WHITE MANSION. Ever since the 1st time I heard it, I heard a loneliness in him

What's in your backpack today?
Will it take my blues away?
That's okay, You gotta run

Huh, check it, I don't need you to have some fun
Comin' from the land of snow
I guess I'm kinda used to cold

Read more: Prince - White Mansion Ly...etroLyrics

Comeback

vuvuzela said:

PurpleBabied said:

I did notice that! I wasn't able to confirm that's an ultrasound heartbeat but it sounds very similar to one. He sounds like a sad alien getting ready to get beamed back up to the mothership in this one.

It certainly sounds like a Doppler heart sound (distinct whooshing sound). Very sad song indeed. The way his voice cracks, as if he is on the verge of tears, is heartbreaking.

Yes.

Wlcm2thdwn3 said:

WHITE MANSION. Ever since the 1st time I heard it, I heard a loneliness in him

What's in your backpack today?
Will it take my blues away?
That's okay, You gotta run

Huh, check it, I don't need you to have some fun
Comin' from the land of snow
I guess I'm kinda used to cold

Read more: Prince - White Mansion Ly...etroLyrics

I´ve always loved that song, and especially that line.

Nice to see that I´m not the only one.

Many here dislike White Mansion.

Do you think the backpack line refers to his school days?

I´ve always interpreted it as two teenagers (one of them of course Prince) talking to each other, and one of them is the reclusive loner (Prince).

But...what could the contents of the backpack be?

Or do you have a different interpretation?

There is Lonely - definitely

bergowitz said:

There is Lonely - definitely

Indeed, the title itself speak volumes

Silver Tongue

KoolEaze said:

Wlcm2thdwn3 said:

WHITE MANSION. Ever since the 1st time I heard it, I heard a loneliness in him

What's in your backpack today?
Will it take my blues away?
That's okay, You gotta run

Huh, check it, I don't need you to have some fun
Comin' from the land of snow
I guess I'm kinda used to cold

Read more: Prince - White Mansion Ly...etroLyrics

I´ve always loved that song, and especially that line.

Nice to see that I´m not the only one.

Many here dislike White Mansion.

Do you think the backpack line refers to his school days?

I´ve always interpreted it as two teenagers (one of them of course Prince) talking to each other, and one of them is the reclusive loner (Prince).

But...what could the contents of the backpack be?

Or do you have a different interpretation?

I like this song too but I find it esp sad now since that White Mansion is empty.

The video for Betcha By Golly Wow breaks my heart every time

Another Lonely Christmas, Empty Room, The Breakdown, Sometimes it Snows in April, Condition of the heart and Nothing Compares to U are all worthy of mention, but there are also songs that don't have sad lyrics but feel elegiac, like Hardrocklover.

MattyJam said:

Surprised no-one has mentioned I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore yet.

I think it's his most powerfully tragic song. The one that grabs everyone by the boo-boo.

If I Was Your Girlfriend is another sad song for me.

Condition of the Heart

As well as many of the others mentioned

bookwomen said:

If I Was Your Girlfriend is another sad song for me.

Yes it really is.

purplegirl00 said:

Way Back Home It's sounds to me that he is ready to give up/ be done with whatever personal struggles he is facing/has faced. He is ready to go home where his loved ones are. This is why I think he puts his baby's ultrasound heartbeat as the background beat to the song.

Thank you! I said the same thing the first time I heard this song! Thought it was just me that heard this.

There is Lonely

Sometimes it Snows in April

Power Fantastic

PurpleBabied said:

Yes I do realize there are other threads on this but I can't post in them because they're over 8 years old.

What do you think are the saddest Prince songs & why?

Another Lonely Christmas- It starts off like they're broken up but as the song goes on you realize his lover is dead on Christmas. As I said in another thread, a lot of people feel extra sad on Christmas because they have relatives or people important to them die on or around Christmas.

17 Days (piano version)- Besides his vocals and the sparse vocals, and the calendar notes and the rain, the smoking gets me. I never smoke. I only smoke when I've actively repressing emotion and want to kill myself because my lungs cannot take it. It doesn't help that someone I love died of lung cancer even though she never smoked a day in her life.

In my opinion the saddest song is "The Breakdown"

For me--there's only one answer to this question--> Sometimes it snows in April

This vibe in this song has always sounded so different than everything else he's done. Prince was a guy with a lot of control/artiface/polish. For SISIA--it's like he completely let his guard down and let out his most vulnerable, emotional side. For a long time--I couldn't listen to it without crying. And it's almost even harder now. It was the PERFECT song for D'angelo to cover so soon after Prince's passing.

There's a similar song in the Paul McCartney catalog which I highly recommend you checking. McCartney too is a guy who I've always seen as very controlled--almost cool. His emotional songs are more sentimental/saccharine/mawkish than really raw. That is--except for on the song HERE TODAY from the Tug of War record. McCartney sings about the loss of his brother John--and all bets are off. The flood gates are opened. This is a raw, emotional, vulnerable side of McCartney--which for my money--we never saw again before or after. He's started playing this one live within the past decade and I'm just not sure how he gets through it everynight.

https://www.youtube.com/w...gJw5L_UGAw (Warning--this is a tear jerker!!)

https://www.youtube.com/w...kzgAJbfme8 (And a live version)

The song "Goodbye" from Crystal Ball, always gets my heart feeling heavy. That song just plays on my heart strings.

Wlcm2thdwn3 said:

WHITE MANSION. Ever since the 1st time I heard it, I heard a loneliness in him

What's in your backpack today?
Will it take my blues away?
That's okay, You gotta run

Huh, check it, I don't need you to have some fun
Comin' from the land of snow
I guess I'm kinda used to cold

Read more: Prince - White Mansion Ly...etroLyrics

I never saw it as a sad song. In fact I've been avoiding the songs that I find sad these days. Not this one, though. But I guess it has a melancholy feel to it. It is one of my favorites. Something about it makes me feel better and puts me in a good mood at times.

Power Fantastic

Sometimes snows in April

speakeasy said:

MattyJam said:

Surprised no-one has mentioned I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore yet.

Yes I know I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore is one of the saddest.

But for me, it is Sometimes It Snows in April. It still makes me cry.

bookwomen said: