...I've never seen the movie... so who's this song about?

It's about the main character, Christopher Tracy. Prince refers to him by his last name. To me, the name is a metaphor, meaning just when things start to come to life and bloom, it can snow and destroy all that. In the movie, Christopher and Mary Sharon fall in love, and just as their relationship finds a solid ground, her father goes after Christopher and kills him.

Go watch the movie. It's great fun.

TrivialPursuit said:

EmmaMcG said:

TrivialPursuit said:

It's about the main character, Christopher Tracy. Prince refers to him by his last name. To me, the name is a metaphor, meaning just when things start to come to life and bloom, it can snow and destroy all that. In the movie, Christopher and Mary Sharon fall in love, and just as their relationship finds a solid ground, her father goes after Christopher and kills him.

Go watch the movie. It's great fun.

No need for him to see the movie now that you've spoiled the ending.

"Tracy died soon after a long fought civil war..." Besides, even if we know he's dies, the death scene alone and it's corniness cannot be spoiled until one sees it themselves. hahaha

[Edited 10/9/16 11:35am]

TrivialPursuit said:

TrivialPursuit said:

paulludvig said:

I thought it was about a man dying from a terminal illness (aids?) - "a long fought civil war" meaning the body at war with it self.

WOW

paulludvig said:

I thought it was about a man dying from a terminal illness (aids?) - "a long fought civil war" meaning the body at war with it self.

paulludvig said:

paulludvig said:

TrivialPursuit said:

EmmaMcG said:

TrivialPursuit said: No need for him to see the movie now that you've spoiled the ending.

"Tracy died soon after a long fought civil war..." Besides, even if we know he's dies, the death scene alone and it's corniness cannot be spoiled until one sees it themselves. hahaha

[Edited 10/9/16 11:35am]

Yep, no amount of words can prepare you for exactly how that death plays out. I kind of expect him to just sort of keep grapevining right on down the shore and onto the set for Mountains.

I can't stop watching this long enough to click "Post response." Seriously. Must click... NOW!

[Oh, great. I was out, but then I saw the typo on Mountains. Now I'm back in to fix it.]

[Edited 10/9/16 20:29pm]

I don't think the song is literally about Christoher Tracy or UTCM. The civil war sentence alone, no matter how u interpret it (literally or illness or anything) makes zero sense in the contxt of UTCM. It's just a story in a song sharing a character's name and being more or less thematically related to UTCM.

EddieC said:

databank said:

I don't think the song is literally about Christoher Tracy or UTCM. The civil war sentence alone, no matter how u interpret it (literally or illness or anything) makes zero sense in the contxt of UTCM. It's just a story in a song sharing a character's name and being more or less thematically related to UTCM.

I think it makes some sense in connection with the Opening 'poem' about Christopher

I think the war about selfishness vs love love or money is civil war enough

Once upon a time in France

there lived a bad boy name Christopher Tracey

Only 1 thing mattered 2 Christopher... money

the women he knew came in all sizes shapes & colors

and they were all rich, very rich

Private concertos kind words & fun is what he had 2 offer them

yes Christopher lived 4 all women

but he died 4 1

Somewhere along the way he learned the true meaning of love

♥

I want 2 be an honest man
I'll be Ur slave, just understand
How much I need U
And if I lie, I'm part of U
This is my crime
I do know laughter, I do know tears
But all is nothing, without U near
We are of 1 soul, and if I die
We'll be together side by side
With U I know that I can stand
With U I can be an honest man

TrivialPursuit said:

paulludvig said:

I thought it was about a man dying from a terminal illness (aids?) - "a long fought civil war" meaning the body at war with it self.

OldFriends4Sale said:

databank said:

I don't think the song is literally about Christoher Tracy or UTCM. The civil war sentence alone, no matter how u interpret it (literally or illness or anything) makes zero sense in the contxt of UTCM. It's just a story in a song sharing a character's name and being more or less thematically related to UTCM.

I think it makes some sense in connection with the Opening 'poem' about Christopher

I think the war about selfishness vs love love or money is civil war enough

Once upon a time in France

there lived a bad boy name Christopher Tracey

Only 1 thing mattered 2 Christopher... money

the women he knew came in all sizes shapes & colors

and they were all rich, very rich

Private concertos kind words & fun is what he had 2 offer them

yes Christopher lived 4 all women

but he died 4 1

Somewhere along the way he learned the true meaning of love

♥

.
I think it makes perfect sense - he is at war with himself (and his lover's family) - he's engaged in a personal battle between money, the life he's always lived where he uses women and never gets attached - or going with his heart, giving up his former life, and devoting himself to one woman.
.
He finally goes with the latter option - and dies for it.
.
The End!
.
Btw - I love his OTT acting in UTCM! That death scene is truly a wonderful pastiche of film noir! It's deliberately melodramatic, and all the more marvellous for that! (Apologies for the excessive use of exclamation marks - they seemed fitting, lol)!
.

OldFriends4Sale said:

databank said:

I don't think the song is literally about Christoher Tracy or UTCM. The civil war sentence alone, no matter how u interpret it (literally or illness or anything) makes zero sense in the contxt of UTCM. It's just a story in a song sharing a character's name and being more or less thematically related to UTCM.

I think it makes some sense in connection with the Opening 'poem' about Christopher

I think the war about selfishness vs love love or money is civil war enough

Once upon a time in France

there lived a bad boy name Christopher Tracey

Only 1 thing mattered 2 Christopher... money

the women he knew came in all sizes shapes & colors

and they were all rich, very rich

Private concertos kind words & fun is what he had 2 offer them

yes Christopher lived 4 all women

but he died 4 1

Somewhere along the way he learned the true meaning of love

♥

Indeed, it's a sensible theory Good catch!

LBrent said:

TrivialPursuit said:

"Tracy died soon after a long fought civil war..." Besides, even if we know he's dies, the death scene alone and it's corniness cannot be spoiled until one sees it themselves. hahaha

[Edited 10/9/16 11:35am]

Now, y'all know I love P, and the palpable sexy cannot be denied, but that sweet baby was no actor onscreen. Just sayin

.

My opinion is that Prince's acting wasn't a problem. It was his directing. There's a reason people go to film school for a few years. A bad director can turn good material into a bad film because of how it is presented.

TrivialPursuit said:

EmmaMcG said:

TrivialPursuit said: No need for him to see the movie now that you've spoiled the ending.

"Tracy died soon after a long fought civil war..." Besides, even if we know he's dies, the death scene alone and it's corniness cannot be spoiled until one sees it themselves. hahaha

This is the only gif I ever made in my whole life. I'm still proud of it.

AnnaStesia91 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Genesia said:

TrivialPursuit said:

"Tracy died soon after a long fought civil war..." Besides, even if we know he's dies, the death scene alone and it's corniness cannot be spoiled until one sees it themselves. hahaha

This is the only gif I ever made in my whole life. I'm still proud of it.

haha and it is pulled directly from the Org. It looks like he broke a heel.

TrivialPursuit said:

paulludvig said:

I thought it was about a man dying from a terminal illness (aids?) - "a long fought civil war" meaning the body at war with it self.

LOL

I'm trying this expression now as I read it

OldFriends4Sale said:

TrivialPursuit said:

LOL

I'm trying this expression now as I read it

That's a rather weird expression

Doesn't say anything actually.

[Edited 10/10/16 9:16am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

paulludvig said:

You guys act like It's an outlandish interpretation, but it has been discussed before: http://prince.org/msg/7/354234

Exactly and someone wrote the following back then(which basically goes for all art I think):

"

I think songs have a general meaning that the artist gives them, but most listeners interject with their own beliefs or ideals to make the song more meaningful to them. Unless Prince told you personally what mindset he was in when writing this song and what it actually means, one can only hypothesize about the implied meaning. So what this thread has become is a potpourri of inferences about something that probably not as specific as we want to make it out to be. Maybe the song's meaning is complex, maybe it's straightfoward. This is simply an argument of opinions so there's no need to get so heated "