From "Better With Time." What do you think Prince means by this?

This is a beautiful song...I wonder why Prince sings, "What is Age, but a cage, nevermind."

I guess it's just a compliment to growing older.

well no one can really change their age, so we are all caged into the moment we were born and the moment we will die, in the middle perhaps we can live outside of the cage

He means that with age come certain expectations about how one should look and feel and act - and that these expectations are unnecessarily limiting.

I tend to like Aaliyah's Age Ain't Nothin But a Number Philosophy myself

Close2u said:

I'm sorry...but on that score, Aaliyah died too young to know what the hell it was about.

Genesia said:

yes she did die young, I am still ahuge fan of her work

It's the same Prince rap about not having birthdays, and if you don't count how old you are, you stay young forever. Time is a trick. It could be 1492 up in here, blah blah blah. It's a mental trap to him.

The thing is, there's some logic in what he says. But there is more logic in the fact that THIS is the way we count time. We count 24 hours a day, 365 a year. Time ticks by at the rate that it does. The earth revolves once, creating a day. THIS is how we count time. Sure, 80 years on earth seems terribly small considering the thousands of years the earth has been around, etc etc. But such is life. If his methods of time travel worked, he wouldn't be fighting soreness in his hips and legs, crows feet around his eyes, and more pancake makeup than the nuns in The Sound of Music.

Genesia said:

Good insight Genesia! I would like to add that the cage is something we can choose to "live in" ...or not!

I like that line but I don't think he felt that way back when he was young and celebrating his birthdays onstage at his concerts.
[Edited 4/18/09 4:02am]

Regardless of whether time exists or not, the fact that the physical world withers and dies cannot be ignored.

Genesia said:

Absolutely

There's no reason why children shouldn't own guns, have sex and work up chimneys, and grown men shouldn't be allowed to wear soil their nappies and breast feed.

^ Oh no. I'm confusing age with maturity again. I'll go stand in the corner.

langebleu said:

But no touching yourself whilst you do this time.

"What is Age, but a Cage"! The best expression ever...

shellyann said:

Oh, of course.

I mean...how many times have any of us thought we were too old to change our lives or make a dream come true?

As an actress, I may not be able to realistically play Juliet anymore...but I can play the hell out of Gertrude or Lady MacBeth. All I have to do is get out there!

"since only one of us still looks the same"
I love that line... that's about him isn't it... he's still the same, and she gets better with time

Love that line..

Age is a state of mind in many ways; if one follows the idea that age limits what he/she can do or that growing older is a bad thing then they are encaged and have succumbed to man's definitions of usefulness, etc. If one ignores the perceived limitations assoiated with age, the can be no boundaries.

I think this is what Prince means.

In the song Reflection from Musicology:

"Still it's nice 2 know, that uh
If bodies wear out we can get another"

He sings often of the new world, new system and of eternal life (to come). The "cage" of age could also apply to our current, imperfect state... it is the punishment of old age, sickness and death we are confined to in this current system.

spiritandtruth said:

I like this, I think you hit it.

jill4life said:

Right on...

The sad reality of aging is the inevitability of limitations... the positive spin Prince puts on it in many songs is the eventual undoing of those limiting and degenerating effects.

This is oh so very true Age can so become a cage, you reach a certain age were you are expected not to do certain things because it would look foolish, but the problem is you still love doing those things.

Like I often wonder when going to concerts and the audiences seem younger and you think to yourself I love doing this and my love is music I dont want to ever stop doing this so who is anyone to say any different.

Sad but true

Yes Prince, age is a cage?

So why does he never seem to date cages his own age?

"What is age...but a cage..." -
Apart from the obvious meanin within the song, this phrase can also be a reference to the age difference between 2 ppl dating...which has been shown through the life of the writer of said song.
Age becomes your cage when u limit who u date because society says a woman/man dating someone much older is...well...just not right.

Cheater07 said:

I would think so...Prince always looks 23.

spiritandtruth said:

Yeah...we can get another...but if Prince want to beat up what I have left...I don't mind.

Tame said:

JayJai said:

You forget the whole physical side to that by the way. There is a reason why we shouldn't find children attractive and likewise those much much older. It's to do with the reproduction of the specie.

He's saying it's o.k. to look old. There are still qualities that get better with time.


Of course, given his track record we have to take this to mean it's ok to look 18 and not 16.

Imago said:

Let's face it though...as much as I'd still like to look 22...I'd rather have the wisdom that goes with 40plus...As we grow older we learn to appreciate more about life and people and the world.

Life is constantly testing our strengths. It is not in our dishes of "Peaches and Cream," that we find our character. It is the refined essence of our challenges that is the vehicle we use to acend spiritually.

At 20...25...30...we are still just tasting what the world has to offer. Even with love we can believe that we have found something that will last forever in another person, yet we can come to realize that we are still nieve. What good is a flawless youthful body...If U are giving it to someone that won't appreciate your eternal spirit?

When Prince sings...."The road U choose to walk in this life is the one that leads into the next," I'll be glad to put new skin on from where I end up on this road.