After many years since Prince released 7, I have been wondering if this song is an indirect reference to the major record companies.

Sony, Warners, Universal, Polygram, MCA, BMG, and others which will come to mind later.

I was listening to a live session of him, and when he sings "we will watch them fall," afterwards, he sings, "we will still be here," and says something like:

"cause I got all y'all."

Was Prince looking ahead to the future, whereby he would not depend on contracts, but a direct relationship with his fans?

There might also be a connection with 7 and the Digital Garden.

well, if it had 2 b a matter of executives of such companies and those who run mainstream radio versus Prince symbolising the potential of independent artists, Prince is kickin' some serious ass. Him selling out MSQ on his own is no small feat y'all.

7 appears to be his futuristic take on this royal ass whoopin'

From The Vault....

Re "7"

The lyrics corespond closely to the portrayel of the Apocalypse in the Book Of Revelations in The Bible. It describes how Gods people will triumph over seven evil kings and talks about finding eternal love in heaven.

There was a segue after the song on the original version of the album with Mayte saying to Prince, "Look now into the mirror. If you're the beginning, I am the end, and all things in between are reflected therein."

Nothing to do with record companies.

[Edited 12/28/10 11:16am]

TheDigitalGardener said:

From The Vault....

Re "7"

The lyrics corespond closely to the portrayel of the Apocalypse in the Book Of Revelations in The Bible. It describes how Gods people will triumph over seven evil kings and talks about finding eternal love in heaven.

There was a segue after the song on the original version of the album with Mayte saying to Prince, "Look now into the mirror. If you're the beginning, I am the end, and all things in between are reflected therein."

Nothing to do with record companies.

[Edited 12/28/10 11:16am]

This is pretty much shown in the video also.

I always thought the lyrics were ref Revelations in the New Testament Bible & never thought of them as being about record companies.

I was receiving visits from a couple who were JW's at the time this song was released, thought it was ironic that i was studying the bible & then Prince releases a song about the Prophecies!!!

However, it is sometimes hard knowing what Prince is singing about because so many of his songs have double meaning, I believe he is singing about Armageddon & how things will be after the "fall" of Satan's reign.

[Edited 12/28/10 14:28pm]

NelsonR said:

After many years since Prince released 7, I have been wondering if this song is an indirect reference to the major record companies.

I would say not... plus, Prince was still getting the advances he wanted at the time of writing, so hadn't started really complaining about record companies yet...

jtfolden said:

NelsonR said:

After many years since Prince released 7, I have been wondering if this song is an indirect reference to the major record companies.

I would say not... plus, Prince was still getting the advances he wanted at the time of writing, so hadn't started really complaining about record companies yet...

He had just signed that deal that went sour when that album (or right before that album) came out. I think he thought he would "kill" off "Prince" at the time and then become to release 2 different sets of albums (kind of like George Clinton did in the 70s and 80s). In the 3 chains of gold video, it is explained (kinda of sorta).

How come I can never understand anything on here?

amberella said:

How come I can never understand anything on here?

Don't worry, it's not that important.

Yeah it's pertaining to the bible,

from what I read there are no record companies mention in the churches which are in Revelations..

not even Warner, shocking I know

[Edited 12/28/10 20:36pm]

daPrettyman said:

jtfolden said:

I would say not... plus, Prince was still getting the advances he wanted at the time of writing, so hadn't started really complaining about record companies yet...

He had just signed that deal that went sour when that album (or right before that album) came out.

The album came out shortly after the contract was signed but a) the song would have obviously been written before that time, and b) the deal hadn't gone "sour" yet in any case.

Unless you are suggesting Prince was psychic, he couldn't have been referring to future events at the time of writing 7.

I think he thought he would "kill" off "Prince" at the time and then become to release 2 different sets of albums (kind of like George Clinton did in the 70s and 80s). In the 3 chains of gold video, it is explained (kinda of sorta).

I think 3COG (the video) story is manipulated after the fact, to explain the name change. I don't believe that was the intention originally at all.

No. Prince is not a prophet.

TheDigitalGardener said:

amberella said:

How come I can never understand anything on here?

Don't worry, it's not that important.

TheDigitalGardener said:

From The Vault....

Re "7"

The lyrics corespond closely to the portrayel of the Apocalypse in the Book Of Revelations in The Bible. It describes how Gods people will triumph over seven evil kings and talks about finding eternal love in heaven.

There was a segue after the song on the original version of the album with Mayte saying to Prince, "Look now into the mirror. If you're the beginning, I am the end, and all things in between are reflected therein."

Nothing to do with record companies.

[Edited 12/28/10 11:16am]

Yep..."There will be a new city with the streets of gold"

Astasheiks said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

From The Vault....

Re "7"

The lyrics corespond closely to the portrayel of the Apocalypse in the Book Of Revelations in The Bible. It describes how Gods people will triumph over seven evil kings and talks about finding eternal love in heaven.

There was a segue after the song on the original version of the album with Mayte saying to Prince, "Look now into the mirror. If you're the beginning, I am the end, and all things in between are reflected therein."

Nothing to do with record companies.

[Edited 12/28/10 11:16am]

Yep..."There will be a new city with the streets of gold"

Nice

Too much analyzing

TheDigitalGardener said:

From The Vault....

Re "7"

The lyrics corespond closely to the portrayel of the Apocalypse in the Book Of Revelations in The Bible. It describes how Gods people will triumph over seven evil kings and talks about finding eternal love in heaven.

There was a segue after the song on the original version of the album with Mayte saying to Prince, "Look now into the mirror. If you're the beginning, I am the end, and all things in between are reflected therein."

Nothing to do with record companies.

[Edited 12/28/10 11:16am]

That is absolutely correct. I almost fell out of my chair when I read the particular chapter in Revelations that contains some of the lines lifted into "7".

RodeoSchro said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

From The Vault....

Re "7"

The lyrics corespond closely to the portrayel of the Apocalypse in the Book Of Revelations in The Bible. It describes how Gods people will triumph over seven evil kings and talks about finding eternal love in heaven.

There was a segue after the song on the original version of the album with Mayte saying to Prince, "Look now into the mirror. If you're the beginning, I am the end, and all things in between are reflected therein."

Nothing to do with record companies.

[Edited 12/28/10 11:16am]

That is absolutely correct. I almost fell out of my chair when I read the particular chapter in Revelations that contains some of the lines lifted into "7".

there are many musicians, reggae artists come to mind, who use scripture as a part of their lyrics, but still do so with the intent of connecting it to the own worlds, or the social environment around them.

to think or assume that Prince or any1 else would merely refer to scriptural references for the mere purpose of history seems a bit naive to me.

his music is very personal and details his artistic struggle...many songs fall into this category like The Work, or most of the TRC.

"7" is referring to the prophecy of the rise and fall of the political world powers (world governments) namely, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and eventually the Anglo-American world power. In fact, the Bible foretold long in advance the rise and fall of several of these powers.—Revelation 17:9-11.

amberella said:

How come I can never understand anything on here?

LOL! that's how i feel most of the day

7 = the seven deadly sins

to the people of whom it doesn't make sense to- it's because you don't understand God's word

Was Prince looking ahead to the future, whereby he would not depend on contracts, but a direct relationship with his fans?

Well, WB did release 0(+>, The Hits, Come, The Gold Experience, The Black Album, Chaos & Disorder and The Vault/Old Friends 4 Sale, after the infamous 1992 deal, so that IS 7 releases.

However, maybe you should also count Girl 6 lol.

More seriously, in my opinion the lyrics of 7 clearly appear to be are a reference to the book of revelations and contain no sign as a conflict with his record company, nor that he envisioned such a thing as not depending on contracts and only a direct relationship with his fans, back then already.

He did however envision that two years later in 1994, on The Exodus has Begun, as you can hear on the NPG operator segues and this was when the conflict with WB was going on.

A far as I can tell and remember, but perhabs somebody better informed could correct me on this, the conflict with WB appears to have started after Prince couldn't release a new album in 1993. It seems he had to settle for just a hits package and shut up or put up. Just a money maker for WB and no room for his new, creative output.

Obviously Prince didn't like that at all.

If you play it backwards you hear "Barack Obama is coming"

Astasheiks said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

From The Vault....

Re "7"

The lyrics corespond closely to the portrayel of the Apocalypse in the Book Of Revelations in The Bible. It describes how Gods people will triumph over seven evil kings and talks about finding eternal love in heaven.

There was a segue after the song on the original version of the album with Mayte saying to Prince, "Look now into the mirror. If you're the beginning, I am the end, and all things in between are reflected therein."

Nothing to do with record companies.

[Edited 12/28/10 11:16am]

Yep..."There will be a new city with the streets of gold"

What I think about this reference is that He is talking about heaven, young so educated they never grow old meaning they will be filled with knowledge of the heavens and the word of god and there will be no death for with every breath a voice of many colors sings... and i think this is referring to eternal life in heaven and the angels singing in praise and rejoyce...

thats what i think when i hear this part in the song anyways, who else agrees with me?

NelsonR said:

After many years since Prince released 7, I have been wondering if this song is an indirect reference to the major record companies.

Sony, Warners, Universal, Polygram, MCA, BMG, and others which will come to mind later.

I was listening to a live session of him, and when he sings "we will watch them fall," afterwards, he sings, "we will still be here," and says something like:

"cause I got all y'all."

Was Prince looking ahead to the future, whereby he would not depend on contracts, but a direct relationship with his fans?

There might also be a connection with 7 and the Digital Garden.

Glad 2 see you back. You always brought interesting and different views to the org.

I like different because it makes me stop and think and take notice. I will be thinking about this post 4 sure.

[Edited 1/3/11 18:47pm]

LOVEVERY1 said:

"7" is referring to the prophecy of the rise and fall of the political world powers (world governments) namely, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and eventually the Anglo-American world power. In fact, the Bible foretold long in advance the rise and fall of several of these powers.—Revelation 17:9-11.

JesusFreak said:

7 = the seven deadly sins

to the people of whom it doesn't make sense to- it's because you don't understand God's word

You mean that jumble of disseperate, contradictory sources called the Bible? The seven listed in the Book of Proverbs doesn't corespond with the traditional list, save for pride.

LOVEVERY1 said:

"7" is referring to the prophecy of the rise and fall of the political world powers (world governments) namely, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and eventually the Anglo-American world power. In fact, the Bible foretold long in advance the rise and fall of several of these powers.—Revelation 17:9-11.

That's some hellacious oracular ability since the first five of those "world powers" hadn't been all that mighty for well over a century or more when the Book of Revelation (no "s" on the end) was written.

I also took it at the time to be a stab at the record companies at the time - which upon viewing the 3 chains of gold video version of 7 holds up well to that thought.