.

[Edited 9/14/16 13:14pm]

Linda1974 said:

I'm your driver, and you're my screw

Yup. That one's flippin terrible. Like an embarassing bad dad-pun with added sex awkwardness.

MrNelson7 said:

CalhounSq said:

MrNelson7 said:

"Now take a glove, fill it with hot baby lotion and slip it on."

Gross.

LMAO, where's that from. I must hear this pronto!

it's from the diamonds & pearls album outtake "schoolyard"


now take a glove, fill it with hot baby lotion and slip it on
that's what carrie was like - one stroke and eye was gone

I don't know if they're bad so much as overly melodramatic, but some of the lyrics on Prince are a bit cringey. "I play the fool when we're together, but I cry when we're apart" and "I spend my nights just a-crying". Dude, you can't spend that much time crying!

I think Last December - which contains some good lyrics - is practically ruined by its cringy chorus

In the name of the father, in the name of the son.

We must come together, come together as one

lynx said:

I think Last December - which contains some good lyrics - is practically ruined by its cringy chorus

In the name of the father, in the name of the son.

We must come together, come together as one

i just treat the whole of trc as a semi religious, pseuso-sci-fi fairytale. as such it works well,
and the lyrics don't bother me within that frame. it's a story about another world. a paralel
universe if you will. a universe where the musicianship is on another level though

Nasalhair said:

"If I say eleven

You can say it's seven

Still I wish you heaven"

Love the first verse of the song, but this second verse is just lazy and ruins it for me.

Why, it talks about disagreement, not matters how much you disagree with another person you still love that person and wish that person the best.

214 said:

Nasalhair said:

"If I say eleven

You can say it's seven

Still I wish you heaven"

Love the first verse of the song, but this second verse is just lazy and ruins it for me.

Why, it talks about disagreement, not matters how much you disagree with another person you still love that person and wish that person the best.

.

Oh thank heaven for seven eleven

.

I am really enjoying this thread.

I guess when you produce that much work, you're going to have some lyrics that just don't work. But I can agree with a lot of these.

QueenofCardboard said:

214 said:

Why, it talks about disagreement, not matters how much you disagree with another person you still love that person and wish that person the best.

.

Oh thank heaven for seven eleven

.

IstenSzek said:

It's not specific lyrics that bother me, all the cringey ones make me do is laugh with amusement. What gets to me is that he was very intelligent and articulate, and showed command of a wide vocabulary and yet his song lyrics tend to be a level or two below what you would expect. What he says and how he speaks in interviews is worlds apart from the lyrics he writes. But I'm not a musician so there must be a reason he wrote lyrics that way that totally escape me.

jayseajay said:

Linda1974 said:

I'm your driver, and you're my screw

Yup. That one's flippin terrible. Like an embarassing bad dad-pun with added sex awkwardness.

yeah... don't really like this line either....

214 said:

Nasalhair said:

"If I say eleven

You can say it's seven

Still I wish you heaven"

Love the first verse of the song, but this second verse is just lazy and ruins it for me.

Why, it talks about disagreement, not matters how much you disagree with another person you still love that person and wish that person the best.

You missed my point. The first verse is much longer ("Doubts of our conviction / Follow where we go / And when the world's compassion / Ceases still I know / For your every touch I / Thank you so much / For your every kiss I...") and then after the chorus we just get this - three lines which to me feel utterly forced, like he couldn't think of something worth saying in the second verse. As I said, it just feels lazy, like it should have been longer to fit with the pattern of verse 1, but he just threw this in. My opinion, not necessarily yours.

From "Acknowledge Me" this line has always bothered me...

"It's 4th and goal and I ain't about to punt"

NO ONE has ever punted at 4th and goal - EVER! So technically it may make some sense, but it's still weird.

Nasalhair said:

214 said:

Why, it talks about disagreement, not matters how much you disagree with another person you still love that person and wish that person the best.

You missed my point. The first verse is much longer ("Doubts of our conviction / Follow where we go / And when the world's compassion / Ceases still I know / For your every touch I / Thank you so much / For your every kiss I...") and then after the chorus we just get this - three lines which to me feel utterly forced, like he couldn't think of something worth saying in the second verse. As I said, it just feels lazy, like it should have been longer to fit with the pattern of verse 1, but he just threw this in. My opinion, not necessarily yours.

Ohhh i get it, i agree with u sounds lazy but i like it.

Gadotou said:

It's not specific lyrics that bother me, all the cringey ones make me do is laugh with amusement. What gets to me is that he was very intelligent and articulate, and showed command of a wide vocabulary and yet his song lyrics tend to be a level or two below what you would expect. What he says and how he speaks in interviews is worlds apart from the lyrics he writes. But I'm not a musician so there must be a reason he wrote lyrics that way that totally escape me.

I think he just let it flow. Nice and simple. Getting intelligent and articulate might alienate some of his audience.

Electrostar said:

Gadotou said:

It's not specific lyrics that bother me, all the cringey ones make me do is laugh with amusement. What gets to me is that he was very intelligent and articulate, and showed command of a wide vocabulary and yet his song lyrics tend to be a level or two below what you would expect. What he says and how he speaks in interviews is worlds apart from the lyrics he writes. But I'm not a musician so there must be a reason he wrote lyrics that way that totally escape me.

I think he just let it flow. Nice and simple. Getting intelligent and articulate might alienate some of his audience.

.

There is a lot more beauty in simplicity than there is in complexity.

Using big words doesn't make you a better writer.

.

I hate intellectual lyrics.

They sound so pretentious to me.

The music I like best speaks to my body and soul, not to my Prefrontal Cortex.

That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate good lyrics though.

.

Lyrics should be like good poetry.

They should be meaningful on at least two levels,

They should sound good together (alliteration, rhythm and rhyme)

They should create imagery,

And they should do all of these things in as few words a possible.

.

Other than Bob Dylan, can you think of any lyricist's that are better than Prince?

.

Who?

.

What makes them better?

.

[Edited 9/15/16 20:45pm]

Electrostar said:

Gadotou said:

It's not specific lyrics that bother me, all the cringey ones make me do is laugh with amusement. What gets to me is that he was very intelligent and articulate, and showed command of a wide vocabulary and yet his song lyrics tend to be a level or two below what you would expect. What he says and how he speaks in interviews is worlds apart from the lyrics he writes. But I'm not a musician so there must be a reason he wrote lyrics that way that totally escape me.

I think he just let it flow. Nice and simple. Getting intelligent and articulate might alienate some of his audience.

Yes I suspect he went for how the sound of words flowed with the sound of the instruments He could get deep too, as in "Beautiful Strange" (one of my faves as you can already tell from my signature line) but the musical accompaniment there is relatively sparse.

Gadotou said:

It's not specific lyrics that bother me, all the cringey ones make me do is laugh with amusement. What gets to me is that he was very intelligent and articulate, and showed command of a wide vocabulary and yet his song lyrics tend to be a level or two below what you would expect. What he says and how he speaks in interviews is worlds apart from the lyrics he writes. But I'm not a musician so there must be a reason he wrote lyrics that way that totally escape me.

I think there are many of his that are well written and some that are not. When one writes well over 1000 songs, there is no way to keep the lyrics at a high standard. I do think that some of the silly lyrics were intentionally so for his amusement, which is certainly in keeping with his personality (I can just imagine that Prince smirk when he wrote them). I also think that many of his songs were clever in their double meanings even if the words were basic. He did this so much early on with sexually coded lyrics that could still go over the head of kids and radio censors such as LRC, and later in his career in so many songs could be about romantic love and/or spiritual love.

BoraBora said:

The entire "My Name Is Prince".

Not! I love My Name is Prince!

QueenofCardboard said:

Electrostar said:

I think he just let it flow. Nice and simple. Getting intelligent and articulate might alienate some of his audience.

.

There is a lot more beauty in simplicity than there is in complexity.

Using big words doesn't make you a better writer.

.

I hate intellectual lyrics.

They sound so pretentious to me.

The music I like best speaks to my body and emotions not to my Prefrontal Cortex.

That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate good lyrics though.

.

Lyrics should be like good poetry.

They should be meaningful on at least two levels,

They should sound good together (alliteration, rhythm and rhyme)

They should create imagery,

And they should do all of these things in as few words a possible.

.

Can you think of any lyricist's that are better?

.

Who?

.

What makes them better?

.

[Edited 9/15/16 14:42pm]

Dylan has a way with words,

This is easy. It's the "Hi yo silver, it's the Bone Ranger" line in 18 & Over. Actually, the chorus lines aren't much better.

I love the track though.

.

[Edited 9/15/16 19:04pm]

"Soda fizzin on the lawn"

.

"If u wanna get creamy"

.

"I've got a sugarcane, that I wanna lose in you"

.

"Theres a puddle there"

.

Race cars burn rubber in my pants"

.

"I'd rather do you after school like some homework, am I getting u hot?"

.

Worst lyric from an imitators song - Soulalive loves this line,

.

Exotic Dtorm, I'll save you from the world

"Bombs be dropping everywhere, they better not harm yo silky hair"

[Edited 9/15/16 17:14pm]

Electrostar said:

1000 hug & kisses. I wanna kiss you, kiss you all over your face. Makes me think of a sloppy dog. I would have preferred, I wanna kiss you, kiss you all over the place. Romantic and sexy at the same time.

hahahaha yes that gets me too... hahahaha

gandorb said:

Gadotou said:

It's not specific lyrics that bother me, all the cringey ones make me do is laugh with amusement. What gets to me is that he was very intelligent and articulate, and showed command of a wide vocabulary and yet his song lyrics tend to be a level or two below what you would expect. What he says and how he speaks in interviews is worlds apart from the lyrics he writes. But I'm not a musician so there must be a reason he wrote lyrics that way that totally escape me.

I think there are many of his that are well written and some that are not. When one writes well over 1000 songs, there is no way to keep the lyrics at a high standard. I do think that some of the silly lyrics were intentionally so for his amusement, which is certainly in keeping with his personality (I can just imagine that Prince smirk when he wrote them). I also think that many of his songs were clever in their double meanings even if the words were basic. He did this so much early on with sexually coded lyrics that could still go over the head of kids and radio censors such as LRC, and later in his career in so many songs could be about romantic love and/or spiritual love.

Excellent points, thank you I agree that keeping high standards for lyrics is close to impossible when you've written so many songs. There are only so many words available to us! Which maybe explains the grunts and oowwaas haha. The silliness is amusing to me, and I take them as I would a friend who was trying to make me laugh. And I love the double and layered meanings, just like I love the lushness of the musical arrangements. Many times I would play a song I've played many times before and all of a sudden I get a new take on the subject matter, or hear a sound P has layered in that hasn't caught my attention before. If I never listened to anyone else in my lifetime I strongly doubt I would ever get bored.

It's been fun discussing this with you (Yup, I don't have many people IRL who would be interested in talking about this)

Gadotou said:

gandorb said:

I think there are many of his that are well written and some that are not. When one writes well over 1000 songs, there is no way to keep the lyrics at a high standard. I do think that some of the silly lyrics were intentionally so for his amusement, which is certainly in keeping with his personality (I can just imagine that Prince smirk when he wrote them). I also think that many of his songs were clever in their double meanings even if the words were basic. He did this so much early on with sexually coded lyrics that could still go over the head of kids and radio censors such as LRC, and later in his career in so many songs could be about romantic love and/or spiritual love.

Excellent points, thank you I agree that keeping high standards for lyrics is close to impossible when you've written so many songs. There are only so many words available to us! Which maybe explains the grunts and oowwaas haha. The silliness is amusing to me, and I take them as I would a friend who was trying to make me laugh. And I love the double and layered meanings, just like I love the lushness of the musical arrangements. Many times I would play a song I've played many times before and all of a sudden I get a new take on the subject matter, or hear a sound P has layered in that hasn't caught my attention before. If I never listened to anyone else in my lifetime I strongly doubt I would ever get bored.

It's been fun discussing this with you (Yup, I don't have many people IRL who would be interested in talking about this)

I know what you mean about it being hard to find people interested in talking about Prince outside of the org. That's why I like it here! Thanks for your response

lynx said: