HonestMan13 said:

Think about if you're concerned with global warming are you asking for a scientist or calling up Prince?

Well you're on a fan site. Escapism is healthy to some degree.

He's not out saying "I'm going to write a song, and we're going to heal the world, get me Deepak's number", but he did nearly derail his career with all that New Power Generation crap, and then every so often he plays the cranky old wise man, barking out some radical ideas. He's trying to work the image of someone elevated, so his fans aren't ready for his songs or his yoda knowledge. It's probably healthy to remember he's always been unhinged, and he's always cultivated that.

NouveauDance said:

skywalker said:

Prince is cool with himself.

Is he?

no.

treehouse said:

HonestMan13 said:

Think about if you're concerned with global warming are you asking for a scientist or calling up Prince?

Well you're on a fan site. Escapism is healthy to some degree.

He's not out saying "I'm going to write a song, and we're going to heal the world, get me Deepak's number", but he did nearly derail his career with all that New Power Generation crap, and then every so often he plays the cranky old wise man, barking out some radical ideas. He's trying to work the image of someone elevated, so his fans aren't ready for his songs or his yoda knowledge. It's probably healthy to remember he's always been unhinged, and he's always cultivated that.

I realize I'm on a fan site but that doesn't mean I left my common sense at the door. Prince can sing about whatever topics he chooses and it's always just going to be 'a song'. It's not going to become my lifecode or some mantra I repeat to help me through issues. I can get wisdom from his words but he's not the guru everyone makes him out to be. People need to stop waiting for Prince to burp before deciding on things for themselves. It's less disappointing especially when the burp isn't what you what you wanted to hear.

NouveauDance said:

There's a difference between being an enigmatic oddball and being a blinkered ignoramus.

And that fine line would be called Donald Trump.

treehouse said:

electricberet said:

I would say that I became (and have remained) a Prince fan in spite of the fact that he might be bat-shit crazy, not because of that fact.

I think there was a period where the Prince eccentricities were seen as cool, especially Purple Rain era and that film definitely has us feeling some empathy for the misunderstood genius who would crawl out of a bathtub in videos. It's interesting to go back and rewatch Purple Rain in retrospect.

I thought the video of him crawling out of a bathtub was creepy when I first saw it in 1984 and I still think it is creepy. Great song, though.

purplethunder3121 said:

C'mon... Everyone on the Org is a little "bat-shit" crazy or we wouldm't be here!

Too true. I used to go the Paisley Park performances back in the early 90's and no matter what other concerts I went to, the Paisley show was a hodge-podge of diehards, weirdo's, zealots, introverts and subversives...and those were the normal ones. Then there were the dudes losing their hair, big fat hairy bellies squeezed into their Purple Rain puffy shirts, lookin like they were dressin up for Halloween 1985. Those dudes scared me. One guy drove 8 hrs from Chicago every weekend just in case he played at Paisley. Wow.

But you know I was one of them.

I remember going to see my first show out at Paisley early 1993. I was having a blast. So much so that the security guards watched me like a hawk. I think they thought I was going to jump his bones. And I wanted to... I'm not even gay, but Prince made me want to be.

Prince is dead. His impersonator is bat-shit crazy.

NouveauDance said:

skywalker said:

Prince is cool with himself.

Is he?

You dont know. No one does. SO its stupid to even discuss it

skywalker said:

Admit it. Part of the appeal of Prince is that he might be bat-shit crazy.

No. Prince appeals to me because of his musical talent. His insanity, and more importantly, his ignorance towards his fans makes me not want to support him. I've never found his personal life fascinating, I've never been drawn to him for that reason, and I don't know why anyone would.... Do you think that part of Michael Jackson's appeal is the pedophile rumors*? I highly doubt that. Anyway, I'm not saying I hate Prince's music now or anything, but I've never liked who he is as a person (based on things that I've read or heard him say).

*I don't believe these rumors.

[Edited 6/24/11 6:03am]

HonestMan13 said:

At the end of the day who has Prince really hurt? He didn't drive his car into a crowd, didn't molest kids, didn't piss on any kids, didn't get caught drinking and driving. He says a few words over the years that people go apeshit over and blow way out of proportion. He's not even noticeable on the scale of things people should be worried about in the world today. Think about if you're concerned with global warming are you asking for a scientist or calling up Prince?

That's all very nice, but how far are you willing to take that stance - can he say ANYTHING and it's cool to let it fly? And does it extend to everyone in the public arena or just Prince?

I have to agree with this thread title. It's true, to me his eccentricity is part of the appeal.

NouveauDance said:

There's a difference between being an enigmatic oddball and being a blinkered ignoramus.

This.

In a word: NO.

NouveauDance said:

There's a difference between being an enigmatic oddball and being a blinkered ignoramus.

Agreed completely. And that is what Prince has become, it seems.

[Edited 6/24/11 7:14am]

skywalker said:

Prince has been a weird dude from day one. Let's not qualify it with terms of "used to be an okay sort of crazy". He used to be easily the most odd cat in music. He was legitimately as weird as Lady Gaga wants to be. He was more crazy than MJ. Imagine that?

From 1978 to now...there have been hundreds of from outer space Prince comments, lyrics, clothing, songs, hairstyles, movies, interviews, and album covers, Carmen Electras, etc.

To me, at the end of the day, genius is genius and there are always two sides to it. Good and bad. Cool and corny. On point and out of touch all at once.

Look at any "genius" in music history and you'll see similar bat shit crazy traits moments.

John Lennon, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Elvis, James Brown, Sly Stone, Jim Morrison, George Clinton, Little Richard, etc. I could go on and on. Do some homework. Prince is about as nuts as these other folks. Let's be glad he is not as self destructive.

Bottom line: The first time I ever saw this cat...I knew something wasn't quite right with the guy. What's different now? Prince is cool with himself. Are you?

Remove the "might be" part of the title and I agree with you completely.

XNY said:

purplethunder3121 said:

C'mon... Everyone on the Org is a little "bat-shit" crazy or we wouldm't be here!

Too true. I used to go the Paisley Park performances back in the early 90's and no matter what other concerts I went to, the Paisley show was a hodge-podge of diehards, weirdo's, zealots, introverts and subversives...and those were the normal ones. Then there were the dudes losing their hair, big fat hairy bellies squeezed into their Purple Rain puffy shirts, lookin like they were dressin up for Halloween 1985. Those dudes scared me. One guy drove 8 hrs from Chicago every weekend just in case he played at Paisley. Wow.

But you know I was one of them.

I remember going to see my first show out at Paisley early 1993. I was having a blast. So much so that the security guards watched me like a hawk. I think they thought I was going to jump his bones. And I wanted to... I'm not even gay, but Prince made me want to be.

man i wish i was there.....u must have looked into his eyes..

electricberet said:

I thought the video of him crawling out of a bathtub was creepy when I first saw it in 1984 and I still think it is creepy. Great song, though.

Well the rest of us lacked your clarity and started crawling out of our bathtubs wearing our grandmothers Quaker Oats blouse. Had smoke machines been a little cheaper at the time, I would have pulled it off.

My opinion: The man aint crazy, he's well aware of all he does. He's continues to be cool with everyone believing that he's crazy, because everyone always rights off the crazy person. Thus he doesnt hath to come up with accurate excuses. Yes he is strange(not crazy). & He defintely aint the definition of "normal." But bat-sh*t crazy? no. Im not concerned about him being looney @ all. He's just a silly utterly complete brat. That I love non-the-less

[Edited 6/24/11 16:41pm]

ShamWow said:

XNY said:

Too true. I used to go the Paisley Park performances back in the early 90's and no matter what other concerts I went to, the Paisley show was a hodge-podge of diehards, weirdo's, zealots, introverts and subversives...and those were the normal ones. Then there were the dudes losing their hair, big fat hairy bellies squeezed into their Purple Rain puffy shirts, lookin like they were dressin up for Halloween 1985. Those dudes scared me. One guy drove 8 hrs from Chicago every weekend just in case he played at Paisley. Wow.

But you know I was one of them.

I remember going to see my first show out at Paisley early 1993. I was having a blast. So much so that the security guards watched me like a hawk. I think they thought I was going to jump his bones. And I wanted to... I'm not even gay, but Prince made me want to be.

man i wish i was there.....u must have looked into his eyes..

He's acknowledged me at several shows, including one of the Musicology shows when he pointed at me in the front row. My best friend was sitting next to me and his jaw dropped. Another time at Paisley he handed me the gun mic and let me sing 'Letitgo'. My sister was with me and we both couldn't believe it.

I got so used to seeing him at Glam Slam and out at Paisley that I lost count of the times I'd seen him live, each jam session amazing in its own way, playing for 3 hours plus most nights. I remember one night I stayed up so late, that I just went to work without sleep. Which wasn't so bad until we had a team meeting and my boss turned off the lights to show us a video...and I fell asleep in the meeting, my head swinging down, jerking back awake, then falling back asleep again and again. My buddies were snickering behind me and I knew it, but I couldn't help it. It was torture. But so worth it!

The1592 said:

skywalker said:

Admit it. Part of the appeal of Prince is that he might be bat-shit crazy.

No. Prince appeals to me because of his musical talent. His insanity, and more importantly, his ignorance towards his fans makes me not want to support him. I've never found his personal life fascinating, I've never been drawn to him for that reason, and I don't know why anyone would.... Do you think that part of Michael Jackson's appeal is the pedophile rumors*? I highly doubt that. Anyway, I'm not saying I hate Prince's music now or anything, but I've never liked who he is as a person (based on things that I've read or heard him say).

*I don't believe these rumors.

That's how it is for me too. Which is why, in my case, his appearance (that was the second reason why I became a serious "Prince fan" when I was little) means nothing to me now, and hasn't for the past couple years. Sure, his face is still fine, but so what. The mentality he presents isn't, especially (like you said) towards his true fans. I've grown to realize this, and really at this point, if it wasn't for the [abating] interest I still have in some of his old songs and bootleg releases, I wouldn't care about his work at all anymore.

This place will always be interesting though.

electricberet said:

I would say that I became (and have remained) a Prince fan in spite of the fact that he might be bat-shit crazy, not because of that fact.

Co-sign. I simply ignore all of the fucked up things he has ever (supposedly) said or done, and appreciate the musical talent. He's the greatest live performer ever, and the greatest guitar player of the last 30 years IMO, and that for me is impossible to ignore, not that I'd want to.

NouveauDance said:

HonestMan13 said:

At the end of the day who has Prince really hurt? He didn't drive his car into a crowd, didn't molest kids, didn't piss on any kids, didn't get caught drinking and driving. He says a few words over the years that people go apeshit over and blow way out of proportion. He's not even noticeable on the scale of things people should be worried about in the world today. Think about if you're concerned with global warming are you asking for a scientist or calling up Prince?

That's all very nice, but how far are you willing to take that stance - can he say ANYTHING and it's cool to let it fly? And does it extend to everyone in the public arena or just Prince?

He can say anything. I can say anything. You can say anything. I don't feel the need to check people for what they feel and vocalize. It's their opinion not mine. I actually think it's ridiculous that celebrities say something and piss a few people off then have to issue an apology. What are you apologizing for you had an opinion and you stated it. Saying sorry doesn't change your opinion.

DaveG said:

CALL ME CRAZY, HUH?

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/LakerFanIam/tumblr_lhavybjou31qaxurwo1_500.jpg[/img:$uid]

HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA