FUNKYNESS said:

Time is such a better track

WAYYYY better...

Time is one of his all-time great songs...ANY era

McD said:

...

The rest of it is open to interpreting however you see fit. Some of it is Prince giving us his Princely religion / philosophy (Why did you come to this Planet?) that I don't think is part of the particular theme of the song. The 'what did you have for lunch?' ...

Another possible interpretation would be that he's writing the song for someone specific. Someone who gave up 'being everyone's dream' for being someone's wife. And had that person and Prince still been together, he would be asking her 'what did you have for lunch?' -- just like a normal person would in a normal relationship. Going with that interpretation, does anyone have any thoughts on who that might be??

[Edited 5/5/16 6:01am]

Genesia said:

"Makes no sense yet, but it will soon" ---> he was in a dark place and knew it was a matter of time before it became evident/public (it did in the worst possible way)

...

"It's June" ---> "doing horse" ---> opioid (painkiller) addiction?

...

Clues, clues...

...

slightly OT here, but the mention of goodbyes and waiting for what's to come here got me to thinking about the end of the AWIAD album, where he talks to God and says "I don't know when I'll return... goodbye...."

when I first heard that back in the day I wondered if that was a message to his fans. Goodbye for a while?

PurpleMusic07 said:

Bluu said:

Actually...Prince could write lyrics in a way that was almost like a puzzle, on occasion. With all due respect to the OP, the song "June" never struck me as being about drugs or making reference to narcotics or meds in any way, shape or form. I fully agree it's up for interpretation of course, as is the case with most artistic expression. But it seemed to me your analysis was constructed around the recent rumours and reports of drugs, percocets, whatever else is in the news, as opposed to developing it organically from the information intentionally written into these two pieces by Prince himself. I had a very different, and much simpler take on both tracks.

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In SOTT, Prince makes mention of a woman dying from handling a drug "needle", young boys getting "high on crack", "reefer", "horse". These terms are all (except for maybe "horse") clear drug references, not coded or camoflaged. So unless "June" is a known slang term for an illicit drug (my Google search didn't turn up any such slang term in top results), it seems inconsistent and out of place as he was pretty open in calling out other drugs--and thereby not likely to be a drug reference. "June", considered in the full context of the SOTT, and that line or two of lyrics it is foun in, clearly refers to time as it relates to "September", and paints picture of a nine-month-long addiction to heroin:

.

In September my cousin tried refer 4 the very first time,

now he's doing horse, it's June.

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In the HnR Phase I song, "June" is just referring to a month, particularly as it appears it is mentioned as a reference to June 7, Prince's birthday. So comparing SOTT with June and getting a drug reference out of it seems to be a major stretch, though I do applaud the effort you put into your analysis. I really think Prince was just talking rigatoni here. Rigatoni with a story, that is.

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The first line: "Pasta simmers on the stove in June..." It's like a cinematic smash-cut into a scene, and without the preceeding storyline, without the who, the where and the WHY, it leaves questions and we don't understand what is taking place or the meaning of it and why it's on Prince's mind.

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Second line: "Makes no sense yet, but it will soon." More information to come, that will explain what is happening.

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Conversationally, he shares details of meeting, and later developing a relationship with a woman whom he is falling in love with. At first he is sharing his thoughts on this love affair with us, the listener, but then his attention shifts and focuses on his paramour, at which point he seems to be speaking to her directly, almost in a daydreaming kind of way. Possibly a conversation taking place all in his head, as she is not around. He is lonely, waiting for her to stop by and spend time with him.

.

Something pulls him out of his reverie: "what's that?"

.

But I'm just here, waitin', and waitin', and waitin'

Somebody famous had a birthday today

All I saw was another full moon

What's that?

Something's burning on the stove

must be the pasta

Must be the pasta

Oh yeah, it's June.

.

He is so preoccupied thinking about this absent lover, that he forgot the pasta, now neglected and burning on the stove. He forgot it's some celebrity's birthday (just another day, unremarkable but for the full moon in the sky). Forgot what month it was (June, which would imply it was his own birthday he was oblivious to, feeling too lovesick and alone to care.)

.

m

So once you get through the whole song, you realize Prince wasn't just heating up some Ramen noodles for dinner in front of the TV. The pasta simmering on the stove is associated with this whole personal story of falling deeply in love with someone--someone special enough to cook for (he had a chef, but opted for a more personal touch) and to be the only one you choose to spend your birthday with--only to be left waiting for a love that hasn't shown up and probably will not, being that she is married and has a life of her own.

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The burning pasta is passion put on perpetual hold, like a candle burning down to the plate.

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Prince was such an adept storyteller and really knew how to finesse language to create a particular experience for the listener. He knew how to layer meanings into sometimes just a small amount of text, giving volume and dimension to his stories. His lyric writing doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves.

.

I really miss him.

just to comment on the horse/june thing. horse refers to heroin or it might also be a coke reference, but i dont think so. so in sott he's playing on the idea that weed (reefer) is a gateway drug that leads to stronger drugs (horse/heroin). june in relation to september is referring to the amount of time it took is cousin to jump between the two drugs. not sure if he intended to refer back to sott june reference with the newer song.

Yes that is almost exactly the point I was trying to make. Maybe I wasn't clear. Regarding the mention of "June" in SOTT, I Googled "horse slang drug" and results that turned up said that horse is a slang word for heroin. I then did a second Google search for "June slang drug" and NO slang definition turned up for June being a reference to any narcotic or medication. Going out on a limb here, sometimes June really is just a month out of the year LOL.

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HORSE = heroin

JUNE = 6th month on the calendar.

RIGATONI = a delicious type of pasta

PASTA = noodles

NOODLES = not a drug! You just eat it! Really!

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"June" the song has absolutely NOTHING to do with drugs/meds. AFAIK there are 0 (ZERO) drug references in this song.

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In "Sign O' The Times", the word "June" is referring to a month, in relation to the mention of "September". To take its meaning for anything other than a month of the year, in the context of those two lines, is to take it OUT of the context that PRINCE placed it in.

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I'm not picking on you PurpleMusic07. Your comment just made me realize I perhaps wasn't clear on on the most important point I was trying to make. So thank you for that.

I wonder why he says he was born way too late (1958) and then should have been born later on the Woodstock stage (1969?)

I didn't realize Richie Havens died 4/22/13.

^ Hi Xarina, I wondered that too but I think he was referring to wishing his career had started on the Woodstock stage (in the hippy/idealist/peace movement era), then it makes more sense!

[Edited 5/9/16 12:00pm]

you can just hear the pain in his voice as he floats from subject to subject and then cries out "I'm just waiting.. and waiting.."

Lyrics aside the entire SOUND EFFECT and blend of music used is very haunting. I knew the first time I heard the song that he didn't have much time left.

prittypriss said:

Actually, I took it that he was cooking pasta on the stove and was saying, it doesn't make sense why I'm telling you this, but it will soon. He then goes off into memories of a relationship that ended, becomes focused on those memories, lost in them. Time passed thinking about his lost love and the only thing that brought him back from those memories, back to the present, was the pasta was now burning on the stove. He had spent that whole time remembering someone, remembering the pain, that he forgot the pasta. I felt the whole point of this song is that if we let ourselves get lost in the past, we forget the present, we forget where we are and miss out on what is going on now. Until something finally pulls back to the now "pasta burning on the stove".

.

Sometimes when we get lost in our thoughts, we don't give time a thought, place a thought, or anything else, except for what we are remembering. What happens when that happens? The pasta burns.

paulludvig said:

FUNKNROLL said:

paulludvig said:

I don't believe the song June is a reference to drugs, be he WAS planning to play June and SOTT back to back live.

How do you know this? .

A recent rehearsal leaked a few days ago. Prince mentions it.

paulludvig said:

FUNKNROLL said:

paulludvig said: How do you know this? .

A recent rehearsal leaked a few days ago. Prince mentions it.

Yeah? What's this leak called?

Marrk said:

paulludvig said:

A recent rehearsal leaked a few days ago. Prince mentions it.

Yeah? What's this leak called?

PRINCE's rehearsals with MonoNeon, Donna Grantis, Adrian Crutchfield, Kirk Johnson (at Paisley Park)

http://prince.org/msg/7/426421

[Edited 5/28/16 17:01pm]

paulludvig said:

Marrk said:

Yeah? What's this leak called?

PRINCE's rehearsals with MonoNeon, Donna Grantis, Adrian Crutchfield, Kirk Johnson (at Paisley Park)

http://prince.org/msg/7/426421

[Edited 5/28/16 17:01pm]

Ok cool. I've got those. Not listened to them all yet though. the 3rd ones sound isn't as good as the first two. Is it on that one?

Marrk said:

paulludvig said:

PRINCE's rehearsals with MonoNeon, Donna Grantis, Adrian Crutchfield, Kirk Johnson (at Paisley Park)

http://prince.org/msg/7/426421

[Edited 5/28/16 17:01pm]

Ok cool. I've got those. Not listened to them all yet though. the 3rd ones sound isn't as good as the first two. Is it on that one?

Yup. Ends with a version A ? of U.

paulludvig said:

Marrk said:

Ok cool. I've got those. Not listened to them all yet though. the 3rd ones sound isn't as good as the first two. Is it on that one?

Yup. Ends with a version A ? of U.

well now I've got to listen to it in full. Wonder why the sound isn't as good though, (apart from the boss being there to oversee!)

It is a little trippy like Blackstar.

AnotherJourneyByTrain said:

Up, because it is June 1.

And because it is the best song from either HITNRUN record.

starkitty said:

McD said:

Nonsense

Please don't make me regret reviving this thread.
.

[Edited 6/1/16 11:12am]

suomynona said:

FUNKNROLL said:

avajane said: