BoySimon said:

BoySimon said:

BoySimon said:

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

poetcorner61 said:

I find upon closer listening to "Lovesexy," that I understand Prince's lyrics, confusion, and the mix of the sacred and profane on this album much better than I did at first. Although I never heard this LP during that phase of my life, only recently, I realize that I was actually living this strange mix of spirituality and social/sexual freedom during that time and, upon reflection, I understand now the mixed message he was sending in that album about searching/defining belief in God, sex, relationships, and society.

There's a couple of things Prince was attempting to do during this time.

1) Obviously Lovesexy was an answer to The Black Album. Dark vs. Light. Good vs. Evil.

2) Prince claimed he saw God and that's why he wrote Lovesexy, and stopped shipment of The Black Album. However, a certain medical band member told me that Prince was tripping on X, and that he had become paranoid. Prince told Gilbert Davison he thought the devil, or a demon, was after him; that he saw a demon after him a lot. Gilbert relayed that to the band member.

3) The Lovesexy Tour book had the long story about Camille, and how he lashed out against his critics who said he was no longer funky, and had lost his edge in music. Camille lashed out and made The Black Album. "Let the Black album fly!" Spooky Electric was the bad influence (the devil). Then Camille saw the error of his ways, and created Lovesexy. The tour showed echoed that. If you step back and look at the songs, and the show, it's obvious.

Act I of the show was very "black and white". There weren't a whole lot of colors, and what color there was tended to be harsh and garish, whether it was a clear spotlight, harsh reds, etc. Even Prince, Sheila, and Cat's costumes were mainly black and white, albeit with spots of color here and there. All the songs are harsher songs, like "Erotic City", "Escape", "When You Were Mine", "Head", "Dirty Mind", etc. It really wasn't a big medley as some have diminished it to being. Yes it was a medley, but it was also cleverly (sic) arranged songs, showing his quest for the flesh. His character was lusting after Cat's character. He tried to say everything to her to get her in bed, and even tried to impress her with his basketball skills. (HA) It's all very flesh and carnal in nature devoid of any balance or spirituality. The pursuit of the flesh is reflected in that the song arrangements being hectic, and damn near at a manic pace, whereas the second act had fuller, and more complete versions of the songs.

It ends with the character of Camille (Prince) turning into the worst version of himself. He sings stuff from The Black Album like "Superfunkycalifragisexy", and then lands in "Bob George". He murders his girlfriend that he's pined for through the whole first act. Camille then "sees the light" of "Anna Stacia".

When Act II opens, flowers and all sorts of foliage pops up from around the stage. The colors of the show change greatly. It's like Dorothy opening the door to Oz. The whole band rises from under the stage, as if being born from the earth like Adam. Prince looks up to the light and smiles, as if basking in the presence of God Himself. Act II focuses on more positive songs like "Eye No", "Lovesexy", "The Cross", "Purple Rain", "Let's Go Crazy", plus some of the hits like "When Doves Cry", and "Kiss".

The whole thing was just about rebirth and his alleged spiritual enlightenment he felt he had experienced. He would still distance himself (a bit) from the saucier songs by crediting "Scarlet Pussy", the B-side to "I Wish U Heaven", to the Camille character. Even during interviews he said that he played the songs in the first act because that's what people wanted, and expected to hear. But it was the second act that was the real meaning of it all.

I know not everyone "got" all that when watching the show, but Lovesexy has always had a special spot in my heart, because it was the first Prince concert I ever attended. I was SO into that album at the time, and when I finally got a copy of Dortmund years later, I relived it everytime I watched the tape. So yeah, my two cents.

ernestsewell said:

poetcorner61 said:

I find upon closer listening to "Lovesexy," that I understand Prince's lyrics, confusion, and the mix of the sacred and profane on this album much better than I did at first. Although I never heard this LP during that phase of my life, only recently, I realize that I was actually living this strange mix of spirituality and social/sexual freedom during that time and, upon reflection, I understand now the mixed message he was sending in that album about searching/defining belief in God, sex, relationships, and society.

There's a couple of things Prince was attempting to do during this time.

1) Obviously Lovesexy was an answer to The Black Album. Dark vs. Light. Good vs. Evil.

2) Prince claimed he saw God and that's why he wrote Lovesexy, and stopped shipment of The Black Album. However, a certain medical band member told me that Prince was tripping on X, and that he had become paranoid. Prince told Gilbert Davison he thought the devil, or a demon, was after him; that he saw a demon after him a lot. Gilbert relayed that to the band member.

3) The Lovesexy Tour book had the long story about Camille, and how he lashed out against his critics who said he was no longer funky, and had lost his edge in music. Camille lashed out and made The Black Album. "Let the Black album fly!" Spooky Electric was the bad influence (the devil). Then Camille saw the error of his ways, and created Lovesexy. The tour showed echoed that. If you step back and look at the songs, and the show, it's obvious.

Act I of the show was very "black and white". There weren't a whole lot of colors, and what color there was tended to be harsh and garish, whether it was a clear spotlight, harsh reds, etc. Even Prince, Sheila, and Cat's costumes were mainly black and white, albeit with spots of color here and there. All the songs are harsher songs, like "Erotic City", "Escape", "When You Were Mine", "Head", "Dirty Mind", etc. It really wasn't a big medley as some have diminished it to being. Yes it was a medley, but it was also cleverly (sic) arranged songs, showing his quest for the flesh. His character was lusting after Cat's character. He tried to say everything to her to get her in bed, and even tried to impress her with his basketball skills. (HA) It's all very flesh and carnal in nature devoid of any balance or spirituality. The pursuit of the flesh is reflected in that the song arrangements being hectic, and damn near at a manic pace, whereas the second act had fuller, and more complete versions of the songs.

It ends with the character of Camille (Prince) turning into the worst version of himself. He sings stuff from The Black Album like "Superfunkycalifragisexy", and then lands in "Bob George". He murders his girlfriend that he's pined for through the whole first act. Camille then "sees the light" of "Anna Stacia".

When Act II opens, flowers and all sorts of foliage pops up from around the stage. The colors of the show change greatly. It's like Dorothy opening the door to Oz. The whole band rises from under the stage, as if being born from the earth like Adam. Prince looks up to the light and smiles, as if basking in the presence of God Himself. Act II focuses on more positive songs like "Eye No", "Lovesexy", "The Cross", "Purple Rain", "Let's Go Crazy", plus some of the hits like "When Doves Cry", and "Kiss".

The whole thing was just about rebirth and his alleged spiritual enlightenment he felt he had experienced. He would still distance himself (a bit) from the saucier songs by crediting "Scarlet Pussy", the B-side to "I Wish U Heaven", to the Camille character. Even during interviews he said that he played the songs in the first act because that's what people wanted, and expected to hear. But it was the second act that was the real meaning of it all.

I know not everyone "got" all that when watching the show, but Lovesexy has always had a special spot in my heart, because it was the first Prince concert I ever attended. I was SO into that album at the time, and when I finally got a copy of Dortmund years later, I relived it everytime I watched the tape. So yeah, my two cents.

Thanks for that bit of info and explanation ernest ...

ernestsewell said:

Prince told Gilbert Davison he thought the devil, or a demon, was after him; that he saw a demon after him a lot.

there probably was. there's some pretty trippy fans out there.

[Edited 5/30/10 12:38pm]

"However, a certain medical band member..."