OK, first a bit of (lengthy) background, but please stick with me, 'cause this is quite interesting and all relates to Prince:
Sunday night I was having dinner with some friends, and one of them asked me why "the Song of Solomon" was in the Bible. He said, "I mean, I don't understand its purpose, why is it in there?" If you haven't read it, "the Song of Solomon", or "Song of Songs" as it is sometimes known, is a poem written in dialogue form between a lover and his beloved. The language, imagery and content are very sensual and erotic in the true sense of the word.
So what does this have to do with God? Why include erotic poetry in the Bible? I told him that, according to the Christian understanding of reality, human beings are in a covenant relationship with God, our creator. He is our God and we are His people. Since, as in a marriage covenant, fidelity is required of us, we are not allowed to worship any other gods besides the one true God. But any time we go against God's will -and it happens all the time- we are basically following another god, a false god, a god of our own making. (This, by the way, is why the Bible is rife with imagery of harlots and harlotry -see Hosea, Ezekiel, and other prophetic books where Israel, God's people, are compared to an unfaithful spouse).
OK, that still doesn't answer the question: why have this erotic poetry in the Bible? I mean, my friend told me that when he was a student in Jordan, he and his friends used to read it for kicks, like it was something forbidden; used to sneak it into class and read it while the teacher was lecturing. The purpose of "the Song of Solomon" is that the erotic play between the lover and the beloved represents the consummation of a union between man and woman. And for Christians, this is extremely pertinent: Jesus Christ is our Bridegroom, and we -his people, Israel, the new Jerusalem, his body, the Church- are his bride. The consummation happens when Jesus the Lord gives up his spirit on the cross. When Christ is hanging from the cross and he says, "it is finished," the literal understanding is, "all is consummated". We are united to him through his completely selfless, loving act of total obedience to his Father's will. The Bridegroom and the Bride have come together, like the lover and the beloved in "the Song of Solomon". And this is the Bible's most central metaphor, running throughout both the Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament)scriptures: God as bridegroom and we as bride.
I explained all of this to my friend and he still was unconvinced, so he asked me if I had read "the Song of Solomon". Yes, I replied, but not very recently. So I promised him I would look at it again. Which I did, Sunday night, and I was very much surprised to find lyrics startlingly similar to the segues from Prince's 'Come' CD.
Check it out for yourself -

"With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste" Song of Solomon 2:3

"lie down beneath my shadow with great delight and your fruit will be sweet to me..." Come

"O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me!" Song of Solomon 2:6

"come...my left hand under your head while my right embraces time..." Come

Pretty neat, huh? Prince seems to be casting himself as the lover. Actually, considering Prince, it's not so surprising. He has always favored biblical imagery in his songs (7, Thieves in the Temple, Undisputed, & c.). Yet I just cannot believe I have never noticed this one till now!

Jesus Christ!
That post was long. And a little weird. But when you finally got to the point, extremely interesting. Thanks!

JESUS!-how long did it take to type that!!??As long as it took to read?
Kate Bush's album-The Red Shoes-track called Song Of Solomon on there too.
Interesting bit at the end of your post(sorry,I skimmed the rest),about Come lyrics,and Bible text.
"Jesus is the bridesgroom,and the church are his bride"LMAO

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I don't think Jesus would look good in a tux.

fragisexy said:

It would show his packet off a treat!

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I also recognized those references/similarities to Song of Songs in P's music and find it interesting as well.

Thanks for the commentary.

Anyone who hasn't read Song of Songs should take the time to do so. It's a beautiful book.

My husband and I have the words from Song of Songs 6:3 engraved in Hebrew on our wedding bands:

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."

The line from 7 ..."I am yours & you are mine ..." could also follow that same theme.

I have posted here before that the biblical references from the TLC should not be a real surprise to long time followers of Prince's music.

Prince mentioned in an interview once that he received much inspiration for his love songs from The Song of Solomon.

thebumpsquad said:

what's so funny?

""

LadyCabDriver said:

THAT line

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Insightful! Loved it! Please share more of this kind of thinking...cool...cool...cool!

thebumpsquad said:

hmm

thebumpsquad said:

For somebody who couldn't be bothered reading the whole leading post you've sure got a lot [of crap] to say!

Very interesting item.. thanks fms.

sabaisabai said:

Tell sum1 who gives a FUCK

LadyLove said:

LadyLove, I meant to say my husband and I have the same thing on our rings as well.

Prince has always exemplified his love affair with God in a lot of his music...it has just recently intensified. I can greatly appreciate his efforts, his poetry and his melodies. He is blessed.

Tina (~!~)