...influence you and your outlook on life in any way positively?

love

Prince has always been an extremely positive influence on my life!

sweet jesus i just had a premonition!

Its not just about being free, having a positive direction makes it worthwhile.

Anji said:

"journey towards being free?"

i can never understand threads like these.

Hey, Anji!

he has effected my outlook on things in a positive way. I have learned many things through P! I don't go along with the whole JW thing though

Enjoying his music has a positive influence on my life. Other than that, I couldn't care less about him! Sorry, but it's true

Yes!

Hi Anji!

Anji said:

I suppose in a way.

When I was young, I looked up to Prince as an older black male and an artistic soul who actively eschewed labels to define himself, his craft and his trajectory in his own way. I think he made it acceptible for me to listen to -- without shame -- genres of music, for example, that really expanded my cultural knowledge. Under the Cherry Moon probably sparked my first real fascination with travel. (I wanted to go to France!) He encouraged me to check out Joni Mitchell, Clara Bow and Dorothy Parker (in whom, I've learned, his interest is actually very small ). In some sense, he afforded me a way to be appreciated as a black male in the mid '80s who didn't walk around acting and looking like some hard hip hopper all day. He's been a comrade in pondering God. And, more recently, he's been a kindred spirit in wanting to "clean up his act" and (usually) act his age.

I must say that now, as a free-thinking adult, I drastically diverge from Prince in too many areas to count, but I think his public evolution(s) earlier on have encouraged me to take advantage of a certain latitude I may not have been inclined toward otherwise.
[Edited 5/22/07 14:48pm]

...And, no, Prince didn't "make me gay."

Prince is a constant reminder of what it means to be beautifully human. Even when there were and are naysayers on the side, he continues to forge ahead and play by his own rules. I love that about him.

Alright, son

In response to your question.. no

LittleSmedley said:

Thats coz they're utter bollocks, mate. I doubt the author even knows what he means

Love (see im mysterious now, too)

yes, of course...he's been my muse for a minute.

Lammastide said:

ditto

3121 said:

For an artist who has concerned himself with his own emancipation for, at least, the last 15 years, I find it interesting that neither of you appear to find the subject matter understandable.

love

senik said:

What about being your own boss, your own man, Senik?
Bollywood is coming to town...

Lammastide said:

Hey, you.

Touching upon your bolded comment, although I was not really aware of it at the time, I think Prince's influence upon me from the age of 11 brought with it an acceptance of different, more eclectic, perhaps more feminine ways of being male, than what's typically associated with more traditional forms of male socialisation. I'm quite certain he wouldn't have made you gay, Lammastide, but for speaking for myself, he certainly made me aware that it was okay, even cool, being different, in whatever shape or form you took.

Nothinbutjoy said:

Heyo nothingbutcomingtolondontownthissummercosthatstheplacetobewooohooo!

luvsexy4all said:

Good point.

love

pennylover said:

Hiya penny.
How sweet of you...

Prince's journey was more about being rich than being free, not that I'm opposed to that--it was his music, so who better to own it than him? But anyone allowed to release "Dirty Mind" or "LoveSexy" wasn't exactly a slave.


Prince inspires me to do better, yes.

yes

Anji said:

I'm my own man but not always my own boss. N'owt to do with Prince though

And Bollywood.. It's been living in Hounslow for decades now

Imago said:

A contentious perspective, I realise, but I don't genuinely buy into this train of thought that his journey is, was, or will continue to be more about money than being free. I would argue along the lines that more money allows Prince more options. I personally think the bottom line is more about being able to do what he wants to do, however he wants to do it and through whichever avenues he deems best. In this sense, money can afford such a way of being. Another label commonly ascribed to this behaviour is controlling but whichever way you look at or describe it, ultimately it all allows him to be free (from the boundaries he feel that constrain him). I hold that it's about being free but I appreciate others feel it's about money. For me, that misses the central point that money affords Prince the sense of freedom which appears so central to his sense of self.

3121 said:

Free to bilk me is not free in my book.