this is my question. some might think a pointless one and you are probably right. I was just listening to it and thought "wow if prince wrote this about himself he certainly has a high opinion of himself. whoever it is about he says that person
1 used to rule ie be the coolest thing ever during his time
2 taught an integrated world to sing
3 changed the FUNK
4 changed the colours of the flag

well there is probably a few others in there that i am missing. but my point is that if prince wrote this aobut himself well kiss my nunchucks but he needs to calm down with this self importance thing.

Having said that i do honestly believe it is about someone else. it is my thought that this is about Larry Graham... cuz i would say that this was the desired mission of SLy and the family stone. they were one of the first 'integrated' groups etc.

just a thought...

its amazing how straight forward something sounds in your head but then when you read it back you dont even know what you were talking about... oh well. enjoy decifering my topic

I'm sure it's about God, Jesus, Jehova and that kind of shizat!
[This message was edited Thu Jan 9 6:16:39 PST 2003 by abierman]

That verse is about Sly Stone, I believe.

I gathered that it must have been about a prior performer/idol/mentor of princes but I didn't know who. Was it really Sly? What is the "then he changed the colours of the flag" line referring to exactly?

Funny I thought that song was so blatantly about Prince. "Don't no matter how much money you made, all the cars you got, all the women you laid mess with the flag to them you're still a spade." Oh yeah and about the part about him ruling I thought that was in reference to his name. I think it is about him.

Not certain, but he does make some obvious references to himself and his career...Ex

@ about 5:44 (mocking his critics) "You know this is funky, but I wish he'd just play like he used to. Ole Scraggly head son of Ah SMACK! Oooow"

That part always makes me laugh, and I view it as a retaliation. It takes alot of criticism, and hardly ever fights back, it's good to hear...

Blue
Times...times

I thought it was about Sly, but the lyrics also seem to point to Prince.

- "He used to rule, until he went to school" - As in he used to be called Prince (a king to be, a king is a ruler). We all know Prince has been learning shit the past decade.

Sly references are more prominent in the 2nd verse:

- "All the everyday people sing"
- "Taught an integrated world 2 sing" (multi-racial band - could also apply to Prince)
- "Changed the colours of the flag" (Dunno, I'd take a guess at 'There's A Riot Goin' On' cover, and did they do anything anti-patriotic at Woodstock?)

All the things about Sly, could be things about Larry Graham, so it could be about him. He was into drugs and women ("Don't matter how much money you made, all the cars U got and the women you laid").

- "Changed the funk" (Larry's innovative style of bass).
[This message was edited Thu Jan 9 9:02:29 PST 2003 by MiaBocca]

I don't think those lines petain to just one individual...I think one line is about him...another is about larry...and others about others...just a thought

"Don't no matter how much money you made, all the cars you got, all the women you laid mess with the flag to them you're still a spade."



I've never Understood this line, its Terrible!

Read it and think- what was he trying to achieve by having lots of cars and shagging many women? Acceptance and admittance to the establishment?

It is blessing he didn't get this no?

First off, this song is beyond funky and it's one of my favorites. I believe the first verse is about Prince himself and why he made the decision to shed the image of Prince that most people knew him for. The second verse is obviously about Sly. "The color you are don't mean a thing, everybody's a star all the everyday people sang", referring to Everybody is a Star and Everyday People. "Then he changed the colors of the flag...Mess with the flag and to them you're still a spade", refers to the flack that Sly got for the "There's a Riot Goin On" album cover that changed the US flag to be a bit darker. Damn, now I gotta go but this tune out again, 4 funky.

bankrobberman said:[quote]this is my question. some might think a pointless one and you are probably right. I was just listening to it and thought "wow if prince wrote this about himself he certainly has a high opinion of himself. whoever it is about he says that person
1 used to rule ie be the coolest thing ever during his time

Well he was and still is...IMO


2 taught an integrated world to sing

He did make a lot of people in the 80s and even today sing along to his music...just go to any club and watch people of
all colors mimic his singing when they play "Kiss" or whatever..

3 changed the FUNK

He changed it in the sense that he took it to another level, didn´t he...?

4 changed the colours of the flag




Remember the time when his rebel stance started ? The Gold
Experience phase ?? Didn´t he change color of the flag ?
( a golden, Star Spangled Banner ..what was the meaning behind that ?? And if memory serves me right, he freaked out during some awards show when some other, less patriotic
musician said something or did something "unpatriotic" or
whatever..back then he was still oldfashioned patriotic, nowadays he´s more aware of things, patriotic in a totally different way...more like universal, spiritual kind of patriotism...)...
What was that golden flag about ?? Tommy Barbarella´s keyboard was draped with it and I also have this nice picture of the NPG with Prince touching Morris´ bald head...

EverlastingNow said:

I also believe that in the first verse the "that's when he took his pearly crown raised it up and stun it 'round and tossed it into the deep blue underground" has to do with when he changed his name in 1993. In a letter to Controversy magazine in 93 I believe he made a comment about being in Puerto Rico and his spirit told him to change his name. And I also remember him making another reference about leaving the old image of Prince there in the sea.

It's about Sly Stone, every line of the verse applies.

Shorty said:

I always thought "Everlasting Now" was about Shorty...

This song is about Prince - and his spiritual transition. (At the beginning of the song and in the background when he is singing about how he went to "school" - (i.e. being schooled in his faith) and him tossing aside his (Prince's) crown - you can clearly hear a crowd yelling "We want Prince! We want Prince!)
The everlasting now is definitely a religious reference to his Jehovah's Witness faith based on their belief of what happens to believers when they die.
Definitely a song about faith that he uses himself as the example of how he is no longer led by the ways of men...etc.

AnimalKingdom said:

And what do they believe happens to believers when they die???

This song is not about Prince...


The first verse is about Little Richard. Direct reference is made to his being "the architect of Rock n Roll" as well as his revelation and conversion back to the church to become an ordained minister. L.R. has said that when he realized he wanted to "serve the Lord", he went to the pier, removed a $10,000 diamond ring from his finger, and tossed it in, vowing to never place riches and wealth above his spiritual health. Prince metaphors this with his line about "tossed his pearly crown into the deep blue underground".

The second verse, as many here have already stated, is about Sly Stone. Prince uses the titles of Sly's tunes "Everybody Is a Star" and "Everyday People" in a clever play on words. Reference is also made to Sly's career taking a swift nosedive underground right about the time "There's A Riot Goin' On" came out, the cover of which (as someone here also previously stated) contained a representation of what Sly felt the American flag should look like - red, white, and black. Sly was heavily criticized for making such a bold statement at the time, stating in an interview, "Betsey Ross did the best job she could at the time, but I just felt I could do better." From then on, as Rickey Vincent might say, "his honarary pop pass was revoked." Sly's record label even censored the cover in later pressings.


The "scragglyhead" line at the end is probably about the folks that hang out here!

-SWANGtotheeastSWANGtothewest

adorable2 said:

Took the words right out of my mouth!

"Now turn the page, at an early age
This brutha on stage, he was all the rage
He taught an integrated world 2 sing
The color u are don't mean a thing
Everybody's a star all the everyday people sang"

Yep he's talking about himself.

MJ

'nuff said.

It's about Prince, IMO...

CalhounSq said:

Supernova said:

So who's it about Nova?? I wanna know!

SWANG said:

Refereshingly fresh, Swang. That stroke hit it out of the park!

While I think the song is definitely NOT about Prince, I think you could say that he uses two people with similar stories/backgrounds (Little Richard, Sly Stone) to help communicate his own journey/struggle/spiritual transformation.

Then the third verse brings us to our current empty headed superficial culture with a play on words about dreams unfurling around a stripper pole.

Really some classic Prince lyricism that is still being lost on some because he says "Christ" in the chorus and it's not used in vain. How dare any artist speak of their belief system?! They should only speak in the politically correct tones of the day!

--
[This message was edited Sat Jan 11 0:41:03 PST 2003 by Brendan]

CalhounSq said:

I thought you knew!

The second verse is definitely about Sly Stone, the clues are there with the song titles mentioned by others above. Swang says the first verse is about Little Richard, which is something I had no idea about.

When that cartoon-ish voice talks about, "This is funky, but I wish he'd play like he used to" that's definitely about the fickleness of some of Prince's fans and critics, particularly over the last decade. Some folks may think he lives in an isolated fortress, but Prince is well aware of some of the things being said about him musically and otherwise.

So to answer your question, it's about other artists he relates to and himself going through personal/career changes and aesthetic/thematic changes musically, and anticipating the "naysayers" (this is funky, but I wish he'd play like he used to) response to those changes.

Supernova said:

OHHH This is how dumb I am - I've never checked the lyrics & didn't know he said anything about "everyday people", I just kinda mumble that part... I might have caught the Sly reference if I'd known that, but I can't guarantee I would have knowing me As long as he's talking about himself somewhere in there, I know I'm not crazy! Hell, he could be talking about Al Green too (no longer led by the ways of men, he looked for the kingdom deep within...), a lot of artists he admires could apply to different parts I guess...






.
[This message was edited Sat Jan 11 1:30:23 PST 2003 by CalhounSq]

CalhounSq said:

True, but according to Swang the story is more specific and direct than that in his (Swang's) description. I really don't know anything about who that first verse was about though.
[This message was edited Sat Jan 11 13:23:45 PST 2003 by Supernova]

Brendan said:

the onlt thing that stops me thinking that its about SLY is that it talks about a guy who is no longer led by the ways of men and went to a school that was teaching religion. unless SLY is a JW too then i thought it would be more likely to be larry graham

Bankrobberman, you've opened up a WHOLE can o' worms!!! Great topic, though; it's interesting reading all these theories.

Like CalhounSq says, it could be a mixture of so many influences. But I wouldn't mind guessing that this is Prince's own mini-tribute to Larry Graham. Sort of, like, 'Look what I've done for you!'. Especially since they're practically joined at the hip, now.