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Thread started 02/28/03 11:01pm

ThreadBare

The genius of Thieves in the Temple (extended remix)

The Far East meets the Wild West in this song. I love it. First time I heard the song, I loved it. I bet Prince had a blast putting this together.

Deep, serpentine, pounding drums with delayed high hats and tamborine parts. The hiss of the cabasa. The harmonica sound (which I always suspected to be a distorted guitar or a weird sample). That bluesy guitar that kicks into a runaway solo. The subterranean key bass dancing with the funky, off-beat bass guitar being slapped so funkily in the breakdowns. The Sly Stone-like clavinet parts that bring Southern balance to the Eastern melodies brushed by the swirling keys. The haunting, church-choir vocals.

And, in the midst of this maelstrom of angst and pain, P's baritone deeply intones with melancholy:

I'm holdin' on, the best that I can. Love, please, let me be the better man...

He takes it up to to tenor range, as he shifts from self-pity to confrontation:

Said I wanna know one thing. Said I wanna know one thing, baby... How come you said that I was your baby, when you and your love was gonna leave? You led me on, thinkin' you was Moses, herdin' sheep blindly through a fantasy...

Then, before the return to the song's original form, the vamp adds a synth-bass and some chicken-grease guitar, while the high hat stutters an invitation to dance.

Dangit! for a song about a woman doin' a man wrong, there aren't many songs that can be forlorn and funky at the same time! I mean, brother goes from the rage of the above verses to Put your foot on the rock. Let me show you how to clock... The only thing better than the song was the video, in my opinion.

One of his best efforts. A jam that's a gem.
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Reply #1 posted 02/28/03 11:36pm

talk2thejay

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yeah!! headbang a true gem!!

U should also hear the demo. The demo sounds more like a ballad than the released version. It´s just P. on acoustic guitar, he sings the same lyrics in falsetto and adds some different lyrics.

I love that demo!!!
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Reply #2 posted 03/01/03 12:32am

namepeace

ThreadBare said:


And, in the midst of this maelstrom of angst and pain, P's baritone deeply intones with melancholy:

I'm holdin' on, the best that I can. Love, please, let me be the better man...

He takes it up to to tenor range, as he shifts from self-pity to confrontation:

Said I wanna know one thing. Said I wanna know one thing, baby... How come you said that I was your baby, when you and your love was gonna leave? You led me on, thinkin' you was Moses, herdin' sheep blindly through a fantasy...

Then, before the return to the song's original form, the vamp adds a synth-bass and some chicken-grease guitar, while the high hat stutters an invitation to dance.

Dangit! for a song about a woman doin' a man wrong, there aren't many songs that can be forlorn and funky at the same time! I mean, brother goes from the rage of the above verses to Put your foot on the rock. Let me show you how to clock... The only thing better than the song was the video, in my opinion.

One of his best efforts. A jam that's a gem.


Yes mamascootin' sir. I'm witcha on that!!! I'll co-sign.
Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016

Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
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Reply #3 posted 03/01/03 2:31am

ConsciousConta
ct

Word!
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Reply #4 posted 03/01/03 2:54am

mistermcgee

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Yep. I really like it. Don't know what it is, but something about it reminds me of KISS. Maybe it's the strong rhythm driving the song, even though the drum isn't exactly the same.
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Reply #5 posted 03/01/03 3:01am

4nowneway

Ihear ya, that came out right after my girl friend dumped me.
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Reply #6 posted 03/01/03 3:14am

calldapplwonde
ry83

I was really happy that the ext remix was included in the first NPGMC because I didn't know it before. I agree, it rocks!
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Reply #7 posted 03/01/03 3:39am

mzflash

i love this song too. But i feel it is more about a THIEF than a girl dumping a guy. She had no say. butterfly
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Reply #8 posted 03/01/03 3:52am

ThreadBare

mzflash said:

i love this song too. But i feel it is more about a THIEF than a girl dumping a guy. She had no say. butterfly


I take it to mean the woman allowed herself to be taken away by a thief. The lyrics in the extended version might bear this out, seeing how his confrontation is with her and not the dude who "stole" her.
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Reply #9 posted 03/01/03 5:28am

mzflash

Thanks, U're right ThreadBare. Still i can't imagine anyone intentionally allowing this to happen. Could it also indicate miscommunication and/or misplaced Trust? This song rocks but for me on an emotional level, is actually painful to hear. cry
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Reply #10 posted 03/01/03 6:00am

CherrieMoonKis
ses

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I La-huuuv this song! music
peace & wildsign
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Reply #11 posted 03/01/03 6:27am

metalorange

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I remember the first time I heard this track was when they played the full length video before a concert at Wembley Arena. I have never seen the entire video since!

Then a couple of weeks later, I heard a track come on the car radio, I thought, hey, that's a cool Prince like sound, then I realised it really was Prince and that it was the track from the concert. Went out and bought the 12 inch a day later!

I seem to remember this song got to about number 3 in the UK charts? Quite good for this sort of track and Prince at the time.
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Reply #12 posted 03/01/03 9:21am

onenitealone

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THE song that got me into P in the first place.

STILL love it!
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Reply #13 posted 03/01/03 10:41am

ThreadBare

mzflash said:

Thanks, U're right ThreadBare. Still i can't imagine anyone intentionally allowing this to happen. Could it also indicate miscommunication and/or misplaced Trust? This song rocks but for me on an emotional level, is actually painful to hear. cry


Only P knows for sure. Yeah, if it weren't so funky, it'd be a downer to me, too.
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Reply #14 posted 03/01/03 11:51am

Efan

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I love this song! I've always wondered if it was about Kim Basinger, since he had dated and broken up with her right after Batman.

Whoever the woman he wrote it for was, I took the song to mean that the woman was like the biblical thieves in the temple--pretending to be pure or loving, but really just using the faithful (Prince) for some kind of profit. Since the thieves in the temple were selling doves, I thought that was another nice touch for Prince.
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Reply #15 posted 03/01/03 11:53am

ThreadBare

Efan said:

I love this song! I've always wondered if it was about Kim Basinger, since he had dated and broken up with her right after Batman.

Whoever the woman he wrote it for was, I took the song to mean that the woman was like the biblical thieves in the temple--pretending to be pure or loving, but really just using the faithful (Prince) for some kind of profit. Since the thieves in the temple were selling doves, I thought that was another nice touch for Prince.

cool analogy.
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Reply #16 posted 03/01/03 12:53pm

klaatu

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Now that's what I call funking around...
"Goodness will guide us when love is inside of us... The Force will be with you, always"
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Reply #17 posted 03/01/03 1:05pm

iveivan

Yes, I totally agree, This remix is fantastic. I loved the song ever since I saw the video at Wembley and this extended remix on the cd for the single was even better!

Not sure why it was included in the club downloads though since it was previously released. Surely the rights are still owned by Warners ?
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Reply #18 posted 03/01/03 2:53pm

starr

I love this song too. I had never heard the ext version before it was released as a download through the club.
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Reply #19 posted 03/01/03 9:15pm

Doozer

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Everything* about the long version of this song ROCKS.

*except for the dopey edit on the line "Kickin' me in my heart"

k-k-k-k-k-k-k-kickin' me in my heart...

ugh.
Check out The Mountains and the Sea, a Prince podcast by yours truly and my wife. More info at https://www.facebook.com/TMATSPodcast/
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Reply #20 posted 03/01/03 10:35pm

JonSnow

Doozer said:

Everything* about the long version of this song ROCKS.

*except for the dopey edit on the line "Kickin' me in my heart"

k-k-k-k-k-k-k-kickin' me in my heart...

ugh.



i have to agree with that... sounds very goofy and dated.

otherwise, an amazing track!!! should have been the album version.
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Reply #21 posted 03/02/03 12:05am

TongueBox

When I first got this video I just watched it over and over, and would rewind it again and again to catch all of the words flying on the screen.
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Reply #22 posted 03/02/03 12:12am

ThreadBare

Doozer said:

Everything* about the long version of this song ROCKS.

*except for the dopey edit on the line "Kickin' me in my heart"

k-k-k-k-k-k-k-kickin' me in my heart...

ugh.


Yeah, and the percussion break that precedes it is annoying, too -- but only when you're up to the 7th- or 8th-straight listen...
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