Ive heard and read more times than I can count about how Prince needs to be "dirty" and "sexual" again. He needs to get back to being the Prince that made him famous. and so on and so on...

BUT.... what if he did? What if he suddenly whipped out some filth like we havent seen since Erotic City or Head?

Could we really accept the 51 year old Prince singing about oral sex, the different positions he'd do his woman in, or masturbation?
Could we really accept him rubbing himself, licking his microphone and stroking the neck of his guitar till it.. well..you know.
Could we really accept him cursing like he did on the Gold Experience album?

His new lifestyle and toned down lyrics and stage act has been put down, run down and critisized SO MUCH on this site..but think about it..do you really want that side of Prince back???

Sure..at times I long for the Purple Rain Prince...but I think thats just part of me that misses the past. In all reality, I dont want "todays" Prince to bring that act back. I mean, i thought Crockett and Tubbs from the 80's miami vice were the coolest guys in the world. But would it be cool to what they did then, in 2010? NO.

So maybe we should figure out if we just, A- miss the past, or, B- we really want Prince to change back to his past self.
I believe if you think long and hard about it..you just might find its option A

I tend to agree with you. Honestly, I have only recently started listening to Prince heavily again and I have found that listening to his older stuff (soundtrack to Purple Rain specifically) makes me sad as hell. I just came to the realization a few weeks ago that it isn't the music that makes me sad, but a yearning to return to those days when I was young and things were so much easier, and I was a carefree kid. And I have enjoyed his evolution into the musician he is today. No, I don't think I would want him to go back to his previous days.
[Edited 2/24/10 12:57pm]

.
[Edited 2/24/10 14:55pm]

It is not about all of that. Prince needs 2 do himself.....and I question if creating "art" with the handcuffs of religion is really "himself". I know what Prince would say.....but I beg 2 differ.

There's no age limit on being nasty. Millie Jackson, Bobby Rush, and Denise LaSalle are as nasty, if not nastier, than ever. Whether Prince wants to be nasty or not is his business (and sales) but don't put no age limit on nastiness. Not all old people are stuffy prudes.
.
.
.
[Edited 2/24/10 13:39pm]

I still respect and love the P of today. I think it's cool that he's matured and hasn't had to resort the old "tricks" of his past.

He still has sex in his music but now he leaves it for the listener to imagine.

I'd rather have him be all nasty and sexual than talk about chem trails and his religious crap. But whatever.

I agree with Andy, there's a lot of ageism on this site. Just because you get older, your sexuality doesn't cease to exist.

However, unlike people like Millie Jackson and Bobby Rush, it was almost inevitable that Prince would water down the sexuality in his music and performance. Virtually from the start, he tried to balance the sacred with the profane. And I don't think it was an act per se. As you get older, and go through hardships and the loss of loved ones and the fragility of life becomes so clear, the search for meaning paramount. And for someone like Prince, who was always a believer and seeker, which side did you think was going to win when his back was against the wall.

However, there's been times where he's expressed sexuality, albeit in a more sublime way, since his religious conversion. Songs like "Black Sweat" and "Mellow" come to mind. But even more than being "nasty" on record, I miss the attitude that was on a lot of the 80's and 90's material. It's there on some tracks (too few imo) like "PFUnk" and "Illusion, Coma,...".

But I respect what he's doing now. I don't dislike "1+1+1=3" because of that "I don't give a duck.." line. But I did think, Oh come on, just say it!

cutest post ever

SPYZFAN1 said:

Yep yep. Talk about Cause&Effect..

yes he needs to dig out some of the OLD MUSIC and stop frontin!!!!!
we know he is a nasty old man

Nobody is asking him to be nasty again. Just to get real and stop faking his morality.

There is so much inbetween if you put his original music/stage show etc on one end and his current music/stage show on the other.

It doesn't have to be one or the other. Well, actually, it is one right now. The more toned down, self-censoring one.

Being older doesn't mean you can't still be dirty. And being dirty doesn't have to lack class or detract from the spiritual overtones of an artist's work. Leonard Cohen has written tons of beautiful lyrics and poetry drawing on this conflict/contrast. On his retirement tour, at the age of 75, Cohen premiered a poem that opened with the lines:

"You came to me this morning and you handled me like meat
You'd have to be a man to know how good that feels, how sweet"

Prince's spirituality isn't the problem. Toning down his lyrics isn't the problem. It's that just when he finally "got free" from his Warner Bros. contract, he ironically turned around and shackled himself into a slavish religious dogma that has limited his lyrical versatility.

JudasCorby said:

The ultimate in twited irony All that waiting only for him to be a slave again

He doesn't have to get crazy like he did 30 years ago, but would it kill him to sing the right lyrics, and not completely disassociate himself from all that great music? I mean, seriously.... although it would be so bizarre to hear him say "i sincerely wanna fuck the taste out of your mouth" at this point in his career, LOL... so maybe it's for the best after all.

There's no better person to talk nasty shit than an old person because they've got the experience to talk the shit.

vainandy said:

OK, I saw her a few years ago and she wasn't havin any of that clean stuff

That bitch is still nasty as hell and talkin' more shit than ever.

I see all the points being made..but Im sure if he broke out with Jack U Off, he would get trashed on this site. The first thing that would come up is his age.
Yes, I agree that his age isnt a problem...with me or a few of you, obviously. But there does come a time when you have to evolve and change with age. Im not saying "grow old"...Im saying change. And Prince has done just that. He has changed. He has evolved. For the better? Thats debatable, but he has done what he is comfortable with.
He still has his sexual side. Take "On the Couch" for instance, when he says, "I wanna go down south". He has become classy, and more self controlled. This shows maturity. If he were there singing about creamy thighs, or giving head, or Oooh, I cant hold it, its gett'n all over me...this would show a man in his 50's that still has no control over his sexual desires. He would still be the uncaged animal he was 20 years ago. Take ACDC for instance. I saw them a few years ago, and the lead singer, during "shook me all night long", started stroking his mic stand. I wanted to throw up. 30 years ago, ok...but not now. Youre an adult, so act like one.
So yea,be sexual, but be adult and mature about it.

ronnwinter said:

Well said my friend, well said.

ronnwinter said:

Ok, if this is about being classy and self controlled then he needs to steer clear of his pre-class catalogue instead of perpetrating a lie and changing lyrics to suit his current mania.

I've read most of this post and I have to tell you. It's really not that deep. Prince is a musician/business man. It's entirely possible that he has a changed life through religion etc. but I think the main thrust behind the change was marketing. It's not cool when everyone else is doing the same thing. When cursing and half naked women and sexual lyrics are rampant in music it loses it's shock value and you just blend in. If you want to stand out you do the opposite.

As a side note: I've always thought subtle lines like...
"She didn't see the movie cause she hadn't read the book first is way sexier than...

"I sincerely want to f*** the taste out of your mouth."

Even if that's what most of us were thinking.

Also, I would imagine it's a lot nicer for your grandkids/neices nephews etc. when one day they want to find out what the old man sung to become such a big star..

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Perpetrating a lie? Not sure i get what youre saying.
Changing lyrics?? Did you forget, its HIS songs? HIS music? HIS performance?

sgmusic said:

Good points. He has said he has already pushed the envelope as far as it can go.

ronnwinter said:

What does possession have to do with anything? Fact is he's LYING when he passes false lyrics on his fans. It's the equivalent of cutting the ex husband out of the pictures and acting like he never existed. HELLO, HE KNOCKED YOU UP WITH THEM KIDS IN THE PICTURE! If he has such a problem that he needs to change lyrics and whitewash songs, he shouldn't be singing them.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Well.. I guess I kinda get what youre saying, but its a bit overdramatic.
I dont like some of the changes, such Gett Off..."23 scriptures in a one night stand". And I truely despise the fact that he changed the CROSS to the CHRIST.
But, you know...maybe he's just trying to satisfy his audience with certain hits without compromising the changes he has made in his life. Looking at it that way..i can appreciate it.

ronnwinter said:

If you're in a new phase of life, how about you create music from that vantage point and celebrate it instead of running on a guilt trip trying to change your past?

Graycap23 said:

Now this is key, right here. We all know he's a JW and I believe he is putting his heart and soul into following it as best as he can and yes, that's going to change the lyrical style. I like little subtle hints of the sexual side of the songs and such. I do not expect him to do "Head" or "Darling Nikki" or the like but if he did I'm cool with it and if he didn't I'm still cool with it. I do not expect him to do it though ... Being JW stops that. I kinda expect P to do a Cat Stevens one day.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I dont see it as changing your past. As I stated before..In MY opinion...he is satisfying both sides of this equation. His beliefs/current lifestyle AND his audience.
How many artists do you that never play from their list of hits? Prince made a CRAP LOAD of popular dirty songs that his fans love. But he cant sing them the way they were originally or in some cases, he cant sing them at all. So he does the best he can to make the fans happy.