Okay so just heard this song and learned that it was the song that Prince submitted for we are the world. I have to say this song is quite terrible. Wendy and lisa save the song. The has this very creepy haunting sound to it at times and does not work with the we are the world message. The music video is also horrible and i think that is the worst prince hair do of the 80s .

All in all, Do u really think this was a sincere effort by Prince? Do u think the song was quick response by prince or just something he had vaulted up and ready to go? and what do you think of the song? Could u say that its his 80s version of the Purple and Gold? Do u think he should have even released the song?

I agree that it does not fit well with the "WATW Album" But then again I never liked the album anyways
I only grabbed the cassette just to have the Prince track

As far as the song being creepy. I don't think it is at all

Its a song about Jesus, so why do you think it wouldn't be sincere ?

You do know "Hello" was his answer to the we are the world

Do u think he should have even released the song?
Sure why not? I like bother versions of the song

FragileUndertow said:

I agree that it does not fit well with the "WATW Album" But then again I never liked the album anyways
I only grabbed the cassette just to have the Prince track

As far as the song being creepy. I don't think it is at all

Its a song about Jesus, so why do you think it wouldn't be sincere ?

You do know "Hello" was his answer to the we are the world

Do u think he should have even released the song?
Sure why not? I like bother versions of the song

Well i don't like hello either lol. I mean it gets creepy wen the acoustic guitar is playing. Like the guitar riff of the song or the chord progession just doesn't work.

Well for a song to be about jesus ur lord don't u think anna stesia or i would die 4 u work much better and as a song for we are the world don't u think that the song doesn't do the cause any justice that prince only released it to save face.

Watch the video for "We are the world" and try and see where you can

fit Prince into that mess. "Hello" and "4 The Tears In Your Eyes" will seem to

make sense. (you need the back story for "Hello" first.) Or just play the 12"

America and forget about it becaue that's the real deal!

[Edited 3/30/13 22:15pm]

i think it's a fantastic song. the version on "the hits/bsides" is cool too.

but the original version is really great.

riocoolnes said:

Well i don't like hello either lol.

you don't like Hello! The extended vers is the shit

The Purple and Gold of the 80's really?

I think the song is liked here on the org

I've always had a soft spot for the song

IstenSzek

i think it's a fantastic song. the version on "the hits/bsides" is cool too.

but the original version is really great.

Like "Hello" and "Lalala Hehehee" quite a poor effort!

kenkamken said:

Does anyone think he would sing this nowadays after becoming JW, or is it the wrong doctrine now? I think it's a beautiful song, very simple and to the point compared to Rainbow Children.

I think it still stands because of the line, "The meek shall inherit the earth."

JW believe the "large flock" will live on earth and the "small flock" will live

in heaven as governors. They believe in Jesus and he did die for those whose

who worship God, although they have a strange fascination with making sure

everyone calls God Jehovah.

OP, whet the f*ck are you talking about..

4 The Tears In Your Eyes is a fantastic song, one of my all time fave,

a pity this song wasn't on the Parade album, the song would have fit in very well maybe instead of the instrumental Venus De Milo..

I was even buying the USA For Africa-LP vinyl back then for this Prince song only..... playing 4ttiye on repeat over and over..

(The rest of the songs on the album sucks though espieally the song by Michael Jackson/ We are The World, auch.. now THAT is a terrible, awful song)..

4 The Tears -- I just both versions deeply, my fave is the original LP version though,

the guitar and the beat is really fantastic,

I remember seeing the Prince video to this song on the We Are The World broadcast, in summer 1985,

that was such a fantastic moment, seeing Prince with his Parade look for the first time -- playing his guitar, with Wendy & Lisa...

this thread is so: nuts,

What is it with you Rio and your insistence that material from this era is creepy? Are you easily creeped out?

I don't bump this one on the regular or anything but I do like it. The WATW version has great impassioned vocals by Prince, and the Hits version is a little softer. Both nice, I'd say.

[Edited 3/31/13 3:04am]

thedance said:

OP, whet the f*ck are you talking about..

4 The Tears In Your Eyes is a fantastic song, one of my all time fave,

a pity this song wasn't on the Parade album, the song would have fit in very well maybe instead of the instrumental Venus De Milo..

I was even buying the USA For Africa-LP vinyl back then for this Prince song only..... playing 4ttiye on repeat over and over..

(The rest of the songs on the album sucks though espieally the song by Michael Jackson/ We are The World, auch.. now THAT is a terrible, awful song)..

4 The Tears -- I just both versions deeply, my fave is the original LP version though,

the guitar and the beat is really fantastic,

I remember seeing the Prince video to this song on the We Are The World broadcast, in summer 1985,

that was such a fantastic moment, seeing Prince with his Parade look for the first time -- playing his guitar, with Wendy & Lisa...

this thread is so: nuts,

i agree with u soooo much i dont see nothing at all wrong with 4 the tears in yours eyes and i dont think wendy and lisa save the song at all. the message of the song saves it.i enjoy hello 2 b/c he speaks through that song about what was going on at the time.

riocoolnes said:

Okay so just heard this song and learned that it was the song that Prince submitted for we are the world. I have to say this song is quite terrible. Wendy and lisa save the song. The has this very creepy haunting sound to it at times and does not work with the we are the world message. The music video is also horrible and i think that is the worst prince hair do of the 80s .

All in all, Do u really think this was a sincere effort by Prince? Do u think the song was quick response by prince or just something he had vaulted up and ready to go? and what do you think of the song? Could u say that its his 80s version of the Purple and Gold? Do u think he should have even released the song?

It's consistent with Prince's message when he was in Christian mode during the time (vague about details, but decidedly Jesus-centered) and I see no reason to doubt its sincerity. As far as fitting into the "We Are The World" message--it certainly fits as well as some other contributions to that album. Those are not message songs: "If Only For The Moment, Girl?" "Trapped?" People just submitted tracks they had, or gave a live version of something, for the most part. Most of the songs don't get outside of the purely personal, often romantic, realm. Prince as least gave something which is suggestive of the sort of "God is the ultimate answer" solution many religiously-minded people present for really large problems. For many with a religious mindset (and Prince has always seemed to see things in religious terms, even if much of his work explores the sensual), God is seen as the only real answer to suffering on this planet--human efforts ultimately will be failures, though they might accomplish some good, and are desirable.

As for your not liking the song--okay. Again, it doesn't stand out to me as being an abomination within his work at the time. Is it the greatest thing he did then? Probably not. Not deserving of release? I think most of the things I've heard from the vault for this period should be released, and I like many of them less than I do "4 the Tears in Your Eyes." Creepy? Don't see it. Mournful, yes--people are suffering in this world (famine victims included, though not emphasized over others), and while Jesus may have died "4 the tears in your eyes" that doesn't make all the suffering you're experiencing instantly go away. Not yet, anyway. I don't share the song's view of the world, but I understand it, and it doesn't seem all that unusual. The music seems to fit that view.

My only real problem with the song is the "Made the blind see, and the dumb understand." Jesus is described as helping people who were "dumb" in the sense of being mute, but that's generally a difficulty in making onself understood, not a failure of understanding by the mute person. Jesus is not credited with making the "dumb" in the sense of being stupid understand anything (other than explaining a few parables to his less than bright disciples, and that has to do with spiritual acumen, not intelligence per se), and unfortunately that's what the actual line makes me think--even though I don't think it's what Prince meant. The line always makes me do a mental doubletake that takes me out of the song, if only for a moment.

I played the heck out of it when it first came out--but rio (and others who haven't been listening for decades) are coming to things when there are way more songs to choose from. I'm guessing 3/4 at least of Prince's released catalog is coming after this track chronologically. And going at things differently than the order of release (with a ton of stuff to catch up on) probably affects the way songs hit you. I know that for artists whose work I've learned in piecemeal or reversed fashion I can sometimes have relatively unusual views of how their overall work goes together or how typical a particular song seems to me. I started listening to Nick Cave around "Murder Ballads" and "The Boatman's Call"--all that Birthday Party noise and early Bad Seeds is something that I see as something he kind of had to get past to get to the piano stuff from the period I first listened to him. I have gotten into the earlier material, but which songs stood out at first are influenced by what I knew about the later work--and none of it appeals to me the way the stuff I first heard does. A lot of people who came in during the 90's or 2000's are starting off with Prince being someone different than what those of us started in the 80's or 70's knew him as. Even at the time, though, Around the World in a Day and similar sounds didn't seem that weird to me. If he'd done Purple Rain Part Two then, I'm not sure I'd be listening today.

[Edited 3/31/13 7:23am]

funkomatic said:

Like "Hello" and "Lalala Hehehee" quite a poor effort!

wow

EddieC said:

riocoolnes said:

Okay so just heard this song and learned that it was the song that Prince submitted for we are the world. I have to say this song is quite terrible. Wendy and lisa save the song. The has this very creepy haunting sound to it at times and does not work with the we are the world message. The music video is also horrible and i think that is the worst prince hair do of the 80s .

All in all, Do u really think this was a sincere effort by Prince? Do u think the song was quick response by prince or just something he had vaulted up and ready to go? and what do you think of the song? Could u say that its his 80s version of the Purple and Gold? Do u think he should have even released the song?

It's consistent with Prince's message when he was in Christian mode during the time (vague about details, but decidedly Jesus-centered) and I see no reason to doubt its sincerity. As far as fitting into the "We Are The World" message--it certainly fits as well as some other contributions to that album. Those are not message songs: "If Only For The Moment, Girl?" "Trapped?" People just submitted tracks they had, or gave a live version of something, for the most part. Most of the songs don't get outside of the purely personal, often romantic, realm. Prince as least gave something which is suggestive of the sort of "God is the ultimate answer" solution many religiously-minded people present for really large problems. For many with a religious mindset (and Prince has always seemed to see things in religious terms, even if much of his work explores the sensual), God is seen as the only real answer to suffering on this planet--human efforts ultimately will be failures, though they might accomplish some good, and are desirable.

As for your not liking the song--okay. Again, it doesn't stand out to me as being an abomination within his work at the time. Is it the greatest thing he did then? Probably not. Not deserving of release? I think most of the things I've heard from the vault for this period should be released, and I like many of them less than I do "4 the Tears in Your Eyes." Creepy? Don't see it. Mournful, yes--people are suffering in this world (famine victims included, though not emphasized over others), and while Jesus may have died "4 the tears in your eyes" that doesn't make all the suffering you're experiencing instantly go away. Not yet, anyway. I don't share the song's view of the world, but I understand it, and it doesn't seem all that unusual. The music seems to fit that view.

My only real problem with the song is the "Made the blind see, and the dumb understand." Jesus is described as helping people who were "dumb" in the sense of being mute, but that's generally a difficulty in making onself understood, not a failure of understanding by the mute person. Jesus is not credited with making the "dumb" in the sense of being stupid understand anything (other than explaining a few parables to his less than bright disciples, and that has to do with spiritual acumen, not intelligence per se), and unfortunately that's what the actual line makes me think--even though I don't think it's what Prince meant. The line always makes me do a mental doubletake that takes me out of the song, if only for a moment.

I played the heck out of it when it first came out--but rio (and others who haven't been listening for decades) are coming to things when there are way more songs to choose from. I'm guessing 3/4 at least of Prince's released catalog is coming after this track chronologically. And going at things differently than the order of release (with a ton of stuff to catch up on) probably affects the way songs hit you. I know that for artists whose work I've learned in piecemeal or reversed fashion I can sometimes have relatively unusual views of how their overall work goes together or how typical a particular song seems to me. I started listening to Nick Cave around "Murder Ballads" and "The Boatman's Call"--all that Birthday Party noise and early Bad Seeds is something that I see as something he kind of had to get past to get to the piano stuff from the period I first listened to him. I have gotten into the earlier material, but which songs stood out at first are influenced by what I knew about the later work--and none of it appeals to me the way the stuff I first heard does. A lot of people who came in during the 90's or 2000's are starting off with Prince being someone different than what those of us started in the 80's or 70's knew him as. Even at the time, though, Around the World in a Day and similar sounds didn't seem that weird to me. If he'd done Purple Rain Part Two then, I'm not sure I'd be listening today.

[Edited 3/31/13 7:23am]

Nice reply

I'm just floored by some of the stuff people are posting 4 the Tears in Ur Eyes, Hello, La La La He He Hee as week efforts I'm really tempted to say some generationally mean things

That who time period is the very foundation of Prince, 'it's a you had to be there' response sometimes, even though a lot of new fans or fans who didn't experience 1983-1986 love and get it

He also played this a few times on the Purple Rain tour

riocoolnes said:

Okay so just heard this song and learned that it was the song that Prince submitted for we are the world. I have to say this song is quite terrible. Wendy and lisa save the song. The has this very creepy haunting sound to it at times and does not work with the we are the world message. The music video is also horrible and i think that is the worst prince hair do of the 80s .

All in all, Do u really think this was a sincere effort by Prince? Do u think the song was quick response by prince or just something he had vaulted up and ready to go? and what do you think of the song? Could u say that its his 80s version of the Purple and Gold? Do u think he should have even released the song?

I really don't get what is terrible about it, or what you're expecting,

it's a stripped down song focusing on the message, not overbearing or long

2 versions, also performed live on the Purple Rain tour

and the Parade hairdo is a fan favorite, seriously the same one he's been going back to in most of the 2000's

Sincere Effort: YES

Quick Response or Something Ready 2 Go: not a quick response, not vaulted, it was being featured on the Purple Rain tour

What do I think about the song: love it, you are hearing Purple Rain simpilicity

80's version of Purple & Gold: Not even close

Should he have released it: YES, why not, there is so much that was created then, give it all to me

"I told them that I didn't want to sing / but I'd gladly write a song instead". - Hello

4 The Tears In Your Eyes

Long ago there was a man
Who changed stone 2 bread with one touch of his hand
He made the blind see and the dumb understand
And He died 4 the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)
Many people came from all around
2 hear this man preach with glorious sound
He spoke of man in harmony and love abound
And He died 4 the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)

He died 4 the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)

CHORUS:
4 the tears in your eyes if they're tears of sorrow
4 cents may be all that they're worth
4 the rising sun each day assures us
The meek shall inherit the earth, the earth

Faith is a word we all should try
In describing the man who willingly died
Believe that your sorrow, hunger, and fears
Is less than the tears in your eyes, your eyes

Your eyes, your eyes
Less than the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)

Initial tracking for 4 The Tears In Your Eyes took place on 2 February, 1985 using a mobile recording studio outside the Superdome, New Orleans, LA, USA, the day after performing there (1 February, 1985) on the Purple Rain Tour. The video version was recorded in April, 1985 (exact date unknown) at S.I.R., Los Angeles, CA, USA, and premiered on 13 July, 1985 during the world-wide Live Aid event.

April 12.1985
We Are The World

1.We Are The World
2.If Only For The Moment, Girl
3.Just A Little Closer
4.Trapped
5.Tears Are Not Enough
6.4 The Tears In Your Eyes *
7.Good For Noghing
8.Total Control
9.Little More Love
10.Trouble In Paradise





from the recording 2 the performance Sheila goes from Glamorous Life -> Romance 1600
This song has a strong Purple Rain music feel, most likely written/recorded before the incident that created the Bside Hello

funkomatic said:

Like "Hello" and "Lalala Hehehee" quite a poor effort!

Great. For me the studio version falls short of the Live Aid version.

8up said:

Watch the video for "We are the world" and try and see where you can

fit Prince into that mess.

Oh i don't know, stood next to Sheila E?

riocoolnes said:

Okay so just heard this song and learned that it was the song that Prince submitted for we are the world. I have to say this song is quite terrible. Wendy and lisa save the song. The has this very creepy haunting sound to it at times and does not work with the we are the world message. The music video is also horrible and i think that is the worst prince hair do of the 80s .

All in all, Do u really think this was a sincere effort by Prince? Do u think the song was quick response by prince or just something he had vaulted up and ready to go? and what do you think of the song? Could u say that its his 80s version of the Purple and Gold? Do u think he should have even released the song?

]

I think you are missing the point of a lot of Prince's intention. He loves putting in a creepy vibe. He likes that horror tone. He's always putting off key things or mysterious, ominous notes in his music, ever since the Controversy album.

He likes scifi/fantasy/horror movies and reflects those vibes in his music.

Something like Bob George, Superfunkycaligragisexy, or The War really push it to the extremely obvious.

Stuff like the ending fade out of "Purple Rain" are more subtle.

funkomatic said:

Like "Hello" and "Lalala Hehehee" quite a poor effort!

I agree with Hello. Lalal Hehehee is amazing don't know wat ur missing.

ufoclub said:

riocoolnes said:

Okay so just heard this song and learned that it was the song that Prince submitted for we are the world. I have to say this song is quite terrible. Wendy and lisa save the song. The has this very creepy haunting sound to it at times and does not work with the we are the world message. The music video is also horrible and i think that is the worst prince hair do of the 80s .

All in all, Do u really think this was a sincere effort by Prince? Do u think the song was quick response by prince or just something he had vaulted up and ready to go? and what do you think of the song? Could u say that its his 80s version of the Purple and Gold? Do u think he should have even released the song?

]

I think you are missing the point of a lot of Prince's intention. He loves putting in a creepy vibe. He likes that horror tone. He's always putting off key things or mysterious, ominous notes in his music, ever since the Controversy album.

He likes scifi/fantasy/horror movies and reflects those vibes in his music.

Something like Bob George, Superfunkycaligragisexy, or The War really push it to the extremely obvious.

Stuff like the ending fade out of "Purple Rain" are more subtle.

Ur completely right and thts wat he did in this song witht he chord progression and i hate it with jesus meaning and to me the progession doesn't sound good.

EddieC said:

riocoolnes said:

Okay so just heard this song and learned that it was the song that Prince submitted for we are the world. I have to say this song is quite terrible. Wendy and lisa save the song. The has this very creepy haunting sound to it at times and does not work with the we are the world message. The music video is also horrible and i think that is the worst prince hair do of the 80s .

All in all, Do u really think this was a sincere effort by Prince? Do u think the song was quick response by prince or just something he had vaulted up and ready to go? and what do you think of the song? Could u say that its his 80s version of the Purple and Gold? Do u think he should have even released the song?

It's consistent with Prince's message when he was in Christian mode during the time (vague about details, but decidedly Jesus-centered) and I see no reason to doubt its sincerity. As far as fitting into the "We Are The World" message--it certainly fits as well as some other contributions to that album. Those are not message songs: "If Only For The Moment, Girl?" "Trapped?" People just submitted tracks they had, or gave a live version of something, for the most part. Most of the songs don't get outside of the purely personal, often romantic, realm. Prince as least gave something which is suggestive of the sort of "God is the ultimate answer" solution many religiously-minded people present for really large problems. For many with a religious mindset (and Prince has always seemed to see things in religious terms, even if much of his work explores the sensual), God is seen as the only real answer to suffering on this planet--human efforts ultimately will be failures, though they might accomplish some good, and are desirable.

As for your not liking the song--okay. Again, it doesn't stand out to me as being an abomination within his work at the time. Is it the greatest thing he did then? Probably not. Not deserving of release? I think most of the things I've heard from the vault for this period should be released, and I like many of them less than I do "4 the Tears in Your Eyes." Creepy? Don't see it. Mournful, yes--people are suffering in this world (famine victims included, though not emphasized over others), and while Jesus may have died "4 the tears in your eyes" that doesn't make all the suffering you're experiencing instantly go away. Not yet, anyway. I don't share the song's view of the world, but I understand it, and it doesn't seem all that unusual. The music seems to fit that view.

My only real problem with the song is the "Made the blind see, and the dumb understand." Jesus is described as helping people who were "dumb" in the sense of being mute, but that's generally a difficulty in making onself understood, not a failure of understanding by the mute person. Jesus is not credited with making the "dumb" in the sense of being stupid understand anything (other than explaining a few parables to his less than bright disciples, and that has to do with spiritual acumen, not intelligence per se), and unfortunately that's what the actual line makes me think--even though I don't think it's what Prince meant. The line always makes me do a mental doubletake that takes me out of the song, if only for a moment.

I played the heck out of it when it first came out--but rio (and others who haven't been listening for decades) are coming to things when there are way more songs to choose from. I'm guessing 3/4 at least of Prince's released catalog is coming after this track chronologically. And going at things differently than the order of release (with a ton of stuff to catch up on) probably affects the way songs hit you. I know that for artists whose work I've learned in piecemeal or reversed fashion I can sometimes have relatively unusual views of how their overall work goes together or how typical a particular song seems to me. I started listening to Nick Cave around "Murder Ballads" and "The Boatman's Call"--all that Birthday Party noise and early Bad Seeds is something that I see as something he kind of had to get past to get to the piano stuff from the period I first listened to him. I have gotten into the earlier material, but which songs stood out at first are influenced by what I knew about the later work--and none of it appeals to me the way the stuff I first heard does. A lot of people who came in during the 90's or 2000's are starting off with Prince being someone different than what those of us started in the 80's or 70's knew him as. Even at the time, though, Around the World in a Day and similar sounds didn't seem that weird to me. If he'd done Purple Rain Part Two then, I'm not sure I'd be listening today.

[Edited 3/31/13 7:23am]

yea thats exactly wat im thinking. Most of u were there wen this released i wasn't even a sperm cell haha. The song isn't horrendous its just very lackluster. WEn i say it's the 80s version of the purple and gold imean it was a song prince probably felt he had to make. And hello isn't that bad i was overating i just think the song is overated.

Prince did sing "4 The Tears In Your Eyes" during a soundcheck on March 9, 2002 in Louisville, KY at the Palace Theatre. He sung to the vamp for "Alphabet Street" with John Blackwell, Rhonda Smith, Renato Neto, Greg Boyer and Maceo Parker.

Not ecstatic for the original either. Lovely song though. The B-Sides take is gorgeous.

I haven't heard the bsides version just the music video version. Is there a difference?

riocoolnes said:

I haven't heard the bsides version just the music video version. Is there a difference?

B-sides and video are the same. The We Are The World album version is a full-band type arrangement.