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Thread started 07/23/16 11:46pm

SoftSkarlettLo
visa

"Art Official Cage" song?

I've heard this song and find it too mainstream sounding. Yah, Prince was a dance artist but he was more underground and mysterious. The song "Art Official Cage" sounds too "friendly" and mainstream, haha.

What od you think?

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Reply #1 posted 07/23/16 11:59pm

sonshine

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I actually quite like it smile
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 #2 posted 07/24/16 12:24am

EmmaMcG

I like it. And I normally don't listen to those kind of songs. In fact, the reason I gravitated towards Prince in the first place was because I don't like the kind of music you get in the top 40. But I really like Art Official Cage. I still can't understand half the lyrics but I like it nonetheless. smile
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Reply #3 posted 07/24/16 12:48am

TheEnglishGent

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I like it, a great album opener.

RIP sad
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Reply #4 posted 07/24/16 3:00am

breakdown2k14

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I like it a lot.I heard it was meant to sound like it was mocking today's music somewhat .kinda like Prince mocked rap in "dead on it".BTW..is that Tony M rapping in "Art official cage"? eek
There's Joy in repetition
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Reply #5 posted 07/24/16 3:06am

dodger

breakdown2k14 said:

I like it a lot.I heard it was meant to sound like it was mocking today's music somewhat .kinda like Prince mocked rap in "dead on it".BTW..is that Tony M rapping in "Art official cage"? eek


It does sound a bit like Tony M but apparently it's Prince with an 'altered' voice.
.
I like it as an intro/opener. One of them mad tracks only Prince would make - bit of EDM incl horn, a rap, guitars, strings and someone getting water boarded
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Reply #6 posted 07/24/16 6:14am

IstenSzek

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who is the woman following his lead vocal on the 'verses'? is it elisa? can't quite make it out.
it's very faint. and without headphones i thought it was just prince's higher range. hmmm

and true love lives on lollipops and crisps
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Reply #7 posted 07/24/16 7:05am

Gohi

This song isn't very "friendly" to my ears. It takes tons of twists and turns and there's so much weird stuff going on.

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Reply #8 posted 07/24/16 9:13am

herb4

Worst song on the album IMO. Not sure what he was going for with that one.

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Reply #9 posted 07/24/16 9:26am

luvsexy4all

herb4 said:

Worst song on the album IMO. Not sure what he was going for with that one.

without this song the album would be worse than it is

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Reply #10 posted 07/24/16 9:27am

purplethunder3
121

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TheEnglishGent said:

I like it, a great album opener.

yeahthat

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #11 posted 07/24/16 9:27am

eightiesbrat

I like it but the way you feel about this song is how I feel about Rock N Roll Love Affair, for example.

We all want the stuff that's found in our wildest dreams. . .
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Reply #12 posted 07/24/16 9:36am

ufoclub

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Seems like a stab at popular music production trends (with added funk chords), but than label it an artificial age. Then even twist it to hear some "waterboarding".

I think it comes across sarcastic in light of all that.

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Reply #13 posted 07/24/16 4:47pm

MIRvmn

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Art official cage is ok, not a favorite on AOA
Welcome 2 The Dawn
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Reply #14 posted 07/24/16 5:13pm

muleFunk

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I woke up in the city in a bit of a rage
Determined 2 free my mind from this art official cage
Thought by thought my teachers taught from an early age
A place in heaven far off in the future.

Ghettos 2 the left of me, malls 2 the right
Why's my kingdom come only in prayers at night?
What should I expect if I'm not willing 2 fight?
A place in heaven somewhere in the future

He's saying that religion is an Artificial Cage.

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Reply #15 posted 07/24/16 5:15pm

roxy831

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I actually like the song as well, and likened it to Colonized Mind in terms of his point of view in regards to society and industry.

Welcome home class. We've come a long way. - RIP Prince
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Reply #16 posted 07/24/16 6:31pm

anangellooksdo
wn

I'm digging that album right now and am so into Breakdown and Way Back Home. I also like Clouds. I like the beginning of Art Official Cage and understanding Prince's last albums, when I give the rest of the song a chance ill probably be digging on it too.

I realized yesterday that with his newer music it takes really giving a song a chance, and listening to it at least 2 - 4 times maybe, and on different days, to get into some of it. But when I do, oh boy...
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Reply #17 posted 07/24/16 6:34pm

anangellooksdo
wn

muleFunk said:

I woke up in the city in a bit of a rage
Determined 2 free my mind from this art official cage
Thought by thought my teachers taught from an early age
A place in heaven far off in the future.




Ghettos 2 the left of me, malls 2 the right
Why's my kingdom come only in prayers at night?
What should I expect if I'm not willing 2 fight?
A place in heaven somewhere in the future




He's saying that religion is an Artificial Cage.



I think he's saying that the illusion his teachers (in school) taught him and society taught him is the cafe. I explain the album more here:

http://prince.org/msg/7/429717
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Reply #18 posted 07/24/16 8:17pm

foreverfan1984

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I quite like it and view most of his later lyrics through a lens of faith and social commentary. I tend to think he is speaking of the restraints put upon him from a young age by society. The big divide between the have and the have not's. Malls and ghettos are the symbols for these.. And that we have to fight in this life for our goals. But that everyone has a place in heaven in the future.

The more I listen to AOA, the more I love it.

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Reply #19 posted 07/24/16 8:39pm

gandorb

I like it as well. Sets the album up well. I don't find it particularly mainstream, though I guess compared to some of the other songs on AOA it it. He has way more mainstream songs on many of his other albums.

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Reply #20 posted 07/25/16 9:17am

Xarina

I like this song and think it fits well with the rest of AOA.
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Reply #21 posted 07/25/16 10:22am

brassneck

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I love the song and the album as a whole. With repeated listens the record really comes into focus and feels very personal and affecting. I thought Matt Thorne's original 2014 review for the Guardian summarized the song in question very well: "Half-a-dozen modern digital music tropes are chucked about merrily on the first song alone (Art Official Cage), while a vintage Prince good-time track percolates along beneath, as though the veteran studio wizard is offering all comers outside for a funk-off."

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Reply #22 posted 07/25/16 10:25am

DarkKnight1

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Its getting a little better with time, especially the 2nd half of the song.

(Insert something clever here)
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Reply #23 posted 07/25/16 10:54am

rainbowchild

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As much as I like the song, the title doesn't make any sense 2 me. lol Plenty of other good songs on the album besides the title track imo.
"Just like the sun, the Rainbow Children rise."



"We had fun, didn't we?"
-Prince (1958-2016) 4ever in my life
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Reply #24 posted 07/25/16 11:01am

motherfunka

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IstenSzek said:

who is the woman following his lead vocal on the 'verses'? is it elisa? can't quite make it out.
it's very faint. and without headphones i thought it was just prince's higher range. hmmm

Marissa Jack aka The Golden Hippie

TRUE BLUE
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Reply #25 posted 07/25/16 11:06am

laytonian

rainbowchild said:

As much as I like the song, the title doesn't make any sense 2 me. lol Plenty of other good songs on the album besides the title track imo.

.

Artificial Cage, something you are trapped in.

.

Welcome to "the org", laytonian… come bathe with me.
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Reply #26 posted 07/25/16 11:27am

rainbowchild

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laytonian said:



rainbowchild said:


As much as I like the song, the title doesn't make any sense 2 me. lol Plenty of other good songs on the album besides the title track imo.

.


Artificial Cage, something you are trapped in.


.




I know what he implies but the play on words, Art Official Cage, doesn't make sense to me. lol Just keep it simple.
"Just like the sun, the Rainbow Children rise."



"We had fun, didn't we?"
-Prince (1958-2016) 4ever in my life
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Reply #27 posted 07/25/16 11:31am

IstenSzek

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motherfunka said:

IstenSzek said:

who is the woman following his lead vocal on the 'verses'? is it elisa? can't quite make it out.
it's very faint. and without headphones i thought it was just prince's higher range. hmmm

Marissa Jack aka The Golden Hippie

you don't say! no wonder i had "stones" in my head all day for no reason - not even having
listened to it for months lol

thanks motherfunka thumbs up!

and true love lives on lollipops and crisps
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Reply #28 posted 07/25/16 2:21pm

gandorb

rainbowchild said:

laytonian said:



rainbowchild said:


As much as I like the song, the title doesn't make any sense 2 me. lol Plenty of other good songs on the album besides the title track imo.

.


Artificial Cage, something you are trapped in.


.




I know what he implies but the play on words, Art Official Cage, doesn't make sense to me. lol Just keep it simple.

Prince keeping it simple. Good one falloff
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Reply #29 posted 07/25/16 2:24pm

morningsong

rainbowchild said:

laytonian said:

.

Artificial Cage, something you are trapped in.

.

I know what he implies but the play on words, Art Official Cage, doesn't make sense to me. lol Just keep it simple.

He got caged in by his official art?


I don't know I'm just making crap up. It usually takes me years to figure out what the heck he meant by somethings.



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