I didn't feel June was a song about death, just a throw away bit of whimsy (but have really enjoyed reading this thread nonetheless)...am not sure there was a deeper meaning to it other than wistfulness.

But for people who love Prince and his music, why shouldn't they have an outpouring here? Nothing wrong with that really...thought some of the previous comments were a bit dismissive.

I do agree with someone who said Way Back Home was more of a song which lamented about being in the twilight of your years. It's one of the first times I heard Prince sounding, dare I say it, old. But also truly sad.

He sounds tired on that track, weary even.

As much as a number of people reading this thread will be highly sceptical about such discussions, I think it is true to say that Prince really did seem to express a lot of what he felt about himself, relationships and the world via his recorded output...so there has to be something speculative in these later tracks e.g. there's surely a chance that he could have felt below par at some stage during these recording sessions

T

OnlyNDaUsa said:

ufoclub said:

It's definitely a wistful song about being depressed and feeling like he was born in the wrong time. It does have a doom gloom on it, because the pasta is burning by the end. Even the keyboard wanders in a depressed spasm. It's a great and rare personal song! Others in this vein might be: Strange But True, Solo, Grand Progression, Old Friends For Sale (original bootleg versions), Wasted Kisses, Had U [Edited 5/4/17 8:11am]

what is odd is that he sang

"Sometimes I feel like I was born way too late Should have been born on the Woodstock stage"


but he was 10 or so when Woodstock happened? but he also says he was born too late... so he is playing with time and maybe saying he feels that no matter when he was, he felt out of place.

Or maybe he meant born in a musical sense. Like Woodstock should have been the place where he burst into everyone's consciousness. Woodstock was in 1969 - about 10 years before people started to know who he was.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

ufoclub said:

It's definitely a wistful song about being depressed and feeling like he was born in the wrong time. It does have a doom gloom on it, because the pasta is burning by the end. Even the keyboard wanders in a depressed spasm. It's a great and rare personal song! Others in this vein might be: Strange But True, Solo, Grand Progression, Old Friends For Sale (original bootleg versions), Wasted Kisses, Had U [Edited 5/4/17 8:11am]

what is odd is that he sang

"Sometimes I feel like I was born way too late Should have been born on the Woodstock stage"


but he was 10 or so when Woodstock happened? but he also says he was born too late... so he is playing with time and maybe saying he feels that no matter when he was, he felt out of place.

There are others who feel like that...

ufoclub said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

what is odd is that he sang

"Sometimes I feel like I was born way too late Should have been born on the Woodstock stage"


but he was 10 or so when Woodstock happened? but he also says he was born too late... so he is playing with time and maybe saying he feels that no matter when he was, he felt out of place.

Maybe he meant his pop fame peak or first peak, should have been as one of the bands on the Woodstock stage? Like he wished he has been getting popular right then, so had to be born 10 years earlier?

could be... it would be cool if he was 10 years older...

Jerky said:

I find it strange that the original poster was ridiculed for analysing the lyrics of Prince songs. Where else would you do that apart from here?

She wasnt ridiculed for analyzing. She was "ridiculed" for the content of her analysis. I mean come on. June used because it was connected back to SOTT he's doing horse..its June etc?

I have some thoughts on AOA etc and epitaph stuff but that June stuff is a big stretch.

I think we are all now going to be relegated to tryng to fit pieces into holes regarding Princes music, late career, psyche, etc etc. for better or worse when discussing his legacy and such.

Im gutted about that.

.

[Edited 5/4/17 8:49am]

Jerky said:

I also think that the songs 'June' and 'Way Back Home' are about his death. I feel like he put them as album closers in case they were the last album. I think the lyrics of 'The Breakdown' are also in that theme. I find it strange that the original poster was ridiculed for analysing the lyrics of Prince songs. Where else would you do that apart from here? His songs had meanings, why not try and work out what he meant? There are many other lyrics in 'June' that could also be interpreted as a goodbye. The fact that he and 3rd Eye Girl are all crying at the end of 'The Breakdown' is unusual. What was that about? I also think his demeanour in the last few years had a sadness to it. One of the Australian Piano & Microphone shows that I heard also had some indications in what he said that there was something wrong. It could all be a coincidence of course but I believe his health had deteriorated and his songs reflected that.

Perhaps. But even if that's true - he'd been doing that for 30 years. Remember the Black Album? He pulled that because he felt it was too dark and didn't want that to be his last album, in case he died. Now, we can put that down to a bad experience with X - but the fact remains that he's been doing this for years.

What about the women crying at the end of Automatic? Did he think he was dying then? He also sang about the apocalypse on 1999. And about dying on Moonbeam Levels. Did he really think he was headed for the great beyond in 1981?

Prince was a morbid little guy. He had a looooooong history of this kind of subject matter. Maybe he suffered from depression. Who knows? If he were alive, we'd just chalk these lyrics up as part of his standard patter. Why do we think there's something magical about these particular death fantasies?

Genesia said:

What about the women crying at the end of Automatic? Did he think he was dying then? He also sang about the apocalypse on 1999. And about dying on Moonbeam Levels. Did he really think he was headed for the great beyond in 1981?

The end of Temptation would have been a good one for the conspiracists too.

TheEnglishGent said:

Genesia said:

What about the women crying at the end of Automatic? Did he think he was dying then? He also sang about the apocalypse on 1999. And about dying on Moonbeam Levels. Did he really think he was headed for the great beyond in 1981?

The end of Temptation would have been a good one for the conspiracists too.

Don't forget about "A Place In Heaven". Maybe his feminine side wanted to commit suicide.

TrivialPursuit said:

TheEnglishGent said:

The end of Temptation would have been a good one for the conspiracists too.

Don't forget about "A Place In Heaven". Maybe his feminine side wanted to commit suicide.

TheEnglishGent said:

Genesia said:

What about the women crying at the end of Automatic? Did he think he was dying then? He also sang about the apocalypse on 1999. And about dying on Moonbeam Levels. Did he really think he was headed for the great beyond in 1981?

The end of Temptation would have been a good one for the conspiracists too.

OMG - yes. "I have to go now. I don't know when I'll return. Good-bye." (<- I didn't even have to look those lyrics up.)

Also...Had U, Goodbye, Welcome 2 the Dawn, Gold, Back 2 the Lotus, No More Candy 4 U, Wasted Kisses, Sometimes It Snows in April, Resolution, It's Gonna Be Lonely, Revelation, Dolphin (The Undertaker) - all Debbie Downer or death-related closers on albums.

Jerky said:

I also think that the songs 'June' and 'Way Back Home' are about his death. I feel like he put them as album closers in case they were the last album. I think the lyrics of 'The Breakdown' are also in that theme. I find it strange that the original poster was ridiculed for analysing the lyrics of Prince songs. Where else would you do that apart from here? His songs had meanings, why not try and work out what he meant? There are many other lyrics in 'June' that could also be interpreted as a goodbye. The fact that he and 3rd Eye Girl are all crying at the end of 'The Breakdown' is unusual. What was that about? I also think his demeanour in the last few years had a sadness to it. One of the Australian Piano & Microphone shows that I heard also had some indications in what he said that there was something wrong. It could all be a coincidence of course but I believe his health had deteriorated and his songs reflected that.

Unfortunately, that happens quite a bit on Prince.org.

[Edited 5/4/17 9:12am]

Not this shit again please. Seems like he was dying for a couple of years. Bye.

TrivialPursuit said:

Genesia said:

ForceofNature said:

Well if we take what everyone says here as truth, literally every single song he wrote, every picture on Instagram, and every thing he said in between songs in shows the past few years are all him telling us he is going to die. Sometimes lyrics are just lyrics, and not everything has to be a prediction of one's own death.

Sure, it does. Remember when he tweeted that picture of wisps of smoke and called it his first selfie? That was foreshadowing the smoke from his cremation.

Did he really do that?

Astasheiks said:

Genesia said:

Sure, it does. Remember when he tweeted that picture of wisps of smoke and called it his first selfie? That was foreshadowing the smoke from his cremation.

Did he really do that?

Yup! I can't post it here (the site it's on is blocked at work), but google "prince first selfie" and you'll find it.

Genesia said:

ForceofNature said:

Well if we take what everyone says here as truth, literally every single song he wrote, every picture on Instagram, and every thing he said in between songs in shows the past few years are all him telling us he is going to die. Sometimes lyrics are just lyrics, and not everything has to be a prediction of one's own death.

Except when it comes to Prince...he told us with his own mouth, and on Larry King Live, that basically his way of "communicating" with us is through his music...if we want to know him, listen to his words/lyrics. Not trying to be obstinate...it's what the man said.

precioux said:

ForceofNature said:

Well if we take what everyone says here as truth, literally every single song he wrote, every picture on Instagram, and every thing he said in between songs in shows the past few years are all him telling us he is going to die. Sometimes lyrics are just lyrics, and not everything has to be a prediction of one's own death.

Except when it comes to Prince...he told us with his own mouth, and on Larry King Live, that basically his way of "communicating" with us is through his music...if we want to know him, listen to his words/lyrics. Not trying to be obstinate...it's what the man said.

And the same man also said people read too much into his lyrics and tried to find sexual references where they weren't.

FullLipsDotNose said:

precioux said:

Except when it comes to Prince...he told us with his own mouth, and on Larry King Live, that basically his way of "communicating" with us is through his music...if we want to know him, listen to his words/lyrics. Not trying to be obstinate...it's what the man said.

And the same man also said people read too much into his lyrics and tried to find sexual references where they weren't.

touche'

precioux said:

TrivialPursuit said:

luv4u said:

You are reading too much into this

Mods, you can edit this however you want, but I'm typing it anyway.

You folks, and this goes only for the ones doing it, need to stop romanticizing his death. There's nothing romantic about dying in an elevator, alone. Stop reading into shit to try and make sense of it. It doesn't make sense at all, yet it makes perfect sense. You people act like he planned to lay his narrow ass down in that elevator and give up the ghost, and he left messages from over two years before as a trail of breadcrumbs. Who the fuck does that?! It's stupid, far-reaching, and frankly disrespectful. He knew he was going to die? Pumpkin, we all know that. That's not some princely revelation.

The death of a genius doesn't make sense, because he had so much more in him. His has logic in it because he was addicted to a very powerful medication, and had other stuff in his possession that was even stronger and under the guise of aspirin or something lesser.

As someone noted, you can make an album of songs about death. He was as fascinated with death as he was life and the afterworld, spirituality, etc. Go listen to his music. ALL of it. He was Prince front to back: spiritual, religious, sexual, funny, sexy, wanted to fuck, wanted to lick a vagina, wanted to submit, wanted to rule the world, braggart, humble, political, social, or just funky. AOA was nothing different in that regard. "June" had as much meaning as "Crystal Ball" or "All My Dreams" or "1999" or "I Would Die 4 U".

Maneuver in the truth, not conjecture, conspiracy theories, or other such bullshit. Just stop.

This is the best post I've read on the org since the day he died.

casi1 said:

precioux said:

touche'

I gotta give the man credit... He liked to keep people guessing. We will never really know which lyrics were 'for real' and which were 'part of the mystery'. 'The Breakdown' is gorgeous but troubling enough to make me think that we will never know the true intent or the original lyrics. It was personal enough for him that he would leave the room when playing it for guests for the first time. Like Susannah said in an interview, he was a beautiful complicated complex man. I was recently sad to learn that sometimes he would perform full shows at Paisley for only 5 or 6 fans... Because thats all who would show up. It wouldnt surprise me if he did go through bouts of depression and if those bouts surfaced in some songs. Regarding 'Way Back Home', the song struck me as someone lamenting that their life hadn't turned out the way they planned it but that they were pressing on while not being afraid of death. I also thought it was interesting that he appeared to be trying to explain himself in that song ('I never wanted... All I ever wanted... Let me tell you something about me...). For some reason, I was comforted by the fact that the family held a 'Way Back Home' party after his memorial. I guess I felt that he was happy to finally be back home.

If he had shows with such low turnout, surely these were before the advent of social media. He was known to schedule shows on the spur of the moment, so there was probably no time to get the word out. Once he started tweeting and IG-ing he had folks from around the world flying in for shows at Paisley Park.

FlyOnTheWall said:

casi1 said:

precioux said:

I gotta give the man credit... He liked to keep people guessing. We will never really know which lyrics were 'for real' and which were 'part of the mystery'. 'The Breakdown' is gorgeous but troubling enough to make me think that we will never know the true intent or the original lyrics. It was personal enough for him that he would leave the room when playing it for guests for the first time. Like Susannah said in an interview, he was a beautiful complicated complex man. I was recently sad to learn that sometimes he would perform full shows at Paisley for only 5 or 6 fans... Because thats all who would show up. It wouldnt surprise me if he did go through bouts of depression and if those bouts surfaced in some songs. Regarding 'Way Back Home', the song struck me as someone lamenting that their life hadn't turned out the way they planned it but that they were pressing on while not being afraid of death. I also thought it was interesting that he appeared to be trying to explain himself in that song ('I never wanted... All I ever wanted... Let me tell you something about me...). For some reason, I was comforted by the fact that the family held a 'Way Back Home' party after his memorial. I guess I felt that he was happy to finally be back home.

If he had shows with such low turnout, surely these were before the advent of social media. He was known to schedule shows on the spur of the moment, so there was probably no time to get the word out. Once he started tweeting and IG-ing he had folks from around the world flying in for shows at Paisley Park.

In recent years, the main reason for people not showing up at PP parties was because of very short notice, not knowing about it at all, or thinking that Prince was not going to perform.

BillieBalloon said:

Let me add this food for thought. The mention of Richie Havens in "June," I think, is not insignificant. The Woodstock icon has so many great songs that it's hard to say just what Prince meant; HOWEVER, in looking at Mr. Havens' discography, I discovered the song, "Death At an Early Age." I can't find the full lyrics, but I transcribed a bit of it and, IMHO, it is profound. But first, the video.

"Death at an Early Age"

Verse 1

I was born on a June day

to great expectations
.......

They wanted a boy but they
They got aberration.

Why they did love me, I never
I never could tell

Chorus

And I don't care what you think you see

From one strong fear, no one is free

The only thing this could ever be (?)

Death at an early age

Verse 2 (or 3)

You know I've tried in my own way

To understand freedom

Been making mistakes

Making mistakes is my usual way

I used to have ???

But now I don't need 'em

They keep changing the rules

Changing the rules

Changing the rules every day

[Edited 5/4/17 17:45pm]

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

hyperpessimist said:

A few thoughts on the track “June”, a track I always found special and clearly his most personal statement in his final few years… I believe on this track Prince was telling us he was going to die soon.
“It’s June”, the last lyric on the track, can be regarded as a reference to “Sign O The Times” - when he describes a “cousin” who was on a spiralling drug habit. Now, of course as far as we know P was not doing illegal drugs, but we now know he was facing a serious addiction to painkillers. Therefore, I see the word “June” not literally as the month of June, but as a metaphor for his state of growing addiction that he knew he could no longer control.

...
The track opens with the words “Pasta simmers on the stove in June” - I read it as “I’m living a desolate personal life, not eating properly, not taking care of myself while trapped in a growing state of addiction”.

Then he says “Makes no sense yet, but it will soon” - I think he meant we would not be able to understand the metaphor until he was gone and his final days would be scrutinized - we would then understand what the lyrics meant.
...

I also think that, in a way, the concept of a “Hit n Run” series of albums could be a sort of pre-emptive epitaph: he knew he would not last long under his secluded state of addiction, and may have decided to streamline his archives until at some point he would be gone. There would have been a phase 3, a phase 4, depending on how long he would be able to endure his situation… but what I see is there was no attempt to create a unique concept for each release, a coherent vision on each of the albums - it’s like AOA was meant to be his final conceptual statement, and everything else afterwards was going to be a series of footnotes.

...
Just a few thoughts on a track I still find haunting, and an intriguing approach to his final releases… Depression, pain, loneliness... it feels like he didn't know how to get himself out of this situation, and therefore accepted his coming fate

I agree with everything you are saying, other than P was addicted.

There was something else going on.

AOA was his "Goodbye" album.

I agree the two albums after AOA were a footnote.

P was never going to talk to us straight forward.
Listen.

Yes.