People here and elsewhere have been saying that Prince is just trying to copy today’s sound in AOC- the opening track of AOA, and that it sounds awfully clichéd.

But isn’t that what he’s conveying in the song? I think he is simply trying to be sarcastic towards today’s artificial (Art Official) music in the said song.

It is a sarcastic take on today’s artificiality in music and hence it starts like a regular techno-pop song..

In my humble opinion, by no stretch of imagination is Prince trying to emulate current trends.

This is what I have started to think (and hope ) also.

i hope so to - but have you listen to "fall in love tonight"? i dont think this was sarcasm....

but my own real problem is that the sound works for me on AOC - i dont know why but besides the "Tony M" Rap, its ok... i dont believe it by myself ....

the album itself is so great - i havent had this kind of "Fan-Experience" since TRC ... listen to it all day long ... and PE is great to but i did not find time to listen to both

Hell Yeahh, he is back - and i am proud!!

It's outrageous and hilarious.

Almost every section of it seems to be a piss-take on something. There's that Ibiza summer party nonsense in the beginning while Ida shouts something in Danish, then it turns into disco, then there's some rap stuff that nobody should take seriously ("louder than a bomb since the day of my birth!" with the Camille voice), then some operatic stuff and strained guitar playing doubled with orchestral sounds over some dubstep style half-time stuff. And, like I've pointed out earlier, there are sounds of explosions and things getting slammed shut used every 5-10 seconds. They're basically substituting for crash cymbals in the mix.

It's hardly subtle and I'd really prefer to just put the Parade album on, but it's really funny at the very least.

you are so right, I did not get any sarcasm,

I am taking the song seriously and I love it.

At first I was like wtf, now after several listenings.. I am like - what a great song..!

Seems sincere to me, and pretty terrible. It reminds me of an old interview where he, when asked if he would do a house-music album, said something along the lines of "Why would I - I've already done that." But then, as now, he doesn't understand the main appeal of house is icy repetition. Something he's not at all willing to do - which works in his favor most of the time, but never for non-funk dance tracks.

[Edited 9/28/14 16:20pm]

[double post]

[Edited 9/28/14 16:10pm]

Just another lame excuse for this garbage. Fanatics.....

I don't think Prince can afford to be sarcastic or tongue in cheek or what have you anymore. I agree that he has hedged hit bets a bit with this song, as he does with most things, so that if it's a hit the joke is on the industry and if it fails the joke is on A&R or anyone else who told him he needs to bring his sound up to speed with today's radio. The song is abysmal, as is the entire AOA album, and don't even get me started on Hannah's god-awful singing and the tuneless, out-of-date, out of touch, nails-on-the-chalkboard excrutiating listening experience of D-list shitballs-with-a-side-of-musty-vagina Plectrum Electrum. Prince is done as a recording artist.

He sounds like an old man trying to be hip. everything on the radio influences him now. He can make a great album if he stops trying to sound like the young man he isn't. An old man trying to sound cute just sounds creepy.

[Edited 9/28/14 17:59pm]

ludwig said:

Just another lame excuse for this garbage. Fanatics.....

pleeeease...dumb ass is more like it

I think the fact that he is making fun of those music styles is obvious because of the lyrics that even say "artificial cage".

im starting to wonder whats wrong with me because i love this song...

im not into stuff like breakfast can wait, etc... but this song blows my mind out

Its a good song and makes for a nice WTF moment to kick things off. there are, of course, a few more WTF moments that follow on this album... And that is a good thing.

2020 said:

ludwig said:

Just another lame excuse for this garbage. Fanatics.....

pleeeease...dumb ass is more like it

Yeah? So you seriously think Prince wanted you to listen to disco-ish EDM? And then why the reference to 'Artificial' in the song? And why the lyrics "I woke up to...trying to free my mind...art official cage"? Merely a coincidence?

And Yes, I sincerely do not appreciate the title of 'dumbass' that you might have used for me.

I think it's plastic, doesn't work as a cliche....but.....I love it. Its damn catchy. I don't want an album of this sound, but a track or two is refreshing.

I think of lot of it was probably Prince saying "you know what, if that's what they want then that's what they'll get". (Not in a generous-sounding way, more in a F-U kinda way).

.

Upon starting down that road of recording, I think he actually started enjoying himself and liking what he heard.

The overarching theme of the album is that he's awakened after a 45-year sleep. Imagine that such a thing happened to you: that you went to sleep in 1969 (the year of the first moon landing and Woodstock, when people spun vinyl on a hi-fi, watched TV only until midnight - because that's when it went off the air, and ate mostly at home because fast food and casual dining hadn't achieved critical mass) and awoke in 2014.

Imagine trying to catch up with the last 45 years - it'd be like being in a carnival fun house (complete with Ida as the carnival barker). Everything would seem artificial compared to what you left. Music marks the time you've missed.

He tries to make his way in the new world, but he doesn't like it. It's loud. It's confusing. It's forced. (That whole affirmation thing smacks of feel-good fascism. You may no longer have any thoughts that aren't pre-approved.) He wants to find his WAY BACK HOME.

It's a story. I like it.

Genesia said:

Genesia said:

The overarching theme of the album is that he's awakened after a 45-year sleep. Imagine that such a thing happened to you: that you went to sleep in 1969 (the year of the first moon landing and Woodstock, when people spun vinyl on a hi-fi, watched TV only until midnight - because that's when it went off the air, and ate mostly at home because fast food and casual dining hadn't achieved critical mass) and awoke in 2014.

Imagine trying to catch up with the last 45 years - it'd be like being in a carnival fun house (complete with Ida as the carnival barker). Everything would seem artificial compared to what you left. Music marks the time you've missed.

He tries to make his way in the new world, but he doesn't like it. It's loud. It's confusing. It's forced. (That whole affirmation thing smacks of feel-good fascism. You may no longer have any thoughts that aren't pre-approved.) He wants to find his WAY BACK HOME.

It's a story. I like it.

I like your interpretation. I believe that is the whole theme of the album- thus the longing for love too in the ballads.

Genesia said:

Genesia said:

The overarching theme of the album is that he's awakened after a 45-year sleep. Imagine that such a thing happened to you: that you went to sleep in 1969 (the year of the first moon landing and Woodstock, when people spun vinyl on a hi-fi, watched TV only until midnight - because that's when it went off the air, and ate mostly at home because fast food and casual dining hadn't achieved critical mass) and awoke in 2014.

Imagine trying to catch up with the last 45 years - it'd be like being in a carnival fun house (complete with Ida as the carnival barker). Everything would seem artificial compared to what you left. Music marks the time you've missed.

He tries to make his way in the new world, but he doesn't like it. It's loud. It's confusing. It's forced. (That whole affirmation thing smacks of feel-good fascism. You may no longer have any thoughts that aren't pre-approved.) He wants to find his WAY BACK HOME.

It's a story. I like it.

Didn't he awaken in 1985 and go looking for the ladder.....or awaken in 1992 and changed his name....or awakened in 96 to be Emancipated?

Our Princes needs a good nights sleep.

Genesia said:

The overarching theme of the album is that he's awakened after a 45-year sleep. Imagine that such a thing happened to you: that you went to sleep in 1969 (the year of the first moon landing and Woodstock, when people spun vinyl on a hi-fi, watched TV only until midnight - because that's when it went off the air, and ate mostly at home because fast food and casual dining hadn't achieved critical mass) and awoke in 2014.

Imagine trying to catch up with the last 45 years - it'd be like being in a carnival fun house (complete with Ida as the carnival barker). Everything would seem artificial compared to what you left. Music marks the time you've missed.

He tries to make his way in the new world, but he doesn't like it. It's loud. It's confusing. It's forced. (That whole affirmation thing smacks of feel-good fascism. You may no longer have any thoughts that aren't pre-approved.) He wants to find his WAY BACK HOME.

It's a story. I like it.

As a story, you have to wonder WHY he went into suspended animation in the first place. Was it a horrible breakup? Most of the themes of him wanting to get back home are to get back to a love that he lost (who in the story would be an old woman or deceased by now).

Bighead said:

He sounds like an old man trying to be hip. everything on the radio influences him now. He can make a great album if he stops trying to sound like the young man he isn't. An old man trying to sound cute just sounds creepy.

[Edited 9/28/14 17:59pm]

I don't want to hear Prince do 'old man' music either. It would just be about not getting it up anymore and being closer to death.

I really really like Art Official Cage.

You need to listen to it third degree to get it and enjoy it for what it is: a playful pastiche of those Black Eyed hits and even a pinch of Psy here and there. It's like he's saying "yeah, I could do one of those if I was chasing that". It also sounds like his AOA character is going through a bunch of compressed tunes as someone mentionned.