A blow job doesn’t mean blow

We don’t give a damn, we just wanna jam!

The deep pronounced bass line, the funky guitar riffs, the striking falsetto and the ingenious lyrics of these last 2 songs, Sister and Partyup is what separates DIRTY MIND AS A MASTERPIECE, an album that delves deep both musically and poetically regarding the struggle to survive despite miseducation and oppression. The final 2 songs are the climax to one of the greatest treasures in the history of music by punctuating the theme of one of the greatest albums of all time, Dirty Mind: Freedom through sexual revolution!

What makes the final track, Partyup even more legendary is the lead-in, Sister.

Sister, maybe Prince’s most powerful one minute and 30 seconds he ever wrote! Sister, a song about a tortured soul who is confused over the anguish and pain he suffers from an impossible situation to understand…‘Incest is everything it’s said to be’ --Purposefully vague and ambiguous because there is no making sense of a nonsensical situation. That line sums it up because the ramifications of molestation can’t be comprehended or understood by anyone.

The angst and uncomfortable fast, almost bouncy paced rhythm parallels the angst in the message of the song. What makes this song legendary powerfully is how striking it is: boys molested by older girls don’t receive the same amount of empathy and patience and understanding as the contrary. A song about a sister (32 year old) who molests her brother (16 yrs old) by using sadomasochism in teaching her brother how to make love ‘She took a whip to me until I shout, Oh Mutherfucker! Just a motherfucker can’t you understand?!’ yet the boy suffers from not wanting to make love to anyone other than his abusive older sister ‘Don’t put me on the street again and make me blue’. The male is helpless in this situation, much like the male is helpless in war, Prince’s next song Partyup showing how males are forcibly assigned a position of inferiority.

To me, SisteràPartyup is one song but I think Prince made it into 2 songs because of the diverse nature of the lyrical poetry. But why would he tell us this story?? Are we supposed to feel pain, anger, sympathy or remorse or is Prince trying to raise alertness about incest? It doesn’t matter, because Prince does what he wants to do. That’s what makes him the legend he is. Prince uses Sister to create an unnerving yielding desire for revolution which he culminates in Partyup. He would later revisit this them in ‘1999’ and ‘Crystal Ball.’ Prince again speaks of the struggle to survive despite oppression and miseducation with politicians…’all lies no truth is it fair to kill the youth.’ Ending with ‘you’re gonna have to fight your own damn war (sexual molestation as well as being a soldier) cause we don’t wanna fight no more.’

These final 2 songs off Dirty Mind cemented Prince as one of the most controversial poetically and musically gifted musicians in the history of the world.

They're both great especially Sister, just Prince could make a incest theme song in just one minute and couple of seconds.

Se7en said:

I'll give you that prince writing 'Sister' is controversial, but Morris Day wrote Partyup.

I forgot about that! Partyup is amazzzing!!!

Se7en said:

I'll give you that prince writing 'Sister' is controversial, but Morris Day wrote Partyup.

What (according to the stories) did Morris write? I've seen references to "the groove"--so that leaves Prince responsible for the lyrics and, I assume, the melody.

I accept that Prince has taken other people's work from time to time without attribution--but part of a song isn't the whole song, and most of the time I suspect that what he took was a relatively small part of the whole.

I've never cared much for Sister--sure, it's got controversial lyrics, but honestly who cares? It's just ridiculous, a "shocking" story squealed maniacally at a breakneck pace. Partyup probably does benefit from the lead-in, but only because it stands out as so much better than Sister, since it actually has a groove and wants you to understand it's lyrics. It wouldn't have in comparison to much of the rest of the album.

Or at least, that's how I see it.

I always thought it said.... "a blow job is a mean blow".

In his book "I Would Die 4 U", Toure suggests that "Sister" might actually be one of Prince's most personal songs...!

crenshaw said:

In his book "I Would Die 4 U", Toure suggests that "Sister" might actually be one of Prince's most personal songs...!

it's gotta be... the lyrics are too real... maybe it was a friend of his who he knew... how much older was Prince's sister?

From Toure's book, pp. 89-90:

"Prince has three older half-sisters and it's known that he lived in Manhattan with one of them, Sharon, while he was a teenager searching for a record deal. Sharon is sixteen years older than Prince. In the song, he says he was sixteen and his sister was thirty-two. Friends told me he was closer to Sharon than his other siblings. No one knows if this story of incest is real or not. If it's not, it's evidence of Prince's lurid imagination and the way he performs identity and constructs himself to be more lewd and screwed up than he actually is. But, if it is a true story, then, well, that's messed up. Either way, we begin to see why Prince became the sexual being that he is.

"The lyric that makes this one of the most important songs in the Prince canon, and far more than just an exercise in shock value, is this: 'She's the reason for my, uh, sexuality.' He's saying this story is key to understanding Prince, whether it's true or not, he wants it to be a central part of his past, or part of the mythology that he's creating, and thus a seminal part of what he wants you to think about him. But is it true? In 1983 Prince told Rock & Soul magazine, 'Sister is pretty self-explanatory. It's not pro-incest and it's not a negative song about incest. It's just an experience. It should not be taken any other way than that. It's just an incident in my life. It's real, it's a subject that a lot of people try to avoid. I wish a lot of artists would try to write about reality instead of these big poetic visions that don't exist.' Prince also told Bill Adler, then of Rolling Stone, that 'Sister' was autobiographical. 'Everything about my music is.'"

Toure goes on to explain that "For Prince, 'Sister' is like the creation myth for a superhero: My hypersexuual older sister seduced me and taught me all about wild sex as she made love to me and dominated me and all of that turned me into what I am today."

He then delves deeper into the lyrics of the song, bringing in Questlove's insights, as well.

[Edited 8/16/15 22:15pm]

[Edited 8/16/15 22:16pm]

Crenshaw!! Yer post inspired me to do some research of my own too--particularly on whether or not 'Sister' is completely autobiographical... According to Ronin Ro, page 50, Prince told one reporter that he was raised on soft porn novels, another reporter that 'Sister' was "serious", and another reporter that he was half-white in his attempt to cross over to the white audience... So just as you say Prince says everything about his music is [autobiographical]... it's hard to know what is true and what isn't as obviously he isn't half-white. The lyrical poetry of the song Sister to me is too real not for it to have happened... I can't imagine Prince would have had that insight to incest if it didn't happen to him...

Prince says Sister is tue and everything about his music is autibigraphical, so that means it must be true? Because everything that comes out of Prince's mouth is the literal truth?

All his music is autibiographical? So I guess his Pappa really did blow his head off with a shot gun!

TheEnglishGent said:

Prince says Sister is tue and everything about his music is autibigraphical, so that means it must be true? Because everything that comes out of Prince's mouth is the literal truth?

All his music is autibiographical? So I guess his Pappa really did blow his head off with a shot gun!

wasnt it Sheila in omnibus that said ..his life is in his music

ComeHereLetMeCutYourHair said:

Crenshaw!! Yer post inspired me to do some research of my own too--particularly on whether or not 'Sister' is completely autobiographical... According to Ronin Ro, page 50, Prince told one reporter that he was raised on soft porn novels, another reporter that 'Sister' was "serious", and another reporter that he was half-white in his attempt to cross over to the white audience... So just as you say Prince says everything about his music is [autobiographical]... it's hard to know what is true and what isn't as obviously he isn't half-white. The lyrical poetry of the song Sister to me is too real not for it to have happened... I can't imagine Prince would have had that insight to incest if it didn't happen to him...

actually there is truth to all of those things
Sister could have been another persons situation,
He said his mother was more free sexually and he got his wild side from her.
Most women read adult novels, men usually view images
And it's now doubt Prince excepts that he has a lot of Euro genetics from his mother and father. 1/2 is just language for people to take as they will. He was mostly likely asked in his life many times if he was 1/2. And he relates to a lot of (biracial) women throught his life
The insight of incest, doesn't mean he has to experience it. I never did yet just by reading the lyrics I feel like I understand.
This could easily be a composite of many different things: Him viewing his sisters sexuality (a friend of ours when I was much younger had a wild & loose sister, gorgeous body, and she would wear really revealing things like a white summer dress with nothing on underneath. She was really compassionate, carring for animals, smart but she was also a huge flirt. And her younger brother spied on her a lot. One day, she had one of her lovers in her room when the mother was away at work. And her brother told us so we all snuck in and peeped -she was on her back legs over his shoulders another summer dress on but pulled up, he was naked. -Voyeurism. Then she caught us and we ran.
combine that with experimenting on your own. Reading stuff in a book, maybe seeing a movie

etc etc and it is definately a real sexual experience.

iZsaZsa said:

If it's true it's a crime.

He was just expressing his fondness for Ancient Egypt even this early.

NouveauDance said:

NouveauDance said:

iZsaZsa said:

If it's true it's a crime.

He was just expressing his fondness for Ancient Egypt even this early.

LMMFAOAOAO!@!@@

OldFriends4Sale said:

ComeHereLetMeCutYourHair said:

Crenshaw!! Yer post inspired me to do some research of my own too--particularly on whether or not 'Sister' is completely autobiographical... According to Ronin Ro, page 50, Prince told one reporter that he was raised on soft porn novels, another reporter that 'Sister' was "serious", and another reporter that he was half-white in his attempt to cross over to the white audience... So just as you say Prince says everything about his music is [autobiographical]... it's hard to know what is true and what isn't as obviously he isn't half-white. The lyrical poetry of the song Sister to me is too real not for it to have happened... I can't imagine Prince would have had that insight to incest if it didn't happen to him...

actually there is truth to all of those things
Sister could have been another persons situation,
He said his mother was more free sexually and he got his wild side from her.
Most women read adult novels, men usually view images
And it's now doubt Prince excepts that he has a lot of Euro genetics from his mother and father. 1/2 is just language for people to take as they will. He was mostly likely asked in his life many times if he was 1/2. And he relates to a lot of (biracial) women throught his life
The insight of incest, doesn't mean he has to experience it. I never did yet just by reading the lyrics I feel like I understand.
This could easily be a composite of many different things: Him viewing his sisters sexuality (a friend of ours when I was much younger had a wild & loose sister, gorgeous body, and she would wear really revealing things like a white summer dress with nothing on underneath. She was really compassionate, carring for animals, smart but she was also a huge flirt. And her younger brother spied on her a lot. One day, she had one of her lovers in her room when the mother was away at work. And her brother told us so we all snuck in and peeped -she was on her back legs over his shoulders another summer dress on but pulled up, he was naked. -Voyeurism. Then she caught us and we ran.
combine that with experimenting on your own. Reading stuff in a book, maybe seeing a movie

etc etc and it is definately a real sexual experience.

It could have been?? I highly doubt Prince wrote this song to raise awareness about incest or to express his sympathy for incest survivors... he is a self-proclaimed sex-addict as he used to say that at every show on Welcome 2 America tour when he would tease Darling Nikki... he is controversial no doubt but like Crenshaw punctuated... his sister is 'the reason for [his] sexuality'... I believe he is an incest survivor and his sexual addiction stems from this experience... that experience would account for his need for kinky sexual situations to arouse him which he writes about plenty

it is definitely an uncomfortable controversial topic

ComeHereLetMeCutYourHair said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

actually there is truth to all of those things
Sister could have been another persons situation,
He said his mother was more free sexually and he got his wild side from her.
Most women read adult novels, men usually view images
And it's now doubt Prince excepts that he has a lot of Euro genetics from his mother and father. 1/2 is just language for people to take as they will. He was mostly likely asked in his life many times if he was 1/2. And he relates to a lot of (biracial) women throught his life
The insight of incest, doesn't mean he has to experience it. I never did yet just by reading the lyrics I feel like I understand.
This could easily be a composite of many different things: Him viewing his sisters sexuality (a friend of ours when I was much younger had a wild & loose sister, gorgeous body, and she would wear really revealing things like a white summer dress with nothing on underneath. She was really compassionate, carring for animals, smart but she was also a huge flirt. And her younger brother spied on her a lot. One day, she had one of her lovers in her room when the mother was away at work. And her brother told us so we all snuck in and peeped -she was on her back legs over his shoulders another summer dress on but pulled up, he was naked. -Voyeurism. Then she caught us and we ran.
combine that with experimenting on your own. Reading stuff in a book, maybe seeing a movie

etc etc and it is definately a real sexual experience.

It could have been?? I highly doubt Prince wrote this song to raise awareness about incest or to express his sympathy for incest survivors... he is a self-proclaimed sex-addict as he used to say that at every show on Welcome 2 America tour when he would tease Darling Nikki... he is controversial no doubt but like Crenshaw punctuated... his sister is 'the reason for [his] sexuality'... I believe he is an incest survivor and his sexual addiction stems from this experience... that experience would account for his need for kinky sexual situations to arouse him which he writes about plenty

I did not say he wrote it as a Cause/Awareness song lol
He's said before that some things come from other people experiences.

I'm saying this song could be the result of a few different things. An older sisters friend, his own experimenting, stories he read in his mothers book(he also said her wild behaviour and her books influenced him)
His sister nor family ever came out and said anything, denied anything, confirmed anything.
I don't think he was sexually abused by his older sister at age 16.

1.) Who was Prince living with at age 16

ComeHereLetMeCutYourHair said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

actually there is truth to all of those things
Sister could have been another persons situation,
He said his mother was more free sexually and he got his wild side from her.
Most women read adult novels, men usually view images
And it's now doubt Prince excepts that he has a lot of Euro genetics from his mother and father. 1/2 is just language for people to take as they will. He was mostly likely asked in his life many times if he was 1/2. And he relates to a lot of (biracial) women throught his life
The insight of incest, doesn't mean he has to experience it. I never did yet just by reading the lyrics I feel like I understand.
This could easily be a composite of many different things: Him viewing his sisters sexuality (a friend of ours when I was much younger had a wild & loose sister, gorgeous body, and she would wear really revealing things like a white summer dress with nothing on underneath. She was really compassionate, carring for animals, smart but she was also a huge flirt. And her younger brother spied on her a lot. One day, she had one of her lovers in her room when the mother was away at work. And her brother told us so we all snuck in and peeped -she was on her back legs over his shoulders another summer dress on but pulled up, he was naked. -Voyeurism. Then she caught us and we ran.
combine that with experimenting on your own. Reading stuff in a book, maybe seeing a movie

etc etc and it is definately a real sexual experience.

It could have been?? I highly doubt Prince wrote this song to raise awareness about incest or to express his sympathy for incest survivors... he is a self-proclaimed sex-addict as he used to say that at every show on Welcome 2 America tour when he would tease Darling Nikki... he is controversial no doubt but like Crenshaw punctuated... his sister is 'the reason for [his] sexuality'... I believe he is an incest survivor and his sexual addiction stems from this experience... that experience would account for his need for kinky sexual situations to arouse him which he writes about plenty

Ohhh it sounds exciting, yo know, i mean the incest experience In a serious not i am son of a incest relation so it's not a nice subject to get into.

214 said:

ComeHereLetMeCutYourHair said:

It could have been?? I highly doubt Prince wrote this song to raise awareness about incest or to express his sympathy for incest survivors... he is a self-proclaimed sex-addict as he used to say that at every show on Welcome 2 America tour when he would tease Darling Nikki... he is controversial no doubt but like Crenshaw punctuated... his sister is 'the reason for [his] sexuality'... I believe he is an incest survivor and his sexual addiction stems from this experience... that experience would account for his need for kinky sexual situations to arouse him which he writes about plenty

Ohhh it sounds exciting, yo know, i mean the incest experience In a serious not i am son of a incest relation so it's not a nice subject to get into.

214: We're hashing the lyrical content of this song and how deep it is... that's why I think Prince wrote in on a backdrop of a bouncy, anxiety producing rhythm with progressively escalating vocals...

"'Oh motherfucker! Just a motherfucker!' Can't you understand?"

Old Friends: didn't he live with a high school buddy in high school?? Or was he 16 when he moved out? That might explain when he says 'Don't put me on the street again' meaning the incest stopped when he was 16 or his sexual experiences with his sister stopped at 16 because he became old enough to realize it wasn't 'right' for him... I'm sure if he really was moleted it occurred at a much earlier age because usually by 16 one is cognizant that starting a sexual relationship with your sister who is 16 years older wouldn't be natural... that's the genius of the song, that Prince (or the male) in the song is a victim

ComeHereLetMeCutYourHair said:

214 said:

Ohhh it sounds exciting, yo know, i mean the incest experience In a serious not i am son of a incest relation so it's not a nice subject to get into.

214: We're hashing the lyrical content of this song and how deep it is... that's why I think Prince wrote in on a backdrop of a bouncy, anxiety producing rhythm with progressively escalating vocals...

"'Oh motherfucker! Just a motherfucker!' Can't you understand?"

Old Friends: didn't he live with a high school buddy in high school?? Or was he 16 when he moved out? That might explain when he says 'Don't put me on the street again' meaning the incest stopped when he was 16 or his sexual experiences with his sister stopped at 16 because he became old enough to realize it wasn't 'right' for him... I'm sure if he really was moleted it occurred at a much earlier age because usually by 16 one is cognizant that starting a sexual relationship with your sister who is 16 years older wouldn't be natural... that's the genius of the song, that Prince (or the male) in the song is a victim

Actually the "oh motherfucker..." is proceeded by

She took a whip to me until I shout
"Oh motherfucker! Just a motherfucker!"

lol that's why he was yelling. S&M maybe?

age 10 Prince's parents divorce

Mattie(Prince's mother remarries) to H. Baker My mom's the wild side of me; she's like that all the time.

he goes to live with his father
then his father puts him out when he catches Prince having sex

(with a female) Prince's sister Sharon Baker moves to NYC is married

He goes to live with the Andersons (Andre Cymone) ages 12-19

(he goes to NYC and stays with her family when trying to get signed)
Prince lived with the Andersons until he signed with WB

John L. Nelson maintained an on-off relationship with Vivian Nelson. With her, he had four children: Sharon L. (born 1942), Lorna L. (1943—2006), Norrine (born 1947), and John R. (born 1948).^[John L. Nelson had another son, Duane, with Vivian in 1958

John Nelson Sharon Nelso(1/2 sister) Prince

I once read a Prince book that claims that,in "Sister",Prince admits to being bisexual

the writer thinks that he is singing she's the reason for my...bisexuality

SoulAlive said:

I once read a Prince book that claims that,in "Sister",Prince admits to being bisexual

the writer thinks that he is singing she's the reason for my...bisexuality

I never caught that before!! Sure sounds like he's censoring the 'bi' part... but after replaying it 5 times I can see how it might be interpreted that way... thx SoulAlive!

OldFriends: Definitely SadoMasochism! Prince was crazay on Dirty Mind... light years ahead of his Time... that album is still Timeless... wonder if time will ever catch up