How ironic is it that a pain-inhibiting opioid biochemical is the title of Prince's 1993 tune, EndorphinMachine?

alot of albums . ..mention being a junkie

[Edited 11/13/16 10:04am]

Dibblekins said:

I don't think June is about drugs.
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It seems to me that it's about himself, his life, his yearning for normality, his loneliness, and reaching the end of his life.
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The first line - 'Pasta simmers on the stove in June
Makes no sense yet, but it will soon' - is about himself, surely?
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HE is the pasta; he was born in June - and at that point, his life / talents / reason for being born make no sense: his talent, his life's work is simmering, just waiting to be revealed, or 'served up'. And in addition, he has suggested many times that we only really come to understand our purpose in life once we're dead and meet our maker; in the grand scheme of the universe, 57 years of life to death IS soon; it's a mere blip!
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The next few lines - 'Conversation starters come way too hard
Nobody wants to be the martyr,
playin' the wrong cards' - don't necessarily have to be about a lover, but just about him wanting to make amends for past wrongs; someone to whom he hasn't spoken in a long time.
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'Why did you come to this planet?
Why did you come to this life?
How can you be everybody's dream,
and still be somebody's wife?
Tell me, what did you have for lunch today?
That's right, how would I know?
How would I know?'

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I think he is questioning HIMSELF, rather than anyone else: it's a commonly used artifice, the rhetorical device of referring to oneself in the second person; he is looking at himself / his life from an objective perspective; struggling to understand the reason for existence...I'd go further and say that even the reference to 'wife' is about himself - how can a person be 'known', adored, loved, a figment of everybody's fantasies, and yet also be a REAL person, trying to lead a normal life?
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'You are off somewhere, being free
while I starve in the lonesome cold.
Our bodies got used to each other
Now they're used to the sound
of Richie Havens' voice on the vinyl,
spinning round and round, round and round
Sometimes I feel I was born way too late
Shoulda been born on the Woodstock stage'


I wondered if the above segment was about the freedom of the after-life (death) compared to the 'lonesome cold' of living. This might be a stretch, but I wondered if he was thinking about his mother...Their bodies did get used to each other, as he grew in her belly, but now all he has is the sentiment expressed in Richie Havens's version of 'Motherless Child'. He is lonely, in emotional (and physical?) pain and it goes on and on and on.

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The lyrics of 'Motherless Child' also include the repeated refrain, 'A long ways from home' - and we know that Prince yearned for a 'Way Back Home' - to his Mother, to heaven, to God. Like the other stars 'born' on the Woodstock stage who have already passed, he wonders if he is living in the wrong time, and that surely NOW it must be up? Surely now he can go and join them and be free? (It's worth bearing in mind that Richie Havens's 'Motherless Child', as performed on the Woodstock stage, is also known as 'Freedom' - and Prince is clearly yearning for it), 'But I'm just here, waitin', and waitin', and waitin''.
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'Somebody famous had a birthday today
All I saw was another full moon'
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Prince chooses to objectify himself, this time using the third person - he is the famous person who has had yet another birthday (something he refused to acknowledge, as a JW); all he sees is yet another day / night passing - and he has become weary of it. His use of the third person here is interesting - it suggests he has no real love for his fame; he recognises it as fleeting, meaningless, artificial - and he is so tired of being seen as 'famous, 'everybody's dream' - instead of a real person, a real person who is lonely and yearning to be free...
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'What's that?
Something's burning on the stove
Must be the pasta
Must be the pasta
Oh yeah, it's June'
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He is brought back to the realisation that he (the pasta) is still here; it's June - another month of life here on Earth has passed - but he is 'burning', past his best; his life is coming to an end. He is resigned to the fact that he is still here, but the suggestion is that it won't be long.

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perhaps the pasta simmering on the stove reference in the first stanza is P knowing he wil die soon and that we will understand this soon...and the refence to it burning at the end is that he is closer to death.....I love your interpretation of the song ...makes me wonder what other songs may mean

Private Joy

Baby Ur a Trip

Rock 'N' Roll Is Alive! (And It Lives In Minneapolis)

the Pope

[Edited 11/13/16 11:58am]

214 said:

Dream Factory nobody mentions this song. Pop Life

yep... "Dream Factory" CANDIDLY speaks about addiction to pills...after hearing that song soon after P died, it made those claims by the infamous dealer who claims Prince had incurable stagefright, seem somewhat legitimate...i was also surprised no one mentioned this song, when i scrolled back and finally saw your comment...

"All The Critics Love You In N.Y."

'...body dont wanna quit, gotta get another hit...'

double entendre?