I think Prince's cover of Radiohead's Creep, at the Coachella in 08 was his most emotional performance since performing Purple Rain in the movie and at the American Music Awards live in 85.

When I was here before couldn't look me in the eye

Cuz I'm just like an angel

Skin makes you cry.

I float like a feather in this beautiful world

You wish you were special, so do I.

You're a ...

You're a liar!

What are you doing here?

You don't belong here.

(Prince appears to begin crying, wipes his tears, checks his emotions, and walks away from the microphone before coming back to do the second verse.)

You don't care if it hurts

You just wanna have control.

You want a perfect body

You want a perfect soul.

You want me to notice, yes you do

When you're not around

I wish you were special, yes I do

Cause I think you're special. Oh,

Maybe I'm just a...

Who's to say baby we've been lying?

What are we doing here?

We don't belong here.

(Prince appears to make the ugly face as he tries to hold back tears. He begins shaking his head, refusing to let the tears fall. He gets the crowd to join him singing.)

Sho do do dooo

Sho do do dooo

Sho do do dooo

Sho do do do do do dooo

(Prince rips into one of his greatest guitar solos ever. We'll probably never know but I ??? what was going on w/ him at the time that caused him to become so emotional while performing his version of Creep.)

What songs have you seen Prince perform live in his most emotional state?

[Edited 12/11/11 6:14am]

When he performed the song Forever In My Life in Sign of the Times he was very emotional.

The ONLY good thing about that performance was the guitar work imo. He fucking BOTCHED the lyrics, and as many times as I've seen this performance "most emotional" never came to mind.

MarquessMarq said:

The ONLY good thing about that performance was the guitar work imo. He fucking BOTCHED the lyrics, and as many times as I've seen this performance "most emotional" never came to mind.

I didn't understand the lyric change but he appeared to be totally emotional while performing this cover.

Prince is a mugger.

He's a showman.

His cover of "Creep" is totally Princified, indeed.

A pair of other similar 'shows' would be (for me):

"Motherless Child" @ Septimo in 1999 & "Electric Intercourse" @ 1st Ave in 1983.

Princemotional!!!

Prost!

One of the top all time performances in his career. This is how one should take on a cover. YOU MAKE IT YOUR OWN. Incredible cover. The guitar solo alone makes this one of his all time best. So glad it was filmed professionally.

With music critics around the world praising it at the time, it's a shame he did not officially release it or allow people to post it on their blogs. Like the RR Hall of fame performance, it raises awareness for non-fans but he squelched it.

[Edited 12/10/11 12:18pm]

yes he was emotional when he performed Motherless Child on Septimo. I think it's another song that is very personal to him. I think the times when he gets emotional like that he's going through something in his personal life bcuz he is such a showman. I find it interesting when he gets lost in emotion while performing.

[Edited 12/10/11 12:18pm]

umanbing said:

I think Prince's cover of Radiohead's Creep, at the Coachella in 08, was his most emotional performance since performing Purple Rain in the movie and at the American Music Awards live in 85.

Yo've been encased in carbonite since the 80's?

I've seen performances of his where he's either in tears or just about to cry...

V10LETBLUES said:

One of the top all time performances in his career. This is how one should take on a cover. YOU MAKE IT YOUR OWN. Incredible cover. The guitar solo alone makes this one of his all time best. So glad it was filmed professionally.

With music critics around the world praising it at the time, it's a shame he did not officially release it or allow people to post it on their blogs. Like the RR Hall of fame performance, it raises awareness for non-fans but he squelched it.

[Edited 12/10/11 12:18pm]

He made it his own for sure. I wish he would have released it. He tried to keep it off of youtube and Radiohead stepped in and said it was their song.

Timmy84 said:

I've seen performances of his where he's either in tears or just about to cry...

Creep, Purple Rain, and Motherless Child were the only ones I can recall seeing.

umanbing said:

Timmy84 said:

I've seen performances of his where he's either in tears or just about to cry...

Creep, Purple Rain, and Motherless Child were the only ones I can recall seeing.

I don't know what year but when he did Purple Rain, it definitely looked like tears went down his face...

umanbing said:

V10LETBLUES said:

One of the top all time performances in his career. This is how one should take on a cover. YOU MAKE IT YOUR OWN. Incredible cover. The guitar solo alone makes this one of his all time best. So glad it was filmed professionally.

With music critics around the world praising it at the time, it's a shame he did not officially release it or allow people to post it on their blogs. Like the RR Hall of fame performance, it raises awareness for non-fans but he squelched it.

[Edited 12/10/11 12:18pm]

He made it his own for sure. I wish he would have released it. He tried to keep it off of youtube and Radiohead stepped in and said it was their song.

Yep. He should have released it.

He was getting some of the best press in the longest time, and rightfully so, but he just sat on it. Yes, it's typical that he sits on some of his best work and then releases some of the most dismal things months later. Typical but it's still stupefying.

V10LETBLUES said:

umanbing said:

He made it his own for sure. I wish he would have released it. He tried to keep it off of youtube and Radiohead stepped in and said it was their song.

Yep. He should have released it.

He was getting some of the best press in the longest time, and rightfully so, but he just sat on it. Yes, it's typical that he sits on some of his best work and then releases some of the most dismal things months later. Typical but it's still stupefying.

I would have liked to see all the songs he performed at Coachella. He put this performance on his Lotus website but it would have been a treat for the fans if he would have put all the songs he performed at Coachella on his website. It doesn't matter now bcuz he no longer has a website.

I love this cover.

he seemed pretty emotional when i saw him performing "Sometimes It Snows In April" at the Forum.

mayrain said:

Great performance I love you but I don't trust you Paisley Park New Years 2000. Empty Room just recently

I read him and Mayte's divorce was finalized in 2000. Paisley Park New Years 2000. I love you but I don't trust you anymore? Hmm. I have to read the lyrics to this song. Again, I think he gets all emo and gives us his best guitar solos when he's going through something in his personal life. I watched Empty Room Live on the Hohner Madcat Telecaster. Nice guitar solo! Yeah it looks like he got lost in emotion during this performance.

What about his performance on Essence Show '98 with The Christ? It's really beautiful.

I cried when I was watchin' One Of Us from The Emancipation Day.

V10LETBLUES said:

One of the top all time performances in his career. This is how one should take on a cover. YOU MAKE IT YOUR OWN. Incredible cover. The guitar solo alone makes this one of his all time best. So glad it was filmed professionally.

With music critics around the world praising it at the time, it's a shame he did not officially release it or allow people to post it on their blogs. Like the RR Hall of fame performance, it raises awareness for non-fans but he squelched it.

[Edited 12/10/11 12:18pm]

It's funny you say that - I mentioned it on a messageboard I use where there's not many people who bother that much with Prince (I'm probably known as the Prince fan to many of them) but there's obviously a huge amount of interest in music in general. It was a discussion on the whole music business etc, and I mentioned this in reference to Radiohead almost telling Prince he wasn't allowed to block it from Youtube.

I was asked to link it, did so, and the reaction wasn't favourable at all. I believe one person said "that should have been special - it most certainly wasn't".

I don't think music critics or people who make music in general have the same sort of ear or ability to tell what will be popular as the general public or people who will be buying the music. That's where Simon Cowell makes his money - he has a pretty good idea what the people want.

(either that or he shapes what the people want - regardless, it's a talent)

MarquessMarq said:

The ONLY good thing about that performance was the guitar work imo. He fucking BOTCHED the lyrics, and as many times as I've seen this performance "most emotional" never came to mind.

Yep. He wasn't emotional at all.

Thanks for the info. I'll check out The Christ performance from the Essence show. I would like to see the Anna Stesia/Cross performance. I like all of these songs very much.

alxndrstff said:

V10LETBLUES said:

One of the top all time performances in his career. This is how one should take on a cover. YOU MAKE IT YOUR OWN. Incredible cover. The guitar solo alone makes this one of his all time best. So glad it was filmed professionally.

With music critics around the world praising it at the time, it's a shame he did not officially release it or allow people to post it on their blogs. Like the RR Hall of fame performance, it raises awareness for non-fans but he squelched it.

[Edited 12/10/11 12:18pm]

It's funny you say that - I mentioned it on a messageboard I use where there's not many people who bother that much with Prince (I'm probably known as the Prince fan to many of them) but there's obviously a huge amount of interest in music in general. It was a discussion on the whole music business etc, and I mentioned this in reference to Radiohead almost telling Prince he wasn't allowed to block it from Youtube.

I was asked to link it, did so, and the reaction wasn't favourable at all. I believe one person said "that should have been special - it most certainly wasn't".

I don't think music critics or people who make music in general have the same sort of ear or ability to tell what will be popular as the general public or people who will be buying the music. That's where Simon Cowell makes his money - he has a pretty good idea what the people want.

(either that or he shapes what the people want - regardless, it's a talent)

Simon knows what people want and I think the industry shapes what the people want. They program minds.

I was one of few who commented on a thread about a new song Lotus Flower Bomb. There is nothing special about the song. The rappers flow and the beat is alright but I know this song is going to be a hit on the popular music charts bcuz it has all the elements to make it a hit in today's popular music. Like Simon, I have a pretty good idea of what the people want.

MarquessMarq said:

The ONLY good thing about that performance was the guitar work imo. He fucking BOTCHED the lyrics, and as many times as I've seen this performance "most emotional" never came to mind.

Maybe he didn't want to sing the same lyrics? It was an amazing performance, and I'm a Radiohead fan too

Gohi said:

MarquessMarq said:

The ONLY good thing about that performance was the guitar work imo. He fucking BOTCHED the lyrics, and as many times as I've seen this performance "most emotional" never came to mind.

Yep. He wasn't emotional at all.

(Prince appears to make the ugly face as he tries to hold back tears. He begins shaking his head, refusing to let the tears fall. He gets the crowd to join him singing.)

I guess you missed this part. It's about 5:30 mins into the performance and he clearly looked emotional to me. I don't know what this song means to him bcuz I don't understand the lyrics but obvious Prince was moved to cover this Radiohead song for whatever reason and he did appear to get emotional.

More like he just forgot the words...

umanbing said:

Gohi said:

Yep. He wasn't emotional at all.

(Prince appears to make the ugly face as he tries to hold back tears. He begins shaking his head, refusing to let the tears fall. He gets the crowd to join him singing.)

I guess you missed this part. It's about 5:30 mins into the performance and he clearly looked emotional to me. I don't know what this song means to him bcuz I don't understand the lyrics but obvious Prince was moved to cover this Radiohead song for whatever reason and he did appear to get emotional.

It's called acting.

TwiliteKid said:

umanbing said:

(Prince appears to make the ugly face as he tries to hold back tears. He begins shaking his head, refusing to let the tears fall. He gets the crowd to join him singing.)

I guess you missed this part. It's about 5:30 mins into the performance and he clearly looked emotional to me. I don't know what this song means to him bcuz I don't understand the lyrics but obvious Prince was moved to cover this Radiohead song for whatever reason and he did appear to get emotional.

It's called acting.

He's a showman on stage so despite being musician I think it's part of the act. I fucking love this version of the song though. The original just sounds so old and past it when I hear it now. Radiohead, cheer up yer miserable bastards. It could be worse, you could be Coldplay.

umanbing said:

MarquessMarq said:

The ONLY good thing about that performance was the guitar work imo. He fucking BOTCHED the lyrics, and as many times as I've seen this performance "most emotional" never came to mind.

I didn't understand the lyric change but he appeared to be totally emotional while performing this cover.

I'm not sure Prince understood the lyrics. To change them like he did suggests arrogance. It's about love for another and feeling inadequate. Teenage meolodrama really.

The again, when you've been married to a woman like I have for the last fifteen years you soon realise you really are inadequate.

And I have a small cock.