This is my interpretation of "Tamborine" and it’s deeper meaning. This song is about Prince using masturbation and its sexual fantasy as an escape from the boring world of reality. The difference between this song and any other one of his songs about sex is that with masturbation he has complete control of his sexual fantasy.

The word “Tamborine” is a metaphor for sexual organ, or the vehicle used to achieve orgasm.

“Close my eyes, what’s it like, what’s it like inside your tamborine?”

--meaning fantasize about being inside a woman’s vagina while masterbating

“All alone, by myself me and I play my tambourine”

He uses “Trampoline” as a metaphor for moving his hand up and down his penis, or escaping through masturbating

“Long Days, Lonely Nights, Trampoline”

Then he proclaims he’d rather masturbate than be with a woman who screws a lot of men, he may even mean a prostitute in this case with “Trolley cars that jumble 17”

Again, Prince is tortured by his sexual addiction

“Tamborine, Tamborine! Why are you the star of all my dreams?”

His use of metaphors on this song is classic Prince genius…

Agree with my interpretation?

this was inspired by another thread. Here's the lyrics I hear Prince sing:

Oh, my God, here you are

Prettiest thing in life I've ever seen

Close my eyes, what's it like?

What's it like inside your tamborine?

Oh, my God, there I go

Falling in love with a face in a magazine

(Uh oh, not again)

All alone, by myself

Me and I play my tamborine

Trampoline, trampoline, trampoline, trampoline

Long days, lonely nights, trampoline

Long days, lonely nights, trampoline

I don't care for one night stands

With trolley cars that juggle seventeen

I just wanna settle down

And play around my baby's tamborine

Tamborine, what are you?

Why are you the star of all my dreams?

(Star of all my dreams, are you a good tamborine?)

Are you good? Are you bad?

Are you just a necessary means?

Trampoline, tamborine, tamborine, trolley cars

Long days, lonely nights

Too bad we're not allowed to scream

(Yeah, yeah, too bad)

Guess that I'll stay at home all alone

And play my tamborine

Tamborine, tamborine, tamborine, tamborine

The tamborine

By the middle of the song he's saying trampoline for some damned reason.

steakfinger said:

By the middle of the song he's saying trampoline for some damned reason.

Playing his tamborine bouncing on a trampoline feeling tangerine

How many colors are there in Prince music?

Purple Rain

Computer Blue

Fuschia Light

Black Album

Rainbow Children

Pink Cashmere

Yellow

Little Red Corvette

Scarlet Pussy

[Edited 8/22/15 20:59pm]

steakfinger said:

By the middle of the song he's saying trampoline for some damned reason.

going up and down and up and downand up and down as in jacking off

The tamborine might be something round that he and his lover have in common.

Deeper meaning? There's barely a surface one.

it's about fucking.

I dont think it's any deeper.

GREAT fucking song though.

steakfinger said:

By the middle of the song he's saying trampoline for some damned reason.

I think he is doing a play on words..."trembling"...not trampoline.

But I am not 100% sure.

"Troubling"

I far prefer this track to his later (reloaded) remake 'Tamborocca.'

NouveauDance said:

"Troubling"

I here that but I also hear "Trampoline"

Trampoline makes sense in the sense of sitting around jacking off "Long Days Lonely Nights" but then again so does "troubling"... I never trust what Prince writes are the lyrics because tons of times he's not singing the lyrics that he writes, case in point Erotic Ciry where he's clearly singing "we can fuck until the dawn" but he writes that the lyrics are "we can funk until the dawn", he does the same thing with a bunch of other songs ('Adore', 'Sister', etc.) but in this case I'm not sure why he would omit trampline vs. trembling but on the actual cd lyrical booklet he omits both words as if he's not singing words just harmony during that part...strange but true

SignOthetimes1987 said:

I think it's been debated that "Tamborine" has something to do with the woman's hymen. As in, she's not giving up the sex so Prince is getting frustrated.

ComeHereLetMeCutYourHair said:

Se7en said:

kenkamken said:

steakfinger said:

By the middle of the song he's saying trampoline for some damned reason.

Playing his tamborine bouncing on a trampoline feeling tangerine

How many colors are there in Prince music?

Purple Rain

Computer Blue

Fuschia Light

Black Album

Rainbow Children

Pink Cashmere

Yellow

Little Red Corvette

Scarlet Pussy

[Edited 8/22/15 20:59pm]

Peach, Gold, White Mansion,

khelm9 said:

kenkamken said:

Playing his tamborine bouncing on a trampoline feeling tangerine

How many colors are there in Prince music?

Purple Rain

Computer Blue

Fuschia Light

Black Album

Rainbow Children

Pink Cashmere

Yellow

Little Red Corvette

Scarlet Pussy

[Edited 8/22/15 20:59pm]

Peach, Gold, White Mansion,

Purple music

purple house

Purple and Gold

Silver Tongue

Crimson and Clover

So Blue

Tangerine

Black sweat

Violet the Organ grinder

indigo Nights

Mindflux said:

ComeHereLetMeCutYourHair said:

I here that but I also hear "Trampoline"

Trampoline makes sense in the sense of sitting around jacking off "Long Days Lonely Nights" but then again so does "troubling"... I never trust what Prince writes are the lyrics because tons of times he's not singing the lyrics that he writes, case in point Erotic Ciry where he's clearly singing "we can fuck until the dawn" but he writes that the lyrics are "we can funk until the dawn", he does the same thing with a bunch of other songs ('Adore', 'Sister', etc.) but in this case I'm not sure why he would omit trampline vs. trembling but on the actual cd lyrical booklet he omits both words as if he's not singing words just harmony during that part...strange but true

I've never seen "official" written lyrics for an of the songs you mention - where exactly are you reading them and we're they written or approved by Prince? For example, if you're getting them from music books, those weren't necessarily written or approved by Prince, but will be the book's transcriber's interpretation. With Erotic City, Prince allegedly told radio stations the lyrics were "We can funk until the dawn", so that the track would get radio play. But there were never, to my knowledge, an accompanying lyric sheet. Same for Adore and Sister - there are no lyrics in the album covers.

By official lyrics, I mean lyrics that are on the accompanying cd lyric booklet. In Adore he clearly sings "I ain't fucking just for kicks" but says "This ain't for kicks"... Dirty mind didn't come with lyrics as far as I know... and on Tamborine like I stated he omits "Trampoline" or "Trembling" or whatever he is singing from the cd lyric booklet