BlackandRising said:

daycare management and gun maintenance, just like in the sally struthers commercials

Anx said:

Europe is also not so hung up on religion like America is.
[Edited 5/8/07 20:00pm]

jtfolden said:

I think he just caught those reporters off guard for a moment, that's all.

"devil penis"?

He shoulda known better. He coulda just been like:

"Studying what?"
"Your mother. Next question."

At least they'd be laughing with him.

Alexandernvrmind said:

Very true.. One can tell by some of the comments here people don't want God mentioned at all. His carnal side has been highlighted, Christianity/God references downplayed. That's what took me by surprise when I first started getting into Prince a few years ago, I mean going past the hits, hearing footage like "may the Lord Jesus Christ guide you to the Purple Rain"..I was like, whoa! How come the media doesn't mention this? Or in the Housequake Video Forum, his Under The Cherry Moon interview in France, surrounded by a group, at the end he became very serious, almost fearful, "..I do believe in God" or the M interview (Musicology promo) in Toronto surrounded by a group he recommends to the audience reading Scriptures, as it gives him peace for the crisis going on in the world. It's very interesting hearing this from such a huge artist -- who's soft-spoken anyway and who it seems strives to be an enigma.

It really seemed to me like an awkward couple of seconds where he kinda caught them off guard and they didn't know what else to say, hence the little chuckle.

I could be mistaken but I didn't detect any ruffled feathers from Prince or anyone else.

I noticed that when I saw a video of the press conderence....

Stupid and just rude.

Alexandernvrmind said:

i'd appreciate having the actual intent of my comments acknowledged and respected, if it's all the same to you.

i didn't make my comments on this thread to cast a negative light on prince's current religious leanings.

i made a point to say i wasn't putting a value judgement on my observation, and i made that point for a reason. you can refer to my previous comment at the top of this post if you need a refresher.

what i had said earlier in this thread that was europe is not as accustomed to prince's current spiritual identity as we are in america, so it would be to his benefit to acknowledge that and to respond to their "snickering" and "giggling" with patience rather than anger, at least in the public eye.

i'm not turning this into a debate about what religion i think prince "should" be. it's none of my business, really. i was simply making an observation about certain behaviors at the press conference, and when someone responded, i made a relevant remark that the prince of '88 and the prince of '07 are very different people in how they approach spirituality.

and i do believe that.

and i am not putting a value judgment on my statement.

and a bonus fyi, i've been a diehard fan for well over twenty years. i figured out that he has a lot of religion in his music. kinda subtle, that prince, isn't he?

so, anyway...is there any way i can possibly be any clearer for you? please do let me know.

thanks.
[Edited 5/8/07 19:35pm]

BlackandRising said:

Maybe. I think that the message is the same. As far as the "banished ones" goes- those are lyrics that, like all of Prince's "religious" lyrics, are up for many interpretations. They obviously hit people many different ways.

As far as Prince making people change and or making people think like him--Prince has always maintained a "my way or the highway" attitude. Go back to housequake and read that interview with Alan Leeds. Prince is and has always been a control freak that sees his way as the "right" way. What is new about that?

Yeah, we can pretend that Lovesexy's message was all inclusive, but it actually was only all inclusive to Christians. I mean, if Jesus is the one who is being praised (anna stesia/the cross/etc.) that automatically excludes a bunch of people living in this world. So, I don't buy that the lovesexy message was any less exclusionary or dogmatic than Prince has been recently.

Maybe it was, as you said, more unspoken on Prince's part, but to say that Prince's more Jesus themed music of the 80's as including everyone is off. Ask a Jewish person how inclusionary "the Cross" was to them...
[Edited 5/8/07 20:09pm]

skywalker said:

In the context of the album they have slightly more wiggle room but I'm mostly remembering his explanations and attitudes during the original listening parties... stuff like where Prince was talking with the groups about "coming together as one" and the clarification meant coming together under a single belief and religion... all these other things, color of skin etc didn't matter but the person's belief system DID in Prince's idea of a peaceful world order.

Now maybe Prince has always believed that but I never heard him voice it until 1998 or later.



Sure, always a control freak but I never heard any readily available stories about Prince pushing his religious beliefs off onto anyone in the 80's... Now, of course, we have stories told by George Clinton about how Prince and Larry came down to him while he was recording in a studio and lecturing him about his foul language, etc... or the thing that got out several years back about how before the Revolution reformed for a concert that W&L would have to renounce their homosexuality first... Obviously he's softened on that in the last couple years but I remember Wendy even commenting on it and saying how she felt like she was in mourning and that he'd been 'lost' but a while later they got together and he was more like his old self again.

As with anything, once Prince takes an interest in something he tends to go hog wild and wrap his whole body, arms, and legs around the subject before letting go or moving on... I think there was obviously a period of time, say 1998-2002 where he was really deep in it.



No, I don't mean exclusionary by just MENTIONING your own beliefs. Just voicing your own belief system doesn't exclude anyone (unless a particular person goes into a fit just by hearing about it ). I've never understood why someone should be offended just by HEARING about someone else's beliefs.

I don't think the Prince of the 80's, as controlling as he was, was quite the type to do the stuff as mentioned above concerning W&L, Clinton, the listening parties, etc... Maybe Prince's religious beliefs were a lot more loosely structured in the 80's so he had a harder time trying to pin anybody down as wrong or right but JW Prince seemed much more ready to cast the first stone or, at least, much more ready to voice those opinions openly. He could have always held them and just kept them to himself, in which case he hasn't personally changed at all.

NewFunk said:

I'm sorry, but that was just plain rude, disrespectful, and uneducated and not uneducated about the bible, but uneducated in general. Anyone with any lick of sense would not laugh and chuckle at someone's heart felt belief, especially someone whom you clain to adore and are glad to see. I can see why he doesn't grant many interviews or press conferences about anything.Carry on with what God has put in your heat Prince. I'm a firm believer in when he's giving you the power you can do ALL things. :nod:Here's what I think about the people that chuckled

NewFunk said:

Yes I noticed that myself, I felt bad for him

O.K just reading this made me wanna cry! Big ole meanie's

anon said:

"AMEN"

loisclark88 said:

stupid & rude: that's the British media for you!

I don't personally think it was laughing at his bible bashing, I think they honestly thought for that split second that he was joking, then turned into slightly embarrassed murmering, as they realised he was probably telling the truth.
He's lying anyway, whenever he hasn't got a straight answer, the bible or god is his back up. That's why he always sounds like he's playing games and people think he's strange. It's just bullshit!

3121rocks said:

Ah the good old "turn the other cheek, forgive them father" chair to the head emoticon.
[Edited 5/9/07 3:20am]

tznekbsbfrvr said:

Good reason to make fun of them all equally. Europe long ago moved beyond the religious superstition in crusty old books, its funny to hear someone indoctrinated to take it seriously there. Very much giggle worthy.

he should have just sprung it on the BBC through one writer and left everyone else hanging.

...I GUESS we can say that prince is retiring from Music after this Tour!

damn he got all STOMPY MCBITCH about it.

love2thenines2003 said:

Guess all you like, it aint true, however!

bonedaddy said:

.....u don't know the answer too!!


Prince mentioned the need to take time out to 'study' at which point one of the journalists in the room asked 'study what?'. Prince, of course, said 'The Bible'

love2thenines2003 said:

I'm sorry, but Prince don't do 'retiring from music'. He say's he's taking time out to travel. Bible, my arse. What he don't already know about the bible by now, can't be worth knowing.

He aint 'retiring' from music!

bonedaddy said:

Yep. You nailed it. Prince always mentions God at awkward moments during interviews, apropos of nothing. It's his safe word, his last resort ace up his sleeve when he's got nothing to say. When Oprah asked him what he saw in Mayte, he said she helps him talk to God. If that isn't bullshit I don't know what is. His God shtick probably works on young nubiles he's trying to bed, but before a gaggle of professional journalists, it just sounds like a joke.

padawan said:

padawan said:

Couldn't agree more.

That sort of thing may get swallowed by sycophantic American journalists, but we're not so reverant of celebrity bullshit here. Such odd responses were guaranteed to raise a few giggles. Frankly, Prince should be old enough and media-savvy enough by now to appreciate the difference when talking to journalists in the UK, as opposed to the US. Rather than wheeling out his stock "I'm so deeply spiritual, me" answers he'd have been better served by keeping things light and focusing on the music. Prince has been off the radar for a while in Europe, so it does no harm to hammer home repeatedly what a great musical artist we all know he is.

jtfolden said:

yep. the 'banished ones' was an entirely new spin on his spirituality.

skywalker said:

maybe so but back in the good old days he never did condemn people who were different from him. he never spoke out against homosexuality, never insisted that 'stauros' be used instead of a cross; never unloaded that offensive tripe about women being subordinate to men; never edited the olylrics of his classics, didn't hand out watchtower magazines.

he has changed a lot over the years.