So on my lunch hour yesterday...I got in my car and drove along a winding state road to a town about 20 miles away and back. On the way, I listened to Parade. Recalling another thread (about how Prince laid down the drum track for the first four songs in a row), I started thinking (during New Position), "Now, how in the world did he suddenly think, 'Y'know what this song needs? A little steel drum.'"

I mean...steel drum? In a Prince song? How random is that? It doesn't really fit with Under the Cherry Moon, scenically. Or with Parade, sonically. So where did it come from?

This is the part of the creative process (his or anyone's) that just fascinates me. You just never know where the ideas come from. It's like the great Hal Riney said...

The frightening and most difficult thing about being what somebody calls 'a creative person' is that you have absolutely no idea where any of your thoughts come from, really. And especially, you don't have any idea about where they're going to come from tomorrow.

And then I started to wonder about those who go on and on about how Prince is out of ideas or hasn't "got it" anymore. Have they ever done (or tried to do) anything creative? I mean...have they actually created something out of nothing? Or gotten other people to see the world in a new way with what they've composed or written or made?

I'm betting not. Because if they had, they'd know how incredibly hard it is - and how gifted (and just plain lucky) you have to be for it to take off.

Genesia said:

Have they ever done (or tried to do) anything creative? I mean...have they actually created something out of nothing? Or gotten other people to see the world in a new way with what they've composed or written or made?

i highly doubt most of them have. so many people think its so easy to come up with something amazing. even if you have a gift like prince, it doesnt mean you can conjure up the magic or make a hit whenever you want. i'm a musician and write my own stuff. not saying im on princes level, but theres days where i have cool ideas come and go and then theres week where it feels like nothing comes out.

I agree Parade is excellent, I doubt any of us fans, can make such brilliant music.

However........... the post Warner Prince music isn't that good.

thedance said:

I agree Parade is excellent, I doubt any of us fans, can make such brilliant music.

However........... the post Warner Prince music isn't that good.

Sometimes, creativity is enhanced by prudent editing.

Prince writes a song a day.

Theres reason for that

Because during the creative process you tend to generate a lot of shit.

But the more you write and mold, the easier it is to fashion something that was shit yesterday into something gold today.

As savage said.

It isn't magic.

It's really about momentum.

Sometimes you get yourself in a good groove, and your able to finish a song in a matter of hours.

And your just honed in.

I call it meditation in motion.

Extreme concentration.

Sometimes you're writing a song literally for years.

and can't manage to finish it.

Sometimes Drugs are involved lol

The Parade era was a great time musically, I think Prince was possibly trying a lot of new things around that time, it was such an intensely creative period. It was also around this time that he was introducing strings and horns into his own music too.

He must have been like a kid in a candy store with all that creativity at his fingertips.

TheDigitalGardener said:

The Parade era was a great time musically, I think Prince was possibly trying a lot of new things around that time, it was such an intensely creative period. It was also around this time that he was introducing strings and horns into his own music too.

He must have been like a kid in a candy store with all that creativity at his fingertips.

Yup

was listening to a lot of Mahler.

Parade had a lot of European influence.

Which is why it was his first record that sold well there

When u go into the studio, especially if u have NOT given any thought 2 what u are about 2 work on, u just pick up an instrument and just play. 4 me, I find that it easiest 99% of the time 2 start with the drums/percussions 1st.

After that............the music just comes.

Non-musicians think it's magic. A lot of them do, anyway. You tell them you are in a band and they assume it's one of the ones they have heard of that is on the radio. It's amazing how they can't believe that you actually WRITE SONGS?!?! Yeah, somebody has to write them, they don't just pop out of the ether. If you are not a musician, or around them all the time, it's not something you can explain.

Dogsinthetrees said:

Non-musicians think it's magic. A lot of them do, anyway. You tell them you are in a band and they assume it's one of the ones they have heard of that is on the radio. It's amazing how they can't believe that you actually WRITE SONGS?!?! Yeah, somebody has to write them, they don't just pop out of the ether. If you are not a musician, or around them all the time, it's not something you can explain.

Well...you can if you are (at least) creative in another discipline.

But even though I earn my living as a writer, act on the side, and make my own clothing, I still marvel at the creative processes of others.

I believe that creativity as well as everything else that we are is innate. The heart and mind of God deliver expression continuously.

In my opinion, "Purple Rain," was written in the heart of God before Prince was even born. It is God's plan to use us all as instruments.

SodaShoes said:

I believe that creativity as well as everything else that we are is innate. The heart and mind of God deliver expression continuously.

In my opinion, "Purple Rain," was written in the heart of God before Prince was even born. It is God's plan to use us all as instruments.

Okay, I hate to have to say this, but to anyone who posts after this...

Please, please, please do not turn my thread into a religious debate. If this post annoys you, ignore it.

I ain't havin' it today.

HermesReborn said:

Prince writes a song a day.

Theres reason for that

Because during the creative process you tend to generate a lot of shit.

But the more you write and mold, the easier it is to fashion something that was shit yesterday into something gold today.

As savage said.

It isn't magic.

It's really about momentum.

Sometimes you get yourself in a good groove, and your able to finish a song in a matter of hours.

And your just honed in.

I call it meditation in motion.

Extreme concentration.

Sometimes you're writing a song literally for years.

and can't manage to finish it.

Sometimes Drugs are involved lol

Ai

Genesia said:

Dogsinthetrees said:

Non-musicians think it's magic. A lot of them do, anyway. You tell them you are in a band and they assume it's one of the ones they have heard of that is on the radio. It's amazing how they can't believe that you actually WRITE SONGS?!?! Yeah, somebody has to write them, they don't just pop out of the ether. If you are not a musician, or around them all the time, it's not something you can explain.

Well...you can if you are (at least) creative in another discipline.

But even though I earn my living as a writer, act on the side, and make my own clothing, I still marvel at the creative processes of others.

I agree with this. I am a writer (I write more poetry than anything) and I am constantly wowed by the creative process of others in various fields. When I go to spoken word events I sit in awe at times. I can feel the energy, the realness, the emotion, the rawness, etc. I enjoy being in the company of those who are creative because we all feed off one another, in a positive way, enhancing our gift.

I don't consider myself a musician but I played the piano, violin and clarinet for many years (10+ years on piano alone). During those years I began writing songs and would play what I heard in my head on the piano. Recently, I have this melody that I cannot get out of my head but I do not play the piano like I use to. I sat down and played a portion of what I hear and it is soothing, like I already knew it would be. The creative process will always marvel me because it just happens, but if it is nurtured during the time it is peaking it will produce awesome insight into the mind of the individual that is expressing it. Prince's music has been said to be weak since leaving WB, but I wholeheartedly disagree. I see and feel where he is coming from and where he is going. But that's just me.

I saw this on a friend´s FB page today:

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. -Pablo Picasso

I wonder how Prince "hears" his music today, and how he would feel in 1985 if someone sent him some footage from today via a timemachine.

I think a lot of his creativity back then had to do with music from his past but also music that surrounded him and, most of all, music that challenged him. These days, I don´t see a lot of competition for Prince. At least not in the mainstream charts. Sure, there are hundreds of interesting independent artists out there, somewhere, but it takes some effort to find them and get into them, and they are probably not really a "threat" or challenge to him the way some of his peers were back in the days. Also, music is not really very diverse these days.

But, with all this being said, I think it is still amazing that he writes so much new material. Sure, a lot of it is not as strong as his older material but still, I take new Prince over new "(insert washed up old school artist here)" any day. There are still some gems on every album, including 20Ten and Planet Earth. There, I said it.

Another thing is that musicians often don´t hear their songs the way the audience hears them. And that is a big problem for most musicians, hence all the messing around with the sound in the studio, the overproduction etc.etc.

The music just comes, most of the time. Sometimes, when you hear a song you've written, you just know what it needs.

HermesReborn said:

Prince writes a song a day.

Theres reason for that

Because during the creative process you tend to generate a lot of shit.

But the more you write and mold, the easier it is to fashion something that was shit yesterday into something gold today.

As savage said.

It isn't magic.

It's really about momentum.

Sometimes you get yourself in a good groove, and your able to finish a song in a matter of hours.

And your just honed in.

I call it meditation in motion.

Extreme concentration.

Sometimes you're writing a song literally for years.

and can't manage to finish it.

Sometimes Drugs are involved lol

^THIS. Some days you are at the top of your game, some days you aren't.

What made Picasso think "hey, I should make this woman's face an obtuse triangle". It's called being an artist.

I remember having a dream once of hearing a Donna Summer song that was just released called "If Seeing Is Believing". It was one of her trademark 'start off slow, then turn fast' songs. I still remember the melody line. After I woke up I realized, I had just 'written' a song in my sleep as there was no such 'new' song by Donna Summer. WEIRD. Wish I could remember all of it.

Same thing happened with a 'new' Duran Duran song but I couldn't remember any of it.

It's strange - 25 years after I first started to write songs, I'm still hoping that some of them will be picked up by someone and recorded.

I think the creative process gets harder to come by as you get older. It's still there, just less often.

IMHO a person is most creative (when it comes to music at least) in their mid 20s.

I wish I had 1/10000 of the creativity that Prince has.

<shameless plug>

For anyone who is curious: http://soundcloud.com/tra...ration%5D=

You can definitely tell my Prince influence in the song 'Funky'

</shameless plug>

[Edited 9/1/11 12:32pm]

He used to watch a parade, admiring the elephants, horses and women twirling batons. Now he just notices the guy shoveling horse shit.

DaveG said:

What made Picasso think "hey, I should make this woman's face an obtuse triangle". It's called being an artist.

Thanks for your contribution.

2freaky4church1 said:

He used to watch a parade, admiring the elephants, horses and women twirling batons. Now he just notices the guy shoveling horse shit.

PacManPlus said:

I remember having a dream once of hearing a Donna Summer song that was just released called "If Seeing Is Believing". It was one of her trademark 'start off slow, then turn fast' songs. I still remember the melody line. After I woke up I realized, I had just 'written' a song in my sleep as there was no such 'new' song by Donna Summer. WEIRD. Wish I could remember all of it.

Same thing happened with a 'new' Duran Duran song but I couldn't remember any of it.

It's strange - 25 years after I first started to write songs, I'm still hoping that some of them will be picked up by someone and recorded.

I think the creative process gets harder to come by as you get older. It's still there, just less often.

IMHO a person is most creative (when it comes to music at least) in their mid 20s.

I wish I had 1/10000 of the creativity that Prince has.

Actually...I don't think it's that it's there less often. I think that, when you're young, everything is new to you. As you get older and your frame of reference grows, it becomes harder to hear your own voice amid your own history and what you know from others.

That could very well be the case. Never thought of it that way.

PacManPlus said:

That could very well be the case. Never thought of it that way.

It's what I tell myself, anyway.

I also think that, as you get older, you have a lot more obligations and responsibilities - and it becomes more difficult to find time to do the things that foster your creativity. There's just a lot more competition for your time and attention.

Genesia said:

PacManPlus said:

I remember having a dream once of hearing a Donna Summer song that was just released called "If Seeing Is Believing". It was one of her trademark 'start off slow, then turn fast' songs. I still remember the melody line. After I woke up I realized, I had just 'written' a song in my sleep as there was no such 'new' song by Donna Summer. WEIRD. Wish I could remember all of it.

Same thing happened with a 'new' Duran Duran song but I couldn't remember any of it.

It's strange - 25 years after I first started to write songs, I'm still hoping that some of them will be picked up by someone and recorded.

I think the creative process gets harder to come by as you get older. It's still there, just less often.

IMHO a person is most creative (when it comes to music at least) in their mid 20s.

I wish I had 1/10000 of the creativity that Prince has.

Actually...I don't think it's that it's there less often. I think that, when you're young, everything is new to you. As you get older and your frame of reference grows, it becomes harder to hear your own voice amid your own history and what you know from others.

Plus other things become a priority.

Some of my best friends are aging rock stars and song writers.

I use to work with them in their peak when I was a lad.

I work with them now.

and notings really changed.

The talent is still there.

But now they have a family.

Traveled the world.

Other things take their attention.

HermesReborn said:

Genesia said:

Actually...I don't think it's that it's there less often. I think that, when you're young, everything is new to you. As you get older and your frame of reference grows, it becomes harder to hear your own voice amid your own history and what you know from others.

Plus other things become a priority.

Some of my best friends are aging rock stars and song writers.

I use to work with them in their peak when I was a lad.

I work with them now.

and notings really changed.

The talent is still there.

But now they have a family.

Traveled the world.

Other things take their attention.

Yup - I typed that very thing right above your post. (You were typing as I posted, I'm sure.)

Oddly enough, creativity requires a fair amount of discipline. It ain't all lightning strikes, that's for sure.

Genesia said:

HermesReborn said:

Plus other things become a priority.

Some of my best friends are aging rock stars and song writers.

I use to work with them in their peak when I was a lad.

I work with them now.

and notings really changed.

The talent is still there.

But now they have a family.

Traveled the world.

Other things take their attention.

Yup - I typed that very thing right above your post. (You were typing as I posted, I'm sure.)

Oddly enough, creativity requires a fair amount of discipline. It ain't all lightning strikes, that's for sure.

Synchronicity

Great minds think alike

Genesia said:

SodaShoes said:

I believe that creativity as well as everything else that we are is innate. The heart and mind of God deliver expression continuously.

In my opinion, "Purple Rain," was written in the heart of God before Prince was even born. It is God's plan to use us all as instruments.

Okay, I hate to have to say this, but to anyone who posts after this...

Please, please, please do not turn my thread into a religious debate. If this post annoys you, ignore it.

I ain't havin' it today.

LMAO!!!

Prince writes brilliant music when he's inspired by something. When he was a young man, he was exposed to all kinds of new experiences, travelling the world, making movies, and meeting interesting people. Later in life, he's gotten jaded about those things, so there's less to inspire him. When he does get fired up about something (e.g., how much his online fans irritate him), he can write music that's as good as it's ever been (e.g., PFunk). But the brilliant moments are fewer and farther between in my opinion. I think this is to some extent true of all great songwriters. Paul McCartney said as much when he accepted his award from the Library of Congress last year:

Sir Paul explained “when you are 20, you’ve got all those experiences that you’ve kind of loaded your computer with while you’re growing up and suddenly you write about it all . . . I don’t think you can keep that going. There’s a spurt that happens then.” He then pointed out “you find with a lot of artists there’s a time when they actually do some of their best work and it’s often in that early period just because they are so excited to have a go at doing” the songwriting.

http://www.examiner.com/p...ess-report

As to whether people on the org are creative, it's hard to say because many of us keep our personal lives separate from our org lives. But there are a lot of fields in which you can be creative, so I see no reason to assume that we're an uncreative bunch.