This thread might end up in the politics and religion section but I am just wondering why Prince never performed One of Us that much and he hasn't performed it in several years that I know of. What made him do the remake in the first place if he just up and decided that he was hardly going to sing it. I know there are MANY songs that he has that he doesn't perform but given the nature of the song One of Us, I am wondering if he stopped singing it because it was considered as blasphemous by many people. What do you all think? Does Prince regret performing that song?

ufoclub said:

I saw him perform it on the Jam of the Year Tour. Was it not a regular part of the set?

Well, I guess I meant after that Jam of the Year era which I guess was 1997 or so. I'm just wondering why he stopped singing it altogether.

Last time he did it was late 1998 at the end of the New Power Soul shows

SeventeenDayze said:

This thread might end up in the politics and religion section but I am just wondering why Prince never performed One of Us that much and he hasn't performed it in several years that I know of. What made him do the remake in the first place if he just up and decided that he was hardly going to sing it. I know there are MANY songs that he has that he doesn't perform but given the nature of the song One of Us, I am wondering if he stopped singing it because it was considered as blasphemous by many people. What do you all think? Does Prince regret performing that song?

Dont understand why this question is even considered

I think it's pretty simple. The song's a searching, questioning spiritual song. Once he became a Witness, he pretty much stopped performing open-ended spiritual songs, and moved toward the I Found the Answer songs. He started speaking down to the ones looking from the position of someone who knew (almost exclusively)--even The Cross changed, not just with the Stauros "correction" but the tone seemed to shift (didn't he even drop a verse--I don't remember). At the time he covered One of Us, it was much closer to his normal approach--so much so that many people jumped on the Did Prince Write It? bandwagon when the song was first released. It was an obvious choice for a cover version at the time.

.

One of the things that makes Way Back Home so refreshing (to me, at least) is he seems to be searching again. While he may or may not actually be looking again, the song suggests that he only sometimes "sees his way back home." The search, the uncertainty, and those special moments when things seem clear--those things are far more universal than the absolute confidence in being right that most of his songs since the conversion have expressed. That's a lot of why this song has caught on with so many of us. He's brought his musical A-game (or at least close to his A-game) to other spiritual songs in the past 15 years, but the dogmatism of the lyrics has been off-putting to many people who feel shut out of his specific religious views. Many of those same people appreciate Rainbow Children musically but have to ignore the lyrics. I realize some people just don't pay much attention to lyrics in general, but I can't do that. I don't have to agree with a lyric, but a lyric that resonates with me will make me like a song better, all other things being equal.

Then again, it's a cover that was a hit shortly before he was performing it. It's not his song, but someone else's; it's not a favorite from his youth, but one from after his own most successful period ,so it doesn't have for him, or for those the age of his core fans, much of the nostalgic appeal that justifies his other covers, nor the more recent provenance of other covers he might choose to do. It's a 20 year old song, it's original performer's only real hit, and it doesn't fit his religious views very well. I doubt he regrets recording it, but there's not much point in his performing it any longer.

[Edited 10/12/14 8:48am]

SeventeenDayze said:

This thread might end up in the politics and religion section but I am just wondering why Prince never performed One of Us that much and he hasn't performed it in several years that I know of. What made him do the remake in the first place if he just up and decided that he was hardly going to sing it. I know there are MANY songs that he has that he doesn't perform but given the nature of the song One of Us, I am wondering if he stopped singing it because it was considered as blasphemous by many people. What do you all think? Does Prince regret performing that song?

Name a song from Emancipation that 's been playing since 1998, I'll give u a cookie.

I remember seeing him perform this song on the Jam of the Year tour.When it was over,the guy sitting next to me stood up and shouted "Play your OWN songs,Prince!!"

EddieC said:

I think it's pretty simple. The song's a searching, questioning spiritual song. Once he became a Witness, he pretty much stopped performing open-ended spiritual songs, and moved toward the I Found the Answer songs. He started speaking down to the ones looking from the position of someone who knew (almost exclusively)--even The Cross changed, not just with the Stauros "correction" but the tone seemed to shift (didn't he even drop a verse--I don't remember). At the time he covered One of Us, it was much closer to his normal approach--so much so that many people jumped on the Did Prince Write It? bandwagon when the song was first released. It was an obvious choice for a cover version at the time.

.

One of the things that makes Way Back Home so refreshing (to me, at least) is he seems to be searching again. While he may or may not actually be looking again, the song suggests that he only sometimes "sees his way back home." The search, the uncertainty, and those special moments when things seem clear--those things are far more universal than the absolute confidence in being right that most of his songs since the conversion have expressed. That's a lot of why this song has caught on with so many of us. He's brought his musical A-game (or at least close to his A-game) to other spiritual songs in the past 15 years, but the dogmatism of the lyrics has been off-putting to many people who feel shut out of his specific religious views. Many of those same people appreciate Rainbow Children musically but have to ignore the lyrics. I realize some people just don't pay much attention to lyrics in general, but I can't do that. I don't have to agree with a lyric, but a lyric that resonates with me will make me like a song better, all other things being equal.

Then again, it's a cover that was a hit shortly before he was performing it. It's not his song, but someone else's; it's not a favorite from his youth, but one from after his own most successful period ,so it doesn't have for him, or for those the age of his core fans, much of the nostalgic appeal that justifies his other covers, nor the more recent provenance of other covers he might choose to do. It's a 20 year old song, it's original performer's only real hit, and it doesn't fit his religious views very well. I doubt he regrets recording it, but there's not much point in his performing it any longer.

[Edited 10/12/14 8:48am]

That's interesting that you mentioned the songs that show a side of Prince where he was possibly searching and then the side of Prince when he was expressing that he found the answers (Rainbow Children). I assume that Larry Graham didn't come on the scene until Emancipation was already released so I wonder if Larry would have been around during the time Emancipation was being recorded if One of Us would have made it on the album.

SoulAlive said:

I remember seeing him perform this song on the Jam of the Year tour.When it was over,the guy sitting next to me stood up and shouted "Play your OWN songs,Prince!!"

That's funny!

databank said:

SeventeenDayze said:

This thread might end up in the politics and religion section but I am just wondering why Prince never performed One of Us that much and he hasn't performed it in several years that I know of. What made him do the remake in the first place if he just up and decided that he was hardly going to sing it. I know there are MANY songs that he has that he doesn't perform but given the nature of the song One of Us, I am wondering if he stopped singing it because it was considered as blasphemous by many people. What do you all think? Does Prince regret performing that song?

Name a song from Emancipation that 's been playing since 1998, I'll give u a cookie.

Even Prince doesn't like his music from that era.

databank said:

SeventeenDayze said:

This thread might end up in the politics and religion section but I am just wondering why Prince never performed One of Us that much and he hasn't performed it in several years that I know of. What made him do the remake in the first place if he just up and decided that he was hardly going to sing it. I know there are MANY songs that he has that he doesn't perform but given the nature of the song One of Us, I am wondering if he stopped singing it because it was considered as blasphemous by many people. What do you all think? Does Prince regret performing that song?

Name a song from Emancipation that 's been playing since 1998, I'll give u a cookie.

"The Love We Make" easy

mordang said:

databank said:

Name a song from Emancipation that 's been playing since 1998, I'll give u a cookie.

Even Prince doesn't like his music from that era.

Do you remember if Prince performed the Delfonics cover songs while on the One Night Alone tour? I thought he performed a few of those.

WorldofPeace said:

databank said:

Name a song from Emancipation that 's been playing since 1998, I'll give u a cookie.

"The Love We Make" easy

Thanks for answering that for me

I didn't hate that cover so much, but that cheesy synth sound he used during the chorus made me not want to play it ever..

SeventeenDayze said:

SoulAlive said:

I remember seeing him perform this song on the Jam of the Year tour.When it was over,the guy sitting next to me stood up and shouted "Play your OWN songs,Prince!!"

That's funny!

this guy was pissed that Prince was doing cover versions.During the song,he kept complaining to his girlfriend about it,lol.

thedoorkeeper said:

If I were Prince I would regret that Sheryl Crow cover he did. Yikes that was terrible. Can't even remember the song title. I've tried putting that cover song out of my memory.

I loved that remake. "Every Day Is a Winding Road".

SoulAlive said:

Aerogram said:

SoulAlive said:

this guy was pissed that Prince was doing cover versions.During the song,he kept complaining to his girlfriend about it,lol.

Prince does tend to have fans that can be obsessive compulsive and narrow minded, just like him. That's why we have a couple of entranched armchair managers/producers. There's even some folks that think it all start d to go wrong when Purple Rain was released.

I guess we can assume that we are drawn to singers that reflect a bit of our own selves to a certain extent. I'm sure most on the Org are somehow eccentric and dramatic, just like Prince.

He is not a JW, for so many reasons already discussed in many prior threads. Folks may 'think' he is, but his actions dictate otherwise. Like all things in Princes life, he takes a little bit of this, a little bit of that, throws it into a purple tumbler, and what comes out is law, his law, a law/belief system that works for him. Which is all good imo, whatever floats your boat.

So no, I don't think he regrets that song at all.

The concept of the 3rd Eye alone would be enough for any JW to not associate with him, nor, acknowledge his affiliation to them.

Peace

[Edited 10/14/14 8:16am]

Askani said:

There are 36 tracks on this album. 4 of them covers. THIS is the one you pick out to ask if he regrets recording it because he didn't perform it very often? He performed it a lot more than most of the somgs on that album, most of which have never been performed.

Deleted - langebleu - moderator

I actually really like this cover & not really sure why he would regret covering it based soley on religious reasons, just b/c he's a self proclaimed JW? He's always sung songs that don't fit into their religious beliefs after he labeled himself a JW. It's Prince, he does whatever he wants. I believe Genesia may be onto something...

CynicKill said:

thedoorkeeper said:

If I were Prince I would regret that Sheryl Crow cover he did. Yikes that was terrible. Can't even remember the song title. I've tried putting that cover song out of my memory.

I loved that remake. "Every Day Is a Winding Road".

Me too, but it's a song for happy people, sad people won't get it

mordang said:

databank said:

Name a song from Emancipation that 's been playing since 1998, I'll give u a cookie.

Even Prince doesn't like his music from that era.

It's a mean remark: he hardly played anything newly recorded after 1995, with the notable exception of the ONA tour. I doubt it has much to do with his own appreciation of the music, more with filling stadiums.

WorldofPeace said:

databank said:

Name a song from Emancipation that 's been playing since 1998, I'll give u a cookie.

"The Love We Make" easy

I didn't even know that, but yeah I've just checked and it's been resurrected lately. Good!

thedoorkeeper said:

SuperSoulFighter said:

thedoorkeeper said:

If I were Prince I would regret that Sheryl Crow cover he did. Yikes that was terrible. Can't even remember the song title. I've tried putting that cover song out of my memory.

I've tried too and I succeeded! I really had forgotten about that one and now you bring it back!

Sheryl Crow cover starts off great, then we get a so so chorus, and Larry interrupting at random places. Don't get me wrong, Larry is a great artist, I just don't like when he pops up in Prince songs.

[Edited 10/14/14 10:19am]

databank said:

mordang said:

Even Prince doesn't like his music from that era.

It's a mean remark: he hardly played anything newly recorded after 1995, with the notable exception of the ONA tour. I doubt it has much to do with his own appreciation of the music, more with filling stadiums.

Were some of his remakes popular as well? I think the ONA tour was probably one of his best because he played songs that the die hards can appreciate (or as with the case of most on the Org complain about). I think One of Us is just one of those songs that he may never play again for whatever reason. I don't think he hates the Emancipation album but maybe he doesn't want to be reminded of that time because it's when he was madly in love with Mayte and other life changing events that he experienced at the time.