Although Prince is obviously extremely intelligent in musical terms, do you think he is intelligent in other areas? For me, some of his decision-making seems a bit erratic and he displays some naivety at times (I know he's only human).

U cant be serious?!!

Are you kidding? He's probably an 'idiot savant': gifted when it comes to music, but otherwise probably unable to do simple tasks that you and I do. I'm pretty sure at the 3121 show in Vegas I saw one of the Twinz stopping to tie his shoelaces....

He's very bright, look at the complexity of his lyrics.

He also keeps his 3 bodies in good shape, emotional, physical and mental.

He expresses himself tastefully and playfully, unless conciously doing otherwise

He lets himself appear naieve when he thinks it looks cute. His vanity sometimes gets in the way, but that's our boy.

Intelligence can mean many things.

In just academic matters:

You can be talented with words and horrible at mathematics.

You can pick up languages easily but perhaps can't write very well.

You can a gift for mechanics but not do well in theory.

Many times, people who are good in music are also good in mathematics and/or engineering. Correlation or causation? Who knows?

But,Prince is obviously intelligent. You don't have a career that he has had by accident, by luck, or by being stupid. You can't produce the amount and variety of music he has had without being intelligent.

Prince's best qualities are probably his courage...he's fearless in taking chances that other artists wouldn't. He also has a work ethic that few, in any field, can match. Edison was supposed to have said that "genius" was 99% perspiration.

By any stretch, by any measure, Prince is a genius. The man is brilliant.

Alasseon said:

very well said

Alasseon said:

Rightly said:

you have got to be joking, right. please tell me I have missed your sarcasm, because if there is one thing anyone can say about his lyrics it is that they are the farthest thing from complex. have you heard Musicology, 3121, TRC? some of the worst lyrics of all time in any music. in Call my Name he uses pause throughout an entire verse for crying out loud.

early in his career he made brilliant use of lyrics with anaologies, but nowadays his lyrics are adolescent at best.
[Edited 7/4/07 10:38am]

dumbass said:

Well,what do U call complex? Lyrics that are easy 2 understand makes it any less Brilliant? I don't think so. I see so many songwriters write mumbo jumbo just 2 seem "Deep" or "Complex" when really it just makes no sense at all 2 the listener. Isn't the point of Music for all to feel?

Bishop31 said:

what is the point of asking a question and hoping to get an answer if everyone simply wants to say how they feel instead of attempting to come to some sort of logical conclusion based on empirical evidence and an established criteria of what is complex.

the question wasn't do you feel Prince is intelligent, it was asking is he intelligent, the anser of which requires far more than a simple opinion or preference to what intelligence, and thus the meaning of complex, which was used as an example of his intelligence, is.
[Edited 7/4/07 13:22pm]

He's brilliant at almost all aspects of music, but yeah, emotionally and intellectually, he's a bit of a mess.

People with superior intellect can make foolish decisions when their ego or their feelings get in the way. Seems to me that Prince is one of those people.

GiGi319 said:

Exactly! I'm sure Prince is very intelligent, however when egos, feelings and a bunch of "Yes Men" kissing your ass, one is bound to make a fair amount of bad decisions.

Prince is a genius and intelligent in everything he does.

ReginaCarman said:

bigbrother said:

The way i see it, he has been successful for a long long time and that is alot of Physical proof that he is intelligent in everything. GENIUS!!!

chillichocaholic said:

It's hip 2 B

Even though i think that P is pretty smart, he's also quite gullible and naive in some areas. No offense, but his religious ideas for example seem to indicate that he's quite susceptible to being talked into stuff.. as long as you know how approach him.

OTOH, i think it's also a strength. Whereas other people would be apprehensive towards certain things, P seems to think 'wtf.. Can't be done? We'll see about that!'..

Whatever it is it's gotten him this far.

A bad decision is inviting little boys into your bedroom, allowing a film crew to film you holding a 12 year old boys hand like you've just finished fuckin', and all less than 10 years after you were sued for molesting another kid.


Other than that, Prince doesn't make wise choices, but he's rich and I'm not.

This is my example for you to discuss: "a few turbulence".

I add to that his spelling: "u", "4", and the representation of an eye in place of, well, the word "eye".

violetorgangrinder said:

I wish Prince was a bit more cultured. I think he is smart, a musical genius, a man compelled to put out his own wild fashion. From what I understand he is not one to venture out into the cities he visits. His world is hotels, concerts, bars, planes. Though he has a desire for movies, I don't see him venturing out into countries and experience Asia, South America or Australia the way the curious tourist may. Obviously his fame may limit his abilities to go to the beach , but Jolie and Pitt seem to get away with it. Would love to see Prince ride a scooter through Vietnam and really experience the tastes of all the countries he is so privledged to visit.

An example of band doing that right now is the White Stripes. They are touring every nook and cranny in Canada, and indulging in the experience, actually meeting and performing for the locals (some free, smaller venues, in addition to the arenas) . What an absolutely cool thing to do, and they seem to place value in the experience.

Oh yeah, think Prince shows his intelligence with his offbeat sense of humor too, sensational.

Rightly said:

for 99% of his songs, that argument won't float a boat
and that other 1% were probably co-written with W&L, et al

Okay, so as far as emotionally goes, I dont think any of us can honestly say we arent a bit of a mess!! And what geniuses throughout History, musical or otherwise, have been well rounded human beings? Take a look at motzart!!!( Yes I know I cant spell) Isnt being dysfunctional in some capacity the norm these days? :-)People in glass houses sound familiar?
[Edited 7/5/07 4:04am]

runningbear said:

What the heck are you talking about??

wlcm2thdwn said:

Raze said:

Conflicted in many ways as well .....