anangellooksdown said:

In "Way Back Home", Prince says: "So many reasons why I don't belong here But now that I am I Gonna conquer with no fear Until I Find My Way back home" 1) Do you think he meant he felt he didn't belong "here" - on earth? 2) If so, what do you think the "so many reasons" are that made him feel he doesn't belong "here"?

In so many ways, he wasn't a regular guy just leading an everyman's life because that wasn't his soul's journey. He didn't have a lot of time and attention for the mundane, social part of life with a spouse/girlfriend. The music called him all the time. It was the strongest attraction other than the pull of God/spirituality.

Way Back Home to me is the "afterworld". Heaven, the sleep before the second coming, whatever he believed after death to be at the time of his passing. Definitely, the reuniting with God at some time.

RIP, angel Prince. This song was and is hard to bear. Maybe someday.

Really great analysis DD.

i don't know why he said it but it's my favorite line of his for a long time. I can understand it in my position, but I don't really know what he meant. he must have felt out of place in some way, just as I do, the reasons are probably much different though. It's interesting, AOA had some of his most introspective lyrics. in Time he sings "give me back the time you can keep the memories" for most of my life as a prince fan, i couldn't relate to most of what he sang about, not really, I just knew he was great, then, with some of his later work, it's like I can understand everything he's talking about.

PeteSilas said:

i don't know why he said it but it's my favorite line of his for a long time. I can understand it in my position, but I don't really know what he meant. he must have felt out of place in some way, just as I do, the reasons are probably much different though. It's interesting, AOA had some of his most introspective lyrics. in Time he sings "give me back the time you can keep the memories" for most of my life as a prince fan, i couldn't relate to most of what he sang about, not really, I just knew he was great, then, with some of his later work, it's like I can understand everything he's talking about.

Those songs were so open and confessional. Because he was so private and kept himself to himself, the lyrics sharing feelings of regret really got my attention. There's a level of sadness, too.

I wish someone else would find a happier answer to what these lyrics mean!!!! But if wanting to return to "home with the Father/God" is what you are looking forward to, then he expresses what all Christians believe. I wish u heaven, sweet Prince. I wish u everlasting love.

Krystalkisses said:

Really great analysis DD.

That you, Krstalkisses. I just finished Toure's much maligned book. It gave me more background into Prince's childhood. His sources were good but I liked the way he spoke of each generation and the unique experiences that molded them. Prince and I are close in age so I could picture him as a classmate. Too bad I wasn't from Minneapolis!

DollyDagger said:

Krystalkisses said:

Really great analysis DD.

That you, Krstalkisses. I just finished Toure's much maligned book. It gave me more background into Prince's childhood. His sources were good but I liked the way he spoke of each generation and the unique experiences that molded them. Prince and I are close in age so I could picture him as a classmate. Too bad I wasn't from Minneapolis!

I will have to look for that book! I got the Ronin Ro book recently...I hope it isn't a bunch of rehashed things I've already read in previous biographies.

Krystalkisses said:

DollyDagger said:

That you, Krstalkisses. I just finished Toure's much maligned book. It gave me more background into Prince's childhood. His sources were good but I liked the way he spoke of each generation and the unique experiences that molded them. Prince and I are close in age so I could picture him as a classmate. Too bad I wasn't from Minneapolis!

I will have to look for that book! I got the Ronin Ro book recently...I hope it isn't a bunch of rehashed things I've already read in previous biographies.

Same!! That's about the only one I haven't read (except the oroginal "Possessed") which I can't find.

Let me know if you like the book and I'll read it.

I'm not sure he meant here 'on earth' as opposed to in this particular version of the world...he didn't fit here, and he never really had, although he made an incredible job of building a world around himself which he fitted in because he built it to be exactly the way he wanted it to be...which PP was both the concrete symbol of and the space that contained that world, and allowed him to invite whoever he wanted to into. And as he said he didn't fit for a lot of reasons...but the 'born alive' thing is the crux of it for me. Most of the world is superficial vapid bullshit and is full of people running around worrying around stupid vapid bullshit and having vapid conversations about stupid bullshit. P was not stupid, or superficial, or vapid...he cared about shit that mattered, he cared about music, and transcendence, and love, and meaning, and connection, and how to fix this stupid broken world...and generally, ppl who care about important stuff find dealing with the world hard work, and find fitting into it harder. I think this is probably also where the 'shy' thing came from...because, as many ppl have said, he wasn't shy with ppl he was comfortable with, but ppl who are oriented around meaningful stuff often find making small talk with strangers absolutely excrutiating.

DollyDagger said:

In so many ways, he wasn't a regular guy just leading an everyman's life because that wasn't his soul's journey. He didn't have a lot of time and attention for the mundane, social part of life with a spouse/girlfriend.

I agree with a ton of what you've said, but I don't necessarily think that a spouse/girlfriend is the necessarily the source of the mundane part of life. I think one of the great sadnesses of P's life is that his weird control issues around partners stopped him being able to choose a partnership with someone who would really have been a match for him, emotionally and spiritually...and with whom he could have grown... And yeah, that song is hard to bear. I never listen to it apart from when I can feel a lump in my throat about him, and just need to let it out...

PeteSilas said:

wildgoldenhoney said:

DollyDagger said:

Krystalkisses said:

I will have to look for that book! I got the Ronin Ro book recently...I hope it isn't a bunch of rehashed things I've already read in previous biographies.

Same!! That's about the only one I haven't read (except the oroginal "Possessed") which I can't find.

Let me know if you like the book and I'll read it.

Cool. I will.

wildgoldenhoney said:

PeteSilas said:

i don't know why he said it but it's my favorite line of his for a long time. I can understand it in my position, but I don't really know what he meant. he must have felt out of place in some way, just as I do, the reasons are probably much different though. It's interesting, AOA had some of his most introspective lyrics. in Time he sings "give me back the time you can keep the memories" for most of my life as a prince fan, i couldn't relate to most of what he sang about, not really, I just knew he was great, then, with some of his later work, it's like I can understand everything he's talking about.

I forget which song on AOA but the being 'separated from himself' line was about disassociation. Maybe because of all the traumas he had gone through growing up he lived his life as if he was looking at himself from the outside or separate from his consciousness. But later in his life because he was strong enough now, he was able to 'come back into his own body' and realize that he was living disassociatedly. But that introspection was about him dealing with his pain and traumas.

Absolutley. A dissociative state is a common coping mechanisim of trauma victims. I think alot of his behaviors were responses to things that happened in his childhood...any kind of tramatic event can trigger unresolved feelings from past traumas and people some people can shut down emotionally, you can become imobilized with stress hormones that literally flood your brain and nervous system, which is what I think happened when he lost his son. That whole situation was absolutley horrific to hear about.

i truly feel that he felt he had come full circle spirtually & got to where he wanted to be.

All his cryptic lyrics are about his secret drug addictions which he cleverly hid for decades until a few savvy investigative reporters were able to ferret out that information and reveal it to the public.

Krystalkisses said:

DollyDagger said:

Same!! That's about the only one I haven't read (except the oroginal "Possessed") which I can't find.

Let me know if you like the book and I'll read it.

Cool. I will.

I read Toure's book. It's worth reading but with a grain of salt: he has a very assured and cocky style and tone for someone who didn't actually know Prince. (He spoke to him once, e-mailed back and forth once, and played basketball once.) I toggle between following and unfollowing Toure on Twitter; I like him and respect him but sometimes he gets on my nerves too!

In many ways this song reminds me a bit of Strays of the World. Not necessarily the music but the lyrics.

emby said:

Krystalkisses said:

Cool. I will.

I read Toure's book. It's worth reading but with a grain of salt: he has a very assured and cocky style and tone for someone who didn't actually know Prince. (He spoke to him once, e-mailed back and forth once, and played basketball once.) I toggle between following and unfollowing Toure on Twitter; I like him and respect him but sometimes he gets on my nerves too!

Dude sets my teeth on edge, same with Questlove to be honest. They were both around P, and P obviously decided he didn't really want to be close with them...so, I'm going to take P's assessment on this, and take their self-styled Prince expertness with a bucketload of salt. I want to read the book I hope Tavis Smiley will write one day.

Edited to add. Also, how many times is Toure gonna milk that goddamn basketball story? Okay, you played ball with P, like loads and loads and loads of other ppl who met P, and quite possibly when he didn't really want or feel comfortable interacting with you in any more intimate way.

[Edited 8/16/16 8:07am]

I blubbed the very first time I heard him sing that line in September 2014.

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking it spoke directly to me, if you've ever had any sort of crisis, mid-life meltdown, mild depression, have an acute awareness of yourself, are perhaps over-analytical, think a lot, are imaginative/creative, intelligent, a nice person, despair at perceived unfairness, just trying to find the right path in life...

Those sorts of things are often what's led me to think I'm somehow not really designed for this world. Now it's not true of course, I'm meant to be here just as much as the next person but when I heard Prince sing that it was like a gut-punch. from 2010 to 2016 (age 39 to 45) I've definitely been going through a process of maturing and realisation that I am actually happy. This feeling has ebbed and flowed over that 6 year period and in late 2014 I was getting there but obviously was not quite there yet. I was driving, listening to Art Official Age for the first time, and the crying was just pure reflex. I couldn't control it (luckily I didn't crash ) I thought I understood exactly what Prince meant and he understood that feeling too. "So many reasons why ...I don't belong here" (in retrospect DollyDagger probably nails the meaning in the second post above when relating specifically to Prince)

The mirror line for me is "most people in this world, were born dead but I ..was born alive" that feeling is linked, feeling like you are the only one who is real, or the only one who is feeling, it's ego-centric and philosophical sure but it resonates with everyone who is conscious I'm sure.

I can listen to this song now without getting as personally upset (but it was the very first song I listened to on April 21st and of course the tears came flooding back). I think I've found a better place... life can be so nice.

KeithyT said:

I blubbed the very first time I heard him sing that line in September 2014.

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking it spoke directly to me, if you've ever had any sort of crisis, mid-life meltdown, mild depression, have an acute awareness of yourself, are perhaps over-analytical, think a lot, are imaginative/creative, intelligent, a nice person, despair at perceived unfairness, just trying to find the right path in life...

Those sorts of things are often what's led me to think I'm somehow not really designed for this world. Now it's not true of course, I'm meant to be here just as much as the next person but when I heard Prince sing that it was like a gut-punch. from 2010 to 2016 (age 39 to 45) I've definitely been going through a process of maturing and realisation that I am actually happy. This feeling has ebbed and flowed over that 6 year period and in late 2014 I was getting there but obviously was not quite there yet. I was driving, listening to Art Official Age for the first time, and the crying was just pure reflex. I couldn't control it (luckily I didn't crash ) I thought I understood exactly what Prince meant and he understood that feeling too. "So many reasons why ...I don't belong here" (in retrospect DollyDagger probably nails the meaning in the second post above when relating specifically to Prince)

The mirror line for me is "most people in this world, were born dead but I ..was born alive" that feeling is linked, feeling like you are the only one who is real, or the only one who is feeling, it's ego-centric and philosophical sure but it resonates with everyone who is conscious I'm sure.

I can listen to this song now without getting as personally upset (but it was the very first song I listened to on April 21st and of course the tears came flooding back). I think I've found a better place... life can be so nice.

This.

jayseajay said:

emby said:

I read Toure's book. It's worth reading but with a grain of salt: he has a very assured and cocky style and tone for someone who didn't actually know Prince. (He spoke to him once, e-mailed back and forth once, and played basketball once.) I toggle between following and unfollowing Toure on Twitter; I like him and respect him but sometimes he gets on my nerves too!

Dude sets my teeth on edge, same with Questlove to be honest. They were both around P, and P obviously decided he didn't really want to be close with them...so, I'm going to take P's assessment on this, and take their self-styled Prince expertness with a bucketload of salt. I want to read the book I hope Tavis Smiley will write one day.

Edited to add. Also, how many times is Toure gonna milk that goddamn basketball story? Okay, you played ball with P, like loads and loads and loads of other ppl who met P, and quite possibly when he didn't really want or feel comfortable interacting with you in any more intimate way.

[Edited 8/16/16 8:07am]

Toure's book was interesting to me because it made me think, again, about what Prince's defining moments were. There were things his in childhood alone that would have hobbled a lesser man.

The loss of his father, the example of how a male should be, from the home followed by his mother being lost to him figuratively because of the step-father joining the family must have been beyond painful. Think of yourself at that age. Add to it, epilepsy. There may have been a certain amount of shame associated with being out of control if he was having seizures. Did they occur at school? Kids can be very cruel to anyone who is different in any way. P was also very small. He spoke of being called all kinds of horrible names. The scars were there. How could they not be?

Unfortunately, he had many reasons to be shy, controlling and hard to get close to. I think he learned very early that he could only depend on himself. I picture him in my classes at school and I would not have known what to make of him!!!

[Edited 8/19/16 23:49pm]

jayseajay said:

DollyDagger said:

In so many ways, he wasn't a regular guy just leading an everyman's life because that wasn't his soul's journey. He didn't have a lot of time and attention for the mundane, social part of life with a spouse/girlfriend.

I agree with a ton of what you've said, but I don't necessarily think that a spouse/girlfriend is the necessarily the source of the mundane part of life. I think one of the great sadnesses of P's life is that his weird control issues around partners stopped him being able to choose a partnership with someone who would really have been a match for him, emotionally and spiritually...and with whom he could have grown... And yeah, that song is hard to bear. I never listen to it apart from when I can feel a lump in my throat about him, and just need to let it out...

I agree with every word you said. The great sadness of having such control issues that an equal partnership in marriage didn't seem to be doable for him. And "baby girls" weren't really that interesting in the long run. I do love that he built his own world in his own way.....

I don't believe in any religion but we fans/fams know Prince had an otherworldly presence about him, especially on stage. I've been to 3 of his concerts and there was always that feeling (not talking about excitement about seeing him, or anything like being awestruck) afterwards that was...idk a combination of having all negativity taken from you/total calm or peace/ with a hint of...

I want to say unease but it isn't that, more like being surrounded by a sort of "energy" (not related to being excited or nervous) that is alien to the majority of the general population.

No, I'm not saying Prince wasn't an Earthling haha...but I do believe he knew things we didn't.

After you felt that "Purple Energy" you never wanted it to go away. Then 4/21/16 and you could actually feel something in the air, something you felt if you saw him in a show, dissapate slowly. I may just be crazy but didn't anyone else feel what I'm goin' on about?

So with that said: Yeah, I don't think he thought he belonged here. He said there were so many reasons and I'm sure the state of the world atm was one of the reasons, but we'll never know.

The cool part is him saying he'll conquer with no fear until he finds his way back home. He was a strong, smart and out of this world Human who made a living out of making people's lives better. Helping others experience what his real drug was "Purple Music/Lovesexy/Power Fantastic". Even if they don't believe in religion or agree with some spirituality.

EDIT: SORRY IF I'M RAMBLING....JUST DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WORD THINGS

Also: What is up with this paragraph crap? There used to be paragraph separation automatically. I've no idea how to have my posts look like they do whilst being typed...

purplemajesty23 said:

I don't believe in any religion but we fans/fams know Prince had an otherworldly presence about him, especially on stage. I've been to 3 of his concerts and there was always that feeling (not talking about excitement about seeing him, or anything like being awestruck) afterwards that was...idk a combination of having all negativity taken from you/total calm or peace/ with a hint of...

I want to say unease but it isn't that, more like being surrounded by a sort of "energy" (not related to being excited or nervous) that is alien to the majority of the general population.

No, I'm not saying Prince wasn't an Earthling haha...but I do believe he knew things we didn't.

After you felt that "Purple Energy" you never wanted it to go away. Then 4/21/16 and you could actually feel something in the air, something you felt if you saw him in a show, dissapate slowly. I may just be crazy but didn't anyone else feel what I'm goin' on about?

So with that said: Yeah, I don't think he thought he belonged here. He said there were so many reasons and I'm sure the state of the world atm was one of the reasons, but we'll never know.

The cool part is him saying he'll conquer with no fear until he finds his way back home. He was a strong, smart and out of this world Human who made a living out of making people's lives better. Helping others experience what his real drug was "Purple Music/Lovesexy/Power Fantastic". Even if they don't believe in religion or agree with some spirituality.

EDIT: SORRY IF I'M RAMBLING....JUST DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WORD THINGS

Also: What is up with this paragraph crap? There used to be paragraph separation automatically. I've no idea how to have my posts look like they do whilst being typed...

I just stick a period between paragraphs.

purplemajesty23 said:

I don't believe in any religion but we fans/fams know Prince had an otherworldly presence about him, especially on stage. I've been to 3 of his concerts and there was always that feeling (not talking about excitement about seeing him, or anything like being awestruck) afterwards that was...idk a combination of having all negativity taken from you/total calm or peace/ with a hint of...

I want to say unease but it isn't that, more like being surrounded by a sort of "energy" (not related to being excited or nervous) that is alien to the majority of the general population.

No, I'm not saying Prince wasn't an Earthling haha...but I do believe he knew things we didn't.

After you felt that "Purple Energy" you never wanted it to go away. Then 4/21/16 and you could actually feel something in the air, something you felt if you saw him in a show, dissapate slowly. I may just be crazy but didn't anyone else feel what I'm goin' on about?

So with that said: Yeah, I don't think he thought he belonged here. He said there were so many reasons and I'm sure the state of the world atm was one of the reasons, but we'll never know.

The cool part is him saying he'll conquer with no fear until he finds his way back home. He was a strong, smart and out of this world Human who made a living out of making people's lives better. Helping others experience what his real drug was "Purple Music/Lovesexy/Power Fantastic". Even if they don't believe in religion or agree with some spirituality.

EDIT: SORRY IF I'M RAMBLING....JUST DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WORD THINGS

Also: What is up with this paragraph crap? There used to be paragraph separation automatically. I've no idea how to have my posts look like they do whilst being typed...

When I press shift and enter it works for me.