toejam said:

7. Evilution

This actually sounds real, like Democrazy.

jwar said:

Let's just please stop trying to put people (Prince included) into a box.

As a side note: I'm more concerned with the lyric that was changed and the reasons for it. Changing "cross", the central message of Christianity, to generic "truth" is a bad decision. BAD decision.

Mixed message there me thinks.

[Edited 3/13/15 3:59am]

This is MOR crap that none of you would give one fuck about if Prince wasn't involved.

.

2020 said:

SchlomoThaHomo said:

"What if you're wrong?" Promoting Christianity by use of fear is the oldest trick in the book. Also, this song is corny as fuck, trying to be deep. Thumbs down.

promoting Christianity by fear....please

Its a great uplifiting song! For those that get it great! For the others...welcome to the org

.

We get it. It's you that didn't get it.

EddieC said:

So you're making a bet on a horse--and if it comes in, you win. But what if the other horse comes in? (and what if there's no actual race anyway?)

.

Exactly. An atheist doesn't believe in thousands, millions of gods. A religious person doesn't believe in any of those gods either, except for one.

.

Personally, I've got to say I think "One of Us" is tons better--at least in part because the speaker there doesn't come from a position of KNOWING--and the speaker in this song is sure they're right, and is only playing at the What If. You're damned if you don't agree, and there isn't the slightest possibility that they've chosen the wrong set of things to believe.

.

Exactly.

jwar said:

Why all the hate and bitterness? Why is there no appreciation?

.

People aren't allowed to dislike something?

.

Does the world really need another variation of DMSR? Do we really need more crude / dirty lyrics?

.

Nice strawman you got there. Made it yourself, I see.

jwar said:

Let's just please stop trying to put people (Prince included) into a box.

As a side note: I'm more concerned with the lyric that was changed and the reasons for it. Changing "cross", the central message of Christianity, to generic "truth" is a bad decision. BAD decision.

This SONG is putting people into a box! Some lyrics...

What if you dig
Way down deeper
Than your
Simple-minded friends

Perhaps I misunderstand this but to me they sing that true Christians find/know the right answers and everybody else is simple minded?!

lezama said:

artist76 said:

I'm confused about Prince's JW-ness nowadays - the mention of "the cross" and Jesus in this song point to conventional Christian - I thought he was still JW ("stauros" nonsense, and that Jesus is not Lord/God, but a creation like the Angels).

Based on the type of things she posts on social media I believe this track was something Hannah brought to the table as opposed to it being some Prince discovered on his own. It just seems completely her type of vibe, message and musician and that's why he chose to debut it for her homecoming shows.

.

Im not christian but i dont mind the lyrics at all on this. And upon listenin to it a few times I love the full sound of the song. I hope the next 3EG album is more fuller and studio sounding like this.

Actually, in the radio interview just before the premiere Hannah said that Prince heard it while he was driving around and brought it to the group.

The guitar and Prinçe's vocals are great.

After a few more listens it is overwhelmingly disappointing..

.

The song is BS. Way to start nailing the coffin to your greatness.

jwar said:

As a Christian, I'm not crazy about the song, but I like the questions that it raises.

.
What questions does it raise? "What if you're wrong?" - That's it? Sorry, but this is like trying to argue a point by saying "I know you are but what am I?!". As Richard Dawkins once said in response to a similar question from a young Christian - What if we're all wrong about the great JuJu under the sea? If us non-Christians are wrong, then it means that we miss out on heaven right? Or, depending on the brand of Christianity in question, we face eternal suffering in hell.

Does the world really need another variation of DMSR? Do we really need more crude / dirty lyrics?

.
No. But don't think that those of us who don't like the track would necessarily prefer that. I would love for Prince to write something deep and meaningful. Unfortunately, that's not what this is. I would take another DMSR over this. But not at the expense of a better deep-and-meaningful than this shallow attempt.
.

Let's just please stop trying to put people (Prince included) into a box.

.
No one's trying to do that.

.

As a side note: I'm more concerned with the lyric that was changed and the reasons for it. Changing "cross", the central message of Christianity, to generic "truth" is a bad decision. BAD decision.

.
A Bad decision?? But what if you're wrong??

I'd prefer it without Princes vocals. It doesn't suit his voice at all. They put a lot of effort into a mediocre song. I dont hate Hannahs voice - fine pop vocal. Music is fine too. Fine is not a word I want to be using for a Prince track.

I wish he would collaborate with people who are at a level to challenge his skill set instead of people he is essentially mentoring.
I could care less about the lyrics at this point. I'd take the most religious song in the world if it was actually worth hearing. I've listened to gospel that moved me to tears - and I'm not a religious person. Just stop with the mediocrity and commit to something.

Zannaloaf said:

I'd prefer it without Princes vocals. It doesn't suit his voice at all. They put a lot of effort into a mediocre song. I dont hate Hannahs voice - fine pop vocal. Music is fine too. Fine is not a word I want to be using for a Prince track.

I wish he would collaborate with people who are at a level to challenge his skill set instead of people he is essentially mentoring.
I could care less about the lyrics at this point. I'd take the most religious song in the world if it was actually worth hearing. I've listened to gospel that moved me to tears - and I'm not a religious person. Just stop with the mediocrity and commit to something.

Of course you do...

Zannaloaf said:

Better Than most of the songs on PE except Anotherlove.

On the other side, in my ears PE is a crap album anyway...

Besides, why all those covers?

Bambi82 said:

lezama said:

Based on the type of things she posts on social media I believe this track was something Hannah brought to the table as opposed to it being some Prince discovered on his own. It just seems completely her type of vibe, message and musician and that's why he chose to debut it for her homecoming shows.

.

Im not christian but i dont mind the lyrics at all on this. And upon listenin to it a few times I love the full sound of the song. I hope the next 3EG album is more fuller and studio sounding like this.

Actually, in the radio interview just before the premiere Hannah said that Prince heard it while he was driving around and brought it to the group.

The guitar and Prinçe's vocals are great.

Oh ok.. thanks for the clarification. I didnt hear that.

BartVanHemelen said:

toejam said:

.

As a side note: I'm more concerned with the lyric that was changed and the reasons for it. Changing "cross", the central message of Christianity, to generic "truth" is a bad decision. BAD decision.

.
A Bad decision?? But what if you're wrong??

Ahyes! New stuff from Prince! Always eager to listen to whatever he's doing these days. I gotta say, I listened to the original song first.. well the first few minutes of it at least, until I couldn't take it anymore, and needless to say I didn't have high hopes for this one.

I listened to P's version anyway, and it did sound much better than the original. A bit more edgy, especially in the early bit of the song.

Having said all this, I think the lyrics are absolutely awful. lol. Is this the line of thinking it takes to be a Christian nowadays? Let's have a look at them:

What if you're right?
He was just another nice guy.
What if you're right?

What if it's true?
They say the truth will only make a fool of you.
What if that's true?

What if He takes His place in history with all the prophets and the kings
who taught us love and came in peace, but then the story ends?

What then?

Apparently this is addressing someone who believes that the bible account is true in a historical sense. So anyone who believes none of the stuff in the bible actually ever happened can stop listening here, since you're not being addressed.

And it's a bit funny that Prince had to change the word 'Cross' into 'Truth', since JW's don't believe in the cross, but that Jesus was executed on a stake. They make a big issue out of this, so he can't say 'cross'. lol

But what if you're wrong?
What if there's more?
What if there's hope you've never dreamed of hoping for?

What if I'm wrong? What if YOU're wrong! You've spent all your life believing in a myth, praying to a non-existent god, having false hope for 'more', forgetting to see what's actually here already. Hope is a source of pain. It renders the current moment as it is invalid, and makes you long for the moment when all your wishes are granted, making your happyness conditional. It's a mirage.

What if there's more? More than what? Isn't life as it is miraculous enough for you? Do you always need more?

What if you jump?
Just close your eyes.
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He's more than enough?
What if it's love?

If it's the kind of love that needs to be believed in first to be there to catch you, then it's conditional love, which in fact isn't love at all. Ofcourse Christianity implies that if you don't believe, you'll be doomed for hell for eternity. So it's also a stick and carrot kind of deal, which again has nothing to do with love, but everything with fear and oppression. I don't think I wanna fall into the arms of such a being, thank you very much.

What if you dig way down deeper
than your simple-minded friends?
What if you dig?

Ok this is getting pretty blatant now. Christians are the smart ones who dig deep, apparently, and the rest of the world (over 2 thirds, conservatively) are simple minded people who aren't Christians because they aren't 'digging deep'. This is exclusivism at it's worst. Because even if you tell Christians of this ilk that you did dig deep, but simply drew a different conclusion than they did, that just won't land. It's the 'not a true Scotsman' fallacy.

What if you find a hundred thousand more unanswered questions down inside?

Indeed. And what if those answers are different from the Christian theology?

That's all you find?

What if you pick apart the logic and begin to poke the holes?
What if the crown of thorns is no more than folklore that must be told
and re-told, and re-told?

What if the talking donkey and the talking snake we find in the bible are nothing but folklore. Or the diverse dragons and leviathans the bible talks about? Or how about a wooden boat crammed with all species of animals of the world? A guy spending a few days in the intestins of a fish? Or how bout God striking a deal with the devil to see how much they can pester a guy before he loses his faith? Sound like folklore to you? It does to me!

Why does your god need a crown of thorns and a cross anyway? Why does he need someone to suffer for the 'sin' that someone else committed? Why are we still stuck with that one transgression? Couldn't he just forgive? Isn't that what a loving God would do? But no, he needs to send himself as his son to the world to die a horrible death so he can forgive us for something we can't be blamed for in the first place...

From here on it's just a repeat of the same religious nonsense again.

So yeah.. not very impressed with the lyrics. They sound culty and preachy to me.

Comeon P, you're smarter than this.. I hope!

[Edited 3/13/15 6:11am]

murphdrag said:

mikeyaddict said:

A bit religious tho...

So what? Deal with it.

You know, my point exactly. Too many God-hating folks on this site. Who is the group that has a hit with this song "Take me to Church" but ppl can't take P's references to God....

datdude said:

murphdrag said:

So what? Deal with it.

You know, my point exactly. Too many God-hating folks on this site. Who is the group that has a hit with this song "Take me to Church" but ppl can't take P's references to God....

It's all in the lyrics, read'm, know'm, that's the difference. Also, it's a much better song than this 3EG BS!

.

Take me to church, I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies

.

Hozier

.

My lover's got humour
She's the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody's disapproval
I should've worshipped her sooner
If the Heavens ever did speak
She is the last true mouthpiece
Every Sunday's getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week
'We were born sick,' you heard them say it
My church offers no absolutes
She tells me 'worship in the bedroom'
The only heaven I'll be sent to
Is when I'm alone with you
I was born sick, but I love it
Command me to be well
Amen. Amen. Amen

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice
To drain the whole sea
Get something shiny
Something meaty for the main course
That's a fine looking high horse
What you got in the stable?
We've a lot of starving faithful
That looks tasty
That looks plenty
This is hungry work

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

No masters or kings when the ritual begins
There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin
In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am human
Only then I am clean
Amen. Amen. Amen

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

[Edited 3/13/15 6:28am]

oh lawd. prince is done. constantly brainwashed since larry graham... that was it.

(the original version is a nightmare...)

[Edited 3/13/15 6:31am]

the point i am making is about CONTENT and partiality. though most God haters here are too unaware and proud in their unbelief to admi it, a HUGE part of why they hate this song is because of its content. its been countless threads about him ditching his faith and how "we" want/need nasty Prince back. I don't need a post of the other song i referenced lyrics to make a point i WASN'T making.

datdude said:

the point i am making is about CONTENT and partiality. though most God haters here are too unaware and proud in their unbelief to admi it, a HUGE part of why they hate this song is because of its content. its been countless threads about him ditching his faith and how "we" want/need nasty Prince back. I don't need a post of the other song i referenced lyrics to make a point i WASN'T making.

I am no God hater, I believe in God, but I don't believe in preaching to 'simple minded' people with this arrogant POV. Write a good f'ing song intead of talking down to people b/c you think your religion is right. Truth is no one 'knows' sh!t about God, but they/we 'believe' what we will. There's nothing wrong with having faith, I'm all for it, but asking 'what if you're wrong' is a sh!tty condescending msg to assume that you're right & I'm wrong based on nothing except your word over mine. There's nothing uplifting about this song, it proposes what if non-believers are wrong, well, what it they're not, as the beginning of the song stated, what if they're right? It's stupid!.

.

My point in posting the lyrics was to back up your argument of content, Hozier has a better song, better written, more emotion, more down to earth & better delivered no matter how many auto-tuned & guitar effects you have in a poorly written song.

datdude said:

SquirrelMeat said:

PurpleSkipper58 said:

He doesn't need auto tune, why is he using it? Doesn't make sense

Prince has been playing with his voice electronically for 33 years. Why is it a problem now?

Autotune is a completely different beast than the many methods he has used to alter his voice in the past. Autotune scrapes my brain and makes me soul cry. Give me a vocoder or speed up/slow down the vocals but save the autotune for those without talent (T Pain, Kanye, etc., etc...)

Also, people like to talk about how some sounds in music date the music and tie it to a certain time period. Just wait a couple decades. Autotune will be the sound that dates this era. (Well, that, and squashed distorted levels that are harsh and eliminate all peaks and valleys in the music.)

djThunderfunk said:

Payt said:

Ahyes! New stuff from Prince! Always eager to listen to whatever he's doing these days. I gotta say, I listened to the original song first.. well the first few minutes of it at least, until I couldn't take it anymore, and needless to say I didn't have high hopes for this one.

I listened to P's version anyway, and it did sound much better than the original. A bit more edgy, especially in the early bit of the song.

Having said all this, I think the lyrics are absolutely awful. lol. Is this the line of thinking it takes to be a Christian nowadays? Let's have a look at them:

What if you're right?
He was just another nice guy.
What if you're right?

What if it's true?
They say the truth will only make a fool of you.
What if that's true?

What if He takes His place in history with all the prophets and the kings
who taught us love and came in peace, but then the story ends?

What then?

Apparently this is addressing someone who believes that the bible account is true in a historical sense. So anyone who believes none of the stuff in the bible actually ever happened can stop listening here, since you're not being addressed.

And it's a bit funny that Prince had to change the word 'Cross' into 'Truth', since JW's don't believe in the cross, but that Jesus was executed on a stake. They make a big issue out of this, so he can't say 'cross'. lol

But what if you're wrong?
What if there's more?
What if there's hope you've never dreamed of hoping for?

What if I'm wrong? What if YOU're wrong! You've spent all your life believing in a myth, praying to a non-existent god, having false hope for 'more', forgetting to see what's actually here already. Hope is a source of pain. It renders the current moment as it is invalid, and makes you long for the moment when all your wishes are granted, making your happyness conditional. It's a mirage.

What if there's more? More than what? Isn't life as it is miraculous enough for you? Do you always need more?

What if you jump?
Just close your eyes.
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He's more than enough?
What if it's love?

If it's the kind of love that needs to be believed in first to be there to catch you, then it's conditional love, which in fact isn't love at all. Ofcourse Christianity implies that if you don't believe, you'll be doomed for hell for eternity. So it's also a stick and carrot kind of deal, which again has nothing to do with love, but everything with fear and oppression. I don't think I wanna fall into the arms of such a being, thank you very much.

What if you dig way down deeper
than your simple-minded friends?
What if you dig?

Ok this is getting pretty blatant now. Christians are the smart ones who dig deep, apparently, and the rest of the world (over 2 thirds, conservatively) are simple minded people who aren't Christians because they aren't 'digging deep'. This is exclusivism at it's worst. Because even if you tell Christians of this ilk that you did dig deep, but simply drew a different conclusion than they did, that just won't land. It's the 'not a true Scotsman' fallacy.

What if you find a hundred thousand more unanswered questions down inside?

Indeed. And what if those answers are different from the Christian theology?

That's all you find?

What if you pick apart the logic and begin to poke the holes?
What if the crown of thorns is no more than folklore that must be told
and re-told, and re-told?

What if the talking donkey and the talking snake we find in the bible are nothing but folklore. Or the diverse dragons and leviathans the bible talks about? Or how about a wooden boat crammed with all species of animals of the world? A guy spending a few days in the intestins of a fish? Or how bout God striking a deal with the devil to see how much they can pester a guy before he loses his faith? Sound like folklore to you? It does to me!

Why does your god need a crown of thorns and a cross anyway? Why does he need someone to suffer for the 'sin' that someone else committed? Why are we still stuck with that one transgression? Couldn't he just forgive? Isn't that what a loving God would do? But no, he needs to send himself as his son to the world to die a horrible death so he can forgive us for something we can't be blamed for in the first place...

From here on it's just a repeat of the same religious nonsense again.

So yeah.. not very impressed with the lyrics. They sound culty and preachy to me.

Comeon P, you're smarter than this.. I hope!

Thanks for posting Payt! There's a reason why P & #3 sound so culty and preachy, that's the Prince camp for ya...I wouldn't want to get too close to them or their beliefs.

I bet they feel this song and the message is the best thing ever. They're so full of it, culty and preachy...it's kinda scary and creepy to be honest...

[Edited 3/13/15 8:57am]

Prince does Hannah a disservice by putting her on lead vocals. She is a good drummer and tries hard, so this is not her fault. Prince is supposed to be the gold standard for music, but he puts someone singing lead on his songs that is subpar at vocals. The result is that it really ruins his brand.

He has given us so much good music that it is hard to ruin his brand completely, but these kinds of moves late in his career will taint his legacy a bit.

I like the message of the song. I like the music. It is not a masterpiece. But, Prince's decision to put a subpar vocalist on the record means that I will probably listen to it three more times and never listen to it again.

What a great song:


Despite most of you purple girls & boys seems to be really negative - I am still loving this new track.

I really like it as much as I like "One Of Us", another religious type of song that you know Prince ( ) covered in 1996.

"What If".... yeah I love this song, it is a lot better then most of the stuff on PlectrumElectrum, imho...

Good Lord, why so much hate out there for this song? It's obvious this is Prince doing a side group project thing with 3rdEyeGirl. Remember this is not Prince but a collaboration of Prince with his side band. So yeah Hannah is into Christian rock music. Good for her. I am not a big fan of this type of music. I give it 5 out of 10. It's eh. Yes as most people have already noted Prince vocals are on point and his guitar playing excellent as usual. And Hannah just drags the song down.

But the song is not that preachy to me. After all the song is called What If? It's not saying their beliefs are true. They are questioning themselves and asking ourselves to question ourselves as well. I wish everybody would just relax and let this song sink into obscurity like a lot of PE. I like about 3 songs on that album but like AOA from start to finish.


In the end let him do what he wants to do as he wants. He has that right. When I saw him in concert with 3EG Prince was all funk and rock and the music was great. He had his funky horn section intact and didn't mess around with any bad 3EG stuff. I believe he does songs like this to help the girls grow thier career not his.

Would you people stop using those idiotic terms like "hater" or "hate" when people disagree with you? If you cannot make a legitimate case or opinion, don't bother but calling others a "hater" for any reason is just plain childish.

[Edited 3/13/15 7:38am]

vinaysfunk said:

Good Lord, why so much hate out there for this song? It's obvious this is Prince doing a side group project thing with 3rdEyeGirl. Remember this is not Prince but a collaboration of Prince with his side band. So yeah Hannah is into Christian rock music. Good for her. I am not a big fan of this type of music. I give it 5 out of 10. It's eh. Yes as most people have already noted Prince vocals are on point and his guitar playing excellent as usual. And Hannah just drags the song down.

But the song is not that preachy to me. After all the song is called What If? It's not saying their beliefs are true. They are questioning themselves and asking ourselves to question ourselves as well. I wish everybody would just relax and let this song sink into obscurity like a lot of PE. I like about 3 songs on that album but like AOA from start to finish.


In the end let him do what he wants to do as he wants. He has that right. When I saw him in concert with 3EG Prince was all funk and rock and the music was great. He had his funky horn section intact and didn't mess around with any bad 3EG stuff. I believe he does songs like this to help the girls grow thier career not his.

Yeah it's called 'what if', but never asks the question 'What if I'M wrong?', but just 'what if YOU"RE wrong'. It's an old trick religion plays with people to scare people into churches, also known as Pascals' wager. It's not questioning THEIR beliefs, but YOURS as a non-Christian.

As a Christian you're not supposed to ever question your beliefs.. not really. See, questioning your beliefs is tantamount to doubt or unbelief, and you know what the result of that is. After all: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' 23"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.''

So nope, doubting beliefs is not a big thing within Christianity

[Edited 3/13/15 7:53am]