thepope2the9s said:[quote]

HousequakeComSucks said:

if i'm not mistaken, didn't they say in some interview that the song was the first to reference AIDS?

machinegun said:

It was.. the technology for medicines wasnt like it is today.. and alot of ppl came down with the 'Full Blown'(4th stage) back in the 80's, which is apparently what Prince was talking about in the song...

HousequakeComSucks said:

It was neither arrogant nor misinformed.

He was describing one man who died of AIDS and his girlfriend who apparently suffered a similar fate as a result of an infected needle. All he was describing were examples of people who had died of something of which most people at the time had little understanding and, as you point out, for which there was little by way of helpful and widely-available medication until about 10 years later.

Sure, there are many people who have lived long and happy lives who have been HIV positive since the 80's - but in 1987 that was far from how it looked.

To be honest, Prince highlighting the disease was only a small part of the song, but it wasn't a common thing to acknowledge the disease in popular culture, and plays such as Kramer's 'The Normal Heart' in the '80s were most unusual for confronting the issue.

However, your argument that Prince was either raking in the money because he was exploiting the issue or spreading some misconception about the issue through a veiled two-line reference seems very weak.

.

HousequakeComSucks said:

You don't know what you are talkin' about. AIDS was a TERRIBLE disease without useful treatment until the mid-90's; thousands and thousands of people died during the 80's and the early 90's.

HousequakeComSucks said:

If anyone here is misinformed it's YOU. The freakin' song is from 1987 when AIDS was considered a death sentence. You must be very young cuz that was a common belief in the 80's. When Magic Johnson announced he had AIDS (in 93 I believe) pretty much everyone assumed that he would be dead soon cuz at that time they didn't have all the medicine they have today. Check your facts next time.
[Edited 7/23/07 12:13pm]

emilio319 said:

It was in 91 and hell, yeah! it's a miracle that he's still with us, Freddie wasn't so lucky

Shawnt24 said:[quote]What is wrong with some people on this board? Some posters freak out over every little thing. Prince did not make a general statement about AIDS/HIV. He did not say every person who gets it is going to die, as well as, their partners. If he did, then you would have a case. But he did not. So you are just making yourself look silly

You are missing not only the point but vital brain mater.

You think you've seen it all as a Prince fan, but I've never seen a thread like this before...

HousequakeComSucks said:

And I see you are missing the brain matter that influences spelling . The fact of the matter is, you are reading way too much into the lyrics.
[Edited 7/23/07 12:57pm]

HousequakeComSucks said:[quote]

Shawnt24 said:

I might be missing it as well, but what the hell is the point?
As i understand it is as follows: you interpreted a quote from a song, not knowing the circumstances at that time. For that reason your interpretation was /is wrong. Orgers are trying to explain this to you, but you don't seem to read and understand.

MendesCity said:

You forgot blood that was not tested for it and then was used in transfusion.

Smillan said:

I'm sure he's fictional...skinny is a symptom of AIDS ('87 thinking)

You know what? ... the poster is right.

And since Prince doesn't REALLY have a sister who killed her baby, and since there were actually a couple of survivors when huricane Annie destroyed the church, AND not EVERYBODY still wants to fly, and since Prince's cousin has never ACTUALLY done horse and ... and ...

Shit, he's going to have to re-write the whole song !!

Levi said:

langebleu said:

I think you know a good songwriter when a plain, simple, line - sung as if by someone lamenting what they just saw on the evening news - can cause a full blown argument ( with personal attacks no less !) about what is implied .



"Don't go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to ..."

In the mid-80s, I was working as a journalist -- and covered the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and scare. I had a number of friends who became infected and died very quickly because testing for the disease wasn't widespread (or very good) and there was absolutely no effective treatment. AZT (the first drug widely used to fight the disease) wasn't approved by the FDA as an AIDS treatment until March of 1987. Up to that point, everyone who got AIDS died. Period.

And a symptom of AIDS is wasting -- hence the line about a "skinny man."

The lyrics of Sign 'O' The Times are absolutely correct, based on what was happening at the time. Most of you are too young to remember what that time was like. I am not.

Genesia said:

exactly ..

Flowerz said:

Totally correct for the time

strange little thread

I hope nobody is fooled by this misleading thread. I work in a hospital and there are still many people dying from AIDS. In many cases people don't seek medical help until there are symptoms of full-blown AIDS. Or they're being tested and non-compliant with the treatment. HIV is only a managable disease when it is detected early enough and people are willing to change their life style and are compliant with the medications that keep them alive. You would be suprised how many people take the risk to become infected with HIV, because they believe it is a treatable disease. Sadly that isn't always the case. AIDS still kills and there still isn't a cure!!! There are various factors that determine the outcome of an HIV infection.

SoulAlive said:

sure is. It's making my head hurt.

Shawnt24 said:

OK.

GiGi319 said:

I respect all of the line reading into whether or not this was accurate, but I think some of you are taking it too far...

when you are writing a pop song about social ills (something that WAS NOT happening on popular radio in the mid-80s, if you remember...um, the HEIGHT of materialistic greed?), you touch down on the subject but you still keep it accessible. Seems to me that Prince covered MANY issues in this song and basically went from subject to subject in lyrical couplets. That being the case, he's got two lines to address AIDS and its spread and managed to pack a LOT into those two lines without ever saying the name of the disease. And this is whether or not we understood those lines in '87 -- particularly those of us who were young then and unaware of a disease that was being given no face time on television yet.

But like I said, what really makes this song great is how it was made to go down easily in terms of its SOUND for a pop radio audience but it was so much more significant than that lyrically. I can't think of too many other songs on pop radio in the late 80s that did this until Tracy Chapman debuted shortly thereafter.

Keith/Kacey

Kacey725 said:

"Sign" is lyrically brilliant, which makes his tumble to "The main problem with war..." all the more -worthy in my eyes.

As a person living with HIV I really don't get what all the fuss is about. Back when it was written it was (and still is) a very poignant song because people WERE DYING and they were very scary times especially if (like me) you happened to be a gay man. It's still just as relevant today. It's still a KILLER DISEASE. Yes, if you live in the western world it can be managed to a point, but let's not ignore the huge array of debilitating side effects and the fact that treatment doesn't work for everybody. Most of the people with HIV do not live in the western world and are dying due to the lack of drugs, leaving a whole generation of orphans, many themselves infected with the virus.
Because it's now seen as something that can be lived with- which of course it is to a point- people don't tend to take it seriously anymore which is why there is a dramatic increase in transmission- particularly among young gay men as well as heterosexuals. The safe sex message simply isn't fashionable anymore. People think it's all gone away. IT HASN'T, it's still as deadly as it was back then.
So, that's my rant over. Just don't get me started on Hepatitis C.....
And for the record, I really hope he plays Sign O the times live when I see him on the 1st & 18th because I've never seen him perform it live & it's the song that really got me into him in the first place. So there!

HousequakeComSucks said:

What are you on???? Many people also died of it in the 80s - I was there. It's a fantastic line to a fantastic song - a rare moment of P getting it right (sociologically speaking).

Genesia said:

In general I agree with those who have defended the song and its brilliance, but just wanted to nitpick and say that not everyone up to that point died. My brother was diagnosed in 1985 and never took AZT ever and even avoided taking the cocktail for years (not a smart move, but that's what he did). He's still alive; most of his friends are not. I agree with your general point; just not with the emphatic "period" part. My optimism for my brother's health gets defensive sometimes.

Genesia said:

Huh? The song might be a little preachy, but wishing that people would find a resolution to the causes of war is hardly puke-worthy. Who's pro-war?