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Thread started 10/09/16 10:27pm

gorgbrowneyes

Post 2000, did you miss Prince's swearing and vulgarness?

For those who were around listening to Prince during the 90s and 80s when he did songs like Erotic City and Head and I Wanna Melt With U and etc., did it bother you when he stopped swearing and stopped performing these songs, and started making music that everyone could hear, or were you relieved that he did change? Did it make you like his music less?
[Edited 10/9/16 22:32pm]
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Reply #1 posted 10/09/16 10:42pm

CalhounSq

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I didn't like the music any less, & I only missed the cursing when he'd sing old songs & replace the words/make it clean. I never loved the restrictions he put on himself, but respected his decision to follow the path he was on.
heart prince I never met you, but I LOVE you & I will forever!! Thank you for being YOU - my little Princey, the best to EVER do it prince heart
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Reply #2 posted 10/09/16 11:11pm

LBrent

CalhounSq said:

I didn't like the music any less, & I only missed the cursing when he'd sing old songs & replace the words/make it clean. I never loved the restrictions he put on himself, but respected his decision to follow the path he was on.

^^^THIS^^^

But I respected his journey and growth.

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Reply #3 posted 10/09/16 11:49pm

purplerabbitho
le

He actually never stopped being vulgar entirely. He did stop cursing though... wink

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Reply #4 posted 10/10/16 3:08am

Guitarhero

purplerabbithole said:

He actually never stopped being vulgar entirely. He did stop cursing though... wink

yeahthat

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Reply #5 posted 10/10/16 3:42am

NorthC

Sort of. He was overdoing it in the 90s with all the n-words and f-words and I don't mind he stopped doing the "does your man have an ass like mine" routine in How Come U Dont Call Me... That would get a bit silly when you're 55. (On the other hand, George Clinton still says, "Free your mind and your ass will follow!") Unfortunately, Prince went to the other extreme and didn't even want to admit in I Feel For U that "it's mainly a physical thing". If you change that to "spiritual thing", it ruins the song, which is about nothing more complicated than a man being attracted to a woman.
[Edited 10/10/16 3:43am]
[Edited 10/10/16 3:44am]
[Edited 10/10/16 3:45am]
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Reply #6 posted 10/10/16 4:06am

rogifan

No, it's all a process of maturing/growing up.

Does make the vault more interesting though. I remember reading a story about a P&M aftershow in Australia. There was a DJ there spinning tunes including Prince music. He was told no music with profanity. The song Head came on and immediately Prince sent over someone from his entourage telling the DJ to stop playing it. What are they going to do with music in the vault that's full of explicit lyrics? Or really sexual in nature. Does that get released? The fact is it was part of his career but it's also a fact that later in his career he was serious about no profanity; of wasn't in his shows and people were warned not to swear around him. I'll be curious to see what happens.
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever 💜
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Reply #7 posted 10/10/16 4:53am

NouveauDance

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It was never about the swearing or explicit language.

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Reply #8 posted 10/10/16 4:55am

mediumdry

I wasn't a fan of the hypocrisy. Because you say "fudge" doesn't mean you are not saying "fuck". The way people deal with language, in the US especially, is just horrible.

Rhyming and then leaving out the "bad" word is just as much having that word as if you'd say it. And the idea that some words should not be said is ridiculous anyway. Concepts might be hurtful and offensive, but the words themselves are not.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. I did not miss it, I just hated the hypocrisy.

Paisley Park is in your heart - Love Is Here!
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Reply #9 posted 10/10/16 5:40am

purplerabbitho
le

Prince still implied some of the same sexual advances and actions in his later songs. He insinuated a lot and the songs often still had the same meaning. The only content difference was that often he sang more about marital sex. I see your point. I actually think Prince was really trying to slip smut past his JW brethern (SIC)... I don't mind the lack of vulgarity in newer songs because sometimes it is harder and more imaginative to imply rather than directly state. But he should have left the original songs' lyrics alone. I respect the self discipline though.

My 11 year old son tries to use words like "freaking" and I always tell him not to because it is basically the same thing as using the orginal words. But maybe Prince didn't even like that kind of swearing either.

I did once hear Prince sing "Girls and Boys" and he just simply left the word "ass" out and let the audience that was singing along with him fill in the blank. The audience laughed so I imagine Prince wasn't too upset.

I am not a big fan of the over usage of curse words--not because I am a prude (I curse pretty badly when I am angry) but because it is unoriginal, ugly and unpleasant when used constantly. But when used sparingly, bad language can have a major impact. In the long run, they are just words.

Plus there is a difference between cursing and cussing. My grandfather was a methodist pastor and he once told my mom to say 'fuck' rather than the word she had just used in vain 'Jesus Christ". He couldn't abide words like 'God Dammit" but had no problem with the word "Shit". In his mind, OMG was worse than "motherf'er. I am surprised Prince didn't see the difference seeing as he was a religious man.

mediumdry said:

I wasn't a fan of the hypocrisy. Because you say "fudge" doesn't mean you are not saying "fuck". The way people deal with language, in the US especially, is just horrible.

Rhyming and then leaving out the "bad" word is just as much having that word as if you'd say it. And the idea that some words should not be said is ridiculous anyway. Concepts might be hurtful and offensive, but the words themselves are not.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. I did not miss it, I just hated the hypocrisy.

[Edited 10/10/16 5:46am]

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Reply #10 posted 10/10/16 5:44am

ludwig

NouveauDance said:

It was never about the swearing or explicit language.

I was very sad that he didn't perform classic songs like Head or Darling Nikki anymore.

[Edited 10/10/16 5:45am]

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Reply #11 posted 10/10/16 5:46am

TweetyV6

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YES!

The man of science has learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by verification - Thomas Henry Huxley
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Reply #12 posted 10/10/16 5:50am

purplerabbitho
le

I agree. Prince did still sing about sex. But I think i get why songs like those got left off the list...After all, Darling Nikki doesn't even have any curse words. They both are about cheap little sexual rendevous' with no emotional and spiritual connection. "Head" does towards the end I guess. But Darling Nikki is pure carnality. I love those songs but I do get it. But I am not sure why he released "Turn Me Loose" later. That song is actually dirtier than the other two.

ludwig said:

NouveauDance said:

It was never about the swearing or explicit language.

I was very sad that he didn't perform classic songs like Head or Darling Nikki anymore.

[Edited 10/10/16 5:45am]

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Reply #13 posted 10/10/16 6:01am

anangellooksdo
wn

No. I'm glad he matured as I did. It's what gives me the respect I have for him as a person, today.
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Reply #14 posted 10/10/16 6:10am

FUNKNROLL

Sex sells - but for people of a certain age it's a commodity out of reach. Those lyrics were about connecting with an audience during the height of their collective prowess. Did I miss Prince performing those scandalous cuts? Not really - imagine yourself putting on a "2 Live Crew" album at age 40 or 50 and singing along. Seems almost physically impossible.
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Reply #15 posted 10/10/16 6:36am

rainbowchild

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TweetyV6 said:

YES!



+1
"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 #16 posted 10/10/16 7:00am

DarkKnight1

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Yeah. There is very little doubt in my mind that his raw sexual aggressiveness led to a better edge in his music.

(Insert something clever here)
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Reply #17 posted 10/10/16 7:31am

Genesia

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CalhounSq said:

I didn't like the music any less, & I only missed the cursing when he'd sing old songs & replace the words/make it clean. I never loved the restrictions he put on himself, but respected his decision to follow the path he was on.


The correct answer.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #18 posted 10/10/16 7:44am

TheEnglishGent

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It didn't even really bother me when he changed the lyrics.

RIP sad
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Reply #19 posted 10/10/16 8:28am

MIRvmn

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DarkKnight1 said:

Yeah. There is very little doubt in my mind that his raw sexual aggressiveness led to a better edge in his music.

I agree and his music was much more interesting in the 80s and 90s

Welcome 2 The Dawn
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Reply #20 posted 10/10/16 12:23pm

Noodled24

I rarely found hm vulgar. On occassion perhaps, but it usually seemed tongue in cheek.

When he changed "The Cross" to "The Christ" it didn't bother me at all. Same thing.

But in "1+1+1=3" when he says "we don't gve a duck what you got on" C'mon, you're fooling nobody. When you put pen to paper you wrote "fuck" then crossed it out and wrote duck, because "Give a duck" isn't a thing.

IIRC Prince commented on it directly during an interview. Where he stated the reason he didn't swear was because his friends brought their children to his shows. Which is understandable in a way, but at the same time, why would his friends bring their kids to see someone who's obviously at the more adult end of the pop spectrum.

With songs like "Turn me Loose" and "Screwdriver" it became obvious the rudeboy was still around.

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Reply #21 posted 10/10/16 12:39pm

dodger

br />
But in "1+1+1=3" when he says "we don't gve a duck what you got on" C'mon, you're fooling nobody. When you put pen to paper you wrote "fuck" then crossed it out and wrote duck, because "Give a duck" isn't a thing.

[/quote]

I was just going to mention 'we don't give a duck what you got on' it's comical. Then he changed to leaving the swear word blank in Feel Good, Feel Better - 'what the ---- I was thinking when I threw you the ball'
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Reply #22 posted 10/10/16 1:05pm

JediNationRelo
aded

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Not at all!

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Reply #23 posted 10/10/16 2:43pm

eightiesbrat

Not at all, I admired how he evolved and stayed true to that, did what he needed to do. And that aside, I'm not big on swearing anyway so that's not something I'd be inclined to miss in any event.

We all want the stuff that's found in our wildest dreams. . .
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Reply #24 posted 10/10/16 5:22pm

PURplEMaPLeSyr
up

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Noodled24 said:



IIRC Prince commented on it directly during an interview. Where he stated the reason he didn't swear was because his friends brought their children to his shows. Which is understandable in a way, but at the same time, why would his friends bring their kids to see someone who's obviously at the more adult end of the pop spectrum.



cool!

maybe because all his other amazing qualities to emulate so outshine any 'adult' themes that might seem questionable 4 children? cool

I feel like what attracts me to prince is his multitalent, mystique, multilayered meaning and so much more... and the sexual themes and cussin were just on the perimeter of my idea of him, just something on the surface to engage everyone's prejudgement. just something i mostly looked past in listening to the voices and instruments. i've experienced that word choice creates one's future, so was glad to see prince change what he wanted to change. i'm always rewriting songs to be better and better. they're his songs, parts of his soul, and he has a right to evolve them/himself.

flowing through the veins of the tree of life...purplemaplesyrup
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Reply #25 posted 10/10/16 5:37pm

cloveringold85

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Personally, I don't like profanity used in music. Prince said he wasn't proud of things he did early in his career. I think we all go through that "phase" in our life, but we evolve, grow and learn from our experiences. He stopped cursing too, which I think was very commendable.

"With love, honor, and respect for every living thing in the universe, separation ceases, and we all become one being, singing one song." - Prince Roger Nelson (1958-2016)
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Reply #26 posted 10/10/16 5:46pm

tmo1965

I was glad when he cleaned up his music. Prince was super talented and did not need to add cursing and vulgarity to make his music great.

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Reply #27 posted 10/10/16 5:53pm

disch

While I have no problem with him not using curse words in his new music, I do feel his use of curses in some of his old songs gave them a particular edge that they wouldn't have had "clean." I mean, "I sincerely want to make love the taste out of your mouth" or even "I sincerely want to bang the taste out of your mouth" just doesn't have the same memorable punch as that one carefully dropped word, you know?

-

I think it's fine if he didn't want to perform those kind of lines anymore, and I get there's a different impact in a 50+ year old singing vs. a 25-year-old, but I don't think there's any shame in many of those songs (there are some exceptions where I think his use of curse words was a little sloppy).

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Reply #28 posted 10/11/16 7:24pm

HatrinaHaterwi
tz

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Damn right, I missed his swearing. Yes I did, because when he was swearing, it actually meant something in the concept and context of the songs and wasn't there just to fill in the word count or because he couldn't think of anything else to say. As what seems to be the case with most songs that contain swearing in them today.

Besides, nobody and I do mean NOBODY could say, "I sincerely want to fuck the taste out of your mouth." And make that sound so deliciously inviting as Prince could.

I knew from the start that I loved you with all my heart.
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Reply #29 posted 10/11/16 7:40pm

0uterageous

I think he was playing it safe from 2001 to 2004-2005 but he always had that "charm", it never left wink

I don't know if this means anything but i noticed during Girls & Boys on P&M tours, he would say "ass" and even though it's not so much of a swear/vulgar word...I could of sworn he wouldn't say it when he performed G&B years prior and thought it was kind of shocking it to hear him say it now eek

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