the quote is correct but it was not from RS but another interview in 81 or 82.

I think NME...

OnlyNDaUsa said:

looks like 1981 and NME and note they have his age at 20 when he was 22.

https://www.theguardian.c...-interview

OnlyNDaUsa said:

ok never mind

[Edited 6/14/17 12:27pm]

speaking of Prince's opinion of Reagan... have you all heard Shelia E.'s new cover of America?

rogifan said:

he said something about reagan having balls in an earlier interview, of course people were just like they are now, if you like a president that they don't like they get mad at you. Prince, even then, had that wierd conservative streak going and it showed on songs like Free and America. I, at the time, thought it was just a pose for some reason. Like he was imitating the white groups who got political because black artists usually did not go about social commentary like that, they were more direct with their own experiences rather than abstract at that time at least. I don't think Marving Gaye talked much of presidents or politics, his thing was, get the taxman's foot outta my ass.

jdcxc said:

rogifan said:

jdcxc said:

I recall his camp saying he was misquoted and he was being sarcastic regarding power hungry American politicians. Hence the Paisley Park lyric, "who ever said that Elephants were stronger than mules."

Yeah like the New Yorker misquoted him too? I love it how whenever a celebrity (or politician) says something that doesn't go over too well they claim they were mis-quoted.

i don't think he was misquoted by the new yorker, I do think the media is slimy as shit and they did burn prince at some point that's why he said things like "they say what they want anyway so why not make up something?" I've got firsthand experience and knowledge of how a major magazine sensationalized a family member's life with a lot of untruths for the sake of a scoop.

I do think Prince was a bit conservative politically, believe it or not. Especially for an AA musician from Minnesota.

soladeo1 said:

rogifan said:

soladeo1 said:

I do think Prince was a bit conservative politically, believe it or not. Especially for an AA musician from Minnesota.

Maybe because of the way he grew up and not having a lot. Pretty much everything he earned he earned through hard work.

i think he probably picked it up from his parents and religion. His dad was pretty strict, his stepdad was strict too. that shapes you and how you view things. howard bloom said something interesting, that the god voice he always used, you know stuff like the opening of 1999, the purple rain voice and lightening from above, was really Prince's internalized father and that for him, that voice had won Prince over at some point and it hurt his creativity. I forgot exactly how bloom put it but it was interesting.

While hindsight is 20/20 there is a reason or two why he might have praised Reagan.

It was very early on in his first term. Iran was holding hostages and they had been held for well over a year, the last 443 days of Carter's 1-term administration. If you weren't around at the time (and I was), it was on the news every single day. It was horrific. There was no social media, or internet to spread information quickly. It was long and grueling for everyone, wondering if those people were going to die at the whim of any of the hostage takers. There were 52 hostages, and it lasted 444 days. There were even two failed rescue attempts.

Reagan had been campaigning before and during the hostage crisis. He said he was going to take bigger action than his soon-to-be-predecessor had taken to that point. He had much stronger language about the hostage situation. The Iranians knew he wasn't fuckin' around. On January 20, moments after Reagan finished his speech at the inauguration, the hostages were released.

People praised Reagan for that, although he really had nothing to do with it as POTUS. He was also pretty bold about the cold war with Russia, which Prince even alluded to in the track on Controversy. Carter wasn't as popular of a president in his one short term. And while Prince implored Reagan to make peace with Russia, he probably also felt the overall "whew" factor that Reagan enjoyed the first couple of years. The honeymoon wasn't over just yet. Prince was likely reflecting that feeling in the interview. Carter was passive, but Reagan took things head on - sometimes. Patriotism was rampant like the flu during the early 80s.

This is the time that the U.S. went from friends to enemies with Iran, and ended up helping Iraq in the eventual Iran-Iraq war (which took up the bulk of the 80s), including their buddy Saddam Hussein, who the U.S. would later take down because he stopped being their puppet.

ya, i remember it all clearly. prince did mention reagan in song too and obviously thought highly enough of him that he'd want to meet him someday. Most of the black elite of the time thought reagan was a tragedy for black people. Ali caught some flack for supporting him in the reelection, not just supporting him but being quoted as voting for "the man" in an ad along with Joe Frazier.

TrivialPursuit said:

While hindsight is 20/20 there is a reason or two why he might have praised Reagan.

It was very early on in his first term. Iran was holding hostages and they had been held for well over a year, the last 443 days of Carter's 1-term administration. If you weren't around at the time (and I was), it was on the news every single day. It was horrific. There was no social media, or internet to spread information quickly. It was long and grueling for everyone, wondering if those people were going to die at the whim of any of the hostage takers. There were 52 hostages, and it lasted 444 days. There were even two failed rescue attempts.

Reagan had been campaigning before and during the hostage crisis. He said he was going to take bigger action than his soon-to-be-predecessor had taken to that point. He had much stronger language about the hostage situation. The Iranians knew he wasn't fuckin' around. On January 20, moments after Reagan finished his speech at the inauguration, the hostages were released.

People praised Reagan for that, although he really had nothing to do with it as POTUS. He was also pretty bold about the cold war with Russia, which Prince even alluded to in the track on Controversy. Carter wasn't as popular of a president in his one short term. And while Prince implored Reagan to make peace with Russia, he probably also felt the overall "whew" factor that Reagan enjoyed the first couple of years. The honeymoon wasn't over just yet. Prince was likely reflecting that feeling in the interview. Carter was passive, but Reagan took things head on - sometimes. Patriotism was rampant like the flu during the early 80s.

This is the time that the U.S. went from friends to enemies with Iran, and ended up helping Iraq in the eventual Iran-Iraq war (which took up the bulk of the 80s), including their buddy Saddam Hussein, who the U.S. would later take down because he stopped being their puppet.

PeteSilas said:

TrivialPursuit said:

prince was absolutely right about not appreciating things that come with no price, it's true in any area. A man once said to me once that he could see why i left a job where I worked my ass off, "people tend not to appreciate when you give so much". It's just true with anything. Sometimes I'll debate buying a cd but why should i when I can hear it for free? I get a brief excitement seeing something I know I'll like but then i think "oh shoot, it's already free, why should I buy it" then I think i probably won't even try to listen to it anytime soon.

also prince seemed to get more apolitical as time went on, especially with the JW faith coming in.

rogifan said:

TrivialPursuit said:

While hindsight is 20/20 there is a reason or two why he might have praised Reagan.

It was very early on in his first term. Iran was holding hostages and they had been held for well over a year, the last 443 days of Carter's 1-term administration. If you weren't around at the time (and I was), it was on the news every single day. It was horrific. There was no social media, or internet to spread information quickly. It was long and grueling for everyone, wondering if those people were going to die at the whim of any of the hostage takers. There were 52 hostages, and it lasted 444 days. There were even two failed rescue attempts.

Reagan had been campaigning before and during the hostage crisis. He said he was going to take bigger action than his soon-to-be-predecessor had taken to that point. He had much stronger language about the hostage situation. The Iranians knew he wasn't fuckin' around. On January 20, moments after Reagan finished his speech at the inauguration, the hostages were released.

People praised Reagan for that, although he really had nothing to do with it as POTUS. He was also pretty bold about the cold war with Russia, which Prince even alluded to in the track on Controversy. Carter wasn't as popular of a president in his one short term. And while Prince implored Reagan to make peace with Russia, he probably also felt the overall "whew" factor that Reagan enjoyed the first couple of years. The honeymoon wasn't over just yet. Prince was likely reflecting that feeling in the interview. Carter was passive, but Reagan took things head on - sometimes. Patriotism was rampant like the flu during the early 80s.

This is the time that the U.S. went from friends to enemies with Iran, and ended up helping Iraq in the eventual Iran-Iraq war (which took up the bulk of the 80s), including their buddy Saddam Hussein, who the U.S. would later take down because he stopped being their puppet.

I remember the interview with George Lopez where Prince was talking about the music industry and said something like "people tend to not value things they can get for free; put anything else in the place of music and you'll see what I mean". And after he passed Van Jones claimed he was politically purple. I do think the fact that he didn't have much growing up and none of his success or wealth was handed to him might have influenced his politics in certain areas. The only record of him donating to a politician was an early 90s donation to Minnesota senator Rudy Boschwitz who was a republican.

[Edited 6/14/17 18:09pm]

A couple important points...

1.) It wasn't 85. It was early 81.. Hindsight and all that. Party up was a song against the draft, was it not? the draft was issued under Jimmy Carter. (thus the reason he said a year later ""I just think the people should have a little more to say in some of these foreign matters. I don't want to have to go out and die for their mistakes." The draft didn't mean anything (it was a bluff) but probably pissed ofF a lot of people.

2.) If people said that Prince was misquoted, he probably was. Remember Reagan was a popular president.

3.) The line about mules not being less powerful than elephants is important.

4.) Prince was probably always purple (and never red or blue).Way to idiosyncratic. Conservative in some ways, progressive in other ways. Changing and altering his mind. Think about it. Prince in many ways was more conservative in the mid 2000's. But he was also no warhawk during that period. Aggressive military action and hardcore patriotism would not have suited him in 2004. His faith was pasicism and so seemingly did he.

5.) Supporting one republican candidate does not make him a hardcore republican.

6.) America is not just an anti-commie song, it is also anti-poverty and economic inequality...(Like I said, not red or blue.) Think about the book 1984. (the book against both communism and fascism by a man who was a democratic socialist.)

7.) Prince saying "Just for the power he represents, if nothing else" and "His mouth is his one big asset" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement. It sounds like Prince disliked most politicans (both parties) and was more interested in issues that concerned him at the time. He was pissed at Carter for the draft and what many people deemed to be the mishandling of the hostage crisis.

Jump forward to 2014, prince is supporting green issues, Black Lives matters and starting a girl band.. So he starts hanging with Van Jones, and discussing in interviews the merits of a female president, and playing at Obama's white house.

THE DUALITY OF PRINCE>>>

[Edited 6/14/17 19:37pm]

[Edited 6/14/17 19:42pm]

[Edited 6/14/17 19:47pm]

[Edited 6/14/17 20:04pm]

[Edited 6/14/17 20:07pm]

1985 Prince was certainly thankful for all he had achieved and America was his way of saying thanks and getting political on a song,although being political on a song was not his first time.

purplerabbithole said:

I've been a Prince fan since 1981, and I'm a staunch paleoconservative. Yes, we do exist! There are plenty of Prince fans who are NOT a bunch of little Marxist libtards. The 1980s were great, especially the early 80s, and Reagan was an awesome president! Prince was at his most awesome in the 80s as well, no matter what anybody says. Back then everything seemed possible, and I would gladly go back to those days if I could. Maybe, I should buy a hot tub time machine. Oh, and by the way, in the 1984 re-election, Reagan's 525 electoral votes (out of 538) is the highest total ever received by a presidential candidate, and that should tell you everything!

Prince never really did an overt I ENDORSE THIS CANDIDATE exercise his whole career. He did, however, publically praise a very conservative American president.

He had a very conservative religiosity too, especially later in his life.

I don't think he was a big voter, frankly, but I do think he was naturally surprisingly

conservative in his outlook on life.

Especially for a musician and as a black man.

I don't know enough of the history back then, but if Ronnie ran on the platform that he would handle the Iranians and Russians better than Carter who started up a military draft, then maybe Prince was relieved thinking the draft was never going to be needed.

I agree that Prince is stating in Ronnie Talk To Russia that Reagan should use diplomatic solutions.. However, in the same song (in the lines about going to the zoo and not feeding left wing guerillas) He seems to be saying that Ronnie should talk directly to Russians (war powers, i guess), and not try to get the left wingers involved because they won't cooperate.

Prince was probably not so much party aligned as cause aligned. Whatever cause he was into dictated who he supported. Fiercely independent guy Prince was (for better or for worse.)

jdcxc said:

purplerabbithole said:

A couple important points...

1.) It wasn't 85. It was early 81.. Hindsight and all that. Party up was a song against the draft, was it not? the draft was issued under Jimmy Carter. (thus the reason he said a year later ""I just think the people should have a little more to say in some of these foreign matters. I don't want to have to go out and die for their mistakes." The draft didn't mean anything (it was a bluff) but probably pissed ofF a lot of people.

2.) If people said that Prince was misquoted, he probably was. Remember Reagan was a popular president.

3.) The line about mules not being less powerful than elephants is important.

4.) Prince was probably always purple (and never red or blue).Way to idiosyncratic. Conservative in some ways, progressive in other ways. Changing and altering his mind. Think about it. Prince in many ways was more conservative in the mid 2000's. But he was also no warhawk during that period. Aggressive military action and hardcore patriotism would not have suited him in 2004. His faith was pasicism and so seemingly did he.

5.) Supporting one republican candidate does not make him a hardcore republican.

6.) America is not just an anti-commie song, it is also anti-poverty and economic inequality...(Like I said, not red or blue.) Think about the book 1984. (the book against both communism and fascism by a man who was a democratic socialist.)

7.) Prince saying "Just for the power he represents, if nothing else" and "His mouth is his one big asset" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement. It sounds like Prince disliked most politicans (both parties) and was more interested in issues that concerned him at the time. He was pissed at Carter for the draft and what many people deemed to be the mishandling of the hostage crisis.

Jump forward to 2014, prince is supporting green issues, Black Lives matters and starting a girl band.. So he starts hanging with Van Jones, and discussing in interviews the merits of a female president, and playing at Obama's white house.

THE DUALITY OF PRINCE>>>

[Edited 6/14/17 19:37pm]

[Edited 6/14/17 19:42pm]

[Edited 6/14/17 19:47pm]

[Edited 6/14/17 20:04pm]

[Edited 6/14/17 20:07pm]

Good points, but the keywords in the Paisley Park lyrics are "Whoever said"...elephants are stronger than mules? He is denoucing the fake quote. There is no way Prince aligned himself with Ronald Reagan. Prince has never been overtly political in that way. It makes more sense that the ever obtuse Prince was critiquing the idea of strength and power ("balls") that Reagan supposedly represented. Ronnie Talk to Russia is about non-violent diplomatic resolutions. Prince ALWAYS touted peace over violence.

[Edited 6/15/17 8:30am]

At the beginning of his presidency. Reagan in some ways was less conservative than some of the douchebags we deal with now. Listen to his stances on immigration (he and George Sr.) which were much more humane and fair. Obviously he was more reasonable about gun control as well because of the laws passed right after someone attempted to assasinate him. And he did eventually talk to the Russians..LOL> I am no Reagan fan when it comes to trickle down economics, his stances on AIDS and his aligning himself with the religious right and the McCarthyists--don't get me wrong. I am moderate democrat myself. But you take the good with the bad.

As for later in life, Prince also supported Black LIves Matter, gun control (Baltimore's lyrics) green causes, and the presidency of a female. He also started to show more religious tolerance for Islam and other religions in songs like Same Page Different Book" and was on good terms with W and L at the end of his life (he Even told Wendy that her child through the articifical semination of her wife should call him Uncle Princey and once invited a gay photographer friend of his on stage in 2011 --the dude kissed his husband up there] I saw the clip). So his stances on gay marriage were either not important enough to him to keep driving home a point or he had a more complicated and evolving view of the issues.

Prince thought for himself and evolved and changed throughout his life. He is allowed to change his mind. A one time in interest in ALex JOnes doesn't mean he supported the douche bag after he went especially off the rails about Sandy Hook. Remember Prince was also a fan of the Bill Maher show and stated this fact in 1999 and later on in the later 2000's. Obviously, he didn't agree with Maher's views on religions.

He was purple not blue or red. Prince also stated that Obama was a good man and doing the best he could (even while not 'having a dog in the race') . He even tweeted about being proud of Obama after performing in that private event at the white house. the only white house performance he ever did.

soladeo1 said:

Prince never really did an overt I ENDORSE THIS CANDIDATE exercise his whole career. He did, however, publically praise a very conservative American president.

He had a very conservative religiosity too, especially later in his life.

I don't think he was a big voter, frankly, but I do think he was naturally surprisingly

conservative in his outlook on life.

Especially for a musician and as a black man.

[Edited 6/15/17 8:27am]

[Edited 6/15/17 8:41am]

In the 80's Prince was conservatively naive on many political issues, and the song "Free" and "Amercia" prove that, even though there are fans who argue the songs mean exactly the opposite.

But combine that with his 80's interview insights... and yes, he was pro-America in that naive Donald Trump supporter way back then.


But in the 2000's and beyond he went completely the other way in my opinion and went to liberal vegan extents!