What was that stuff on the first CD of ONA Live where Prince is talking to the audience about whether it is better to be leader or a follower? Any idea what he was rambling about?

I honestly think the box set would have benefited greatly from the removal of the little sermonizing bits.

Preachin-prince-style.

He ruined Anna Stesia with it too !!

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[This message was edited Fri Jan 17 16:09:03 PST 2003 by katt]

He sounds like the devil to me when he says; Re-bec-caaa !

I think he was pretty mean with the fan from the audience. Are you a leader or a follower? In this day and age leadership implies strength and conviction, whereas following implies going along with everbody else, and taking a group mentality without your own conscience. Isn't that what he refers to in 'Avalanche'? Being asked at a concert like that most of us would try to answer the best way, even if it's not true. So she answered 'a leader' and then got mocked for her response!

Katt - that's a reasonable point, but I don't think that dramtic statements in a concert (that ought to be allowed some artistic licence as they are designed to get a big point across in a limited amount of time) should be scrutinised so closely! I don't think anyone would have appreciated the concert being stopped for a debate on the accuracy of that statement!!

sabaisabai said "In this day and age leadership implies strength and conviction, whereas following implies going along with everbody else, and taking a group mentality without your own conscience." - but NOT to a Jehovah's Witness it doesn't!! So, for Prince and all other JWs, being a follower is the true and only way to be.

Sorry, to be a bit clearer "taking a group mentality without your own conscience" is the JW way. Re-reading my post, that was not very clear!

Re-bec-caaa ! i thought that was funny !!!

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[This message was edited Fri Jan 17 16:08:36 PST 2003 by katt]

Yeah right.. say you're a follower and be Prince's bitch.

Man sho'noff funny

Well you gotta take it in the proper usage. Prince meant it as what I think are you a follower of Christ and are you a Fan? As far of Leader or Follower in Business of Course you wanna be a LEADER. So,really you just have to use the word and the meaning in the proper Context.

i was thinking about this statement that prince makes too. to make a total all out statement that its better to be a follower is completely wrong. it depends what you are following. and surely even when you are following you can be a leader too, in a religious sense, cuz you are being the example of righteous living. oh man i am turning into prince with my preachiness here. hee hee. y'all know what i mean. we can be both is what i am trying to say and to put one above the other is wrong. being a leader is wrong when you are setting yourself as something to be followed cuz we dont have that right.

felt so good, I told the leader to follow - Sly Stone

lets not be too critical though of this. he is probably just trying to think of something to say before he gets someone on stage anyway. i am sure prince is aware of the ins and outs of what he said.

Question: Was Moses a Leader or a Follower? Did he lead his people from Egypt? And did he follower after God's instructions?

PEACE N B WiLD!!!

Natasha said:

But he didn't mention anything about Christ in that context. He just said "leader or follower?". Maybe he's just trying to sound clever... by asking an unanswerable pointless question, whatever answer you give leaves Prince in a position of "authority" over the discussion.

i agree. that bit about leading and following is every bit as appealing as his words at the celebration last year when he opened by telling us he was re-naming paisley park "surrender-land"

wtf???

ian said:

That is EXACTLY right. If you're one of the 6 people on earth who didn't know, I had a chance to talk with him at the vancouver aftershow, and he kept asking questions like that (my favorite was, "who governs you?") where he knew what answer he wanted to hear and was completely unwilling to discuss the context, or get a "well, it depends what you mean" sort of answer. It was very, very frustrating, and I'm afraid I wasn't entirely nice while trying to have a discussion like that.


As far as the ONAL bit, I thought that was mean too, but later in the tour he started letting people up on stage after just the easier "give or receive" question.

Doves,
Mel!ssa

Fhunkin said:

not da debble...

that cracked me up...along with the "crack kills" comment he made...

stoopid double-posts!
[This message was edited Thu Jan 16 8:14:22 PST 2003 by Handclapsfingasnapz]

I have to say I would have been upset. Because I would have anwsered a Leader also. So what happened to the girl who answered leader after she gave up her seat? Was anyone at that particular show? Did she take the seat of the lady who got her seat?

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[This message was edited Fri Jan 17 16:07:24 PST 2003 by katt]

tackam said:

I didn't know that Melissa! Interesting. Yeah I hate conversations like that... where the person has already decided what he wants to tell you, regardless of what you have to say. It's not a conversation, it's talking at you. Of course asking questions in that way can get your attention, so it works I suppose... but asking someone a deliberately vague question to which there is only one secret answer that he wants to hear is a bit childish and typical of someone incapable of engaging in a REAL discussion. But Prince has always been like that and his website ramblings on L4OA etc were no different.

katt said:

You misunderstand. It's not about belittling someone or humiliating them - it's just about preaching. By asking a deliberately vague question to which there is no correct answer, he gets your attention but keeps control of the flow of "conversation" - clearly he has some pearl of "wisdom" to impart and you're getting it whether you want it or not. Prince isn't interested in your answer, he's not interested in hearing what you think about anything - he has some nugget of wisdom he plucks from his arse that he feels you need to be aware of and he expresses it in such a way so as to dissuade any possible discourse on the matter.

Christian groups that harrass people on the street use exactly the same tactics.

Look at the website run by Public Enemy and Chuck D. Chuck posts his opinions, states what he thinks in clear English (most of the time) and often argues to defend his points etc. That's real discourse, there is communication happening there. That's what I like about Chuck - the guy is always learning and growing as an artist and a person. On the other hand, the sermonizing on Prince's websites (particularly Love4oneanother years ago) consisted of deliberately vague double-speak which allows him avoid being nailed down on any particular topic. That's just the way Prince prefers to communicate with his fans... perhaps he's afraid of getting into a real discussion where someone might kick out the spiritual crutches from beneath him.

Fhunkin said:

Bwaaa Haaa Haaa!!!

Fhunkin said:

Excuse me ? he ruined Ann stestia? Do u even get the message behind that song? He totally enhanced and xplained the meaning of that song! It was by far the very best version i have ever heard of that song! And as 4 the leader follower thing? Its so very easy 2 understand. Its a biblical principle. Prince asked the lady 2 give up her seat, now she had a choice either 2 keep what she had or give it up, not knowing what the benefit of that mayb. She was asked 2 sacrifice something with no idea of what her reward or loss might be. Prince was demonstrating that as followers of God, we r asked 2 give up things which 2 us seem priceless but 2 God 2 worthless and by giving up those things u get rewarded with a much greater, unforseen reward. The reward in this case was Prince singing "other side of the pillow 4 her!" its just his was of demonstrating his new found beliefs. The same principle is applied 2 the follower/leader question, if u follow some1 u never know where u could end up! She ended up sitting on stage with Prince simply by following him and thus gaining a greater reward 4 being a follower. Princes was trying 2 show that by being a follower of God, u always get a higher place, a higher reward 4 being submissive 2 him rather than trying 2 do it your own way.

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[This message was edited Fri Jan 17 16:06:25 PST 2003 by katt]

Why does it have to be me,but I will tell you what I think . In my experiences with Prince that have basically been non-verbal and good thing I can read what he is saying to me. If you are a Prince fan you will understand Prince language. You will be Tested to see just how much you Know. And are you afraid? Seems like Xenophobia. Anyway,what I mean is Prince was being Flip or Sarcastic in a sense and seeing if we would Answer Leader{ Then wouldn't we be onstage} {Christ-Like} {Godly} He is that Leader Don't you See so you must reply {Follower} to the question. In a way if you Understand him {Prince} you will Realize Certain Game-Playing . I don't Care but it can be Frustrating when you don't Realize he is Goofing on you. It's quite Hard for us Fans because we don't speak to Him and he doesn't speak so much in Interviews. I believe he is a Quiet,Private,Sort who is rather Reserved and Guarded. I suppose I would be also if in his position. I don't Care what anybody Says against him with thinks to sway me as I love him and I understand why he doesn't give many Interviews as he was always misquoted. I think he's a CUTIE. I know I come off very Aggressive where he is concerned Sexually,but he just Drives Me Wild to Coin his Own words. I find him so Excited and such a Beast of Sorts. I am Sure he is a Dynamo as I feel it in his Music. He's absolutely the Best and no woman left Him because he wasn't a Stud. I do believe when they broke they said stuff or if he didn't bother with them again. Or even Dis-Gruntled emplyoees. I'll always think Wonderful Kind-Hearted things about Prince. He'll always have my Heart..

katt said:

No, we don't. I entirely agree. Of course it is Prince's right to preach what he believes in. I'd never dispute that.



Yeah but that is always going to be the case really. If I want spiritual enlightenment, a pop concert is not the first place I'd go to



The intention of my criticism is merely to state how Prince's preaching discourages discussion because Prince has never seemed comfortable having a discussion with fans in which he didn't know all the answers and the outcome. To me that shows a lack of respect the intelligent people who dig his music, but hey that's just my opinion.



I feel the albums suffers because of it - if I was to play the ONA Live album for my friends - fellow musicians and music lovers who just haven't really been exposed to Prince's talent - they'd be very impressed by some of the music, Prince's guitar playing, but possibly irritated by some of more sappy preening ballads and certainly irritated by the preaching tone of certain parts of the record. I'm a Prince fan and I know to expect such horseshittery because we've been hearing it all along, but anyone else would find it off-putting, I suggest.



I remember that (Saturday night gig right?). Really great concert, and the aftershow too. Won't forget that show in a hurry!