I would love to compile a comprehensive list of Prince songs that demonstrate his skills as a lyrical storyteller, because I think that Prince was a master storyteller and I am interested in analysing appropriate lyrics from this angle. The inspiration for this thread comes from (a) Prince's music and (b) the fact that I'm an elementary school teacher.

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To set a framework for this thread, I will define storytelling as a song that has, at a minimum, at least 3 of the following elements of story structure:

- Plot: Events, beginning-middle-end

- Characters: For our purposes, the characters will mostly be people

- Setting: Time and place

- Conflict/resolution

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I'd like to keep the focus of this thread on lyrics that tell a story, not storytelling from a music video or movie.

--

Example:

Starfish and Coffee

Setting: School, morning (7:45 am)

Characters: Narrator (Susannah Melvoin in this case), Ms. Cathleen, Lucy, Kevin, Cynthia Rose

Plot: Kids line up, we learn about Cynthia's peculiarities, what she likes to eat for breakfast, she has colorful outfits, she draws on walls.

Conflict: Cynthia is an "odd duck" or "different"

Resolution: In this case, the resolution is more of the moral of the story, in that the point of the song is to illustrate that it's okay to be "different" and that it's a good thing to accept others for who they are.

--

Here are some songs that come to mind that have story structure:

- Little Red Corvette

- Darling Nikki

- Raspberry Beret

- Starfish and Coffee

- I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man

- The Ballad of Dorothy Parker

--

Please list/describe other songs that showcase Prince as a lyrical storyteller!

Great thread idea! One of the first songs to come to mind is "America."

.

Setting: America

Characters: Aristocrats, Little Sister, Jimmy Nothing, Teacher

Plot: America is not the beautiful place of fables, myths, and/or history books. Aristocrats are getting richer, the children are suffering, and the teachers continue to perpetuate the myth of "America the Beautiful."

Conflict: Jimmy is made to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but he is not proud of having to do so. He doesn't go to school. He's soon living on a drug-induced mushroom cloud.

Resolution: There is bombing, perhaps Jimmy has been sent to war. Or perhaps his neighborhood or his house was bombed. Jimmy won't pledge allegiance

[Edited 12/29/16 21:41pm]

FlyOnTheWall said:

Great thread idea! One of the first songs to come to mind is "America."

.

Setting: America

Characters: Aristocrats, Little Sister, Jimmy Nothing, Teacher

Plot: America is not the beautiful place of fables, myths, and/or history books. Aristocrats are getting richer, the children are suffering, and the teachers continue to perpetuate the myth of "America the Beautiful."

Conflict: Jimmy is made to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but he is not proud of having to do so. He doesn't go to school. He's soon living on a drug-induced mushroom cloud.

Resolution: There is bombing, perhaps Jimmy has been sent to war. Or perhaps his neighborhood or his house was bombed. Jimmy won't pledge allegiance

[Edited 12/29/16 21:41pm]

That song is clearly about conflict with Russia and the fight against socialism.

“Lady Cab Driver”

Setting: The Cab and America as Dystopia

Characters: Narrator and the Cab Driver

Plot: Narrator uses a cab ride, a discussion with the driver, and sex with the driver to escape his existential angst

Conflict: Internal turmoil/existential angst.

Resolution: Sex is presented as escapism and therapy through which the narrator is able to obtain serenity; the song can also be read as the manner in which human relationships enable people to endure the existential universe.

*

Other songs include:

“Cherry, Cherry” is about teenage love and domestic violence.

“Sacrifice of Victor” parallels a personal narrative with the historical Civil Rights narrative.

“She Gave Her Angels” is about love as sacrifice.

*

There, of course, are many others. The one thing you may want to consider is the manner in which Prince’s genius as poet and storyteller enables him to blur the line between poem and story, especially with his vivid imagery and masterful use of impressionism/ambiguity. Many of his songs straddle the fence of being both poems and stories. As a poet and short story writer, I like that you have, first, defined the parameters/aesthetic that you plan to use while engaging Prince’s work, but you may find that you must be flexible when trying to decide if a particular song can be categorized as a poem or a story. For instance, is “1999” a poem or a story? Does it have enough of a plot, character development, conflict, and resolution to be a story? But, I like your project and would love to read it once it’s finished. Finally, I would suggest C. Liegh McInnis’ The Lyrics of Prince: A Literary Look at a Creative, Musical Poet, Philosopher, and Storyteller. While he does not specifically differentiate the songs into categories of poems and stories, he does apply the aesthetic devices of poetry and fiction to his analysis. Finally, later in 2017 the Journal of African American Studies will be publishing a special issue on Prince and Delaware Poetry Review will also publish a special issue of poetry inspired by the life and work of Prince. I hope some of this helps, and best of luck with your project. More of this is needed.

Since you were mine.

Shy

Dinner with Delores

206Michelle said:

I would love to compile a comprehensive list of Prince songs that demonstrate his skills as a lyrical storyteller, because I think that Prince was a master storyteller and I am interested in analysing appropriate lyrics from this angle. The inspiration for this thread comes from (a) Prince's music and (b) the fact that I'm an elementary school teacher.

--

To set a framework for this thread, I will define storytelling as a song that has, at a minimum, at least 3 of the following elements of story structure:

- Plot: Events, beginning-middle-end

- Characters: For our purposes, the characters will mostly be people

- Setting: Time and place

- Conflict/resolution

--

I'd like to keep the focus of this thread on lyrics that tell a story, not storytelling from a music video or movie.

--

Example:

Starfish and Coffee

Setting: School, morning (7:45 am)

Characters: Narrator (Susannah Melvoin in this case), Ms. Cathleen, Lucy, Kevin, Cynthia Rose

Plot: Kids line up, we learn about Cynthia's peculiarities, what she likes to eat for breakfast, she has colorful outfits, she draws on walls.

Conflict: Cynthia is an "odd duck" or "different"

Resolution: In this case, the resolution is more of the moral of the story, in that the point of the song is to illustrate that it's okay to be "different" and that it's a good thing to accept others for who they are.

--

Here are some songs that come to mind that have story structure:

- Little Red Corvette

- Darling Nikki

- Raspberry Beret

- Starfish and Coffee

- I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man

- The Ballad of Dorothy Parker

--

Please list/describe other songs that showcase Prince as a lyrical storyteller!

Cherry Cherry

LovePaisley said:

Holy River. Plot: with divine intervention, a lonely musician realizes his unhappiness is to some degree self-inflicted and love is right in front of him. He asks his girl to marry him, she says yes, and they are both released and absolved (drowned) in the tears they share.

I totally agree about Holy River.

I guess Bob George counts.

AnonymousFan said:

FlyOnTheWall said:

Great thread idea! One of the first songs to come to mind is "America."

.

Setting: America

Characters: Aristocrats, Little Sister, Jimmy Nothing, Teacher

Plot: America is not the beautiful place of fables, myths, and/or history books. Aristocrats are getting richer, the children are suffering, and the teachers continue to perpetuate the myth of "America the Beautiful."

Conflict: Jimmy is made to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but he is not proud of having to do so. He doesn't go to school. He's soon living on a drug-induced mushroom cloud.

Resolution: There is bombing, perhaps Jimmy has been sent to war. Or perhaps his neighborhood or his house was bombed. Jimmy won't pledge allegiance

[Edited 12/29/16 21:41pm]

That song is clearly about conflict with Russia and the fight against socialism.

Okay, Anonymous. That's the beauty of well-written lyrics: they mean different things to different people. Of your interpretation, I would ask the following: What do Little Sister and Johnny Nothing have to do with Russia? It seems to me they are living in an American hell. And I suppose the "mushroom cloud" could make one think of the Cold War...or it could bring up images of the American drug scene. This, to me, is a perfect example of how masterful Prince was with the double entendre.

FlyOnTheWall said:

AnonymousFan said:

That song is clearly about conflict with Russia and the fight against socialism.

Okay, Anonymous. That's the beauty of well-written lyrics: they mean different things to different people. Of your interpretation, I would ask the following: What do Little Sister and Johnny Nothing have to do with Russia? It seems to me they are living in an American hell. And I suppose the "mushroom cloud" could make one think of the Cold War...or it could bring up images of the American drug scene. This, to me, is a perfect example of how masterful Prince was with the double entendre.

*

I agree with you, FlyOnThe Wall. Most people think that patriotism means only to celebrate the greatness of a country. However, true patriotism, which means love and defense of one's country, is to celebrate the good of a country and to critique/denounce the bad of a country. A true patriot will demand that one’s country continue to uphold the values that it claims to have. In this vein, Civil Rights workers were, indeed, patriots because they were forcing America to adhere to the values of freedom and justice to all. As such, it seems that the theme of "America" is that, while America is a great country, it is at jeopardy of destroying itself by not meeting the needs or showing concern for all of its citizens. And, yes, Prince is masterful at imagery and impressionism/ambiguity, which allows most of his songs to be open for debate/interpretation. So, his use of cold war imagery presents a sense/atmosphere that was readily recognizable in 1985. Yet, the lyrics about the American underclass force listeners to concentrate more on the disadvantaged of American society than on Russia or any foreign threat because the song seems to assert that the most dangerous threat for America is one from within if, again, American does not begin to care for all of her citizens. Of course, there have been several debates about the meaning of "America," and, as you state, each person has a right to their own interpretation of the song. But, I think that, if more people could understand that patriotism means more than "blind loyalty," then more people could see that Prince is critiquing America while showing it love.

The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker and Starfish And Coffee must be two of the best ones.

214 said:

The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker and Starfish And Coffee must be two of the best ones.

And God Created Woman as well

Girls & Boys