Just so everybody knows what we are talking about:

the song 'Pheromone' from the 1994 album 'Come'
pheromone [Oxford Encyclopedic Dict]: a chemical substance secreted and released by an animal for detection and response by another usu. of the same species.

So, for all the sarcasm about Prince's comment at a press conference in London last summer that he planned to spend time studying the Bible, well, as I've just found out with a little research, he is studying the Bible, and has been for a long time, at least since 1994:) Here is proof:

The lyrics and themes/images of Pheromone are replete with allusions to those of the 'Song of Songs', one of the books of the Old Testament. Some passages in P's song seem to have been literally lifted from this Old Testament poem-like piece. Just a few exs:


- Fire theme
Pheromone:
'And I'm on fire,..'
and
SoS, chapter 7:
'It burns me like blazing fire,..'

- pure inspirational appropriation:
Pheromone:
'My left hand under your head,
While my right embraces time'
and
Song of Songs, chapter 2:
'His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me'

- wetness
Pheromone:
'Pheromone, when your body's wet'
and
SoS, chapter 4 & 5:
'You are a garden fountain,
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.'
[...]
'My head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night'

- captivity
Pheromone:
'I can see her hands tied'
and
SoS, chapter 4:
'You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.'

- Love&wine
Pheromone:
'Therein, my virgin, love's wine'
and
SoS, chapter 4:
'How much more pleasing is your
love than wine,'

- 'watching' theme
Pheromone:
'I can see the castle
I can see the throne
I can see the beloved and she's not alone
[...]
I can see the curtain wrestled from the wall
I can see her hands tied
I can see it all
[...]
And I'm 'round the the back
Cuz curiosity it knows no shame
[...]
I can feel the tension through the crack in the door'
and
SoS, chapter 2:
'Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice'

- the 'Come' theme
Pheromone:
'Come
Lie down beneath my shadow'
and
SoS, chapter 2:
'Arise, come my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me.'

Also, bearing in mind that pheromone refers to animal behavior, the SoS is chock full of animals of all sorts: lions, leopards, gazelles, goats, sheep, and doves.

I realize that prince reading the Bible is no breaking news, but I thought I would share...
I wonder, has anyone here seen such concrete cases of inspiration/appropriation from literature in Prince's lyrics?...

Some may see this as Prince plagiarizing... but all artists take their inspiration from somewhere... Plus, I can say with 100% certainty that entire passages of the Song of Songs itself have been lifted word for word from classical Greek poetry, which I laboriously translated during my high school years.
So there you go:)..

It's just about an S&M game.

Flo6 said:

'Concrete' fuck me, i just pissed my pants!!

Yea, that's some mighty 'concrete' proof right there boy, i tell ya!!

Maybe you could just as magically (and "factually) find the lyrics to Head and Let's Pretend We're Married in Genesis

Some people could find themselves concrete proof of anything in the bible
I just made some toast, i swear to god i can see jesus burnt on there. I got a nice plot of land on the moon i can sell you for a bargain....

Well, I'm quoting - and a quote is a quote, I would think that's concrete enough.

But if you think that to call this 'concrete proof' of Prince's inspirational appropriation is wrong - sure: you are right, we don't have Prince's own words on this. I went a step too far.

Still, drawing comparisons between different works of art and texts and trace their origins is part of what art/literary criticism is all about, and I wouldn't dismiss that activity so fast.


"Some people could find themselves concrete proof of anything in the bible"

This was not meant to say that what's written in the Bible offers concrete proof of anything. [Btw, I personally am not a believer].

FlamingRaindrop said:

Flo6 said:

oo wee baby set my soul on fire..
signed sealed delivered.

er.. 'Prince' said:) - but I got the message

royalshyness said:

The writers of the Bible should sue Prince for plagiarism.

Am I the only one out here who does not believe/is an atheist, and yet still reads the Bible??.. Writing this thread started to get me wondering...

You can tell I'm biased [towards Prince] - I call it 'inspirational appropriation' - can be seen as a nice way of putting it... but hey, art/inspiration has got to come from somewhere, at least partly.

viewaskew said:

interesting...
of course it makes perfect sense, Prince always takes from popular stuff and wraps it around his own vibe.

Flo6 said:

I'd like to see him try & send Web Sheriff after God, err, Jehovah.

Interesting maybe your right.

The way I see it - strictly speaking, it's the ancient Greeks who should be suing the Bible/Song of the Song's author[s]...

viewaskew said: