luvgirl said:

alandail said:

Prince was directly involved in the Purple Rain remaster release, so clearly wasn't against including We Can Fuck.

And to answer your question, don't censor alredy recorded music. Let the music reflect that period in his life.

[Edited 4/23/17 8:44am]

Nope. No way, no how, would Prince have released We Can "F". This is the man that had a swear jar, and was embarrassed and remorseful when Quest Love told him that he taught him to curse. Remorseful enough to stop singing songs that had swear words in it, and going as far as changing lyrics to accommodate his beliefs about swearing.

He had the swear jar and stopped swearing before Quest told him that. He was remorseful at the fact that Prince taught him to swear, reacting to his past in relation to where he was at that time.

But then, there's that story where he supposedly dropped a huge F bomb into the mic during the Super Bowl rehearsals when he somehow got hurt as the trolley carrying him to the stage backed up and hit something, hurting his head or whatnot. He was a human being wrestling with himself as we all are. I must admit, though, that Super Bowl story is hilarious and I'd love to hear it just for comedy's sake.

I would rather he didn't swear in future releases as it does seem very infantile in 2017.

.

However, if it was there in old recordings then it should be left in.

.

I've no issue with two CDs being released, censored and uncensored. Many labels have done this.

.

luv4u said:

Why tamper with music that was already done? Leave it as it was then.

Nothing more to say. I'd say the same if he was still here and censoring old stuff.

I don't really understand the issue. He was against swearing towards the end of his life, not in other periods. Even still, he did swear. Meaning, he made people imagine the word. If you use "f", or "duck", "fudge" or any equivalent thereof, you are really just saying "fuck" and being silly about it. The letter of the law and the spirit of the law and all.

.

I don't really understand why people get so upset because other people use a word they don't like. Just get over yourselves. Next thing you'll say blasphemy is bad too!

.

Prince, in some periods, used profanity. From here on out, Prince releases are historical documents highlighting periods. Taking words considered swearwords out would be a travesty.

alandail said:

Smillan said:

What do people here think about swearing in future releases?

One thinks that Prince would have been extremely against a song such as We Can Fuck being released.

Should his wishes have been respected or should the songs, as they were recorded at the time, be released with swearing?

Prince was directly involved in the Purple Rain remaster release, so clearly wasn't against including We Can Fuck.

And to answer your question, don't censor alredy recorded music. Let the music reflect that period in his life.

[Edited 4/23/17 8:44am]

We cannot know that Prince agreed to have We Can Fuck on there. Given his very unwaivering stance on swearing, it is more likely WB added this after the fact. There is no way in hell that out of hundreds of songs he could have chosen, that the most graphic title in his collection would be chosen. I mean hell he changed this to We Can Funk even while he was fine with swearing. Anyway, I am personally looking forward to the song, so thanks WB.

As far as future releases go, I say bring on the swears, when Prince wrote those songs, that is where he was at THAT time, I have no issue at all with it. I would have a GREAT issue if these old songs were somehow altered to adhere to a non swear policy. It does the music an injustice as it would not be a true reflection of where he was at the time the song was written/recorded.

[Edited 4/24/17 11:55am]

mediumdry said:

rogifan said:

mediumdry said:

I don't really understand the issue. He was against swearing towards the end of his life, not in other periods. Even still, he did swear. Meaning, he made people imagine the word. If you use "f", or "duck", "fudge" or any equivalent thereof, you are really just saying "fuck" and being silly about it. The letter of the law and the spirit of the law and all.

.

I don't really understand why people get so upset because other people use a word they don't like. Just get over yourselves. Next thing you'll say blasphemy is bad too!

.

Prince, in some periods, used profanity. From here on out, Prince releases are historical documents highlighting periods. Taking words considered swearwords out would be a travesty.

So are you saying when he performed a song like housequake later in his career he shouldn't have omitted words like bullshit and damn because during the time period he wrote that song he used profanity? The fact is he omitted words/verses, changed lyrics, just didn't perform certain songs later in his career. Its not like every song he wrote in the 80s and 90s contained curse words. If there's enough good material in the vault that doesn't contain curse words then release that stuff and leave the other stuff in the vault. I didn't like that they included Sexy MF and Head on the Prince4Ever compilation. It's not like those were even really popular songs. Wasn't necessary. [Edited 4/24/17 12:02pm]

.

Nope, Prince was free to perform whatever way he chose. I am saying that "more acceptable" forms of swearwords are just silly and the actual word is still communicated, even if you don't say the "bad" word literally. If I tell someone to "duck yourself", it's the same as saying "fuck yourself", other than I come across as a bit more backward.

.

As to not releasing songs because of perceived bad words... who's to judge? Prince is no longer just what he was at the end of his life. He is all of what he was from birth to death. Censoring some things is not honoring what he was. And I am not going to cry because he has pro-religion songs and those are obnoxious to me. Some of those songs have good music, so I'll just take that. And Sexy Motherfucker and Head are essential singles in his canon. Leaving them of a collection like 4ever... the one song they could have taken off was Moonbeam Levels, it was never a single. It should have been released in a different setting, imho..

[Edited 4/24/17 12:38pm]

mediumdry said:

This is an intersting and relevant topic. I do think that it is okay for old songs with swearing to be released, as his swearing/sexualized lyric years are already the ones that are the most well known. Releaseing more songs from the old days won't change anyone's perception of Prince. For the most part, it's going to be avid fans that buy most of the vault material and they already know (or will learn about if they don't already) about his JW transfomation and how in his later years he changed about swearing. I think the more important thing is to also release songs from the more recent years such as Deliverance that can represent the man he became!

NouveauDance said:

rogifan said:

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

.

Indeed. We now have to live with the earth shattering fact that two Prince fans disagree over something though.

They need to go out as they were, otherwise the entire thing is pointless.

There's already been too much of this sort of nonsense gone on.

mediumdry said:

rogifan said:

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

.

Indeed. We now have to live with the earth shattering fact that two Prince fans disagree over something though.

Absolutely stunned by this. This never happened before he died.

I sure hope that "Paisley Park Remaster" doesn't mean
that we'll have to listen to "Darling Nikki" with the same "ah-oo-ah"’s
that ruined the "Sexy MF" single edit.

I knew a girl named Nikki
I guess you could say she was a — ah-ooh-ah! — fiend
I met her in a hotel lobby
— ah-ooh-ah! — with a magazine
She said how'd you like to waste some time
And I could not resist when I saw little Nikki — ah-ooh-ah! —

God forbid...

rogifan said:

I don't think Head and Sexy MF are essential tracks that have to go on a collection. I think the Prince4Ever CD would have been just fine with those two tracks left off. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

The Press Release from Warner Bros stated Prince had already agreed to to the release of the Prince4Ever CD.

So Prince had to know Head and Sexy MFer was going to be on this album.

Dupe

[Edited 4/26/17 7:11am]

His past works should not be edited or overdubbed, and be left how they were originally recorded and intended to be at that paticular time of his excistence, no one should edit his history as its show's his growth both artistically and spiritually.....each song is a chapter of his journey...and no chapter's should be edited....leave them alone...warts and all....

[Edited 4/26/17 7:19am]

Smillan said:

What do people here think about swearing in future releases?

One thinks that Prince would have been extremely against a song such as We Can Fuck being released.

Should his wishes have been respected or should the songs, as they were recorded at the time, be released with swearing?

release with swearing.

I think swearing has got a bad rap in music for several reasons.

.

1. It's really only shit hoppers, sexifeid R&B neer rap and extreme metal groups who swear in music now. Some other acts through in curses here and there, but the genres above are full of it.

2. Most of the swearing in these songs is violent and repetitive (Eg. Fuck you motherfuckin niggaz, I will blast you motherfuckers with my motherfuckin gat you bitch ass nigga etc)

3. There was a fad for Olympic swearing in the mid 90s by many pop and soft rock, funk acts in the mid 1990s (eg Alanis Morrisette, The Steppers, Prince, RHCP and Rage against the Machine) Even Michael Jackson threw in a "Stop fucking with me" on his 1995 hit - Scream. andso now people may seeswearing in music as dated and Trend chasing.

4. With Prince he swore the most between the Come and Newpowersoul eras, even TGE is full of swearing like the songs Pussy Control and Endorphinmachine - She's coming like a Motherfucker.

5. Shitty rap and gangsta shit hop has been swearing a lot since 1988s NWA which had something 400 fucks and 300 motherfuckers on the album.

6. Swearing is gauche and associated with ghetto and ratchet forms of entertainment. Many Olympic swearers include foul mouthed actors like Samuel L Jackson, Ice Cube and other rappers/thug cum actors. The educated and civilised look down on it as ghetto.

7. Swearing is part of the ghetto thug/dusty nigga/hoodrat/ world star hiphop/mall ass shaniqua culture.

.

But a Prince song from the early 1980s, which uses the word fuck in a sexual as opposed to violent meancing way should not be lumped in with Ice Cube and a 1995 Red Hot Chili Peppers song!

Prince dabbled with cursing in many of his early sexual songs from the Dirty Mind to 1999 period. Most of the songs sung about fucking as in sex and the expletives never went beyond 5 a song. Even lets pretend were married has only 3 uses of the word fuck (I wanna fuck.. you, I sincerely want to fuck the taste out of your mouth and "I'm going to have fun every motherfuckin night" that is 3 times, that's half a sentence on a Snoop Dogg or Ice Cube album.

.

We can fuck was recorded in 1983 and probably changed to Funk as with Purple Rain Prince wanted to down the swearing then as he knew younger fans and less sexually initiated were going to buy it. Okay the word fuck slipped out in Erotic city, but it was a B side and again it was used in a sexual not a menacing context. Also Sheila E claims he was singing Funk. Still Purple Rain was sexually charged enough to get through to Tipper Bitchface gore and PMRC.

.

After that Prince left swearing alone on hisstudio work until Sexy MF in 1992, although he may have said fucking on 1987's Adore.

.

So I am sorry, but feel complaining about a song called We can fuck is wowerism and not becoming of the liberal 21st century. My guess is anyone who is offended by WE CAN FUCK needs to hop in a time machine and go back to 1897.

Smillan said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

I'm confused though, not being a native speaker, the song Head is very much sexual in nature, but it does not contain any actual swearing in it.... or is the word "head" considered swearing?

mediumdry said:

I'm confused though, not being a native speaker, the song Head is very much sexual in nature, but it does not contain any actual swearing in it.... or is the word "head" considered swearing?

I think its more what it implies "blow-jobs"...the song is pure raw filth "your such a hunk...so full of spunk"

didnt Ian consult with his estate with "fixing" those tracks? and didnt they OK it? so doesnt it mean they DONT have the mentality to preserve what already has been recorded by Prince?

rogifan said:

I don't think Head and Sexy MF are essential tracks that have to go on a collection. I think the Prince4Ever CD would have been just fine with those two tracks left off. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

I will say it again.

The press release from Warner Bros said Prince approved this CD.

He had to know Sexy MFer and Head were going to be on the CD.

I respectfully disagree and believe they are essential to his collection.

[Edited 4/26/17 19:30pm]

No censoring at all. Release them exactly as they were written at the time, for a reason. Hardly anything good comes from censorship.