vainandy said:

I wish there was something for "damn kids" that was as funky and as witty as the old Prince. I'd have that shit playing at every playdate full blast. But atlast no such stuff exists. Maybe if Prince had kids he'd put out more than one song like Happy Feet. Damn those kids!

dollwoman said:

Kids pick up on all sorts of songs growing up, mainstream chart songs, their parents albums, so called adult content goes over their heads as long as it's catchy. I bet you kids would respond to stuff like The One U Wanna C or Chocolate Box without suffering any moral degeneration. If they can dance to it or sing-along at the repetitive parts they are happy. Don;t you remember when you were a kid all the stuff you and your friends would sing and copy in the school playground...

Imago said:

I just don't find Chocolate Box to be a great sing along song. Crimson and Clover is not bad but it's not his. I liked the original version because as kids we would hit our mouths with our hands to get the sound right.

Now I'll jack u off is a great sing along song. Rasberry Beret too. I don't know about letting my kids memorize these songs and sing them in the playground. I just don't get how a guy cleaned up his act and lost a bit of his funk too. I get it that no one is at the top of their game forever. But alot of the stuff made for kids is just pure shit as far as I'm concerned. I want my girl to have an appretiation for good music and the musicians that make it.

dollwoman said:

Then let her listen to it. Play the albums you like. When I was growing up I heard tons of stuff from The Rolling Stones, Beatles, Abba, Stevie Wonder, Eagles, Dionne Warwick, Olivia Newton-John, Linda Ronstadt, Status Quo, Blondie, Diana Ross, ACDC, Boney M, etc plus stuff on the radio AND classic chidlren's favourites. I haven't grown up a drug-addled rocker, a sex maniac, a squeaky clean goody two shoes, or anything else. I'm just an average joe who loves music along with many other things. I got into Prince through no influence from, nor rebeliion against, my parents. I just found my own way and decied what I liked and didn't like.

Shango said:

That little FACT just keeps flying right over her head because her OPINION is in the way!

MantuaPharoah said:

What?

Efan said:

Agreed!

JustErin said:

For real! I was so embarrassed when I heard he was talking about "chemtrails" that I haven't even watched the Tavis interview. I just can't bring myself to do it!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

And i thought she was a "he", lol.

Shango said:

Oh snap! My bad!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

No sweat

OldFriends4Sale said:

Poetic

No. I like artists that are not afraid of taking risks.

Yeahh, I kind of wished he named it Elbow!

I think those songs like head etc aren´t embarrasing, they are in short way elegant, he didn´t hide he love woman & sexs back then, and I think the nowadays music is Embarrasing like Reggeaton in that style of music they don´t respect the woman and only talking about having a 1 night stand in middle of disco, what for me Prince always did & do, and I think we most have more a open mind if we talking about young people and sexs or having sexs nowadays plus back then it was a bigger taboo then now, I think 2 that songs like head & dirty mind, maked Prince original in his own way.

I can´t compare a Michael Jackson or Stevie Wonder 2 Prince because Prince is original in is own way, They where more quiet about having sexs and such stuff.

but still a human get more mature and a human looks different to stuff from his youth, and I get you with your daughter & that u don´t want that she listen to song like head, Do me, Baby, Dirty Mind etc. etc. but that make Prince who he is nowadays u can´t denied it.

In short: Prince is a sexs/woman freak back then & he is still is a Sexs/Woman Freak nowadays.

& bout the song Sister that song is really hard for words, and I think he past the line with that song, But still I can´t denied I love those songs & specially Do me, Baby.

MantuaPharoah said:

bollox

Please. I'm more embarrassed by crap like the Flow, Da Da Da, Mr. Goodnight and half of TRC.

I don't find those sexual songs embarassing at all. I think he broke new mold when he released that stuff. I became a fan at 18 in 1998 when I got Purple Rain. It was probably 1999 or 2000 when I got Dirty Mind and Controversy. I still hold Dirty Mind and Controversy in very high esteem for their innovative music and sexual lyrics.

The Tavis comment doesn't tell the whole story of course, not only has Prince made amazing songs about love, but he's also made funky, honest songs about sex.

Prince is surely conflicted about some of his early music. He realizes what a good composer he was but his religious fudamentalism of today makes him regret some of the lyrical content.

what the hell are chemtrails? I guess I'll have to google that one.

http://prince.org/msg/7/302297

http://prince.org/msg/100/306401

http://prince.org/msg/105/306528

Shango said:

Are you fucking kidding me??

x a billion!!!!

JustErin said:

Just posting the links

Nope,

It has been a significant part of his career and his evolution as a lyricist and of his imago.

In retrospect it also fitted very well with the times: with the 'glamorous' hedonism of the eighties (expressing your vainness, sexuality, androgynity), and also with the punk/new wave attitude of: I sing what i want to sing about, even it makes me look like a nasty perv... lol

My main issue lies more with what happened afterwards: after Purple Rain that is.

On Parade and especially Sign of the Times his lyrics were getting more mature, more subtle, often more 'layered'. IMO that was an improvement on the 'shock values' he often used in his lyrics before.

But somehow he hasnt really succeeded in pushing through on that level, i think.

The lyrics on Batman are still rather intelligent: Prince mixing the themes of the movie with his own psycho-sexual issues, but after the 'Halelujah, Jesus I love'-phase of Lovesexy and Graffiti Bridge, he began to grab back again to the image of a 'sex-god', but often in a forced way. Like he was using it as a gimmick, rather then truelly expressing himself.
Thats why i have problems with taking songs like, for example 319, Hot with U and Lolita 'seriously', its a pose that gets a bit annoying over time.

When i think about Princes lyrics post-Sign of the Times, one word comes to mind: confused.
Confused when it comes to his sexuality (why should a 40 - 50 yo man behave like he is an 18yo 'stud'?, listen to: Mr. Goodnight and Hot with U for example), confused when it comes to religion and spirituality (if anything, his religious message has become more diffuse and obscure over the years, instead of 'open') and confused when it comes to social and political issues (I admit that Prince has never been the sharpest writer of political lyrics - Ronnie, talk to Russia, anyone? - but lyrics like Family name and Colonized mind show a Prince who actually seems to 'believe' in the weary drivel he writes).

To put it short: as a lyricist his development has unfortunately stalled since Sign of the Times IMO, not to say degraded.

Riverpoet31 said:

Thanks Riverpoet... an interesting and inciteful read.

I agree to a large extent with what you wrote. Of course, Prince has had glimmers of brilliance since SOTT, including on Lovesexy, Batman and , both lyrically and musically. I even enjoyed much of NPS... but I definitely agree that albums like Planet Earth and 3121 lacked a pizzazz.

Funny though, how with releases like PFunk, and Lotus Flower, Prince often proves that he can turn it on and dazzle us ..... when he wants to.

emesem said:

Yeah,I find some of his more recent songs much more embarassing than the 80s stuff.

All I know is that my stepfather cringed when I hung up that Controversy poster above my bed. He just didn't get it. Prince really brought out my rebellious side. I totally related to the smut. A young boy at 14? Are you kidding me? That was music to my ears. Head, Bambi. Let's be honest, what music do you want to be listening too when you experience your first orgasm? I know Sister did it for me! LOL.

It ain't that deep folks. it was a phase. Hell I went through a phase at 14 when I was going through my moms good towels at an alarming rate! She didn't know but my stepdad did.

Prince is an artist.Most artists whether they are singers or writers write about stuff they are experiencing or thinking about.I dont think he should be censured for his creativty.Yes some ofhis younger year stuff is a lil HMM but that what makes it so beautiful and unique. In America thank God we have the freedom of expression so songs like head can be created. And if u dont like it just dont listen to it.

Shango said:

Excuse me, but this string is not called "Do you think Head and dirty little smut songs helped Prince rise to stardom."

And THAT's not an opinion. THAT's a fact.

Maybe you should read the title and understand the question it before responding.

If your answer is no, then it's no. But I never said that songs like this "didn't help Prince rise to stardom." That's not the point.

Read the titles and the text of the post, or hire someone who is patient enough to do so, before you respond to a question that wasn't asked, and laughingly criticize that person.

Thank you.
[Edited 6/12/09 13:14pm]

MantuaPharoah said:

I wish he still performed those songs.