Lyrically, you don't get much better than "When Doves Cry," which was Prince at his finest. Tortured, sexy, and colorful. It's got father issues, an Oedipus complex and a bunch of animal metaphors. Amazing.

In the 80s Prince milked his mystery and ambiguousness. His chief strength was in being unsettling, rather than making a point or delivering a message. It was Lovesexy that really brought out the "messenger" Prince and that's when his music and lyrics became less interesting.

In the 90s there are no Prince songs with the flagrant audacity of a "Lady Cab Driver" or a "Sister." Or the confession of "Strange Relationship." Or the naked bitterness of "Darling Nikki." He lost his ability to shock and unnerve--he even says so: "How can I put this in a way so as not to offend or unnerve."

"Pussy Control" is Politically Correct. "Papa" is your typical anti-child abuse message. "Gett Off" is careful not to offend. "7" is religious mumbo jumbo masking his agenda against his own label.

It's as if his shock tactics were just marketing strategies, fueled by the ambition to achieve fame, not art. Once he became a superstar, the daring ceased. Which cheapens the shock value of his earlier works, as mere ploys to get noticed.

I don't think it's pushing it at all.

His lyrics now lack imagination. He makes things too obvious and simplistic.

Remember when Prince's lyrics in a song were so vivid and alive that they were like an adventure in and of itself? Remember when Prince could write a song so wonderfully playful and open that you spent hours trying to figure out what, exactly it means?
[Edited 4/15/06 21:43pm]

padawan said:

See you have it all twisted. The shock value that you speak of was a shock to your small world and the unopened minds of that time period.Living on the north side of Chicago I know an abundance of people who lived and still live the free lifestyle that "P" represented. To him he was just doing what came natural. "Gett off" was pure sex, "Pussy control" was sassy and had a wicked left hook, and "7" is a classic, poetically and rythmically. Artists, just like the rest of us, grow and mature. Would I like to see a glimpse of the wild child that I grew up idolizing,YES, But the fact that this shock value continued for a span of over two decades kinds of negates your "for the fame" comment. Actually the entire last paragragh you wrote was, how do you put it, mumbo jumbo and I'm not going to continue because you must not be a "P" fan and you bumped into this website and decided to post nonsense.

We are the New Power Generation
We wanna change the world
but the only thing that's in our way is you!!

His lyrics now lack imagination. He makes things too obvious and simplistic.

Here we go again.....

Its another 'Prince aint like he used to be' topic

If thats how you feel then just play what music era you liked him in

Dont you think its good to have that choice????

Dont you think its good that hes sampled almost every type of music style you can think of???

Even back in the SOTT days he got criticised - I remember getting teased cos I liked him back then???

And now theres people STILL not satisfied with him...

I give up.....

wendyrachel said:

Here we go, another oversensitive fam.

You just can't accept the possibility that maybe, just maybe Prince really has gone downhill artistically in some way? That it really isn't the fault of the fans, but merely a fair observation of reality?

His lyrics "back in the good ol' days" (I feel weird saying that considering I loved most of his lyrical work on Emancipation) weren't always great (Ronnie, Talk To Russia comes to mind), but it was a lot more imaginative and vivid overall. It was a lot more daring (not sexually, just thematically and overall) and multi-layered.

Too many of his lyrics in the 90's were either painfully corny when they were meant to be serious (Graffiti Bridge and Animal Kingdom, anyone?), or distractingly desperate in their attempt to sound edgy or trendy (Days 'O' Wild, Hot Wit U),

His lyrics in the 00's have mostly been far too straight forward and banal. Very lifeless and bland.

Stop being such a baby over constructive criticism directed at the guy's work.
[Edited 4/16/06 3:11am]

Honestly, I don't find Prince's lyrics in his early albums to be superior to what he is doing now, nor that much different. For every lyrical gem of the 80's I could give you one from more recent times. To me, Prince continues to paint pictures with his lyrics. Truth be told, Prince had his share of lyrical clunkers even in the "good ol' days".

[Edited 4/15/06 22:20pm]

wendyrachel said:

Here we go, another oversensitive fam.

You just can't accept the possibility that maybe, just maybe Prince really has gone downhill artistically in some way? That it really isn't the fault of the fans, but merely a fair observation of reality?

His lyrics "back in the good ol' days" (I feel weird saying that considering I loved most of his lyrical work on Emancipation) weren't always great (Ronnie, Talk To Russia comes to mind), but it was a lot more imaginative and vivid overall. It was a lot more daring (not sexually, just thematically and overall) and multi-layered.

Too many of his lyrics in the 90's were either painfully corny when they were meant to be serious (Graffiti Bridge and Animal Kingdom, anyone?), or distractingly desperate in their attempt to sound edgy or trendy (Days 'O' Wild, Hot Wit U),

His lyrics in the 00's have mostly been far too straight forward and banal. Very lifeless and bland.

Stop being such a baby over constructive criticism directed at the guy's work.
[Edited 4/16/06 3:11am]

PurpleKnight said:

There are some good points in your posts, and I have often pondered upon this issue, however, I think that there´s still some good songwriting in songs such as Last December, most of Emancipation ( Right Back Here In My Arms, Somebody´s Somebody, The Love We Make, Dreamin About U etc. etc. Soul Sanctuary is also a gem, but unfortunately NOT written by Prince, Sandra St.Victor wrote that one).

The Gold Experience also contained interesting lyrics, I liked Days Of Wild ( though it did not end up on the album), Shy is great, Dolphin is also full with metaphors albeit a bit too obvious and selfcentered, but still great).

7 is great, God Created Woman , Live 4 Love ( except for Tony M), Strollin, Money Don´t Matter 2Nite..etc.etc.
He was still writing interesting lyrics from the beginning of the 90´s til today, but you´re right, something is sometimes missing...

Remember that line "From Pakistan 2 Poland..." off of the Diamonds and Pearls album ? Ironically , the Prince in the early 80´s was REALLY capable of writing lyrics that people everywhere in the world could relate to....literally , even people "from Pakistan 2 Poland"...The Beautiful Ones, Adore, If I Was Your Girlfriend, When Doves Cry, Strange Relationship, Forever In My Life are highly personal, yet easily accessible by most people, because everybody can relate to the content of the songs...people use these songs for their weddings and stuff...


These days, the lyrics are still highly personal and give us insight into the artist´s world and his mind, but they´re no longer that accessible, more cryptic, aimed at a certain age group (?) ( I´m thinking about the use of certain "trendy" words here and ebonics and the likes )...

The old songs were also mystic and cryptic at times, but the average Joe could still relate to them, no matter if they were lovesongs, spiritual songs or political. The new lyrics are different.Take Fury, for instance...great song, nice lyrics, but WTF is the story about ? It´s personal, but not the kind of personal that people can relate to as in , for instance, When Doves Cry or even I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man or When You Were Mine...those are situations that a lot of people have been through, and good pop music is also about being able to relate to the lyrics.

TRC was a great album , musically and in regards as being an interesting concept album...I really liked it and the ONA tour...but I doubt that some of those casual old school Prince fans can relate to it, which is often just as important as creating catchy melodies.

So, personally, I´m still very happy with Prince´s output, including the lyrics, because it´s all part of his body of art , but I can totally understand your points.
[Edited 4/16/06 5:47am]

For me Prince's lyrics have become more contrived and less free and childlike.

Songs like "Free" or "Starfish and Coffee" rarely seem to appear on albums anymore.

These songs I loved because they were full of child like wonder and expression.

I think these songs are just as importand and relevant as his more mature songs like "Nothing Compares to U" or "If I Was Your Girlfriend".

He used to sum up great long thoughts and expressions in one clever opening line like:

"It's been 7 hours and 15 days"

I think he was so good a capturing spontanious moments in time and writing it well and creating great song and melody around it.

You think of the song Nothing Compares to U and it is so simply constructed.

There don't seem to be any extra words in there. He gets straight to the point and the song tells a very simple and straightforward story. We know instantly what he is talking about.
[Edited 4/16/06 8:18am]

Purpleknight-

It really is just a matter of taste right? I mean, you and I could argue the quality of Revenge of The Sith against the other 5 Star Wars films and whether or not Lucas is slipping artistically. Ultimately is just comes down to what you (the fan) wants. Just because Prince is not giving you EXACTLY what you want and how you want it, doesn't necessarily mean he is going downhill artistically.

Right, no opinion is an absolute. But that just goes without saying.

Emancipation is 10 years old. It can be called the "good ol' days" I suppose. To me, someone else summed it up when they said his lyrics used to be more childlike. Even, though I don't think the quality Prince's lyrical output has dramatically changed, I will say this: Prince use to write a lot more 8th grade flower poetry type stuff. What I mean is that, he use to just toss in obscure colorful words to give things a sense of "depth" and "mystery". The writing on the back of the Purple Rain album is a perfect example of this. I like it, but it is sometimes high school girl type stuff.

You don't think he still tries to write "8th grade flower poetry type stuff"? I beg to differ.

"Like a bird flying over the hilltops, love is like the sky, you know it never stops."

What would you call that then?

I'd say the biggest difference is just that Prince doesn't do it as effectively anymore.

His lyrics now seem to have dramatically less color than they did...

From day one, Prince has ALWAYS had his share of corny lyrics.

Agreed, but now I don't think he comes anywhere near the lyrical highs he once did. Sometimes he does, but that's becoming a more rare occurence now than ever before.

I don't think I've seen any songs in the 00's with the captivating honesty of Strange Relationship, the brutal combination of helpless love and bitter hatred in Something In The Water, the fascinating, yet strangely accessible metaphorical nature of Purple Rain, or the universally understood, poetic pain so beautifully written in When Doves Cry.

Again, there have been many GEMS, lyrically, from Prince in the past 6 years.

Okay, I just disagree then. I'd say the lows outweigh the highs in this regard, and that the highs aren't nearly what they were.


Listen, I am not trying to argue that Prince is BETTER lyrically than he used to be. All I am saying is that I don't see this giant shift in lyrical quality that you seem to be seeing. Prince's lyrical quality seems to be roughly the same as ever. A few rough spots, but mostly very apt at painting pictures with words.
[Edited 4/16/06 8:47am]

That's fair enough. I guess we both agree that he's always been lyrically inconsistent. We just disagree that it's gotten worse.

I would completely agree with you if your only point was that Prince's lyrics often are a mixed bag - from brilliant to crap, you can find anything in them. I simply just can't see a certain tendency in their quality. I just can't.

They were always inconsistent to a certain degree (ranging from amazing to silly), but now they're actually quite consistently mediocre, and often times just plain bad.

You gave a good example yourself - SOTT. Brilliance and shit on one record, sometimes even in one song (and that's my favourite Prince album!!!). Didn't you complain just a few weeks ago what a simple-minded pop song "Play in the sunshine" is (though I don't fully agree on this)? Just compare the excellent lyrics of SOTT (the song) with a song like "Housequake". The poetry of "Starfish and coffee" or "Forever in my life" or "The cross" with something like "It" or "U got the look". Don't even get me on "Adore". Rhyming "I'll be there for you" on "I truly adore you"??? Come on, that's corny shit, LOL! On the other hand, this song contains some of the most beatiful love song lyrics the man has ever made.

Well my problem with PITS is moreso that it doesn't accomplish anything Let's Go Crazy doesn't do already, and much better at that.

What's wrong with Housequake? Its lyrics are quite fun.

"Who in this houses knows about the Quake?"
"We do!"
"Bullshit!"

Very playful.

The lyrics to "It" are actually really charming because of their vagueness until Prince ruins it at the end by blatantly stating the obvious, that he really just meant "having sex" the whole time.

And yeah, you make a good point about U Got The Look.

See, I'm not saying that Prince's lyrics weren't always inconsistent. They most definitely were. It's just that now the lows are much more drastic (often embarassing), and the highs really aren't anything too special anymore.

Wow though, I REALLY disagree with you about that line in Adore. It's wonderfully sweet

And don't let us go and look at the albums before SOTT. "I would die 4 U, Darling if you want me to"??? What a crap (lyrically)! And then you got the poetry of "Purple Rain". It was mixed, it is mixed and it will always be mixed.

If you want consequent lyrical mastership in the English language, Prince just is not the man to be imo. But it's pop music, so what the fuss?

I Would Die 4 U is absolutely brilliant, lyrically. At once, it's both effective as a song about one you love, and as a song about Jesus.

Purple Rain's poetry is beautiful. I haven't seen that kind of bittersweet imagery evoked by him very often.

Even, though I don't think the quality Prince's lyrical output has dramatically changed, I will say this: Prince use to write a lot more 8th grade flower poetry type stuff. What I mean is that, he use to just toss in obscure colorful words to give things a sense of "depth" and "mystery". The writing on the back of the Purple Rain album is a perfect example of this. I like it, but it is sometimes high school girl type stuff.