after giving this songs an initial few spins and filing it away, i went back to it a few days ago

and i have to say, it's a good song imo.

ok, the main point of the song is kinda weird or even silly but the musical track is something

else. i keep saying i want 'weird' prince and this is basically it. it's off center enough to be an

interesting song that doesn't sound like everything else he's done in the past few years.

and eventho some of the lyrics are totally silly, the vocal delivery is very interesting to me.

especially the bit that goes:

let's all charge the fisherman,

with the fat bottom line

drop it in the water

hook a fish everytime.

the drum track is solid and less plastic than a lot of drum tracks he's had in recent years,

and i love the guitar lacing it's way through the song popping up louder and then softer,

just framing the vocal lines.

stretching the song to over 5 minutes gives it enough space to breathe and just vamp out

with lots of nice flourishes. love the keyboards and that 80s sounding synth which sounds

like typical 80s songs, yet nothing like 80s prince.

sometimes it reminds me of an art of noise sample and especially the guitar flourishes in

the lead out remind me of tax man by the beatles. i know, i know sacrilege to mention the

beatles in the same post as this song. but hey, that's what it reminds me of.

so has your appreciation of this song grown over the past few months since it was debuted

on 1035KTU? or do you still dislike it as much as you did on first listen [i remember many

people thinking this was an absolute turd]

I only heard it once and then forgot it.

RodeoSchro said:

I only heard it once and then forgot it.

Not so good, al.

After the 2 initial listens I shelved it away and never listened to again.

Fortunately, I don't even remember the music.

Same for Hot Summer.

I'm a happy man in that regard...

oh dear, no love for this song then i guess

IstenSzek said:

after giving this songs an initial few spins and filing it away, i went back to it a few days ago

and i have to say, it's a good song imo.

ok, the main point of the song is kinda weird or even silly but the musical track is something

else. i keep saying i want 'weird' prince and this is basically it. it's off center enough to be an

interesting song that doesn't sound like everything else he's done in the past few years.

and eventho some of the lyrics are totally silly, the vocal delivery is very interesting to me.

especially the bit that goes:

let's all charge the fisherman,

with the fat bottom line

drop it in the water

hook a fish everytime.

the drum track is solid and less plastic than a lot of drum tracks he's had in recent years,

and i love the guitar lacing it's way through the song popping up louder and then softer,

just framing the vocal lines.

stretching the song to over 5 minutes gives it enough space to breathe and just vamp out

with lots of nice flourishes. love the keyboards and that 80s sounding synth which sounds

like typical 80s songs, yet nothing like 80s prince.

sometimes it reminds me of an art of noise sample and especially the guitar flourishes in

the lead out remind me of tax man by the beatles. i know, i know sacrilege to mention the

beatles in the same post as this song. but hey, that's what it reminds me of.

so has your appreciation of this song grown over the past few months since it was debuted

on 1035KTU? or do you still dislike it as much as you did on first listen [i remember many

people thinking this was an absolute turd]

you feeling O.K. ? !

Not that bad a song, really. The lyrics tend to overlap the point in "Act of God," however. I do think that Prince's lyrics have been kind of weak since Musicology. There have been a few great ones, but even in Prince's best moments, his voice, passion, and instrumentation can make mundane lyrics sound quite profound. The lyrics on MPLS Sound for example...keep in mind, he was already rather old, at 50 and a half...yet the lyrics for some of those turkeys will never have anyone confuse him with Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp...or Terence Trent D'Arby for that matter.

I love this song, I agree with everything you've said about it, and I also particularly love the fisherman part.

Great song!

Did we hear a studio version, or was it just live?

I still haven't heard Black Muse or Gingerbread Man, I don't really like hearing a track for the first time in it's live incarnation, so haven't bothered seeking them out.

NouveauDance said:

Did we hear a studio version, or was it just live?

I still haven't heard Black Muse or Gingerbread Man, I don't really like hearing a track for the first time in it's live incarnation, so haven't bothered seeking them out.

The live Gingerbread Man appears to be using the music for the live version of "The One" (although it was reported on here as "Question of U". The confusion might be because both somegs were combined in a live arrangement along with "Falling" by alicia Keyes on the Musicology tour.

NouveauDance said:

Did we hear a studio version, or was it just live?

I still haven't heard Black Muse or Gingerbread Man, I don't really like hearing a track for the first time in it's live incarnation, so haven't bothered seeking them out.

Studio

IstenSzek said:

after giving this songs an initial few spins and filing it away, i went back to it a few days ago

and i have to say, it's a good song imo.

ok, the main point of the song is kinda weird or even silly but the musical track is something

else. i keep saying i want 'weird' prince and this is basically it. it's off center enough to be an

interesting song that doesn't sound like everything else he's done in the past few years.

and eventho some of the lyrics are totally silly, the vocal delivery is very interesting to me.

especially the bit that goes:

let's all charge the fisherman,

with the fat bottom line

drop it in the water

hook a fish everytime.

the drum track is solid and less plastic than a lot of drum tracks he's had in recent years,

and i love the guitar lacing it's way through the song popping up louder and then softer,

just framing the vocal lines.

stretching the song to over 5 minutes gives it enough space to breathe and just vamp out

with lots of nice flourishes. love the keyboards and that 80s sounding synth which sounds

like typical 80s songs, yet nothing like 80s prince.

sometimes it reminds me of an art of noise sample and especially the guitar flourishes in

the lead out remind me of tax man by the beatles. i know, i know sacrilege to mention the

beatles in the same post as this song. but hey, that's what it reminds me of.

so has your appreciation of this song grown over the past few months since it was debuted

on 1035KTU? or do you still dislike it as much as you did on first listen [i remember many

people thinking this was an absolute turd]

I'll have to check it out. I think it's funny that people think it's worse than a song like "It" which I immediately put away and forgot about when I played the SOTT records back in the day (along with the boring "Slow Love"). I only appreciated that one more when I saw "Billboards".... no lie.

IstenSzek said:

oh dear, no love for this song then i guess

Well, I like it too.

It took me about 3 listened but after I got the point of the song I started to appreciate it more. At first I thought it was just about financial richness then I saw the spiritual connection. But as a tune I think its both catchy and well written.

irreverence said:

IstenSzek said:

oh dear, no love for this song then i guess

Well, I like it too.

I dig it. Agree with all of Isten's points.

I think my fave thing is the length of the song. Prince is able to stretch out a bit musically because of that. I've always stated I love it when Prince does the longer song format. And as a fan of 20Ten, I was looking forward to the deluxe edition. Anyway, Rich Friends, it's fun, funky, and bit quirky. Like it.

great song. so is hot summer... can't we just have fun anymore? i don't know what so many of you are looking for... you need to be more specific, especially all of you who dislike everything since 1999 but are still floating around his fan sites... lmao

it's an awfull song by his standards!...lazy, out of touch, embarassing....i think i'll stop there.Let's just put it down to Prince just having a bad day...

I actually think this tune is banging!!

andykeen said:

I actually think this tune is banging!!

Me too Andy! It seems like everyone has these specific expectations of what they want a Prince song to sound like. I'd rather hear "Rich Friends" 100 times than to listen to the new Britney song! I'm just happy he's still making any kind of music!

benjaminira said:

andykeen said:

I actually think this tune is banging!!

Me too Andy! It seems like everyone has these specific expectations of what they want a Prince song to sound like. I'd rather hear "Rich Friends" 100 times than to listen to the new Britney song! I'm just happy he's still making any kind of music!

[Edited 1/21/11 20:00pm]

erik319 said:

It's bog standard 2010 Prince. Could have been a decent effort if honed and worked on (and with a faster tempo), but suffered from Prince's current 'it'll do' attitude. Fits well on my 2010 compilation, as does Cause & Effect as the opening song. Decent enough album if you leave your brain at home.

Right y'are.

A modest attempt a modest result.