Who is Christopher Tracy?

Christopher Tracy is the character that Prince portrayed in Under The Cherry Moon.Funny movie!

AndGodCreatedWoman1 said:

Some guy who had a parade and died after a long fought civil war

Is the story in the song the same as the movie? The song is so sad.

No,not at all.

AndGodCreatedWoman1 said:

Well, he did die after a "civil war" so to speak, in the movie

Sometimes I can identify alot with Christopher Tracey...

what's so civil about war anyway

Snap said:

Well, it's not the peaceful of of civil, that's for sure

Janfriend said:

When he sings "long fought civil war" do you think he is refering to having identity issues?
Civil, i.e. human
War, i.e. conflict

I just assumed that since he always sings in symbolic terms.....cause otherwise which actual civil war would he be refering to?
I also heard this song is about a friend who died of a cocaine addiction.

Any takes on this?

Scandalous69 said:

Somebody recently mentioned an interview where he said the song was not about anyone in particular.

I don't know where you get 'civil' = 'human', in the context of civil war, civil means 'civilian population' ie a war where the civilians of one country are fighting themselves as opposed to another country. So the symbolism to me would suggest an internal conflict if anything, but what the conflict would be I don't know.

metalorange said:

I read a thing once where the writer suggested the song was about someone who'd died of AIDS. Civil war being a metaphor for the body's "fighting" within itself.

metalorange said:

Well.....yeah that's kinda what I meant.....sorry for not being more clear.
Human meaning something to do with the person himself, i.e. C Tracy.
Inner conflict etc etc.
Well.....if it was about drug abuse it could be the struggle of wanting to get off it, but not being able to.
And if it is about AIDS, maybe an inner conflict about not wanting to die....Hmmmm I don't know at all, just throwing some thoughts on this....

Really, this is another case of only-Prince-knows-for-sure. I'm convinced there's more background to the UCTM/Parade project than just being something P. pulled out of his ass, based mostly on the fact that a lot of people find it more touching than projects that definitely are based on reality. If not and it truly is 100% a work of fiction, that fact's mighty interesting, don't you think?

But if there is something more to it, he's not sharing.



And he doesn't have to.
[Edited 12/12/06 4:27am]

metalorange said:

Your interpretation makes sense. It´s probably about the protagonist´s inner conflict of a promiscuous life vs. settling down for good, or love against money ( then again, Mary IS rich, so maybe it´s just about promiscuity against matrimony ).

He was a fine ass gigalo that died for love!
[Edited 12/12/06 19:39pm]

Scandalous69 said:

Any disease is an internal conflict, not just AIDS. There are other everyday diseases that people and celebrities die of, I don't read anything in the song that says it has to be specifically about a friend of Prince's struggling with Aids or drug abuse.

I always thought the civil war thing was a conflict between to separate people, not a conflict within

Janfriend said:

Hmmm....that IS an interesting take on that as well.
Or maybe one person with 2 personalities?

Janfriend said:

Well, wouldn't it just be 'war' not a 'civil war' if it was between 2 different people? As I said, 'civil' in this context implies internal struggle, as in the Civil War in America was an internal conflict. The only other context would be if it was a play on words, civil meaning polite and 'civilised'.

But really, the song lyrics don't give away anything about the nature of the 'war' beyond mentioning it. I guess it depends on whether the song was written before the movie or whether Prince was thinking of the character and plot of the movie at the time. He could have just added the name 'Christopher Tracy' to an existing song, the same as he did with 'Christopher Tracy's parade' which was originally 'Little Girl Wendy's parade'.

Janfriend said:

i think the war was Prince's war with decent acting....prince lost...

metalorange said:

Well when you take someone to civil court, you are fighting (so to speak) with another person or persons. It's not internal

In my job, we may label something a domestic or civil issue and it's usually a conflict between two or more people who know each other. At least that's how we use the term
[Edited 12/14/06 0:56am]

Janfriend said:

Fair enough, 'Civil' does have several connotations, though in your context I would argue it is 'civil' pertaining only to 'citizens', another way of saying citizens arguing with each other.

But when you put 'war' after it, the meaning becomes more specific:


A war between factions or regions of the same country.
A state of hostility or conflict between elements within an organization: "The broadcaster is in the midst of a civil war that has brought it to the brink of a complete management overhaul" (Bill Powell).
Civil War The war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865. Also called War Between the States.
Civil War The war in England between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists from 1642 to 1648.

metalorange said:

I see your point, but I always thought the "war" in the song had to do with the conflict between Christopher and the father of Kristin Scott Thomas' character

SlamGlam said:

Everyone come behold Christopher Tracy's Parade
The show will proceed unless it should rain strawberry lemonade
Hopefully that will not occur, the man above has been paid
Give what U can, all U can stand, and all of your life will be made

Everyone should come and dig Christopher Tracy's piano
The chord strikes, the devil no like, so he runs 2 his evil car

Everyone come behold Christopher Tracy's Parade
Goodness will guide us if love is inside us
Christopher Tracy's Parade (Christopher Tracy's Parade)


*****

Tracy died soon after a long fought civil war
Just after I'd wiped away his last tear
I guess he's better off than he was before,
A whole lot better off than the fools he left here

I used 2 cry 4 Tracy because he was my only friend
Those kind of cars don't pass U every day
I used 2 cry 4 Tracy because I wanted 2 see him again
But sometimes, sometimes life ain't always the way...
Sometimes it snows in April
Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad
Sometimes I wish life was never ending
And all good things, they say, never last
Springtime was always my favorite time of year
A time 4 lovers holding hands in the rain
Now springtime only reminds me of Tracy's tears
Always cry 4 love, never cry 4 pain

He used 2 say so strong unafraid 2 die
Unafraid of the death that left me hypnotized
No, staring at his picture I realized
No one could cry the way my Tracy cried

Sometimes it snows in April
Sometimes I feel so bad
Sometimes, sometimes I wish that life was never ending
And all good things, they say, never last

I often dream of heaven and I know that Tracy's there
I know that he has found another friend
Maybe he's found the answer 2 all the April snow
Maybe one day I'll see my Tracy again

Sometimes it snows in April
Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad
Sometimes I wish that life was never ending
But all good things, they say, never last

All good things that say, never last
And love, it isn't love until it's past

in april of 1985 on Easter Sunday, Prince brought the Purple Rain Tour to Miami...he said something about that "he was looking for the April snow."

AndGodCreatedWoman1 said:

He's the guy that stole Little Girl Wendy's Parade.

raddahone said:

oh yeah,,, also remember when he retired in 85 and he sent Steve to make a statement... they asked something like

reporter: "what is he going to do?"

Steve: he's going to look for the ladder

reporter: what does that mean?

Steve: sometimes it snows in April