Ok...I always knew and loved the song Raspberry Beret, probably the most played Prince song on the radio.....but I'm curious, what's the Raspberry Beret Prince was referring to? According to the Urban Dictionary, a Raspberry beret is "the act of eating-out a womans ass while she menstruates onto your forehead" OR "A menstruating woman's equivilent to a mushroom stamping, in which she drops trou' and rubs her bloody cooch on a bald mans head, or a full haired mans forehead, thus endowing him with a thin red, yet jauntily worn raspberry chapeaux."

She wore a
Raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second hand store
She wore a
Raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second hand store
Raspberry beret
And if it was warm she wouldn't wear much more
Raspberry beret
I think I love her


I'm not entirely sure what Prince is talking about. Does he mean the girl is wearing a red beret or she's wearing what the Urban dictionary's talking about, or...she gave him one.

Either way, great song.

I can't wait for him to release "Rusty Trombone"... that's gonna be the shit!

please don't let this thread get locked

errant said:

Stinky Sanchez is my favorite boot!

Zombie Mask?

SherryJackson said:

SHE wore a raspberry beret, the kind u find in a 2nd hand store

I think it's that simple
I know people think of Prince as some oversexed musician but we shouldn't read much into everthing he says

It didn't say HE wore a raspberry beret

Tambourine, YES is about masturbation, really simple

errant said:

Im 99.9% sure its jst that literal. She was simply wearing a rasberry colored beret.
This is one time Prince was NOT trying to be cryptic or talk in riddles.

errrr, i think it's about a fit bird in a hat!! or some post modernistic take on the state of the world in '85 i.e. the girl represents the glam 80's greed and the said beret in question representing the dawning of a new age. My money is on the hat though!!.

LOL very interesting

she could have worn the Rasberry Beret if she was into women.

Could have been about Wendy & Lisa she walked in through the out door ~!

It all makes perfect sense to me now...
[Edited 4/20/10 17:00pm]

FunkyStrange said:

Sometimes a raspberry beret is just a raspberry beret.

It's not a metaphor for anything else. It's just an example, and symbol, of the
girls kooky, bohemian, charity shop chic.

Much like the starfish and coffee were examples and symbols of Cynthia Rose's
different outlook in the song of the same name.

(However, Tamborine definitely was a metaphor for something else)

BorisFishpaw said:

Great thread. Now I finally know those very cryptic lyrics were about placing twat clots on one's face during a salad tossing.

I heard that Prince wrote Starfish & Coffee the day after eating a vindaloo and running out of diacalm.

BorisFishpaw said:

great little story telling song

I will never hear the line "She walked in through the out door, out door" the same again.

My understanding is a Raspberry Beret was worn by prostitutes in France in the 80's and that is how you could tell if they were "for sale". The lyrics also fit this. If it was warm she wouldn't wear much more. "They say the first time isn't the greatest". It all fits.

i24u said:

if true this sounds great. I don't know much about French history, but I don't see a reason why you would fabricate this. Red is often a signal for "transactional sexual behavior," and beret's are as common as baseball caps as much as they are french.

The whole thing of developing a relationship sans cash with someone in said field is a HUGE American fantasy, not certain about the rest of the world. I was talking about this last night. How my friend said he banged 2 strippers without him having to use cash to make it happen(I OBVIOUSLY didn't believe him).

Oh my God!!! It's a hat! Nothing more, nothing less.

Where in the hell do you shop that they sell menstrual blood at the secondhand store?

[Edited 4/21/10 11:14am]

HonestMan13 said:

Used tampons?

ernestsewell said:

Lord have mercy.

NDRU said:

I've always been partial to Raspberry's alternate version, Dingle-berry Beret.

luv4u said:

"What's in a name? that which we call a
By any other name would smell as sweet..."

And a is just a by any other name...

HonestMan13 said:

Well, I'm sorry! Forgive me for being and I quote "under 30 and seeing hidden messages in everything!" Don't remember who said that, but that was genius. Describes me rather well.

God, I love that man....
[Edited 4/23/10 22:03pm]

SherryJackson said:

Actually, if you are really a fan of his music in depth, you do know what to expect.

Here's a hint for all the under-30 crowd...sometimes it's just as simple as it seems.

he's a Jehovah Witness. they have some law against eating blood. I'm sure there's something similar about having it pussy-stamped on your forehead too.

Better than wearing a 'Cosby Sweater' I suppose or a Stinky Hitler