When I heard Prince sing The Breakdown on the Montreux video I thought this song could be inspired by some old school music. At first it reminded me of the song Memory Lane by Minni Ripperton. Like The Breakdown this is a song about reminiscing. I got triggered when I heard Prince sing I don't want to go during his performance as Minnie does in her song.

Then I also heard the song Breakdown on Memory Lane by Harriet Schock, a singer who wrote a song for the soundtrack of the The Last Dragon with Vanity. Maybe I'm just connecting these 3 songs but these songs could have inspired Prince to write The Breakdown. By the way this cd Minnie by Minnie Ripperton is really good and contains also some funky songs. She has such a remarkable voice. Stevie Wonder also produced one of her albums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrtDSfK8Ekg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDP0GJ2rlME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bj36ObVQoY\

[Edited 9/30/17 14:05pm]

[Edited 9/30/17 14:06pm]

[Edited 9/30/17 14:30pm]

By the way Maya Rudolph is the daughter of Minnie Riperton and she has the Prince cover band Princess which Prince knew about and also approved.

Cough, cough, Andy Allo...

I love this song.

I love this Album.

My

This song is not about someone but some "thing."

The Breakdown is the "illness" P was suffering from at the end of his life.

This illness is Breaking him down.

P is reminiscing about things he thought was important in life...having the biggest house with the biggest pool, and instead he wants the time back and we can keep the memories.

"Every book I read said I would met someone like you" (the illness).

There is a door where there use to be a wall.

As long as you (his Creator) catches P when he falls "it's cool"

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

Sounds to me like another one of his god songs.

During one of his performances of it last year he whispered,"she does."so it seems to be directed toward someone.In Time Andy sings a bit of the chorus toward the end.I always took it as him saying this person was breaking down his defenses or walls causing him to want to change his ways for them.I'd like to ask Andy about it and see what she knows about the writing and recording process.

pinkcashmere23 said:

During one of his performances of it last year he whispered,"she does."so it seems to be directed toward someone.In Time Andy sings a bit of the chorus toward the end.I always took it as him saying this person was breaking down his defenses or walls causing him to want to change his ways for them.I'd like to ask Andy about it and see what she knows about the writing and recording process.

TheEnglishGent said:

Sounds to me like another one of his god songs.

Yup.

lion88 said:

When I heard Prince sing The Breakdown on the Montreux video I thought this song could be inspired by some old school music. At first it reminded me of the song Memory Lane by Minni Ripperton. Like The Breakdown this is a song about reminiscing. I got triggered when I heard Prince sing I don't want to go during his performance as Minnie does in her song.

Then I also heard the song Breakdown on Memory Lane by Harriet Schock, a singer who wrote a song for the soundtrack of the The Last Dragon with Vanity. Maybe I'm just connecting these 3 songs but these songs could have inspired Prince to write The Breakdown. By the way this cd Minnie by Minnie Ripperton is really good and contains also some funky songs. She has such a remarkable voice. Stevie Wonder also produced one of her albums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrtDSfK8Ekg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDP0GJ2rlME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bj36ObVQoY\

[Edited 9/30/17 14:05pm]

[Edited 9/30/17 14:06pm]

[Edited 9/30/17 14:30pm]

I can see how you've connected these songs. You may be onto something here. I think Harriet's song seems very similar in terms of lyrics/ story to my interpretation of Prince's The Breakdown. I believe they are singing about the same experiences.

Minnie's voice is impressive and when she hits those high notes, dang... right out of the ball park and completely unexpected.

Here's something different, see post #48 from this thread http://prince.org/msg/7/4...&pg=1

[Edited 10/10/17 23:50pm]

[Edited 10/11/17 3:21am]

Mumio said:

Here's something different, see post #48 from this thread http://prince.org/msg/7/4...&pg=1

Org links are broken. The link in your post goes to the completely wrong place, but a copy and paste takes you to the right place. Hopefully this one works. http://prince.org/msg/7/411851&pg=1

[Edited 10/11/17 1:53am]

A truly awesome track!!!

Hands down the best he wrote in the last 10-15 years. What a beautiful song, it never fails to touch me. Production is ever so slightly hokey but I'll allow that - better than being overproduced!

.

Probably the song that makes me miss him most, as it came from the end of his career but showed how much more he had to give.

.

Mumio said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Mumio said:

Here's something different, see post #48 from this thread http://prince.org/msg/7/4...&pg=1

Org links are broken. The link in your post goes to the completely wrong place, but a copy and paste takes you to the right place. Hopefully this one works. http://prince.org/msg/7/411851&pg=1

[Edited 10/11/17 1:53am]

Thank you, I didn't realize there was any problem with the link. Your's works fine though.

TheEnglishGent said:

Sounds to me like another one of his god songs.

that's what i thought too

Asenath0607 said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Sounds to me like another one of his god songs.

that's what i thought too

I don't think he was thinking about some girl when he did this one...

Him singing "baby baby"toward the end makes me think it was written with a girl/woman in mind.It would be nice to know when it was written to give some insight into his mindset at the time.Someone could ask Andy during her next livestream and see what she knows about it.She's given some insight into some of the other songs they recorded so I'd like to hear her thoughts on it since she sings background vocals on it.

purplethunder3121 said:

I don't think he was thinking about some girl when he did this one...

Always a possibility that you are right about this.

I had a breakdown once,

and I felt Prince wrote the song, about me..


Yeah eye no, it's crazy...

P bargaining with God once more and doing penance.

thedance said:

I had a breakdown once,

and I felt Prince wrote the song, about me..


Yeah eye no, it's crazy...

sharpieheartz said:

It could be about God or a woman... fits for both. But seeing as it was written before 'Time' and lines from 'Breakdown' are repeated in that song, doesn't debunk the theory of it being about someone. I've wondered about this song for the longest as well. [Edited 10/14/17 5:04am]

In his last interview with Rolling Stone in 2014 the writer said Prince left the room when he played the song for him,coming back and explaining that it came from "a sensitive...nude" place."You could touch it and it would just hurt instantly."It obviously was deeply personal to him whomever it was intended.

pinkcashmere23 said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

I love this song.

I love this Album.

My

This song is not about someone but some "thing."

The Breakdown is the "illness" P was suffering from at the end of his life.

This illness is Breaking him down.

P is reminiscing about things he thought was important in life...having the biggest house with the biggest pool, and instead he wants the time back and we can keep the memories.

"Every book I read said I would met someone like you" (the illness).

There is a door where there use to be a wall.

As long as you (his Creator) catches P when he falls "it's cool"

\

stop..lol