I've recently read a thread about the lyrics of "Fixurlifeup", and to my surprise I've seen many people complaining about them. Some of them said that it was an old theme of Prince and that they were tired of listening to the same old song. To that, I can't say anything: these are the kind of Prince lyrics I prefer, and I can't get enough of them, but if you're bored with them, well, fair enough.

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My surprise comes when I read people complaining that the lyrics are the kind you'd find on a self-help book. Look, this is just and individualist song, a song about reaching our higher selves, like many others on Prince's catalogue. He's been preaching the be-yourself mantra since "Uptown", and this is just a follow-up to all the individualist lyrics he has written. Why a self-help book? I think the words are very well put: "just worry about being good at what you love", "you'll always get the dream that you deserve". Really, what's the problem with this message and with how it is expressed? You can't write John Stuart Mill's On Liberty or Friedrich Schleiermacher's Monologen on a three minute pop song; what you can do is put an interesting and thought-provoking subject with a few suitable and attractive words, and I think Prince has done it this time. This is just as good as Ray Davies' (another great individualist) lyrics of "Don't Forget To Dance": "You do the thing you love the most, what separates you from the rest".

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Others have written that Prince preaches on this tune. Preaches what? He's just saying that you should discern what you love the most and you should focus on it and try to be as good as possible with it. He's not telling anybody what to do. He only chooses gangs and street violence as examples of people who have dissipated lives and who have gone with the flow instead of making a reflective decision on what's good for them. And he states that "a girl with a guitar is better", which seems to me a quite accurate way of putting it, since guitar is the masculine instrument par excellence, and this girl is just breaking gender codes and being herself and against the crowd with that. Does that ring a bell? Yes, it's what Prince has been saying for thirty years, and one of the reasons many of us admire him. I can't see any problem with criticising gangs and street violence. Prince has done this on many tracks, as he has also criticised drugs, and he has usually considered that education and focus are the opposite attitude. "America", "Pop Life", "The Good Life", "The Sacrifice Of Victor", "Live 4 Love", "Style", "Sexuality"... these are just a few songs that come to mind now that have this opposition.

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According to the "preachy"-repproach that some orgers have expressed, all socio-political commentary would be preachy. "Fixurlifeup" would be among the least preachy, since it just says that you should reflect about what you value the most and you should have enough perseverance to be very good at it.

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Frankly, I thought many Prince fans admired him for his individualism and his feeling of going against the crowd, something he has done with albums as diverse as Dirty Mind and The Rainbow Children. But everytime Prince releases a thoughtful lyric, rebukes multiply. It seems that many orgers prefer Prince to stuck with his sexual lyrics, even with his silliest ones, like "Breakfast Can Wait". I don't think they are being fair with the legacy of an artist that, yes, has written a lot about sex, but has also written a lot about love, spirituality, individualism, society and politics. Actually, the only period in which sex is the main theme on Prince's lyrics is 1980-1982: 3 years in a 35-year career. Yes, maybe we Prince fans really need to fixourlivesup.

[Edited 9/9/13 7:27am]

Javi said:

Frankly, I thought many Prince fans admired him for his individualism and his feeling of going against the crowd, something he has done with albums as diverse as Dirty Mind and The Rainbow Children. But everytime Prince releases a thoughtful lyric, rebukes multiply.

There is nothing thoughtful or original about lyrics that rehash the bland and superficial advice from asstastic self-help books. They display an utter lack of depth and insight and teach you zilch nada nothing.

It's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

Strangely, that's not enough for some here.

BartVanHemelen said:

Javi said:

Frankly, I thought many Prince fans admired him for his individualism and his feeling of going against the crowd, something he has done with albums as diverse as Dirty Mind and The Rainbow Children. But everytime Prince releases a thoughtful lyric, rebukes multiply.

There is nothing thoughtful or original about lyrics that rehash the bland and superficial advice from asstastic self-help books. They display an utter lack of depth and insight and teach you zilch nada nothing.

I see it differently. I don't see a self-help book, I see Prince's individualism and Prince's work ethic, two of the things I admire of him. And I don't ask Prince to teach me anything, I've read enough about individualism and society. But I do prefer him singing this message than writing another silly sexy lyric like "Breakfast Can Wait", that any 14-year old could write.

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"Just worry about being good at what you love" is essentially the same message as "Stand up everybody, this is your life". If anything, "Sexuality" is preachier than "Fixurlifeup". Just to give an example.

SuperSoulFighter said:

Javi, you're right, but when someone repeats the same message "be yourself, do what you want and everybody will be happy" year after year then it becomes a cliche. And I find that message to be a bit superficial. I don't expect Prince, or any other rock star, to solve all the problems in the world, but I do expect a writer to keep coming up with original thoughts. And I cannot say that about FixUrLifeup. As Imago said, U need 2 fix Ur songs up! [Edited 9/9/13 10:38am]

I agree with you that he has been repeating this since the beginning, but I think that is one of the best messages a pop star can come up with, so where I disagree with you is in that I don't mind him repeating it. Also, I think he has expressed it in different ways during his career. "Uptown", "Walk Don't Walk" and "Fixurlifeup", for example: same idea, but different approach.

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Also, I don't see it as superficial. Being oneself can sometimes be very difficult, and, like Prince himself has said, "freedom isn't free".

SuperSoulFighter said:

Javi, you're right, but when someone repeats the same message "be yourself, do what you want and everybody will be happy" year after year then it becomes a cliche. And I find that message to be a bit superficial. I don't expect Prince, or any other rock star, to solve all the problems in the world, but I do expect a writer to keep coming up with original thoughts. And I cannot say that about FixUrLifeup. As Imago said, U need 2 fix Ur songs up! [Edited 9/9/13 10:38am]

Exactly how would a person write as many songs as Prince all with original ideas? What Prince is repeating is his basic philosophy of life. Should he reverse his views so he appears more orginal? There are only so many themes to songs and each have been repeated a million time with different lyrics so you might as well just listen to instrumentals if can't deal with cliches.

RodeoSchro said:

It's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

Strangely, that's not enough for some here.

Why strangely? For me, the most important thing is the music, but if an artist comes up with an interesting message, then even better. Anyway, I also like the music of "Fixurlifeup" a lot.

tricky99 said:

No 50-something man should be singing the lyrical equivalent of the Barney song. It's just that simple.

[Edited 9/9/13 11:45am]

The use of the word 'toast' just makes me cringe. Especially after the visual of someone buttering a slice of toast

Hello everyone! Could someone tell me what "Don't let us put someone else in for U" means please? From 3rdeyegirl fixurlifeup song of course

Thank you -

Nidel said:

Hello everyone! Could someone tell me what "Don't let us put someone else in for U" means please? From 3rdeyegirl fixurlifeup song of course

Thank you -

It's most likely a sports reference, like a substitution.

If the idea of discerning what you love and making the effort to be good at it seems simple to some of you, I'd like to know which lyric theme would be deeper. And as for the way Prince expresses the idea, I find it quite good for a pop song. If I want a subtler way to put it, I'd read an existentialist book. Regarding a pop song, it's difficult to do it better than Prince on this song.

Nidel said:

Hello everyone! Could someone tell me what "Don't let us put someone else in for U" means please? From 3rdeyegirl fixurlifeup song of course

Thank you -

He's telling that you should make your own decisions about your life, or instead there'll always be others willing to do it.

dandan said:

The use of the word 'toast' just makes me cringe. Especially after the visual of someone buttering a slice of toast

Well, if your only problem is with the word "toast", I think you'll get over it!

erik319 said:

For me, it's the cringeworthy 'London is sure to be toast' line. He mentioned America in the line prior, and then mentions London. Why specifically London? Why's that toast? Is the rest of the UK's life sufficiently fixed up that we don't need to worry? I have a feeling he's never been to Burnley. He needs to fix his geography up.

"In America you may fare better... in London you're sure to be toast."

Maybe this means you can act a fool in the US, but you won't survive that way in London.

Dunno.

FunkyStrange said:

the most interesting thing about this track is WHO it is directed at...

Um, the listener?

Superconductor said:

Two points: 1. the lyrics may not be by Prince. Remember there was a video where Hannah Ford walked around and quoted some of the lines in this song to her husband in the studio in PP. 2. I don't have a problem with "self help", the problem with the lyrics is that they are not one theme throughout the song but touch on so many different themes like be yourself, leadership, mysoginism, in London you are toast (why?) etc. I counted over a dozen different themes and some of the lyrics contradict each other like when he sings leaders should lead and then leaders should follow the crowd (what nonsense is that!? if you follow the crowd you are not a leader) and the lyrics don't hang together.

You're right that there are actually several themes on the song, but I see them all revolving around the idea of leading autonomous lives and making one's own decisions. That would be the subject of the song for me, the others just pop up to complement it.

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Maybe the leaders-followers idea isn't clearly expressed. My interpretation is that he's saying nobody should lead, that is, nobody should determine what other people do, and then everybody would lead, that is, everybody would live according to their own values and beliefs.

erik319 said:

For me, it's the cringeworthy 'London is sure to be toast' line. He mentioned America in the line prior, and then mentions London. Why specifically London? Why's that toast? Is the rest of the UK's life sufficiently fixed up that we don't need to worry? I have a feeling he's never been to Burnley. He needs to fix his geography up.

Indeed he needs to!

I apreciate the lyrics.

When people resist them, that could be a good thing.

Because he'll sing these lyrics anyway. It's what he stands for.

No matter what the crowd says.


The theme is still relevant. So, after centuries of indoctrination by various leaders, it's worth singing about it.

He promotes thinking and deciding for yourself, in stead of mindlessly following politicians, marketed products, religions, popular opinions, trends etc..

SuperSoulFighter said:

Javi, you're right, but when someone repeats the same message "be yourself, do what you want and everybody will be happy" year after year then it becomes a cliche. And I find that message to be a bit superficial. I don't expect Prince, or any other rock star, to solve all the problems in the world, but I do expect a writer to keep coming up with original thoughts. And I cannot say that about FixUrLifeup. As Imago said, U need 2 fix Ur songs up! [Edited 9/9/13 10:38am]

I don't think it's that superficial.

My favorite is this one. And it's not shallow.

Instead of everybody getting what they want
They can get what they need

dJJ said:

SuperSoulFighter said:

Javi, you're right, but when someone repeats the same message "be yourself, do what you want and everybody will be happy" year after year then it becomes a cliche. And I find that message to be a bit superficial. I don't expect Prince, or any other rock star, to solve all the problems in the world, but I do expect a writer to keep coming up with original thoughts. And I cannot say that about FixUrLifeup. As Imago said, U need 2 fix Ur songs up! [Edited 9/9/13 10:38am]

I don't think it's that superficial.

My favorite is this one. And it's not shallow.

Instead of everybody getting what they want
They can get what they need

he's into that theme...which has turned up before..biblical

luvsexy4all said:

dJJ said:

I don't think it's that superficial.

My favorite is this one. And it's not shallow.

Instead of everybody getting what they want
They can get what they need

he's into that theme...which has turned up before..biblical

Didn't know it was biblical.

I just agree with it.

What if we would only use what we really need?

dJJ said:

luvsexy4all said:

he's into that theme...which has turned up before..biblical

Didn't know it was biblical.

I just agree with it.

What if we would only use what we really need?

devil gives us what we want ..God gives us what we need