Anotherlova4Nessa said:

Sorry If this question is asked to much; but Im fairly new to this topic. Did Prince like his father? Cause I read at a source that Prince did like his father & wanted ti he like him. Yet, prince fans have declared that his father was very shitty towards him. Does anybody know? And the source also listed in the article that he was from a broken home. I dont know if there is more information about that. Also, which father is talking about in his songs?

a song from the Come album Papa

"Papa"

seems to have had a very chaotic relationship with his father (emotionally) more than anything

the Father was in his life moreso during the Revolution years more visibly

after that they were up and down it seems

His dad created a piece Prince title 'Fathers Song' that was a foundation of the song Computer Blue

His dad somehow was a part of the creation of the song 'the Ladder' on Around the World in a Day

1985-1986 was the period we see John Nelson with Prince, Prince and band/albums the most

In the Dirty Mind era it was mentioned he didn't speak to his father or sister (which helped result in depression)

They must have made up later on though. I remember seeing a picture where he was Prince's invite (Grammys? Purple Rain premiere?) and Prince spoke very highly of him in the 1985 Rolling Stone interview, calling him a great dad who didn't smoke/drink/etc... He also gave his dad writing credits on "The Ladder" and "Scandalous" (how it's possible to write a sex song with your dad, I don't know )

Prince's relationship with his MOM on the other hand..... he mentioned her in like one interview as "the crazy party side of me" and that's pretty much it iirc...

OldFriends4Sale said:

CharismaDove said:

I think a lot of people tend to missinterpret the song 'papa'.

There is probably some truth to it, but I highly doubt everything said in that song is true. A very haunting track though indeed.

The closet thing just sounds like a scene from Carrie...

I think this piece talks the most concerning Prince & his father

ROLLING STONE (1985)

BY NEAL KARLEN

John Nelson turns sixty-nine today, and all the semiretired piano man wants for his birthday is to shoot some pool with his firstborn son. "He's real handy with a cue," says Prince, laughing, as he threads his old white T-bird through his old black neighborhood toward his old man's house. "He's so cool. The old man knows what time it is."

.

The early facts, for the neo-Freudians: John Nelson, leader of the Prince Rogers jazz trio, knew Mattie Shaw from North Side community dances. A singer sixteen years John's junior, Mattie bore traces of Billie Holiday in her pipes and more than a trace of Indian and Caucasian in her blood. She joined the Prince Rogers trio, sang for a few years around town, married John Nelson and dropped out of the group. She nicknamed her husband after the band; the son who came in 1958 got the nickname on his birth certificate. At home and on the street, the kid was "Skipper." Mattie and John broke up ten years later, and Prince began his domestic shuttle.

.

"That's where my mom lives," he says nonchalantly, nodding toward a neatly trimmed house and lawn. "My parents live very close by each other, but they don't talk. My mom's the wild side of me; she's like that all the time. My dad's real serene; it takes the music to get him going. My father and me, we're one and the same." A wry laugh. "He's a little sick, just like I am."

.

Across the street from McDonald's, Prince spies a smaller landmark. He points to a vacant corner phone booth and remembers a teenage fight with a strict and unforgiving father. "That's where I called my dad and begged him to take me back after he kicked me out," he begins softly. "He said no, so I called my sister and asked her to ask him. So she did, and afterward told me that all I had to do was call him back, tell him I was sorry, and he's take me back. So I did, and he still said no. I sat crying at that phone booth for two hours. That's the last time I cried."

.

In the years between that phone-booth breakdown and today's pool game came forgiveness. Says Prince, "Once I made it, got my first record contract, got my name on a piece of paper and a little money in my pocket, I was able to forgive. Once I was eating every day, I became a much nicer person." But it took many more years for the son to understand what a jazzman father needed to survive. Prince figured it out when he moved into his purple house.

.

Prince pulls the T-Bird into an alley behind a street of neat frame houses, stops behind a wooden one-car garage and rolls down the window. Relaxing against a tree is a man who looks like Cab Calloway. Dressed in a crisp white suit, collar and tie, a trim and smiling John Nelson adjusts his best cuff links and waves. "Happy birthday," says the son. "Thanks," says the father, laughing. Nelson says he's not even allowing himself a piece of cake on his birthday. "No, not this year," he says with a shake of the head. Pointing at his son, Nelson continues, "I'm trying to take off ten pounds I put on while visiting him in Los Angeles. He eats like I want to eat, but exercises, which I certainly don't."

.

Father then asks son if maybe he should drive himself to the pool game so he won't have to be hauled all the way back afterward. Prince says okay, and Nelson, chuckling, says to the stranger, "Hey, let me show you what I got for my birthday two years ago." He goes over to the garage and gives a tug on the door handle. Squeezed inside is a customized deep-purple BMW. On the rear seat is a copy of Prince's latest LP, Around the World in a Day. While the old man gingerly back the car out, Prince smiles. "He never drives that thing. He's afraid it's going to get dented." Looking at his own white T-Bird, Prince goes on: "He's always been that way. My father gave me this a few years ago. He bought it new in 1966. There were only 22,000 miles on it when I got it."

An ignition turns. "Wait," calls Prince, remembering something. He grabs a tape off the T-Bird seat and yells to his father, "I got something for you to listen to. Lisa [Coleman] and Wendy [Melvoin] have been working on these in L.A." Prince throws the tape, which the two female members of his band have mixed, and his father catches it with one hand. Nelson nods okay and pulls his car behind his son's in the alley. Closely tailing Prince through North Minneapolis, he waves and smiles whenever we look back. It's impossible to believe that the gun-toting geezer in Purple Rain was modeled after John Nelson.

.

"That stuff about my dad was part of [director-cowriter] Al Magnoli's story," Prince explains. "We used parts of my past and present to make the story pop more, but it was a story. My dad wouldn't have nothing to do with guns. He never swore, still doesn't, and never drinks." Prince looks in his rearview mirror at the car tailing him. "He don't look sixty-nine, do he? He's so cool. He's got girlfriends, lots of 'em."

.

Nearing the turnoff that leads from Minneapolis to suburban Eden Prairie, Prince flips in another tape and peeks in the rearview mirror. John Nelson is still right behind. "It's real hard for my father to show emotion," says Prince, heading onto the highway. "He never says, 'I love you,' and when we hug or something, we bang our heads together like in some Charlie Chaplin movie. But a while ago, he was telling me how I always had to be careful. My father told me, 'If anything happens to you, I'm gone.' All I thought at first was that it was a real nice thing to say. But then I thought about it for a while and realized something. That was my father's way of saying 'I love you.'"

.

A few minutes later, Prince and his father pull in front of the Warehouse, a concrete barn in an Eden Prairie industrial park. Inside, the Family, a rock-funk band that Prince has been working with, is pounding out new songs and dance routines. The group is as tight as ace drummer Jellybean Johnson's pants. At the end of one hot number, Family members fall on their backs, twitching like fried eggs.

.

Prince and his father enter to hellos from the still-gyrating band. Prince goes over to a pool table by the soundboard, racks the balls and shimmies to the beat of the Family's next song. Taking everything in, John Nelson gives a professional nod to the band, his son's rack job and his own just-chalked cue. He hitches his shoulders, takes aim and breaks like Minnesota Fats. A few minutes later, the band is still playing and the father is still shooting. Prince, son to this father and father to this band, is smiling.

ROLLING STONE, APRIL 26TH, 1985

How can u just leave me standing?
Alone in a world that's so cold? (So cold)
Maybe I'm just 2 demanding
Maybe I'm just like my father 2 bold
Maybe you're just like my mother
She's never satisfied (She's never satisfied)
Why do we scream at each other
This is what it sounds like
When doves cry

Anotherlova4Nessa said:

CharismaDove said:

In the Dirty Mind era it was mentioned he didn't speak to his father or sister (which helped result in depression)

They must have made up later on though. I remember seeing a picture where he was Prince's invite (Grammys? Purple Rain premiere?) and Prince spoke very highly of him in the 1985 Rolling Stone interview, calling him a great dad who didn't smoke/drink/etc... He also gave his dad writing credits on "The Ladder" and "Scandalous" (how it's possible to write a sex song with your dad, I don't know )

Omg, I hate when my dad tells me about his experiences. (He was freaker than Prince lol) you can just imagine how awkward lunch was after that song was made. Lol [Edited 7/11/14 12:59pm]

Imagine them sitting together discussing the lyrics

"I can't wait till I wrap my legs all around you girlll"

"Good one son!"

CharismaDove said:

Anotherlova4Nessa said:

CharismaDove said: Omg, I hate when my dad tells me about his experiences. (He was freaker than Prince lol) you can just imagine how awkward lunch was after that song was made. Lol [Edited 7/11/14 12:59pm]

Imagine them sitting together discussing the lyrics

"I can't wait till I wrap my legs all around you girlll"

"Good one son!"

Prince :*Munches on Lays chips* ''Thanks dad. this song is going to be Scandelous''

[Edited 7/11/14 14:39pm]

I guess one will never know, because Prince played with the media so much back then, you never knew if he was being truthful or not. My guess is that unless you truly know Prince personally and he has sincerely talked to you about his life and family, you will never know, but I don't think that Prince has ever allowed anyone to get that close to him to deeply confide in them, he just doesn't seem to be that type. It seems as though there's a part of Prince that will always keep things about himself and his life private, and close to his heart that only he and God knows.

EyeHatechu said:

I would feel so uncomfortable writing sex songs with my dad...I couldnt even imagine it.

I doubt it was anything like that. It might just be based melodically on something his dad wrote years ago that Prince based his song on. He just decided to give his dad credit. At least I hope it's something like that.

dannyd5050 said:

there are recordings of prince music with his father playing piano over it. 4 or 5 songs if i'm not mistaken.. from the late80's

i got 'm somewhere on a bootleg...

here is some more info i found here on the org too:

cd title Father's Song
guitar credited to gemini but this it's prince playing
songs:
Yes Again
There'd be no-way for You and I
As I recall
Fallin' Down

and some more info :

Executive Producer - God
Producer - Ron Long
Music - John L & Ron Long
Lyrics - Eleanor Landrau
Co-Producer - Sharon Nelson (Prince's half-sister)
Smooth Rap - Sharon Nelson
Piano - John L.
Organ - Ron Long & Gary Montoute
Guitar - Gemini
Dedicated to the memory of Vivian Nelson
Recorded at Acme Studios, Mamaroneck, NY
Engineer - Derrick L. Garrett
Copyright 1994 Vive Records
Copyright 1994 Maken It Music (BMI)

Vannormal said:

guitar credited to gemini but this it's prince playing
songs:

It's not Prince. He had nothing to do with this project and took no part in the sessions.

Miles said John Nelson was bat**** crazy and Prince inherited from him

OldFriends4Sale said:

Anotherlova4Nessa said:

Sorry If this question is asked to much; but Im fairly new to this topic. Did Prince like his father? Cause I read at a source that Prince did like his father & wanted ti he like him. Yet, prince fans have declared that his father was very shitty towards him. Does anybody know? And the source also listed in the article that he was from a broken home. I dont know if there is more information about that. Also, which father is talking about in his songs?

a song from the Come album Papa

"Papa"

There was 1 September day that Papa worked 2 hard
First he crucified every dandelion out in the yard
Then he screamed at baby twice 4 throwin' rocks at passin' cars
Baby didn't listen, so like a priceless work of art
He got snatched by his Papa who then opened up the closet door
And pushed the four-year-old down, onto the closet floor
Baby cried "I'm sorry, I won't do it no more"
Papa said "Yeah, I know, that's what this here's 4"
Smack!
Ooh Papa...
Smack! Smack!
Ooh Papa...Papa...
Smack!
Ooh Papa...
Smack! Smack!
Ooh Papa...Papa...

As the door closes, baby starts 2 cry
"Please don't lock me up again, without a reason why"
Papa just went outside and pointed a shotgun up in the sky
He said "How come I don't love my woman?"
Then he took aim and died

Boom!
Papa...
Boom! Boom!
Papa...Papa
Boom!
Papa...
Boom! Boom!
Papa...Papa...

Don't abuse children, or else they turn out like me

Fair 2 partly crazy, deep down we're all the same
Every single 1 of us knows some kind of pain
In the middle of all that's crazy, this 1 fact still remains
If u love somebody, your life won't be in vain
And there's always a rainbow, at the end of every rain

There is quite a bit of information in the various books.

Prince had a complicated relationship with his father but was closer to him than to his mother. Specifically, he intensely disliked his stepfather. So "Papa" may not be about his biological father but his stepfather.

He let his father back into his circle when he became a star, but he also was reportedly harsh and banned him at some point. Sorry I can't go into details but obviously Prince had a lot of resentment over his upbringing, directed both at his biological parents and his stepfather. He identified with his father to a great extent, disliked his stepfather greatly and was very distant toward his mother. His father got the bulk of his capacity for forgiveness, so it seems that, for wahtever reasons (perhaps religious, perhaps his attitude toward women (or both), perhaps owing to her remarriage to a man he despised), his mother was kept out of his circle and was not acknowledged as much.

OldFriends4Sale said:

How can u just leave me standing?
Alone in a world that's so cold? (So cold)
Maybe I'm just 2 demanding
Maybe I'm just like my father 2 bold
Maybe you're just like my mother
She's never satisfied (She's never satisfied)
Why do we scream at each other
This is what it sounds like
When doves cry

At least one author thinks WDC is written with his mother subliminally in mind.

If that were the case (and I don't know if it is), I'd say it has a lot to do with how black women take a disproportionate responsibility compared to black men. A black man straying and leaving? Oldest tale in America, but for his mother to remarry to a man he did not like -- Prince may have expected his father to be a certain way, but my theory is that he resented his mother more because she remarried to a guy he could not stand in any way -- and he so identified with his father. There are two standards here, and John L. got the best, Mattie got the worst.

no denying that is Daddy!

Prince looks just like him...

but prettier of course