PurpleSkipper58 said:

Am I the only one who agrees with the lyric, "let's take all the guns away" ? I know guns weren't involved in Freddie Gray's death and all but it IS a major issue!

In a fairy tale that would be great, but in the real world that isn't going to work.

Prince brings up a good point.It's ridiculous how just 'anybody' can get a gun if they really want one.That's a major problem that we need to deal with.For those who disagree,I have a question for you.What if a crazed gunman came to your child's school one day? I know this wasn't the situation in Baltimore,but I'm just sayin.

this thing about his mentioning guns...since when are song lyrics supposed to be taken so literally? Can't a musician sing about what they wish might be, or the way that most people wish things were? Of course, right now, it's not feasible to literally take the guns away. But if every singer only sung about what is possible in the here and now, we'd have a lot fewer great songs in the world. Albums like SOTT or Songs In The Key Of Life wouldn't exist. In fact, some of you might do well to listen to "Village Ghetto Land" and see how a song written almost 40 years ago could apply to many cities in the US today.

motherfunka said:

PurpleSkipper58 said:

Am I the only one who agrees with the lyric, "let's take all the guns away" ? I know guns weren't involved in Freddie Gray's death and all but it IS a major issue!

In a fairy tale that would be great, but in the real world that isn't going to work.

I think that's the point Prince was trying to make. If we all had peace in our hearts, there would be no need for guns. Of course, that's not going to happen, but perhaps he's suggesting this is the world (state of mind) we should be working toward.

motherfunka said:

SuperFurryAnimal said:

SoulAlive said:

Prince brings up a good point.It's ridiculous how just 'anybody' can get a gun if they really want one.That's a major problem that we need to deal with.For those who disagree,I have a question for you.What if a crazed gunman came to your child's school one day? I know this wasn't the situation in Baltimore,but I'm just sayin.

The gun rights people would be happy they had a gun. Let me get this right, because a maniac gets a gun and goes on a killing rampage, you are asking to take away the rights of millions of law abiding citizens? Why not ban alcohol? I could live without it. It kills tons of innocent people? J/K.

There's no easy solution,but I'm uncomfortable with the idea that just anybody can get a gun.

just played baltimore for my wife, she laughed, i knew she would , she said hes so cheesey. then she said enough turn it off lol 2 mins in.

tatocorcu said:

motherfunka said:

In a fairy tale that would be great, but in the real world that isn't going to work.

There's plenty of countries in the real world where only the police, armed forces and hunters with licences have guns

.

and most british cops don't carry guns.

.

Seems like in the US the phrase 'take all the guns away' is synonymous with 'gun control'. Both pro- and anti-gun people seem to assume that 'take all the guns away' means 'take them away from everyone except law enforcement'. This is a weeeird message to put in a song about police brutality... like, so weird that I automatically assumed Prince meant something else. (I assumed he meant that we should take the guns away from everyone, law enforcement included.)

tatocorcu said:

motherfunka said:

In a fairy tale that would be great, but in the real world that isn't going to work.

There's plenty of countries in the real world where only the police, armed forces and hunters with licences have guns

Good for them, but not in this country. If someone wants a gun here, they will get it, even if they have to rob someone else for it.

she killed John Lennon....shot him down cold

she tried to kill Reagan....everybody say "gun control" (gun control!)

Some interesting details about the recording of this song:

http://www.stereogum.com/1800440/prince-baltimore/mp3s/

motherfunka said:

fusk said:

tatocorcu said:

motherfunka said: There's plenty of countries in the real world where only the police, armed forces and hunters with licences have guns

.

and most british cops don't carry guns.

.

Seems like in the US the phrase 'take all the guns away' is synonymous with 'gun control'. Both pro- and anti-gun people seem to assume that 'take all the guns away' means 'take them away from everyone except law enforcement'. This is a weeeird message to put in a song about police brutality... like, so weird that I automatically assumed Prince meant something else. (I assumed he meant that we should take the guns away from everyone, law enforcement included.)

Not necessarily. He's calling for peace, can this be achieved if guns are aimed? Hailing from Canada, I'll never understand why the "right" to bear arms is so precious to some Americans, like it would be a solution in case democracy fails. And it is failing thanks to the vast influence of donors, but guns will never solve the problem, only make it worse.

tatocorcu said:

motherfunka said:

Good for them, but not in this country. If someone wants a gun here, they will get it, even if they have to rob someone else for it.

If anyone wants a gun in any country, they will get it. But normal mums not having a gun in their purse means that two year olds don't shoot them at the supermarket...

Yeah but you can make ti as difficult as possible.

xpertluva said:

Aerogram said:

fusk said:

.

and most british cops don't carry guns.

.

Seems like in the US the phrase 'take all the guns away' is synonymous with 'gun control'. Both pro- and anti-gun people seem to assume that 'take all the guns away' means 'take them away from everyone except law enforcement'. This is a weeeird message to put in a song about police brutality... like, so weird that I automatically assumed Prince meant something else. (I assumed he meant that we should take the guns away from everyone, law enforcement included.)

Not necessarily. He's calling for peace, can this be achieved if guns are aimed? Hailing from Canada, I'll never understand why the "right" to bear arms is so precious to some Americans, like it would be a solution in case democracy fails. And it is failing thanks to the vast influence of donors, but guns will never solve the problem, only make it worse.

.

Hey, I'm Canadian too! Yeah, I can't relate at all to the desire to own a gun. I think Canadians and Americans are more or less the same, but the gun issue seems like a HUGE cultural difference. Nobody up here seems to give a shit about guns.

.

Anyway, I think we're agreeing about the Prince song? I interpret the line to be a general "peace not war" kinda statement. Of course saying "take all the guns away" will strike up a gun control debate, and in that debate, people assume that Prince would leave some guns with the cops. I'm saying that I don't think that is what he means. I agree with you, I think he's just calling for peace.

tatocorcu said:

motherfunka said:

Good for them, but not in this country. If someone wants a gun here, they will get it, even if they have to rob someone else for it.

If anyone wants a gun in any country, they will get it. But normal mums not having a gun in their purse means that two year olds don't shoot them at the supermarket...

That was kind of my point, that it is such a widespread problem now that it would be pretty difficult to stop it now.

Aerogram said:

fusk said:

.

and most british cops don't carry guns.

.

Seems like in the US the phrase 'take all the guns away' is synonymous with 'gun control'. Both pro- and anti-gun people seem to assume that 'take all the guns away' means 'take them away from everyone except law enforcement'. This is a weeeird message to put in a song about police brutality... like, so weird that I automatically assumed Prince meant something else. (I assumed he meant that we should take the guns away from everyone, law enforcement included.)

Not necessarily. He's calling for peace, can this be achieved if guns are aimed? Hailing from Canada, I'll never understand why the "right" to bear arms is so precious to some Americans, like it would be a solution in case democracy fails. And it is failing thanks to the vast influence of donors, but guns will never solve the problem, only make it worse.

I think it boils down to people knowing that a lot of criminals and crazy people have guns and they feel they should have the right to protect themselves. I don't personally own a gun, but I can understand why some do.

motherfunka said:

So they're playing 'Family Name' on the PA. Also played 'Act of God' before that. Bold

motherfunka said:

nosajd said:

7thday said:

You can't un-invent gun powder. The knowledge of how to make a gun is forever with us. And just how do you take away all the guns? With guns, or more sophisticated weapons? It just sounds fascist to me. I grew up on 60s-70s poiltical theatre, but I just think saying "Let's take away the guns" is simplistic and naive. I don't like guns, but just how do you get rid of them, realistically?

You don't, you can't, it's impossible, it's an ideological POV, plain and simple. But I wish they could be taken away regardless...

I sincerely wish they could be taken away too. But again, how?

Prince should use his music to tell the voters of Baltimore to stop voting for Democrats. Baltimore has been run by the Dems since 1971. Let's start there.

Chosen said:

Prince should use his music to tell the voters of Baltimore to stop voting for Democrats. Baltimore has been run by the Dems since 1971. Let's start there.

SNIP -OF4S

SoulAlive said:

Chosen said:

Prince should use his music to tell the voters of Baltimore to stop voting for Democrats. Baltimore has been run by the Dems since 1971. Let's start there.

and what's the alternative? Voting for Republicans....a party that only cares about one group of people?

SNIP -OF4S

Chosen said:

SoulAlive said:

SNIP -OF4S

SNIP -OF4S

SNIP -OF4S