius Prince is probably not coming back. No more amazing adlibs, or irony. I'm surprised we still even saw bits of him up to The Gold Experience! But it has been ten years since then.

I think someone who knows him should take a copy of Ultimate Prince and a decent headphone set to Prince and make him listen. After each track the perosn should say in roughly 60 seconds something honest and positive like "Prince did you hear how you did THIS... oh yeah Off The Hook! it was awesome... that song sounded better than ever. i could you playing so many other istruments!" Yes, its a bit much, but the man needs to sit down with someone exited to turn him around... and excited to give him a taste of music and how damn good it really is!!

Good and bad lyrics in my opinion are not about the content or the message, more about the structure and how the words fit into the timing of the music. Listen to the title track, 3121. The subject matter may be throw away party pop, but the timing and the delivery is wicked! Dead on it!

Lolita lyrically is quite dire, even if the subject matter is quite risqué and not so production-line-pop. “From her head down to her pumps”… WTF? Just so that it can rhyme with “Bump bump bump”… Certainly not dead on it!


I like 3121, but I think he constructed some of the songs with a formula in mind and some of the lyrics are pulled out of thin air rather than inspired by anything in particular. Its almost as if he had the song structure complete and just added some lyrics at the last minute, filing it away as “complete” and moving on to the next.

TheAStarr said:

I agree with everything you said in your post! Very intriging!

TheAStarr said:

utter rubish IMHO...you can have differing perspective as you get older and still be able to convey those feelings in creative lyric. Steven Sondheim doesnt seem to have problems and he is as old as dirt. Cole Porter didnt have issues.....Prince is just being lazy...Heck, Sade and Bjork still kick arse lyrically past the age of 40.

we need to stop making excuses for Prince's lackluster album performances...if thats what the consensus is, thats what it is.....and if you like the lyrics, you like it...great...super!!!

but lets not make excuses...

sosgemini said:

Let's hope you're right sosgemini. But alot of older people DO seem set in their ways. Or maybe Prince living more life than us youngins has found some of the awnsers he's been looking for due to the fact he has lived more life. But honestly I don't think being a teacher is all that bad. He has alot to say and I'd be willing to give him a chance regarding whatever he wants to teach his fans about religion, love, god...ect....not saying I'll just blindly agree with whatever cuz I don't....but I'm willing to keep an open mind. Prince is a very smart man and he does have alot to say.

sosgemini said:

Let's also not pretend like Prince has always been a profound lyricist. In the course of 25 + years, yes Prince has written some great lyrics, clever plays on words, etc. I don't think the majority of Prince's lyrics are made to be taken that seriously. Prince's lyrics have always had a light-hearted funk to them... merely words to express having a good time whether it's spiritual or physical fun. True sometimes when he attempts to convey those ideas, they do come across as corny. It's pretty harsh to call the man lazy. The man has written some poetic things but he's not a poet.

Sade is a poor example especially when she has 5 albums to her credit... and let's be honest, lyrically (and musically) Lover's Rock was definitely not on par with the previous albums.

Bjork isn't quite as universal. The only time I've heard Bjork attempt R&B was on a Tribe Called Quest remix.

BSK3601 said:

i totally disagree...and i'd much rather have prince release an album every five years then release sub-par work just to get it out..

not saying that 3121 is subpar because i have yet to hear it but..cha know what i mean?




and i know im in the minority when it comes to wanting quality over quantity...and i know prince has always released fun songs..but he always found a good balance between the playfulness and the poetic..nowadays though the lyrics tend to be more sophomoric than playful. imho.