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Thread started 07/20/15 7:06am

Mandingo

Do we read too much into Prince songs

I dated a Dutch artist once.

I did. nod

One day she showed me a painting of her breasts in barb wire.

So I asked her "Is that a representation of how women are both exploited and restricted at the same time by men who use their sexuality as both amusement for their own male ego as well as oppression to soothe their own male insecurities"

"No" she said. "It's some tits in barb wire".

I reckon folk read too much into Prince music.

Maybe Purple Rain is about a 20 something year old Prince wanting to see a woman get soaked in purple colored rain. go figure neutral

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Reply #1 posted 07/20/15 7:12am

billymeade

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Maybe. Though I firmly believe "We Gets Up" is, in fact, about gets'ing up.

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Reply #2 posted 07/20/15 7:17am

Mandingo

I don't see people reading too much into other great masterpieces like 'Dick in a Box'

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Reply #3 posted 07/20/15 7:22am

XxAxX

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i dunno, think the lyrics just mean what they mean. that's how i read them, anyway. for example the song Man O War, i believe, comes from the time prince was stung on the beach by a jellyfish. from the lyrics, i'd guess that sucker hurt like a b1tch!

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Reply #4 posted 07/20/15 7:27am

Mandingo

XxAxX said:

i dunno, think the lyrics just mean what they mean. that's how i read them, anyway. for example the song Man O War, i believe, comes from the time prince was stung on the beach by a jellyfish. from the lyrics, i'd guess that sucker hurt like a b1tch!

I agree.

Like that line in Friend,lover,sister, mother, wife.. namely "Friend,lover,sister, mother, wife."

I think Prince was actually dating someone who was his Friend,lover,sister, mother & wife due to inbreeding or something. I don't judge

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Reply #5 posted 07/20/15 8:03am

givegoodlove

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Idk... I do tend to believe that that is exactly what it sounds like when doves cry
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Reply #6 posted 07/20/15 8:21am

iZsaZsa

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Sometimes too much. Sometimes not enough. Did he really get his head blown on Do Me Baby? Some people think so.
What?
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Reply #7 posted 07/20/15 9:04am

XxAxX

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Mandingo said:

XxAxX said:

i dunno, think the lyrics just mean what they mean. that's how i read them, anyway. for example the song Man O War, i believe, comes from the time prince was stung on the beach by a jellyfish. from the lyrics, i'd guess that sucker hurt like a b1tch!

I agree.

Like that line in Friend,lover,sister, mother, wife.. namely "Friend,lover,sister, mother, wife."

I think Prince was actually dating someone who was his Friend,lover,sister, mother & wife due to inbreeding or something. I don't judge

nod mm hmm. i'm not sure why folks try to complicate things with lyrical 'in-ter-pre-tations'.

an apple is an apple, an orange is an orange, and when prince sings about having lions in his pocket ready to roar i believe him. although, i do have to question his judgment somewhat. for example, that's gotta be a really a big pocket and the lion would have to be declawed. i think prince is morally opposed to declawing lions? and besides, wouldn't a chipmunk fit in his pocket more easily? use a chipmunk and everyone would be more comfortable that way, imo. but prince thinks epic. must be hard to be him.

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Reply #8 posted 07/20/15 10:04am

KingSausage

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Is there really a door #pants?
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #9 posted 07/20/15 11:32am

jaawwnn

Prince is known to drop secret meanings into songs, even if they're just utter mystical nonsense. He'll deny every reading down to the ground anyway.

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Reply #10 posted 07/20/15 12:42pm

Mandingo

If you play Jughead backwards it says 'fuck you music!'
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Reply #11 posted 07/20/15 12:53pm

XxAxX

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Mandingo said:

If you play Jughead backwards it says 'fuck you music!'

i like that he is direct to his audience, even when it hurts. because even when he sings hurtful lyrics, i know he is coming from a place of love, and only wants me to be the best i can be. personally, i went on a strict exercise and diet regimen the summer prince released that song little red corset, baby you're just too fat for me. god bless you prince, your words inspire me.

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Reply #12 posted 07/20/15 1:49pm

mikeyaddict

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KingSausage said:

Is there really a door #pants?

yes, and behind that door is the new double a side, tits in barbed wire and dick in a box. new music for the summer of 2016.

Comin str8 outta Preston...
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Reply #13 posted 07/20/15 2:20pm

dopedog

I believe Prince's pocket IS big enough to hold a lion, as his pants are also big enough for racecars to burn rubber in. He just disguises them very well, with mirrors and stuff.
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Reply #14 posted 07/20/15 3:24pm

KingSausage

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That bench that he normally uses for the weights? Yeah, it's the weight of the Israel-Palestine conflict on his shoulders.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #15 posted 07/20/15 3:58pm

OldFriends4Sal
e

Sometimes. I think people go to far with stuff. Like people who think he has sex with every woman he's been associated with...

I don't think he really means playing a tambourine in the song Tambourine

Power Fantastic is about Masturbation and the mysteries of Life and God

Star Fish & Coffee???

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Reply #16 posted 07/20/15 4:59pm

KingSausage

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OldFriends4Sale said:



Sometimes. I think people go to far with stuff. Like people who think he has sex with every woman he's been associated with...



I don't think he really means playing a tambourine in the song Tambourine


Power Fantastic is about Masturbation and the mysteries of Life and God


Star Fish & Coffee???




Starfish = tits
Coffee = tits
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #17 posted 07/20/15 5:52pm

OldFriends4Sal
e

KingSausage said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Sometimes. I think people go to far with stuff. Like people who think he has sex with every woman he's been associated with...

I don't think he really means playing a tambourine in the song Tambourine

Power Fantastic is about Masturbation and the mysteries of Life and God

Star Fish & Coffee???

Starfish = tits Coffee = tits

whhhhaaaaaatt????

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Reply #18 posted 07/20/15 6:33pm

free2bfreeda

no harm explicating prince's poetry that has been morphed into lyrics, that ride over a genius musical composition. however imo it's not necessary.

it's been like a cool enjoyment and learning ride with prince.

his magnificent, creative and non intimidating musical scores, along with (courageous pa-dow and ) a mega-originality and indelible rhythmic verbiage.

reading

like i'll take 'little red corvette for an example,

one does not have to read "too much" while listening and dancing to get into the songs profundity.

imo most of prince' lyrics leave little room for explicative debates, especially if the listener is listening.

[Edited 7/20/15 21:41pm]

“Transracial is a term that has long since been defined as the adoption of a child that is of a different race than the adoptive parents,” : https://thinkprogress.org...fb6e18544a
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Reply #19 posted 07/20/15 9:30pm

FreeSpirit

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lol These are good.....
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Reply #20 posted 07/21/15 1:46am

LittlePurpleYo
da

Prince isn't a poet. At least a very good one. While he's written some great songs, it's t's only with rare exception that he's written truly engaging & meaningful lyrics. Going too deep into the words is a waste of time.

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Reply #21 posted 07/21/15 4:46am

Mandingo

How I see Shocadelica lyrics:

.

The lights go out- P turned off some lights
The lights go out, the smell of doom- P turned off more lights and sharted a little
Is creepin' into your lonely room- the whiff of the shart goes into the room next to P's
The bed's on fire, your fate is sealed- P was smoking a joint, set alight the bed and now will have to face up to consequences
And you're so tired- Sharting is exhaustive
And the reason is Camille-mille- P's friend Camille cooked him a dodgy tofu curry

.

.

How a Prince fanatic sees Shocadelica

.

The lights go out- an expression of death over life then death again like a phoenix rising from its ashes
blah blah blah..

neutral
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Reply #22 posted 07/22/15 11:44am

databank

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Mandingo said:

I dated a Dutch artist once.

I did. nod

One day she showed me a painting of her breasts in barb wire.

So I asked her "Is that a representation of how women are both exploited and restricted at the same time by men who use their sexuality as both amusement for their own male ego as well as oppression to soothe their own male insecurities"

"No" she said. "It's some tits in barb wire".

I reckon folk read too much into Prince music.

Maybe Purple Rain is about a 20 something year old Prince wanting to see a woman get soaked in purple colored rain. go figure neutral

When I was in hi skool the French literature teacher made us study Baudelaire and try n figure out all the metaphors and shit, and one of my classmates asked "m'am r u sure he really meant all that stuff?" and she replied "in most cases we'll never know what he meant to tell and we therefore don't care, what we care about is what his texts are saying, i.e. what we can read into them". She wasn't training us to understand Baudelaire as a poet, she was training us to develop our analytic skills in order to understand as many possible interpretations of Baudelaire's texts.

.

As a poetry writer myself, I've had some people reading some stuff in my writing that I'd never put there and some others miss hints that I thought were pretty obvious and yet some other getting my point exactly while I felt the poem was pretty cryptic for anyone but myself. I always keep in mind what that teacher says and then it all makes sense.

.

Same with Prince and your Dutch artist smile

A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #23 posted 07/22/15 1:05pm

Mandingo

databank said:



Mandingo said:


I dated a Dutch artist once.


I did. nod


One day she showed me a painting of her breasts in barb wire.


So I asked her "Is that a representation of how women are both exploited and restricted at the same time by men who use their sexuality as both amusement for their own male ego as well as oppression to soothe their own male insecurities"


"No" she said. "It's some tits in barb wire".



I reckon folk read too much into Prince music.



Maybe Purple Rain is about a 20 something year old Prince wanting to see a woman get soaked in purple colored rain. go figure neutral



When I was in hi skool the French literature teacher made us study Baudelaire and try n figure out all the metaphors and shit, and one of my classmates asked "m'am r u sure he really meant all that stuff?" and she replied "in most cases we'll never know what he meant to tell and we therefore don't care, what we care about is what his texts are saying, i.e. what we can read into them". She wasn't training us to understand Baudelaire as a poet, she was training us to develop our analytic skills in order to understand as many possible interpretations of Baudelaire's texts.


.


As a poetry writer myself, I've had some people reading some stuff in my writing that I'd never put there and some others miss hints that I thought were pretty obvious and yet some other getting my point exactly while I felt the poem was pretty cryptic for anyone but myself. I always keep in mind what that teacher says and then it all makes sense.


.


Same with Prince and your Dutch artist smile


kinda like the gold white or blue black dress right. We all interpret the same thing in different ways
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Reply #24 posted 07/22/15 1:37pm

KingSausage

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It was black and blue.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #25 posted 07/22/15 3:57pm

Mandingo

KingSausage said:

It was black and blue.

Except it was white n gold
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Reply #26 posted 07/23/15 4:55pm

XxAxX

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that song pretzelbodylogic is clearly about playing twister. nod i knew right away, even though some people here were saying it was about something else.

.

it's pretty easy to tell the song is about fitness. because, a person cannot deny that prince is physically fit. here on the ORG we know the secret to his youthful good looks is that he eats pancakes, rides bikes, plays ping pong and plays twister with the 3EYE gals. twister is a lot like yoga when you really think about it.

.

[Edited 7/23/15 16:56pm]

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Forums > Prince: Music and More > Do we read too much into Prince songs