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Prince's political & social views via his music, videos, live shows, or otherwise! I'll start this thread with an example of how I found out about some of Prince's political & social views over the years through his music:
Love Sign = Prince is definite in favor of gun control.
Ronnie Talk To Russia = Prince is against nuclear weapons AND warfare. And this was during the tailend of the Cold War era on planet Earth. | |
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Prince was a rude "revolutionary" in his young and succesful days.. now he seems to be just another conservative right wing...... [Edited 4/1/16 15:28pm] Prince 4Ever.  | |
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I'd argue that Prince was always pretty conservative - he just knew which buttons to push back in the day to get to where he wanted to be.
When I was younger I always thought that 'America' had an amount of irony about it - much the same as Springsteen's 'Born In The USA'.
At least in 'Ronnie, Talk To Russia' which, although showing a similar political naivety, was open to a dialogue on the matter to resolve thing, although this was still proposed as a solution to THEM (Russia) blowing up the world.
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His views on sexuality were anything BUT conservative! And ever since Party Up, he's made it perfectly clear that he is a pacifist. His heart is in the right place, but he isn't really schooled in politics, which is why his political songs often sound a little naive. Baltimore is a good example. He means well, but the lyrics just don't dig very deep. I think 1999 sums up his worldview (at least at the time) perfectly: if the bomb is gonna fall (and there was a lot of fear for a nuclear war back in the early 80s) then you might as well have black, white & Portorican just a-freaking. If the everyday world is evil, then Prince's solution isn't to demonstrate or go into politics or start a revolution, but to dream up a Utopian world where everything is peaceful, perfect and...sexy. And he called it Uptown or Paisley Park. And it's the New Power Generation who lives there. | |
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^^ Gee I get a totally different interpretation from the lyrics. 'Making money losing time' I take as negative from the 'Aristocrats on the mountain climb'. Always loved the chorus and thought it's about being free from the aggessive capitalist tongs that take away your time to concentrate on the arts but hey I could be wrong! Capitalism is fine but in small doses. I'm waiting for a new breed of young free thinkers that will invent a new system. If what we created in the past is all there is it doesn't say much for humanity. - In Cinnamon girl he definitely addresses wrongful prejudice to Muslims or those of different ethnical backgrounds: - Cinnamon girl of mixed heritage So began the mass illusion, war on terror alibi -
What exactly the God of confusion is, isn't clear. It could be interpreted differently as to either, media, or even God itself, but I take it to be the media.
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As war drums beat in Babylon Cinnamon girl opens the book, she knows will settle all the scores - This is obviously anti-war and it seems as if this either drives her to become a suicide bomber herself, or, she really does find refuge in the Qaran and just prays that the war will end and the prejudice will stop.
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Actually just finished Rushdie's Satanic Verses. One of it's themes is racism and prejudice with its dehumanzing effects. He quotes when explaining the theme that 'prejudiced people exploit others along a binary construction instead of understanding complicated personalities and histories of each individual.'Both the book and the song are excellent messages I think, although I have heard Prince in concert footage making a terribly prejudiced comment. But this probably and hopefully was when he was younger. We've all been mean, egotistical or crazy at times, and hopefully life teaches us the difference between being shallow and understanding.
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Act of God is another social view
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Dirty fat banker sold a house today - The fact that bankers get away with murder whilst they were the ones who hooked the NINJA's before the crisis anyway but they, the latter, suffer. -
I Get a million dollars people hear me sang - Is he complaining about paying tax? But it goes to government not the bankers, it's just the government who were idle in regulation.
But I got news for you - Tax dollars build a plane drop a bomb - Anti-Irak war But I got news for you Funny how nobody's holy books are the same - Trump and Fundamentalists lethal combination
- We so tired said we through with fear Call it whatcha want except an act of God [x3] - Force majeure? Nice try. He's saying it's all bull. The reasons we go to war, who caused the crisis and that governments and media lie. True.
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I don't know the Ronnie Russia song, have the cd but tune never grabbed me so words will be lost on me. Maybe one day I'll dig it out again. Of course there is also Mr Man, Same Page, different book and the line in Black Muse saying 'Half east half west maybe the truth's somewhere in between", but my post is long enough. He's still a 'rude' revolutionary sometimes. 'Dirty fat banker' nice line.
[Edited 4/2/16 9:10am] "Free URself, B the best that U can B, 3rd Apartment from the Sun, nothing left to fear" Prince Rogers Nelson - Forever in my Life - | |
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I think many on this site dismiss his political views in general because of his current 'anti-gay' views. They can't HEAR anything else he says because of that. Secondly (some) ppl on this site don't like/understand when Prince is unapologetically BLACK in his political commentary and think he's disparaging others (ex, Jews; peep the hate for TRC) when he's simply making observations about the benefits of being in the 'dominant culture' (as it relates to a historical lens). Ex 'dead or sold?' (the question is rhetorical) Or Black Muse in general (a top 10 favorite all time for me now!!) Lastly, (many) ppl on this site are atheist or spiritually disinterested and attribute ALL of his political views in light of his faith and disparage religion in general, Christianity in particular as if it's a political monolith (many of us disagree with right). Little mention is made of the fact that the JWs are considered a cult, it's just 'those dumb religious ppl' Even w/o the religious or gay narrative, songs like Colonized Mind, Dreamer,Dear Mr Man, etc may be (mildly) liked but aren't (widely) LOVED (CM & Dreamer deserve to be IMO). There's also a 'shut up and be glad you're American (even if you're Black) we've made u rich' sentiment that permeates here. In sum, many here prefer their Prince as a 50 year ext'd version of DMSR, arguably a politically unevolved hedonistic, oversexed man whore, but 'free thinking' though | |
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Interesting, but why people want to be very intelligent and thiunghtful about politics in his songs? | |
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Good responses so far, but let's not forget the song where Prince, perhaps for the first time, seamlessly merges politics and sexuality. In "Lady Cab Driver" he/the narrator is using sex as an outlet for his personal and social frustrations. I think this aspect of the song is often overlooked. When he sings, "this is for . . ." he is referencing each sexual stroke/thrust. Here's the part I'm talking about:
This is for the cab you have to drive for no money at all
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^^ I wasn't aware of his anti-gay views. Is this in a song or interview and is it because of the religion or his own mindset? I know the USA only recently approved gay marriage, so I suppose propaganda has been huge. One should not be judged by their race, background or sexual orientation Prince! Pity for fans if you take one opinion though and judge it for the rest of what some songs talk about. Kind of narrow minded. - I need to listen to Lady cab driver. Have discussed it before but not in this context and it's not on Prince's ipod. - @214
- It's not about being intelligent it's about de-layering a piece of art beyond it's first impression and understanding the detail. Kind of like eating a fruit where the skin and seeds can be included. Songs with a message are an added bonus because they have a story i.e. mini book and music combined to say something. A song without a message is like a book which has no names for the characters. Enjoyable maybe, but not very deep. [Edited 4/4/16 1:23am] "Free URself, B the best that U can B, 3rd Apartment from the Sun, nothing left to fear" Prince Rogers Nelson - Forever in my Life - | |
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