So I was listening to Don't Play Me today and this was the first time that I really listened to the lyrics in depth. I always thought it was a cool song, I just never listened to it that much. But anyway, it got me thinking:

What if Prince decided instead of the Webby Awards, to perform it at a big awards show (ie. Grammy's, MTV Muisc Awards, BET Awards etc.).

Just picture this; just Prince on stage on a stool with his acoustic guitar like the Musicolgy tour. As he is playing it a screen behind him flashes differant clips of negative reviews of his muisc, him and albums, talent etc.

Do you think the public and the audience would get it and would it get any attention? Would it just fall under the rug like everything else Prince seems to do nowadays (save SNL Fury).

I was thinking about this today and regardless of the outcome I think that would be so great to do it on a show when millions are watching.

What do you guys think?

I think this is a perfect song to showcase Prince's inability to trust in himself, others or the perceptions of others, historicly speaking that song is proven incorrect and slightly paranoid

i was watching a show on hip-hop artists recently,
which i really don't know much about, and it was mentioned
that certain hip-hop artists were releasing "retirement albums."

P already did 'Don't Play Me' in much the way you laid it out on Tavis
(SANS THE DRAMATIC NEG EDITORIAL) and it didn't come off that way to me.
your picture of him doing that could come off self-destructive, angry and ego-centric.

is your point to be taken literally,
that he wouldn't want people to play his music anymore?
or are you saying sabbatical, semi-retirement, retirement, vacation?
OR are you talking publicity stunt AGAINST the music industry solely?

it would help if he "notified" the listeners it were a "swan song"
. . . or followed it up with a PR or something . . . for clarity.
but that really wouldn't be his style, i expect.

heck, actions speak louder than words.
he's never been one to waste his words.

in any case, we'd all know it in a very short-time,
and he'd probably be in the background,
maybe laughin'& sayin' "deal with it."



besides, the music world is HIS oyster.
he could do music in ANY way he could conceive - ipod to ipod, even - huh!
he could take as much or as little time as he needs . . .
and his True Fans would love him right on back in the House
anytime he wanted it that way.

i'm a BabyBoomer and my number is MANY!
[Edited 8/8/06 21:34pm]

It's a cool song. On the one hand it sounds like Prince is saying he doesn't need radio/mtv etc to play his records because he's been there, done that and he's now on a higher spiritual plane and he doesn't need all that constant fame anymore.

But on the other hand, the over-all song comes out the opposite, like he is bitter and angry that radio/mtv etc have abandoned him, and he would actually 'love' them to play him - he could have ended the song with 'please play me!' if it didn't sound so desperate.

As FamilyFeud said, basically he did the guitar/stool/honest personal song thing on Tavis playing Reflection, but it just passed by the radar of most people. I just don't think there's much audience for deep meaningful songs on US tv, maybe over here in Europe like playing on a cool musicians-type show like the Jools Holland show in the UK he'd have got a much larger reaction, because we like that sombre, introspective music more.

RobDogg27 said:

So funny to hear you say this because last time I listened to it I imagined the same thing. Specifically I imagined him at the AMAs; Daniel in the lion's den, putting the perpetrators to rights. It would have had an impact because it is such a great song. Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) said recently, "You can argue with a lecturer, but you can't argue with a good song!" P would have thrown a real marker down if he'd have done that. He wouldn't have lost anything either, since radio wasn't gonna play him anyway.

whoknows said:

The most pertinant lines would be the ones where he presents himself as an anachronism in today's industry "I'm the wrong colour and I play guitar/ My only competition is apparently in the past" and "I use proper English and I'm straight" ("straight" meaning not gun toting drug taker I presume), and most of all "The music I play ain't the type of stereo you're trying to feed". Ouch!

whoknows said:

The line is "My only competition is, well, me in the past"

I don't know how the word straight could be taken any other way than straight sexually as opposed to gay. If it was to do with drugs, surely it would be 'clean'?

metalorange said:

thanks, metalorange


i guess it WAS 'Reflection' he did on Tavis, w/Wendy just prior to Musicology Tour (?) . . .

it's funny you are discussing the interpretation in the big picture of the music and radio world. as a female admirer of the musician, i ALWAYS very personally interpreted the song to be a request to a potential lover, like:

"DON'T BE A PLAYA, PLAYIN' ME!"


i never really listened to the lyrics, other than the chorus much; guess i'll have to check them out again!

metalorange said:

Never was sure about that competition line. Have to say I prefer the way I heard it to the way it actually is. I think you're mistaken about the straight line. The whole song is about Prince being at odds with the industry. How would being heterosexual put him at odds with the industry? The word straight is often used by low level criminals like "squares" to mean people outside "the game". Particularly relevant as he talks about "using proper English" in the same line. That, again makes him straight.

whoknows said:

Well, you may be right, but personally I've never heard the word 'straight' used in that criminal context. He also uses the line 'I'm the wrong colour' but really being black doesn't hold you back in the music industry either, most of the biggest stars are black. I kind of take it to mean the whole music industry is upside-down now, where being gay or bisexual or whatever is a bigger selling point than being straight now, and being black is fine as long as you are really black. But the whole song is a bit of a paradox, he uses proper English and yet he uses U and 4s and 2s and eyes etc, he put his ass away but he once had it out! It's a song about how things have changed in the music industry as much as anything, what used to propel you to the top now holds you back, and vice-versa.

Is being gay or bisexual a selling point in today's industry? Try telling that to Michael Jackson! The "wrong colour" line I think means not being black enough(the industry now markets dark skinned thug types over light skinned pretty boys) and also the fact that you don't see black people with guitars on screen anymore apart for retro man Lenny Kravitz.

metalorange said:

Of course it went under the radar of people, because the acoustic treatment will expose a weak melody more than anything. I've heard that song 5 or 6 times now and still can't remember the tune. Don't Play Me is a different kettle of fish. His last classic, from his last decent album.

whoknows said:

I think, from Prince's perspective, it looks like the more outlandish you you sell your sexuality (especially as revealed in videos) then that is a selling point. Whether that is actually true or not is arguable. Or another possibility, acts don't announce their sexuality outright, they keep it vague so that they don't lose the gay market, whereas Prince is stating out-right 'I'm straight'.



Well, yes, that's exactly what I thought I was saying. But in the past the case was the opposite, 'white' acts were easier to market. Overall Prince is saying now he doesn't fit into the easily marketable stereotype format of today and that is why he doesn't get played, but then he never really fit into any stereotype, so what is he moaning about?!
[Edited 8/9/06 9:06am]

metalorange said:

That doesn't make any sense. Name me the male stars who flaunt ambiguous sexual images, particularly black ones. There's nothing ambiguous about 5o Cent or P Diddy's sexual image. The only person who's sexuality is seen as outlandish and vague is Prince. Again, it would make no sense to name being not gay as a problem. It's pretty clear he means straight in the same sense as Chris Moon and Pepe Willie called him straight when they spoke about him in the 70s not drinking or smoking. Chris Moon's exact quote about Prince was "We thought he was the straightest guy in the world!"

metalorange said:[quote]

whoknows said:

Actually it's pretty clear that as unique as he was, he was much more in sync with his times than he is now. Light skinned pretty boys were all the rage back in the day. El DeBarge, Al B Sure, Terence Trent Darby, even MJ. Also, wild outlandish costumes were also de rigeur in the 70s and 80s as they're not today. Prince wouldn't have seemed nearly as strange then as he does now.