Prince, in my opinion, has never been a great lyricist, but i have the idea in the 'past' (the eighties) he a) at least put a bit more effort in them b) the music was great enough to not pay too much attention to the lyrical flaws.

I think the moments when Princes lyrics touched me the most were on most of the camille tracks, somehow that lyrics (combined with the music) had a depth and humanity i hardly ever heard from him since then (and also not before that).

I must say, on an exciting, energetic rock track, or some groovy funk workout i am not really 'asking' for deep or insightfull lyrics, but judging the lyrics from 3121 Prince hasnt grown a bit lyrically since Graffiti Bridge or the Gold Experience, same topics, almost the same insights on love, sex and religion (a bit more toned down, in a 'good citizen' kind of way) but nevertheless its the same ways of dealing with a lyric as he did in the early - midnineties.

In general, its all a very shallow on the lyrical front on 3121. Not that they are really bad lyrics in a 'functional' way, but it sounds like hes underachieving, I mean: some tracks on The truth and a track like 'I love you but i dont trust you any more' showed a bit more lyrical (and musical) maturity, then most of the stuff on 3121

I mean, i have seen the purple rain, climbed the ladder, beared the cross, looked around the corner, dove into the holy river... I am not sure i should I get on the boat

A question:

After watching the purple rain, climbing the ladder, bearing the cross, looking for graffiti bridge, panning for gold, diving in the holy river and raving unto the joy fantastic do you want to.....get on the boat?

I mean.. Prince is not a bad singwriter, i mean, on an energetic rocktrack or a groovy funkjam, his lyrics sure are 'functional'. But it seems like he hasnt grown as a lyricist since the early - mindnineties: all the reacurring themes of lust, love and salvation are there, and usually in the same, somehow detached lyrical style. I mean: i could live with that when i was 18, but i guess i am grown a bit pas that.

I must say that some of the songs performed by 'Camille' have a depth and humanity that i have hardly ever heard from Prince after that.

For the lyrics on 3121 i dont really care: they are there, they arent bad, but theres no growth shown, not really much that makes me connect with the 'person' Prince. The weird thing is on The Truth and on a track like 'I love you, but i dont trust you anymore' he is showing he is capable of doing a lot better, but 3121 is underachieving on a lyrical level.

glitch glitch post..

I can live with bad lyrics - as a fan of a lot of J-Pop artists and Italo acts - lyrics are never the top of the bill for me.

It's Prince's production that's lacking for me.

To call it dated is wrong, to call it too 'modern' isn't quite right either - It's in this bizarre limbo all of it's own, and generally, not in a good way.

Prince's production has for a long time been super clean and crisp (Digital recording, I guess??) - Which just leaves one feeling very apathetic to even the best of the output on something like 3121.

I dunno, I think Prince could definately do with some new tricks in his production bag.

NouveauDance said:

The first track - 3121, gives promise to a different production style... Alas, the crisp, cleaness of the rest of the album doesnt live up to it...

Maybe, like the song 1999 was a sneak view of what was to follow with Purple Rain, the song 3121 may be a sneak prievew of what will follow next...

Riverpoet31 said:

To be honest I think "I love you but I don't trust you anymore" is garbage. So is "The One." It's ersatz, it's a fugazi. It ain't from the heart, it's not vulnerable, it's not courageous. "Strange Relationship" is vulnerable and mind-blowingly honest. "I seem to get a kick out of doing you cold." Takes balls to admit that.

lust said:

100% agree.

NO! He is lacking catchy hooks in his songs.

bigsexy said:

Hooks aside, have you really listened to some of the lyrics? I can tell that Prince just went with what ever the 1st idea that came to his head on some of these tracks. No editing or rewrites required.....

javed said:

his lweak lyrics have nothing to do with how many songs he has written or the audience he is trying to keep. if you like the lyrics that's one thing, but don't make lame ass excuses that simply aren't applicable, as if you know what is going on inside the mans head or his motivations. you can be a fan without be an apologist or having to defend the mans every action.

his lyrics have been decling for years now. where they used to be more colorful, visual and full of analogies, they are now stated bluntly and lack a creativity and sense of humor that made his music so engaging in his early days.

Call my Name is a prime example. I love the song, but he repeats the same rhyme throughout the second verse...how many times to I have to hear the word pause?

that being said, despite some of the poor lyrics I find the lyrics on 3121 to be more colorful and reminiscent of some of his older works. ultimately he seems more self-conscious of his lyrics and they rhymes seem more forced, they aren't lyrics othe rmusicians couldn't write, where as in his early days they seemed to just flow out of him in a way that no othe rperson could have ever thought of.

okay so it's lacking here and there well he is getting older and those jw's do get on your nerves and that's why he left,oh wait getting off the subject,sorry!well i ran out of words!i will say this start over prince,start over!