I actually had a feeling that he may change the name back after a period of time. One theory was seven years because of the importance of the song "7" before the change from Prince to . I'm not sure if that was the original plan but with Prince you never know.

The lyrics of "7" do not really suggest to me that he's talking about years. Seven deadly sins?

I think he changed his name back to Prince at the right time. I, too, at first thought that he would use the symbol as his name until he dies, but using an androgynous glyph as your name when you're something like 60 or 70 years old is quite a silly thought. Besides, "Prince" is a really exceptional name to be born with.

Interestingly enough, Terence Trent D'Arby changed his name to Sananda Maitreya about 15 years ago and hasn't gone back to using his old name.

I loved that whole symbol thing, I don't even understand how anyone could find it ridiculous: it was the greatest and most daring marketing idea of the whole 90's!!!

I wish he'd kept the symbol as his name.

novabrkr said:

The lyrics of "7" do not really suggest to me that he's talking about years. Seven deadly sins?

and that deals with the apocalypse. Many people believed the world would end 1999/2000! Remember the song 1999? and the "Lion of Judah" connection??

I rank the symbol as the second-greatest superhero logo ever. For the curious, my rankings are:

1. Superman

2. Prince

3. Batman

4. Supergirl

5. Superboy

6. The Flash

7. Superdog

JoeTyler said:

skywalker said:

Not awake in 2004, were we?

let's face it: did anyone (other than the US hardcore fans) hear that Prince released a "comeback" album in 2004??

I still think he didn't truly bounce back until 3121...

What? 2004 was the "comeback" year! 3121 wasn't until 2006.

Remember?

[img:$uid]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/shawnsolo3000/ej0e53xyn9zfef0n.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/shawnsolo3000/prince-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/shawnsolo3000/ei8abod8p3mi3pio.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/shawnsolo3000/prince-beyonce.jpg[/img:$uid]

databank said:

I loved that whole symbol thing, I don't even understand how anyone could find it ridiculous: it was the greatest and most daring marketing idea of the whole 90's!!!

I wish he'd kept the symbol as his name.

It was certainly daring, but I don't know how great it was as a marketing idea, considering the reaction to it. And yes, it was kind of cool, but it was also completely ridiculous.

skywalker said:

JoeTyler said:

let's face it: did anyone (other than the US hardcore fans) hear that Prince released a "comeback" album in 2004??

I still think he didn't truly bounce back until 3121...

What? 2004 was the "comeback" year! 3121 wasn't until 2006.

Remember?

[img:$uid]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/shawnsolo3000/ej0e53xyn9zfef0n.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/shawnsolo3000/prince-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/shawnsolo3000/ei8abod8p3mi3pio.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/shawnsolo3000/prince-beyonce.jpg[/img:$uid]

Love me some Prince-Symbol n all

Well, Mystic Meg had him down as becoming the next President of the United States, which can only mean one thing:-

Everybody in the known Universe should not turn out to vote at the next election.

Ta da!!!! (editors note - this theme has been covered by Prince since Dear Mr Man and Colonised Mind)

Cx

i love this symbol so much i had it tatt'd on me bod .. Not that many times lol

do u wanna get rocked ..

TheDigitalGardener said:

TrevorAyer said:

weren't planet earth and 2010 glyph releases?

No. They were Prince albums.

Eye am not so sure about that .. neither record has prince name on the cover .. i don't have the physical 2010 cd but planet earth has no prince name on the spine or back either .. i think they are intended as glyph records

Eye wonder if prince intendend glyph to have black album drawing power .. you know release gold without a name and see if it stands up on its musical merits alone ... certainly had a shot with beautiful girl and lovesign .. but he blew it with his worst lyrics to date on all the other tracks

led zep put out zep 4 with no name on the records to see if it would sell on the musical merits alone ... and it did of course .. so did the black album to some extent ..

prince really only changed it back to prince to sell more records .. no other reason

IstenSzek said:

P R N C E

This........ it!!

databank said:

I loved that whole symbol thing, I don't even understand how anyone could find it ridiculous: it was the greatest and most daring marketing idea of the whole 90's!!!

I wish he'd kept the symbol as his name.

Co- sign.

novabrkr said:

The lyrics of "7" do not really suggest to me that he's talking about years. Seven deadly sins?

I think he changed his name back to Prince at the right time. I, too, at first thought that he would use the symbol as his name until he dies, but using an androgynous glyph as your name when you're something like 60 or 70 years old is quite a silly thought. Besides, "Prince" is a really exceptional name to be born with.

Interestingly enough, Terence Trent D'Arby changed his name to Sananda Maitreya about 15 years ago and hasn't gone back to using his old name.

The lyrics of 7 are based on The Book of Revelations, the last chapter in the bible that covers events leading up to Armageddon & the New World.

The number 7 represents the 7 churches in Asia that John prepared & delivered The final book of the Bible: Revelations to. " One day all 7 will die" meaning there will be no churches after Armageddon.

[Edited 8/11/12 10:52am]

TrevorAyer said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

No. They were Prince albums.

Eye am not so sure about that .. neither record has prince name on the cover .. i don't have the physical 2010 cd but planet earth has no prince name on the spine or back either .. i think they are intended as glyph records

Eye wonder if prince intendend glyph to have black album drawing power .. you know release gold without a name and see if it stands up on its musical merits alone ... certainly had a shot with beautiful girl and lovesign .. but he blew it with his worst lyrics to date on all the other tracks

led zep put out zep 4 with no name on the records to see if it would sell on the musical merits alone ... and it did of course .. so did the black album to some extent ..

prince really only changed it back to prince to sell more records .. no other reason

You missed two "Eye" opportunities during that spiel.

TheDigitalGardener said:

TrevorAyer said:

Eye am not so sure about that .. neither record has prince name on the cover .. i don't have the physical 2010 cd but planet earth has no prince name on the spine or back either .. i think they are intended as glyph records

Eye wonder if prince intendend glyph to have black album drawing power .. you know release gold without a name and see if it stands up on its musical merits alone ... certainly had a shot with beautiful girl and lovesign .. but he blew it with his worst lyrics to date on all the other tracks

led zep put out zep 4 with no name on the records to see if it would sell on the musical merits alone ... and it did of course .. so did the black album to some extent ..

prince really only changed it back to prince to sell more records .. no other reason

You missed two "Eye" opportunities during that spiel.

My physical copy of 2010 has : Produced, Arranged, Composed & performed * by Prince.

* background vocals by Liv Warfield, Shelby J & Elisa Dease.

TheDigitalGardener said:

TrevorAyer said:

Eye am not so sure about that .. neither record has prince name on the cover .. i don't have the physical 2010 cd but planet earth has no prince name on the spine or back either .. i think they are intended as glyph records

Eye wonder if prince intendend glyph to have black album drawing power .. you know release gold without a name and see if it stands up on its musical merits alone ... certainly had a shot with beautiful girl and lovesign .. but he blew it with his worst lyrics to date on all the other tracks

led zep put out zep 4 with no name on the records to see if it would sell on the musical merits alone ... and it did of course .. so did the black album to some extent ..

prince really only changed it back to prince to sell more records .. no other reason

You missed two "Eye" opportunities during that spiel.

Analyst said:

I think for whatever reasons, Prince just thought it was a good idea to claim there was some sort of profound logic behind the name change instead of just going, "Legally I can't record or whatever under Prince anymore so now I'm Squiggle-squiggle Nudge-nudge.

I know I shouldn't laugh, but what went through my head was..."If he called himself squiggle-squiggle-nudge-nudge," THAT would be a few screws loose!

I think he should've kept it. But we are talking about Prince here, it's a wonder it lasted as long as it did.

I thought the name change would be good for him, and while I liked the image of the symbol, I think he should have taken it a lot more seriously and actually renamed himself instead of choosing something “unpronounceable.”

Names mean something, and I think it says a lot that the name “Prince,” was the stage name/ alter ego of his father, a failed alter ego at that. Being named after some grand/crazy stage character has probably affected the way Prince understands himself and lives his life, even if he doesn’t realize it. In renaming himself he could have had a kind of “rebirth,” a moment in which he no longer let his past relationship with his father (and music) dictate his life.

I supported his decision to let go of the symbol as his name, but I didn’t think he would want to be “Prince” forever.

Then again, I also didn’t want him to be like PDiddy and change his name every other day.

imago said:

Spiritorder & raddabone,

You two make no fucking sense.

I preferred the simpler version of the symbol thing like in purple rain... the 'new' one is too flash

[Edited 8/11/12 14:54pm]

I also liked the symbol thing. I remember being really excited by it at the time. Especially with the whole '"Come" is the Prince album that's kinda wack but wait til the REAL album drops by called "Gold" cuz that's the best thing he ever recorded,' sort of marketing strategy he had going at the time.

I loved the album but I don't know if it really lived up to the hype. The way the writer of that '94 Vibe article made it sound, it was like we were in for the next SOTT. I wonder if the people who didn't see him do the Gold songs live love the album as much as those who did. Because the concerts back then were really special.

The switch-back was kind of disappointing because it didn't really come with any great music initially. Just that abombination that is Cybersingle, and the NPGMC stuff.

[Edited 8/11/12 16:17pm]

SchlomoThaHomo said:

I also liked the symbol thing. I remember being really excited by it at the time. Especially with the whole '"Come" is the Prince album that's kinda wack but wait til the REAL album drops by called "Gold" cuz that's the best thing he ever recorded,' sort of marketing strategy he had going at the time.

I loved the album but I don't know if it really lived up to the hype. The way the writer of that '94 Vibe article made it sound, it was like we were in for the next SOTT. I wonder if the people who didn't see him do the Gold songs live love the album as much as those who did. Because the concerts back then were really special.

The switch-back was kind of disappointing because it didn't really come with any great music initially. Just that abombination that is Cybersingle, and the NPGMC stuff.

[Edited 8/11/12 16:17pm]

Being from Oz, I didn't get the opportunity to see him do any of the live shows associated with the album However it is in my top 5.

only if it was tbe same passion and fire he had when he first changed it and never played another "prince" tune ever

I liked the name change to the symbol because it was Prince being Prince: controversial, contrived, honest, and daring simultaneously. Once, again, Prince was giving the middle finger to the world. And, I do think that changing his name to a symbol achieved its desired effect. People were talking about it, and, in many cases, even bad press can be good press. Additionally, it continued to affirm what Prince wanted to affirm, that he is different and does what he wants to do no matter what. In that vein, the name change to a symbol was a win-win.

*

While I liked the name change because it allowed me to say to the people around me who thought Prince was crazy, "Who cares what you think?!?," I always seemed to think that he would return to being Prince. Yes, he returned more quickly than I thought he would, but I did think that he would one day be Prince again. So, even while he was a symbol, I thought it would be a temporary phase, and we have endured many Prince phases. So, at best, I guess I can only say that it would not have mattered if he had kept the symbol moniker, and I was not disappointed when he returned to using his name. Either way, he is still the baddest, funkiest, most soulful rocker on the planet regardless of his name.

RicoN said:

imago said:

Spiritorder & raddabone,

You two make no fucking sense.

I preferred the simpler version of the symbol thing like in purple rain... the 'new' one is too flash

[Edited 8/11/12 14:54pm]

Did you ever see the David Letterman performance, where Letterman kept holding up his versions of his symbols that had typos.

Like the little horn in the middle would be backwards, or there would be all sorts of problems with the symbol?

That shit was priceless.

imago said:

Spiritorder & raddabone,

You two make no fucking sense.

Seconded.

skywalker said:

JoeTyler said:

because unlike other artists that made something "infamous" (really?) Prince hasn't released/done anything HUGE in order to be known as "Prince, the STAR" all over again, (I'm talking about the mainstream common folks and 10-16 years old kids), of course...

look at Madonna, for example, she was officially a "yesterday's news whore" from 1992 to 1997 (the nude pics controversy), until she bounced back with Ray of Light and she was "Madonna, the Respectable Female Superstar" all over again...

I guess 3121 and the Superbowl were not BIG enough...

Not awake in 2004, were we?

2012 - 2004 = 8 years ago.

imago said:

OK, I'm not asking if you support the fact that he changed his name

to an unpronouncable symbol.

That happened, and the damage was done.

What I'm asking is, it's 10-ish years ago, and the next day is

about to announce that he's returning back to being called Prince.

Would you support this decision?

I personally think he should hae just stuck with the symbol and

made it a success. Once obtaining success, he should reverted back

if he wanted to.

Now, the symbol appears to be a failed part of his career.

Also, it makes all the "it came to me in a dream nonsense" appear

as if he was playing Oprah for a fool (indeed, he was ).

What's your take?

I was happy to hear that Prince changed his name back to his original name. Calling Prince by his given name felt right and good to me. Back then I kind of remember thinking how difficult it might be to talk to someone with no name, if there ever came a chance to speak directly to Prince. I know, not likely, but always a fantasy of mine

I don't agree that the symbol 'apears to be a failed part of his career' because when I look at the symbol stage, it is still totally awesome The design is fantastic, the way Prince rises up in the center of it to perform, is dramatic and intensely electrifying!! imo

TheDigitalGardener said:

TrevorAyer said:

Eye am not so sure about that .. neither record has prince name on the cover .. i don't have the physical 2010 cd but planet earth has no prince name on the spine or back either .. i think they are intended as glyph records

Eye wonder if prince intendend glyph to have black album drawing power .. you know release gold without a name and see if it stands up on its musical merits alone ... certainly had a shot with beautiful girl and lovesign .. but he blew it with his worst lyrics to date on all the other tracks

led zep put out zep 4 with no name on the records to see if it would sell on the musical merits alone ... and it did of course .. so did the black album to some extent ..

prince really only changed it back to prince to sell more records .. no other reason

You missed two "Eye" opportunities during that spiel.