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Reply #90 posted 04/24/16 9:33am

Empress

XxAxX said:



dJJ said:


I'm staying in bed today.

My neigbour asked me if she could get me anything. She laughed saying that she read on fb about my suffering. She is a sweetheart, but as she has lost a lot of people in her life, she must consider my pain a bit over the top.



It's good to know that you guys understand.




And I just don't want it to be true.


Just not true.



i keep thinking i'll wake up with a jolt and realize it's all just been a bad dream sad



Me too. I'm so sad. hug
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Reply #91 posted 04/24/16 10:09am

nursev

NinaB said:

nursev said:

hug

Eye see U wink kiss2 on the threads..I see all of u, well the the threads I've been able to read that is...still got loads more to get to. Between social media, utube etc & here I can't kp up. and i kp crying.

Aww Nina hug Prince had some great fans...US razz

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Reply #92 posted 04/24/16 10:12am

nursev

I saw Babynoz's link and signed the guess book...did anybody else?

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Reply #93 posted 04/24/16 11:11am

NinaB

avatar

nursev said:



NinaB said:


nursev said:



hug



Eye see U wink kiss2 on the threads..I see all of u, well the the threads I've been able to read that is...still got loads more to get to. Between social media, utube etc & here I can't kp up. and i kp crying.

Aww Nina hug Prince had some great fans...US razz


He sure did & does wink He attracts some very special souls. hug
"We just let people talk & say whatever they want 2 say. 9 times out of 10, trust me, what's out there now, I wouldn't give nary one of these folks the time of day. That's why I don't say anything back, because there's so much that's wrong" - P, Dec '15
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Reply #94 posted 04/24/16 11:13am

NinaB

avatar

nursev said:

I saw Babynoz's link and signed the guess book...did anybody else?


Where is it? Took me 3 days 2 write a little up on here.. oh my, what would I say...
"We just let people talk & say whatever they want 2 say. 9 times out of 10, trust me, what's out there now, I wouldn't give nary one of these folks the time of day. That's why I don't say anything back, because there's so much that's wrong" - P, Dec '15
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Reply #95 posted 04/24/16 11:36am

nursev

NinaB said:

nursev said:

I saw Babynoz's link and signed the guess book...did anybody else?

Where is it? Took me 3 days 2 write a little up on here.. oh my, what would I say...

http://www.legacy.com/gue.../179702429

wink it took me a while to post on it too

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Reply #96 posted 04/24/16 11:52am

XxAxX

avatar

Empress said:

XxAxX said:

i keep thinking i'll wake up with a jolt and realize it's all just been a bad dream sad

Me too. I'm so sad. hug

thursday, friday, saturday, sunday.... done. ?? just, done. sad sad like there's been some kind of mix-up in the time space continuum and we've been shifted off our axis a few degrees into a different future that's just not right

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Reply #97 posted 04/24/16 11:53am

NinaB

avatar

Thanks nursev đź’—
"We just let people talk & say whatever they want 2 say. 9 times out of 10, trust me, what's out there now, I wouldn't give nary one of these folks the time of day. That's why I don't say anything back, because there's so much that's wrong" - P, Dec '15
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Reply #98 posted 04/24/16 11:56am

nursev

NinaB said:

Thanks nursev đź’—

hug

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Reply #99 posted 04/24/16 5:21pm

FrancisRaphael

APOLOGIES FOR UNBROKEN LENGTH - PARAGRAPHING DOESN'T SEEM TO BE WORKING

I haven't posted here in 9 years (!) but pop by pretty regularly. My world, like yours, has been brought to a standstill in recent days and filled with a disbelieving grief. I shared the 'Raspberry Beret' video with friends on Facebook and started to write a few words. That turned into this, and I thought I'd share it here with you all. I've been moved by what many of you have said. Others, like me, in their 40s, with 'responsible jobs' as someone put, but reduced to grief and tears by this cruelly unalterable event. I'm sure many of you will share these feelings...

"Tell me where have all the raspberry women gone?"

This was 'the' magical Prince song and video for me as teenager. The violins, synths, lyrics, the flirtation with the camera, and that amazing suit. I wanted it so much. I'm guessing it wouldn't have suited me as well as Mr Nelson, even if by some miracle it had appeared in a shop somewhere in the grey, parochial, uber-traditional-and afraid-masculine dullness of 1980s Cork.

The album, 'Around the World in a Day', had different styled fonts for the lyrics of every song, in different colours. One summer, before I could afford to buy the album myself, I borrowed a friend's copy and spent some days lovingly copying out every lyric and album credit, in those colours and those fonts, as close as I could get them. It took a long time, and then I gave the album back. But I could read all the lyrics the way they were meant to be.

A few years later, I bought a rasberry beret (Cork; yes difficult) and wore it quite a lot in the early months of University. I guess I thought I was cool; a tiny bit like Prince. Maybe I was (cool).

This was only one very small way that Prince, in a concrete and specific manner, supplied many of the elements that went into my creative self-fashioning as I grew up. Like many fans who encountered this half-divine, half-human creature in the years of their identity's formation, I could point to so many subtle and not-so-subtle elements of his character - a way of turning, a way of walking, a way of smiling, a way of holding one's hand and wrist while wearing cufflinks, the importance of wearing fragrance (not so big in the mainly traditional and unsophisticated forms of masculinity common in Ireland), the passionate importance of Music, and so on - that all became elements in the mix of making myself into myself.

When the news came that he had left us (still a cruel mistake I believe, and I'm hoping that tomorrow's waking up, or even the next one, proves me right on this), the words which seemed to evoke best how it felt were things like 'childhood's end' or "part of my childhood has died." I think what I mean by this is contained in the above; that all those elements I gathered from him, consciously and unconsciously, which went into the mixture for 'Francis-as-youth', were the roots which entwined with other elements that have been growing and maturing into the person I am now, some decades later. And now that their wellspring has been cut off, those living tendrils in my soul recognise the loss of their subterranean source. This feeling is a kind of spiritual withering, brought on by April's sudden, lethal frost. Or snow.

I know that many of those who had the courage (yes, particularly males I think) to be his 'fans', and eagerly seek out his new music decade after decade (staying up after midnight in 2014, on a work night (!), to download the new 'Art Official Age' and feeling the same exhilarating rush of excitement at its magnificence and staggeringly rich creativitiy, listening 'til 3 in the morning, as I did as a teenager first listening to 'Sign O' The Times') will feel the same as I do. To my brothers and sisters in Purple, I weep with you. We have lost, not simply a human being of otherworldly musical talent, and a creative music-making source in a different galaxy of ability to anyone else living or dead (deal me a name and I'll deal you back a list of 40-odd (officially released) albums of breath-taking range and brilliance created (mostly) by ONE (mortal) MAN), but also a dignified, private, smart, articulate, funny, courageous, impeccably well-dressed, fragrant-smelling, winning-smiled, humanitarian. (For the latter, check the news-stories of multitudes of benevolent kindnesses, large and small, which have already started to surface, and which he kept mostly hidden while alive).

(P.S. Does all this mean he was a saint? That he never did a wrong? That every composition was as great as every other? That his whimsies were never irritating? Of course not. But by the measure of what we can expect from fallible mortals like us and him, he was far ahead of most of us, by some distance.)

Anyway, this started by reminiscing on a magical song. Here it is. Don't be afraid to weep.

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Reply #100 posted 04/24/16 8:24pm

MAZ629

I'm so sad. So incredibly sad. It sounds silly to so many others, but I know everyone here understands.

There's a poem that says something to the effect of "everything I need to know about life, I learned in Kindergarten" - that, in a nutshell, is how I can describe how I feel. My family and friends always giggle when I slyly would say to them "Prince isn't just a musician, he's a lifestyle".

I've been a Prince "fan" since about 1978/79. Throughout my life Prince has been this unknown friend and mentor - a constant I could always rely on, who was always there, who never let me down - who always soothed me when I was sad, eased me when I was hurt and lifted me when I was weak. Now, it feels like I have nothing left to truly believe in. It is genuinely as if I've lost a critical piece of myself.

I've started to remind myself, it's always been beyond the musician and beyond the music. It's always been beyond a physical presence. Yet, I have never felt so acutely human and small.

I count the days until mourning passes.

Thank you all for being here - for existing - and for understanding what others don't. It gives me so much solace to just read all your words.

..and so this too shall pass?

So they all tell me.

MAZ

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Reply #101 posted 04/25/16 6:47am

paisley2002

avatar

I don't know about everybody else, but 4 me I've just been more numb than sad (at least sad enough 2 really grieve and get it all out). I've just had a hard time really letting go and getting it out of my system. What's making me grieve, if anything, is hearing an emotional song like "Purple Rain", "Arboretum", or "Comeback" and really thinking about and absorbing the fact that he's gone. Combining those 2 seem 2 really break me down. When I saw Purple Rain in the theatre last Saturday night, I couldn't stop crying when he did the song "Purple Rain". I saw him on that big screen and saw someone who's looking down on me from the afterworld and I just couldn't help it.

Don't hate me 'cause I'm NOT beautiful
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Reply #102 posted 04/25/16 7:04am

4everInU

Sorry for the long post PLEASE bear with me eek
I've never loged in to my account before although I do read the posts. I'm a dyslexic (sorry for my spelling), tecnopobic, recluse with more issues than you can imagin so this is hard to do.
But as my tears flow I relise its time.
As my mum phoned to see if I was alright I lied ansering "YES" followed by meaningless chat and "BYE". She wouldn't understand, but you guys do. How do I put in to words that I'm a mess, I've lost a kindred sprit a soulmate I never even met?

How could I possibly tell my family (who just lost my aunt last month) that I'm griving someone who was also my family?

As a child I had a wild sister who I loved she danced to this wonderful crazy music, it was Prince (I didn't know that at the time) she walked out when I was 9 taking Prince with her.
A year later he came back Purple Rain and Take Me with U played on the radio and his music became my friend.
He was my lover (in my head no press alurts here!) as I discoverd my sexsuality because of his music, style and great ass wink

A brother when I lay in a emercency room waiting what seeded like forever to hear my daughter take her first breath The Most Beautiful Girl In The World came on the radio and she started to cry.
Most recintly a farther as he cheakly teassed and played with us on social media and on stage. Becoming more concerned and intrested in us as his Fams.
PRINCE, Don't have to say I msss you, 'Cause I think you alraedy know. Thank you for EVERYTHING I will never stop teaching the non purple ones in your Purple Yoda ways lol
To my true family the Strays Of The World may are tears for him one day turn in to tears of happyness.
Tears Go Here

[Edited 4/25/16 7:11am]

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Reply #103 posted 04/25/16 7:19am

ohYeeeeeah

I did not have the strength to write anything on the org since thursday. I have been a fan for 33 years. Since the age of 12. I saw you 28 times live. I feel blessed to have had the privilege to witness your rise... The rise of an absolute musical genius. You were like one of my very best friends, a close family member. Difficult to express these feelings to people who have not experienced what we fans have witnessed.

Your music means everything to me. You showed me beautiful colours and paths my brain would have never seen without your music. Your music is a celebration to life. You were beautiful, awesome. I love the way you moved, the way you walked. You were electrifying, incredibly charismatic. Your eyes. These beautitful eyes. I was totally paralyzed when I ended up being stuck a yard away from you when you were waiting your limo in this club in London by the kitchen. I could not move because it was packed behind me and your two bodyguards were holding the crowd. And you were staring at me, making funny faces to make me feel more relaxed as you knew how impressed I was. You could be so funny.

And your hands. These beautiful hands. The perfect hands for a musician. It was totally amazing to see them on a guitar, a bass or a piano. Beautiful. Unreal.

It was just great to know you were here on earth with us. It used to make me feel good just the thought of you making music somewhere, maybe in your studio. The world was a much better place with you mate. Much better and a lot more beautiful.

So ok... Right now my heart is broken into pieces. I am 44 years old, look like a strong man and you make me cry like a child. I am totally devastated.

But I make you a promise. Until my last breath, I'm gonna celebrate you, your music. I'll tell younger folks all my Prince stories. This musical genius who could turn up in a club in Paris in the middle of the night and would turn the place upside down making people wonder if the whole thing was real. And Yes it was.

I'm gonna celebrate you prince until my last day.

I love U.

[Edited 4/25/16 7:30am]

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Reply #104 posted 04/25/16 8:43am

purpleizpassio
n

avatar

OldFriends4Sale said:

1contessa said:

I live in the south, and my daughter works in a boutique, last night when she came home, she told me that a lot of the customers came in wearing purple, and it made her want to cry. She knows all about Prince because of me being a huge fan, and her hearing his songs throughout her childhood. I'm amazed at how much love is being shown to him, such as I've never seen before, it makes me smile and cry at the same time.

Wow,
Prince brought people together from all ethnic backgrounds religious beliefs/non beliefs political parties, nationalities, economic backgrounds.

I too go out and I can tell who the Prince fans are
Maybe on his birthday from here on out we will all 'wear some purple'

At church this past Sunday, for each person wearing purple, a silent nod was exchanged. People gave me personal condolences on my fb wall and checked on me. I know some may have felt it was silly but, I have lost both parents and granparents and they are the ones who introduced me to Prince's music. His songs bear their memory as well. I don't have to qualify my grief to anyone and I won't ever start. I was grateful for the ones who know me enough to take me seriously and although it's been years since I've commented or posted, you all at the Org were the first ones I thought of. Like coming home, finding like minded people and being able to express. I have experienced much of the same things as you all so I don't feel alone. Love you all and hug

Shake....shake, shake, shake.
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Reply #105 posted 04/25/16 9:28am

GGlow

Oh wow, these posts have me crying again! Oh how I loved Prince.

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Reply #106 posted 04/25/16 10:54am

free2bfreeda

Related image

when U left us, there was a great global disturbance. U were/are so loved. U will be missed and at the same time U will be celebrated 4ever.

thx 4 ur great musical contribution to my/our world Prince.

Related image

Freeda

[Edited 4/29/16 14:11pm]

“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 #107 posted 04/25/16 1:02pm

maceoparker007

I haven't been on here for 8 years but felt compelled to come post here today.

Last time I was here I suprised a Prince fan by giving them a ticket to see Prince at his last gig on the 21 nights tour in London. I remember posting question asking 'If you could ask anything to Prince what would it be?' I then told the person with the best answer I had a spare ticket and we ended up see him together smile

Wonderful reading all these posts. Like many the sadness comes and goes in waves...everytime I see footage of Prince my heart sinks. Everytime I see the colour purple the same.

My gosh Prince what a legacy you have left behind, changing the course of a generation musically and culturally, touching so many lives with your music, young, old, all creeds, men, women....all walks of life.

I still cannot beleive he is gone, and I didn't realise until now how engrained his music had become inside myself.

Today I went on album I bought about 6 of his albums...I just want to soak up music as much as possible.

I seen him live about 6 times and no CD will come close to his live performances I witnessed. Now I know why Prince was so against photos and videoing at his gigs. He wanted people to absorb the experience through their own eyes and become part of thier memories.

Now when I close my eyes and listen to a Prince track I can relive the moment...

Love you Prince.

36 year old guy here in the UK...take care peeps.

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Reply #108 posted 04/25/16 2:52pm

kunoichi

XxAxX said:



Empress said:


XxAxX said:


i keep thinking i'll wake up with a jolt and realize it's all just been a bad dream sad



Me too. I'm so sad. hug

thursday, friday, saturday, sunday.... done. ?? just, done. sad sad like there's been some kind of mix-up in the time space continuum and we've been shifted off our axis a few degrees into a different future that's just not right


Me too! This is a bad dream I want to wake up!! I'm acting and thinking dizzy. I can't believe I won't get to experience another Prince gig! My life has revolved around him for 33 years. RIP my beloved Prince, you will live in my heart forever
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Reply #109 posted 04/25/16 4:17pm

niallmcg

I joined prince.org around 1996. At the time it was such a wonderful novelty to have an internet forum to find other Prince fans and email them.

I met other Irish fans through here.

It was a new stage in a love of his music that went back to when I discovered him in 1984.

So many decades. So many ups and downs. Seeing him live 5 times, 2 aftershows in Ireland.

Coming back here after all these years to try to express the feelings of the last week.

Two links that are probably ones I want to share.

A shoutout to all those who gathered in Dublin on that night. Nialler9 organised it all.
http://www.dailyedge.ie/lumo-nightclub-prince-tribute-2729392-Apr2016/?utm_source=twitter_self

But finally, the words of Sheila E.

"He would be happy. I think the fans are doing what he would have wanted them to do, which is celebrate his music. Not mourn him, but celebrate and have parties because he loved to have parties."

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Reply #110 posted 04/25/16 5:03pm

anotherfan

I'm just done!. it hurts so much. Slept all day yesterday. Still waking up wondering if it is true. I'm so very sad. It hurts my heart.

It hurts a lot! I feel lost, he meant that much to me and impacted my life. It'll be Okay in the long run because there are so many many great memories we have and one day I will be able to access them and smile.

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Reply #111 posted 04/25/16 5:12pm

Empress

free2bfreeda said:

Related image




when U left us, there was a great global disturbance. U were/are so loved. U will be missed and at the same time U will be celebrated 4ever.


thx 4 ur great musical contribution to my/our world Prince.


Related image


Freeda


[Edited 4/25/16 11:11am]



This is beautiful. Thank you.
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Reply #112 posted 04/25/16 8:21pm

molissab

I am a forty-two-year-old public librarian/library supervisor and a mother of four. Prince has been part of my life since I was nine-years old and insisted that my mother and grandmother not leave a bakery that was playing "Delirious." My loyalty never wavered from that day forward. So many websites are asking for fans to share a memory. A memory...open up a calendar and point to any day. Chances are I listened to a Prince song, talked about Prince, read an article about Prince or wrote something about Prince on any given day.

I have been rendered incapacitated. I can't stop crying. I have a library to run and children to take care of. It is just so hard. I am so glad to be in a space where people understand. Hurting tremendously and not functioning well.

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Reply #113 posted 04/26/16 1:57am

sonshine

avatar

Coming of age in the 80's I've been a fan since the beginning. Being from MN, driving by Paisley a thousand times, my adoration for him seemed much more personal. I had just been to my first live Prince event last Sept for the album release party. Tho he didn't appear it was still magical and I was eagerly looking forward to a long future of attending his shows. I finally had the time after sending my youngest son off to college. Now those dreams are lost. I'm lost. My oldest son was the first to contact me when the news broke. He text me "I'm so sorry Mom". And I sobbed most of the day and night. I lost a wknd wandering aimlessly around the house fighting the urge to read the papers and listen to the news as just seeing his name in print made my shattered heart hurt even more. He was beautiful and amazing on so many levels it's hard to adequately describe what he meant to me and how deeply he touched me like no other musical artist before or since. I want to be able to hear his voice again without falling apart. I haven't had a good night's sleep since he passed. I fell asleep the night before we learned of his death re-watching his Super Bowl performance on my iphone. I was mind blown once again. Thank you Prince for sharing your giftedness with us. And thank you to the people here for this place to come to and share our sorrow.
It's a hurtful place, the world, in and of itself. We don't need to add to it. We all need one another. ~ PRN
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Reply #114 posted 04/26/16 7:15am

NoVideo

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I was bullied mercilessly when i was a child. I was beat up daily. Prince was my refuge. Listening to him on my walkman, and on my stereo at home -- I really think it's the only thing that kept me going.

My Parents hated him (which i think it's hilarious to see my dad re-post my Prince article on Facebook. I called him out on it... very gently). But when "Purple Rain" was out I had a Prince poster and dad said things like "Why don't you go ask your lover Prince?" or "Are you turning gay?" because I had Prince posters. (Turns out he was right, but had nothing to do with Prince. I never viwed him sexually.). That 's a big reason why Prince is so important for me, because for a very long time in the most miserable and painful days in my youth, Prince was there. And only Prince. So I just wanted to write something from the heart. Thank you for reading. HUGS to all of you. We all need them.

I posted this on another thread but I think this is the appropriate place for it. When I first learned the horrible news, I started writing immediately. I wanted to get my thoughts down. And it's therapy. It took me about 3 hours, through tears. Here is the result. I hope some of you enjoy it.

Peace and love to you all. Things will never been the same, but community of love for Prince's music will never die.

4 the Tears in Your Eyes:...ing Prince

http://www.popmatters.com...ng-prince/


* * *

Prince's Classic Finally Expanded
The Deluxe 'Purple Rain' Reissue

http://www.popmatters.com...n-reissue/
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Reply #115 posted 04/27/16 5:09pm

isobelfq

It’s been over ten years since I joined this list and over 3 since I last posted. I even forgot my username and password. When the news came I was in complete denial, telling everyone who knows me that it was a hoax. I even found a website saying it was a hoax and sending it to all of my friends. That hard denial lasted for about 2 hours when it just kicked me in the stomach. I stopped, grabbed the closest thing and just bawled. I was not ready for this. In 20 years, maybe, but not now. Not so soon, not when his health was (seemingly) still so good. I never know who knows how much I love prince or even if I love prince at all. I like to keep prince to myself. He’s mine and if you can’t appreciate him then I don’t want to hear you spew bullshit about why. So imagine my surprise when my roommate asked me if I needed her to come home early from work. I’m glad she offered because I didn’t know how to ask and I didn’t want to be alone. At this point I had been crying non-stop for about 2 hours. (Side note, I was crying so much that I meth head stopped and gave me a hug and didn’t try to steal my wallet) Another friend in Iceland texted me to make sure I was with someone who loved me because she knew I couldn’t go through this alone. Someone I haven’t spoken to in a year emailed me to check on me. I was surprised by the outpouring. It’s been amazing and…I would give it all back just to have him back. I’ve never been in this much pain before in my life. Even know I keep hoping it’s not true. That it’s all some sort of elaborate prank Prince pulled to teach us a lesson that only he could. The day after I kept thinking “please, just come out at the press conference. Please just be alive. I’ll forgive you anything at all. Please just don’t be dead.” It’s now been almost a week since he left his body and I still feel like if I could just do the right thing he would come back to us. Bargaining stage of grief, right? Today I thought I was ok, but then I watched this

https://www.youtube.com/w...uzBHhPEWpE

Bad mistake. Big, bad mistake. I cried so much during the day after seeing this that at one point I just stopped because I had no more tears left in me to cry. Food has lost flavor. Colors are less vibrant. My love has gone. I knew I loved him but I didn’t know how much until now.

There’s so much I want to say but I don’t know how to say it. I’ve never felt more alone. A friend of mine, a shaman, asked me what “it” was. “Is it because he made it ok to be weird?” Maybe, but it was so much more than that. His concerts never felt like concerts; they felt like family gatherings. He gave me a family, but it’s more than that. There are no words…I wish I played an instrument so I could put my feelings to music.

I can’t believe it’s only been a week. I feel like I’ve been grieving for a lifetime. One of the things that hurts the most is that I never once got to actually meet him, touch him, say thank you. I don’t believe that things happen for a reason. I think things happen and we assign reason to them so we can cope. But I have to believe there is a specific reason why we never met face to face. Otherwise it hurts too much.

I’ve been an atheist for a few years but this makes me wish and hope that, if not a God, then at least a heaven exists. I need to believe I’m going to see him again.

Prince, I miss you. I miss you so much...so much.

Join me under the waterfall
Climb the rainbow tree

love is my color when I am shown love in return
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Reply #116 posted 04/27/16 6:36pm

panpac777

avatar

The pain is just too much to bear lose both my musical idols!

God is completely and utterly cruel to not have taken me with them!

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Reply #117 posted 04/28/16 5:24am

yvanehtnioj121
4

Posted the following on my Facebook page so I thought I'd share it here too.

I've also seen some other really moving long-form Prince reminicenses here and here.



This is going to be a long and unapologetically indulgent post about Prince. "Shall we begin? Yes Lisa."

Firstly, I just want to say how lovely it's been to receive so many messages since Prince passed away. Of course it's the world's loss, but I'm very heartened to know that people associate me so closely with Prince. It's an honor, and I hope this association continues for a long time to come.

"Guess I shoulda known by the way you parked your car sideways that it wouldn't last."

This will sound weird considering I didn't know him personally, but I would not be at the place I am today -- personally or geographically -- without Prince. Without a doubt, my life would be completely different had I not formed a profound connection with Prince and his music in junior high school. Anyone who has seen the "Prince shrine" in my room back in Brooklyn knows, at least on a superficial level, how much he means to me.

"We could all die any day. I don't wanna die, I'd rather dance my life away."

I really never expected this. I've thought about the prospect of Prince dying before, but I always assumed I'd be going to his concerts into my fifties. I'd picture myself running after a wizened, decrepit, yet still unspeakably glamorous Prince and bothering him incessantly with my incoherent sycophantic fan rant. By that point he'd be too old to escape so he could do nothing but stand there listening to me babbling until I tired myself out. I still can't believe that this scenario, which I've played in my head over and over again since I was a teenager, will never happen.

"Dig if you will the picture..."

I had obviously heard Prince's music before but it wasn't until I listened to "When Doves Cry" one time when I was thirteen when my Prince obsession began. Something about that song at that time led me to believe that it was definitely the peak of human cultural achievement. My classmate Jake and myself somehow engineered it so that "When Doves Cry" became our 8th grade graduation ceremony song, ignoring the fact that a song about domestic abuse might not be the best fit for such an event. Also at that graduation ceremony, they had to edit a video featuring the whole class because I showed my nipple a la Prince in the "The Beautiful Ones" scene in Purple Rain, but that's an anecdote for another time.

"I am yours now and you are mine, and together we'll love through all space and time..."

Meanwhile, I had quickly moved on from "When Doves Cry" and was voraciously collecting every Prince album, and I do mean *every* Prince album. He's dependably put out an average of about an album every year since his first one, For You, was released in 1978. There were off-years, but sometimes he would release more than one album in a year to make up for this -- and then of course there's all that material hidden in mythic VAULT. My iTunes library has about 800+ Prince songs on it, and this does not include the stuff you can only get on vinyl. I'm a sick, sad man. I also got to see my first Prince concert around this time. It was in 2004 (or "2004ever" as my t-shirt states) as part of the Musicology Tour and I went with my mom. The entire performance was a religious experience, but I specifically remember nearly fainting when he played "7" on acoustic guitar, since that was my favorite Prince song at the time. Just thinking back to that particular moment makes me feel not-quite-alive (in a good way). Serendipitously, my future dear friend Olivia was at the same exact concert with her mom, though I didn't know either of them at the time. Two years later, my mom snuck me into a Prince concert at the Nokia Theatre which was technically too young to be admitted to. We didn't get home until about 3am and it was a school night. "Days of Wild" indeed.

"Sexuality is all you'll ever need. Sexuality -- let your body be free."

Prince encouraged me to explore gender and sexuality from a young age. Without his influence, I don't think I ever would have gotten into gender studies or drag. On the first day of Drama class in high school, I borrowed my classmate Ligeia’s high heeled boots and started flouncing around in them. I also spent many of my free periods in freshman year asking girls in my class to put makeup on me. This was all due to Prince's influence. He made it cool for boys to wear heels and makeup. Sadly, it didn't seem like that many guys decided to adopt this particular brand of coolness -- but I certainly wanted yearned to! Also in my freshman year, I dressed up as Prince in Purple Rain for Halloween and one of my peers politely asked me if I would be offended if he and others referred to me as "Prince" from then on. I think my reaction to this proposal was something like, "Mmmm... YEAH OMIGAWD WILL MY LYYFE EVER BE THIS PERFECT AGAIN?!". My dream of slowly becoming Prince was that much closer to fruition. Too bad I did not have a modicum of his musical genius, or else I may have been able to eventually accomplish my goal.

"I don't care where we go, I don't care what we do. I don't care, pretty baby, just take me with you."

My love of Prince had not dimmed by the end of high school. In 2007, the summer before my senior year, I convinced my family to predicate an entire trans-Atlantic family trip on seeing Prince two nights in a row at the O2 in London. Before we went down to see him, we visited Edinburgh where I got to tour the university there. I liked it, applied, and tarted attending the University of Edinburgh nearly a year afterwards. All because of the magical guiding light that is Prince!

"You can still see the picture upon the wall. One eye staring at nothing at all. The other one trying to focus through all your tears."

Nearly two years ago I saw Prince for the last time I'd ever see him in person. It was at Manchester Academy in Manchester, England with my friend Marilyn. We were up at the very front. At the end of what was probably the best concert I'd ever had the honor of attending, after about five or eight encores (I'd lost count), Prince was standing under the spotlight silently basking in the adoration of the crowd. He had tears in his eyes. So did I. He told us he'd be back soon.

"Little darling, gotta go now. Don't know when I'll be coming back. Got my future all planned out, got my bags packed."

I have many more Prince anecdotes to share -- like the fact that my college application essay was all about Prince and I even made a Prince-themed drawing for it (so professional) OR that I've thanked Prince in not just one but *two* dissertation acknowledgement sections -- but I will save these for another day. Maybe I'll even go through some old photos as well (that Prince Halloween costume deserves a re-airing at some point).


I'll leave you now with what have always been my two favorite photos of Prince, though it's a difficult choice. He was, after all, The Most Beautiful Boy In The World.


Paisley Park is in my heart, and so are you Prince. May I Live 2 See The Dawn.

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Reply #118 posted 04/28/16 12:35pm

bigtimefan

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sonshine said:

Coming of age in the 80's I've been a fan since the beginning. Being from MN, driving by Paisley a thousand times, my adoration for him seemed much more personal. I had just been to my first live Prince event last Sept for the album release party. Tho he didn't appear it was still magical and I was eagerly looking forward to a long future of attending his shows. I finally had the time after sending my youngest son off to college. Now those dreams are lost. I'm lost. My oldest son was the first to contact me when the news broke. He text me "I'm so sorry Mom". And I sobbed most of the day and night. I lost a wknd wandering aimlessly around the house fighting the urge to read the papers and listen to the news as just seeing his name in print made my shattered heart hurt even more. He was beautiful and amazing on so many levels it's hard to adequately describe what he meant to me and how deeply he touched me like no other musical artist before or since. I want to be able to hear his voice again without falling apart. I haven't had a good night's sleep since he passed. I fell asleep the night before we learned of his death re-watching his Super Bowl performance on my iphone. I was mind blown once again. Thank you Prince for sharing your giftedness with us. And thank you to the people here for this place to come to and share our sorrow.

I get what you're saying...I'm from Mn. too and drove by P.Park often. I really believe it's a little different for us Minnesotans. His presence was everywhere and I know lots of people who went to school with him, served his table, etc. You never knew if you would see him out and about and that was always cool. We were proud that he wasn't like Bob Dylan or Judy Garland who never came back.

I was lucky enough to have been friends with the florist who did the flowers and was allowed to bring a guest, and have gotten to attend 2 of his parties (a birthday party masquerade ball at the Prom Center in St.Paul, where I even snuck out the back when he left the bday party and got him to sign my invitation!) and another for the Around the World release. I've finally raised my kids and finally have time to attend all the concerts, etc. that I put off as I had too much to do.

Regrets are a part of life I guess. We must learn, appreciate, and grow.

P.S. Am I the only one that finds it significant that the date of his death equals 7???

Eventually every cloud runs out of rain.
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Reply #119 posted 04/28/16 1:48pm

Dreamer2

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its like 7 days and for someone i didn't know its been strange feeling so close and sad at P passing away - I have a faith in God whatever that means so I do feel his soul is at rest

His music was his soul, so I guess he reached me.

Love U Prince - thank you for creating music which helped me through the saddest times in my life - thanks for sharing your Gift!

Call me a Dreamer 2 sad

Eye Was Born & Raised On The Same Plantation In The United States Of The Red, White And Blue Eye Never Knew That Eye Was Different Til Dr. King Was On The Balcony
Lying In A Bloody Pool......Call me a Dreamer 2 - R.I.P - James Brown and Michael Jackson
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