SquirrelMeat76 said:

BillieBalloon said:

26ten said: Not for me, I think he just wants the closeness with his lover that she has with her girlfriends. I love that song and his white faux fur coat that he delivered it in.

Yep agreed, Girlfriend is more of a plea. Wonderful lyrics too. In my Top 5 Prince songs without doubt.

Oh I agree for sure - the words themselves are absolutely understandable - he just sounds so pathetic and willing to do anything - anything - that I feel it's some really scary ode to desperation. The first time I heard it I was totally floored by it's insanity.

paulludvig said:

SquirrelMeat76 said:

Yep agreed, Girlfriend is more of a plea. Wonderful lyrics too. In my Top 5 Prince songs without doubt.

The music that supports the lyrics (especially the organ) suggest desperation that is about to spiral out of control. That's not sweet,it's sinister. [Edited 10/12/16 12:39pm]

I just saw your message after making mine - I strongly agree - he sounds totally gone - something is wrong in that track.

Your analysis of Crystal Ball is thrilling. Lots of things I'd never thought about.

There's humor to spare in all his best recordings. And like so many of the greatest artists, Prince knows that humor and horror go hand in hand.

The quality of 'sinisterness' is a great topic. For me, more than in his lyrical content (there are many examples of that too, however), Prince used the studio and minimalistic music better than anyone to create a whole body of 'sinister' recordings. He almost always suggested something alarming in the musical and mixing choices he made. Maybe it's because it was recorded by one person - so it might not have been completely intentional - but there's this very "alone" quality to much of his music. That makes everything feel creepy to me, in the sense that it's private and awkward. Another great example of this is 'Something in the Water,' which actually uses both the music and the lyrics to suggest a very paranoid person. And again, it can be humorous and very disturbing. Lyrically, Prince suggests a far-fetched social/governmental conspiracy to keep his relationships from working. Of course it should be read as humorous hyperbole, but it's also suggestive of a person who is perpetually blaming the world for his own failure to connect. And the screaming and silence throughout make that track feel like he's 'on the edge.'

bonatoc said:

paraded said:

The end of DMSR is really quite sinister, with the woman screaming for help. It's particularly so because you get so into the groove and then that part arrives so expectedly. It feels like a real party where something went horribly wrong. In fact the whole '1999' album has an atmosphere of something disturbing happening.

I'd also throw 'Purple Music' and 'Crystal Ball' in as candidates. Not really for any particular lyrical content...just a feeling of dread in the music. All incredible tracks.

[Edited 10/27/16 21:57pm]

DMSR — I find it hilarious.

Purple Music — makes me think of the infamous Bubble Gum shot, the stoned eyes one, from the stills of "The 2nd Coming" movie. When he sings "I'm high", obviously. It's really disturbing, but I dunno, in a good way. I mean what's going underneath is Pure Genius™. The delivery is all dead, and again, to me, more funny than scary.
Being high on one's self, come on, it's LOL material, and as ever, tongue-in-cheek with Prince, he does his best to never let you be sure he's not actually persuaded to be so great he can get high on himself.

Crystal Ball — is fucking creepy. War advances, Explosions, the fucking end of the world.
Even Susannah has gone crazy, she draws dicks everywhere, the background vocals are zombies, the drums tries to run from the police, cellos are menacing, apocalypse gongs.
You have George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Pet Sounds' Brian Wilson influences and borrowed ideas all over the place.

Very few musicians went as deep within themselves as here. Heck, artists in general.
It's maybe his most introspective song, Prince hiding very personal stuff under indecipherable metaphors.

And then as it goes along it's delivered like Camille meets Tex Avery. OK, a creepy Tex Avery.
Congas, a smooth funk Bossa Nova on springs. Then the drums bring the War back on.

And then, out of nowhere, you have Susannah's whisper and Clare Fischer opening a flower right in the middle.
A brief ray of light cutting through the dark, polluted urban sky.

Like he read what Prince wanted, or rather, foresaw by the skinny motherfucker that was the original version Prince sent him, Prince's vision. He inked and coloured a pencil sketch.
The telepathic connection between these two, now THAT's creepy

Near the end, Prince derails the song. Back to reality, the world sucks and is full of violence. The last scream and the siren, the last chord, it's getting "serious" creepy back again. "Crystal Ball" is the evil, dark twin of "1999": In "Crystal Ball", basically, we're fucked. Yay. Talk about Party poop.

Put "Sign O' The Times" right after that, you wanna kill yourself.

[Edited 10/28/16 18:52pm]

OldFriends4Sale said:

Is this the "it's time for your morning bath, sir" part of "Purple Music"?

26ten said:

SquirrelMeat76 said:

Yep agreed, Girlfriend is more of a plea. Wonderful lyrics too. In my Top 5 Prince songs without doubt.

Oh I agree for sure - the words themselves are absolutely understandable - he just sounds so pathetic and willing to do anything - anything - that I feel it's some really scary ode to desperation. The first time I heard it I was totally floored by it's insanity.

Thanks,i Agree.

TrivialPursuit said:

Very well put.

The keyboard lead line on "Superfunky" is like an evil circus theme.

Lots of lyrical themes of desperation, obsession, and borderline insanity. Even a song like "Cindy C" sounds less like an admirer and more like a stalker.

But only half the songs fit the dark theme. The Black Album is kind of like two separate albums put together as one.