Prince has his share of interesting lyrics, and he has written more songs than most. Kiss is an example of a simple, yet darn near perfect lyric.

I would not be interested in his lyrics without the music, though. The music breathes life into his ideas. But he is an interesting guy and has a lot of interesting lyrics.

But for some reason, the poetry seems to have disappeared from his newer music for the most part. His lyrics seem heavy-handed and self-conscious. There are exceptions. I kind of like Rock & Roll Love Affair. But even a song with an interesting concept like Colonized Mind feels like it needs an editor and way too preachy.

Then there are ridiculous moments like "there's never a minute I find that you don't ever cross my mind" which a longwinded line that adds nothing to the essence of the idea "you are always on my mind" With song lyrics there is complete freedom to say whatever you want in whatever heightened way you choose, but lyrics should not be stretched and mashed into a form that would be so awkward in normal speech. Sure he needed a rhyme, but that is no excuse to take the easy way out.

However "when I touch it race cars burn rubber in my pants" "she didn't see the movie cuz she hadn't read the book first" "you don't have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude" "computer blue" "smash up my ride...well, maybe not the ride" are just a few of his many brilliant lines that will be forever etched into my brain.

alexander99 said:

the other thread got me thinking

in all honesty much as i love the guy

his lyrics have always been a weak part of his output

seeing them wrtten down here really drove that home

sign of the times is a great lyric

condition of the heart is a great lyric

but seldom can you read the lyrics in isolation and think there is anything profound or deep going on . Prince will be remembered as a great performer .. writer and multi instruementalist

always felt lyrics were secondary

manic monday a good pop narrative

similar to raspberet beret

but compared to Joni Mitchell .. who he likes but i cant see any influence from and he comes across like a schoolboy writing hallmark cards

they work well with the music so thats enough ..

[Edited 2/28/13 14:25pm]

the fact that Prince thinks that the lines in his song must always rhyme is just embarassing. Lyrics as you say have always been his biggest weakness but back in the day a weakness only meant not as stong as other areas. These days the lyrics and the way he arranges the lyrics of his songs is just so bad. Including every single one of these newly released songs. The incredible things about Prince's ability to perfrom live is he can actually make a peice of rubbish like Screwdriver worth while to listen to. I mean that songs lyric sound like a 14 year wrote them... but played live I totally tuned out what he was saying and could focus on how bad ass of a live performer he is

alexander99 said:

1725topp

what you are talking about regarding Ronnie Talk To Russia is in delivery and production .. not in lyrics. The lyrics of RTTR are not any level incisive or worthy of any proper analysis ... left wing gorillas .. thats schoolboy crap .. which is fine as he wasnt much older .. but if you are going to handle social issues .. perhaps more understanding is needed ...Strange Relationship .. is a great song but to describe a lyric that plays around with happy and sad as personal ...well it maybe about him and sussanah ... but its relys on cliches.. always thought Forever in my life was more personal and in terms of performance on of his more honest songs ..OFFS is just a star telling a story ..life is no fun without fantasy is a great line but its Prince telling of his persona .. its a blues of Hello ..

It's obvious that you just want to be circular for the sake of holding your position. First, my discussion of "Ronnie Talk to Russia" is not about delivery and production but in his juxtaposing of ideas and being creative enough to utilize various sound imagery to accomplish his goal. All poets use sound imagery in their medium whatever that medium is. As for more understanding being needed, understand that there is a line between a poem and an essay, and a poem must show not tell while an essay tells. If you want a thesis, read an essay not a poem. While most songs have some amount of cliché, "Strange Relationship" does not rely on cliché to tell its story; yet, like all good art, it does present old ideas in new ways, making the familiar unfamiliar so that the reader can re-recognize it. And, I agree that "Forever in my Life" is a great lyric, but I don't know if it is more personal, which, again, means crap to me whether it is personal or not. And so what if "Old Friends for Sale" is just a star telling a story if it is a good/effectively drawn story. I don't care who tells the story as long as it is well-drawn. And unlike most, I like both versions of "Old Friends for Sale" because the added imagery in the second version does not lessen the emotive feel of the first even if it removes some of the more personal lyric because, again, it is well drawn and more vividly painted.