i would much rather had how come u dont' call me anymore and moonbeam levels, in place of free and international lover ballads on the 1999 album.

KidaDynamite said:

Oh, f.ck, you gotta be kidding me, I dedicated this to you a couple of hours ago

Of all songs



I like moonbeam levels a lot.

CJanssen said:

You did?!
Don't get me wrong, I don't 'hate' it. It's just that I don't really get into it as much as most people on here do!

Genesia said:

If Prince were to write a song about the same theme today, he would literally just write that he wants to walk to heaven.

I miss the days of his lyrical ambiguity and heavy use of metaphors.

KidaDynamite said:

It's ok to not like it but it's shitty that I dedicated that song to you. I need to think of another one

Lammastide said:

On the mp3 of "Moonbeam Levels" I listened to, at the very beginning it has a part of the final "bomb explosion" from "1999." So I naturally assumed that it was meant to be sequenced right after "1999," as LRC is on the album.

You are right about "Moonbeam Levels" and "Free" being similar. I consider "Free" to be one of the weakest tracks on the album, so maybe if I heard a track sequence where "Moonbeam Levels" was in its place, that song would come off better to my ears...I dunno.

In any case, I'm surprised and pleased that no one has torn me to shreds for my opinion (yet) on this thread!

Lammastide said:

The song "Free" DID replace Moonbeam Levels or as I like to call it "A Better Place 2 Die". The songs are VERY similar, musically. I think he made the right choice in picking "Free". A superior song in my opinion. That said, I've always liked A Better Place 2 Die. This was the first outtake I had ever heard from Prince back in late 85. Always wished he had released this as a b-side. But again, I think he didn't because he thought it too similar to Free. I think people like it because it's a good song and it has that true "Prince" sound circa 1999 album. Another reason why I think folks dig "Extra Loveable" (again 1999 era although this was written basically for Vanity 6 and "Electric Intercourse" from Purple Rain era. Because they sound like "inside" songs from Prince's most glorified period. And they sound like songs that sound like other songs people trully like. I think that's why.

blackguitaristz said:

OK, not disputing blackguitaristz (who is a cat, no doubt!), but would someone explain why the version I heard had a piece of the "bomb explosion" at the beginning if it was meant to be in place of "Free" instead of LRC? I'm positive it's the same explosion sound as at the end of 1999...

Maybe whoever the bootlegger was spliced this with "1999" for his/her own custom configuration, and then when the tracks were split back up later on, the "Moonbeam Levels" file retained a bit of the explosion??? Beats the he11 outta me.

Come to think of it, "Moonbeam Levels" doesn't jive AT ALL with "1999"...that pairing is just plain WEIRD.

bluefish said:

Thanx....Prince could have very well stuck the exposion sound there. Maybe he did it to see what it would sound like. The explosion does fit in theme with what Prince is talking about with "nuclear WW3". I can see him experiementing with that. No way though do I see him placing it after the track 1999.

PurpleKnight said:

Me, too.

Count me as another 1 who thinks Moonbeam Levels absolutely should heave been on 1999 in place of Free.

I really like this song!

Never heard of Moonbeam Levels, but I can't believe Free is getting so dissed. I think it's in the Top 3 songs on 1999. That solo makes me wanna cry. I love that song....

I agree with “Free” being much better. Much much better.

I always thought that “moon beam levels” was very amateurish and dork-mier-ish.
I would think that it would fit in perfectly with an album that contained

“Graffiti Bridge”
“Three Chains of Gold”
“Gold”
“Moon Beam Levels”
“Cinnamon Girl”

They all have the same vibe, but not “Free”

I love "Moonbeam Levels" but it probably made sense to leave it off the '1999' album."Free" is a better song and it's easier to understand.The message is clearer.If he had put "Moonbeam Levels" on the album,people would have been scratching their heads,wondering what's he talking about,lol.

Genesia said:

I like that interpretation, since I never knew what "Moonbeam Levels" was about either. And I do love the song.

SoulAlive said:

I agree about the lyrical content. Just overall, "Free" is waaay better than "Moonbeam". It's better musically, lyrically, production wise. It smokes Moonbeams. Prince's vocals, especially towards the end of Free, is some of Prince's most heartfelt singing ever. You can tell that Prince is feeling that shit. He's very passionate. I think that the reason why most folks on here can't stand "Free" is because it has a very strong gospel element to it. But so does International Lover, which besides myself, I don't see many giving up love to that one either. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore is straight gospell too. I don't know..maybe folks just can't fuck with Free. Many on here are no different than the kids I knew when the 1999 album first came out. Nobody else liked Free but me. And that was in 1982. So I'm used to that. Free is one of my all time favorite songs by Prince. Folks that's been on here any period of time that doesn't have a problem copping to it, knows that I've done at least two threads on here about the song Free. Understand, I like A Better Place 2 Die (I truly think that's the proper title of the song and if Prince was to release it, that title is what would have shown up) but no way is it a better song than Free. Just my thought about it.

blackguitaristz said:

I agree. "Free" is a brilliant song. I also agree that "A Better Place To Die" is a better title than "Moonbeam Levels" (just like I think "If You Break My Heart One More Time" is a better title than "Last Heart"). It's also true that people like outtakes which have the same sound as other songs from Prince's iconic periods.

The reason he never put "A Better Place To Die" on an album is most likely that he realized the verses were much better than the chorus. The chorus is only good on the last line (where he sings "I'm looking for a better place to die"). Otherwise it doesn't match the quality of the verses which are indeed magnificent.

midnightmover said:

And again, the music to both songs are waaay to similar to each other. So Prince had to choose between the two. If I was a betting man, I would bet that Prince wrote A Better Place to Die BEFORE Free. But obviously Prince himself felt Free was the superior song.

blackguitaristz said:

Slowly but surely becoming my favorite orger as far as opinions on 1999 goes and I love Free and have had A Better Place to Die for years before I listened to it . It was on an old cassette that I had. My Favorite off 1999 is still Something in the Water. Love that song to the end of time!!!

bluefish said:

I just listened to Moonbeam Levels and you're right! It does begin with the 1999 explosion sound! Perhaps Prince was simply experimenting and used this canned explosion sound to fit with the song's theme... or maybe the sequencing of 1999 at some point was completely not what it turned out to be. Pretty interesting.

blackguitaristz said:

Similar post.

blackguitaristz said:

I'd agree with that, and I think the reason Prince (rightly) judged "Free" to be the better song is because unlike "A Better Place To Die" it maintains the quality all the way through. When the chorus to "A Better Place To Die" comes in, it's an anti-climax after the brilliant verses that precede it. For that reason I always regarded it as a near miss. He should've rewritten it, but I guess if he wrote "Free" soon afterwards then he must have thought there was no need, since it was so musically similar anyway.

midnightmover said:

Yep.

yesterday i tried 2 write a novel but i didn't know where 2 begin. so i laid down on the grass trying 2 feel the world turn

I think my main problem with "moon beam levels" besides the dumb title, are that is suffers from what been afflicting a lot of Prince's current songs.
The lyrics feel too forced, they don’t quite mesh with the music, whereas "free" melds beautifully with its music, and its phrasing.
Like songs such as "Graffiti Bridge" and "cinnamon girl" the music and lyrics don’t quite mesh, they feel like their lyrics are not just pasted on, but awkwardly forced. They don’t quite jive.
They are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
[Edited 6/22/08 1:34am]

I think it matters what quality you first heard it in.

i first heard it in a real muddy, mirky,heavy tape hiss quality, and it added a great mysterious feel to it ( not to mention the im-not-suppose-to-be-listening-to this factor) That made it a total kick ass song to me.

then later i acquired a clear quality version, and it wasn't there. the magic wasn't there for me.

im kinda wierd like that, i like the old bootleg tape hiss effect, i know i say that alot, but it enhances the whole listening experience, imo
[Edited 6/22/08 12:45pm]

Lammastide said:

I know, right?!?

Nvncible1 said:

I agree with this. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, A Better Place 2 Die was the first outtake I had ever heard from Prince. It was on a cassette and the sound quality was murky. I also since have heard a much cleaner version and I don't like it as well either. But the first outtakes of songs that I heard back in 1986 was all on one cassette: A Better Place To Die, the unedited versions of Darling Nikki, The Beautiful Ones, Computer Blue, Extra Loveable, No Call U, Feel U Up, Chocolate and Prince's version of Dance Electric. I thought I had lost my mind when I was able to get a hold of this. All of the songs on the tape had that murky, somewhat muddied sound. And that added to the mystique bigtime. It was like Prince himself had handed me the tape and said "Chris, I did some songs that I think u would dig...Check it out."

blackguitaristz said:

Also, a question for other o.g.'s in this forum; Who is it that ya'll think is singing the backing vocals on the chorus? The female vocals? I think it's J.J.