he seemed to have mentioned them a lot on his 1999 album

Of course, P also mentions hippies in Extra Loveable, (outtake) Let's Pretend We're Fucking" ooops, I mean "Married" but I have always personally believed that what I wrote in my initial post ^^^^^is the basis of P's use of the word. Just my thought.

PurpleDiamond2009 said:

Yeah, he did. I ran a thread on here over two years ago specifically talking about this...This is a little of what I touched on....

Jimi Hendrix "If 6 Was 9"
"Alright, if all the hippies cut off all their hair, I don't care"

Prince "All The Critics Love U In New York"
"U could cut off all of your hair, I don't think they'd care"

Jimi Hendrix "If 6 Was 9"
"Right on Mr. Businessman, you can't dress like me"

Prince "All The Critics Love U In New York"
"Look out all u hippies, U ain't as sharp as me"

blackguitaristz said:

That's interesting. I never connected the two songs like that, but it makes a lot of sense.

But Prince absolutely has never been influenced by Hendrix.

blackguitaristz said:

Well, that's all very interesting, I didn't know that. But I suppose people forget that Prince was influenced by people who came before him, in the same way that others were influenced by him later!

Here's your original thread (I think) http://prince.org/msg/7/251965
[Edited 9/4/09 4:08am]

P got a lot of press from largely white music writers from Dirty Mind and Controversy. I think he also refered to these writers as "hippies" in the sense that I don't think P believed that they truly "got" what he was doing, musically, or understood where he was coming from. That their opinions of him, were "dated". Thus him calling them "hippies". That's why I said I think it was P'slang for critics AND whites. It carris a double meaning.-interesting Blackguitristz

Great observations Blackguitaristz about Jimi's
influence on Prince's lyrics.

i think Prince often mentions hippie movement because
it represents idea that he likes love peace
and unity.
i Don't think we should take P references of Hippies for granted like
take a bath Hippies.
on ALL the Crytics he also reference "it's time 4 jazz to die"
,many fans took it for granted
i think he wanted to say something different

thebanishedone said:

very interesting, never thought about it that way...

nyse said:

Thanx again banished and nyse.

u always have great insight blackG

blackguitaristz said:

Well put, Blackguitaristz

I don't care what people think...lol

thebanishedone said:

very interesting, never thought about it that way...

Great thread. I agree with black's lyrical observation, and I think the references to hippies (lyrical and otherwise) were all part of his effort to posit himself as being larger than his (black) contemporary musical scene.

He was aware of the comparisons to Hendrix that he'd been getting up til then. But, in his "I'm the wrong color and I play guitar" kind of way, Prince knew that his commercial success was dependent upon him having the same "black outsider" status that helped/beset Hendrix. Because, let's face it, most record stores were still filing his albums in the R&B section... "See these cufflinks? They cost money..."

Combined with the punk references in his marketing/styling and music, this "broader perspective" of his was a way of waving his freak flag high and telegraphing that he was well aware of both his diverse influences and considerable talent.

The Adam Ant/Hendrix turn that his costumes took in Purple Rain was extremely calculated. Consider how many New Romantics extras pop up in the performance scenes of that movie, especially in the beginning.

Prince was telegraphing a broader sound and a broader world view, in hopes of gaining crossover success.
[Edited 9/6/09 18:34pm]