Sure, it is a really good ditty, but that is it. It teaches us about Prince's private world but is a pretty basic funk jam with a nice melody line. It surely is no masterpiece like Starfish or even Seven. Thieves in the Temple is betta too. Dirty Mind has great tunes, but it is beginner Prince. People seem to think that is the best he can do. Crazy.

Uptown, we love ya but you are no Purple Rain or 1999.

its the rawness and newness of the sound that I think people like. I am not crazy about the song, but I think the overall sound is kind of cool. I too prefer 7 and Thieves in the Temple (even if it is a bit over-produced.) The vocal harmonies in both 7 and Theives are outstanding.

What? It's one of his best songs

It's the greatest song ever written in all of history. Prove otherwise!

It's one of Prince's signature tunes!

Eye think it is 1 of his BEST songs. Set the stage early 4 who Prince was and what he represented!

Now where Eye come from, we don't let society

tell us how its supposed 2 b!

Our clothes, our hair, we don't care!

It's all about being there!

Everybody's going UPTOWN!

That's where Eye want 2 b!

Uptown! Set ur mind free!

Uptown! Get ur body hot!

Get down! Eye don't want 2 stop!

I prefer straightforward songs like Uptown to mysterious cipher songs like 7, Starfish, and Thieves. Easier to relate to, more fun, more human. The production of the later is more detailed, and his singing is stronger, but I still prefer Uptown.

"Sure, it is a really good ditty Why?, but that is it. It teaches us about Prince's private world but is a pretty basic funk jam with a nice melody line Why more basic than any other Prince track with a nice melody line? It surely is no masterpiece like Starfish or even Seven Why are they masterpieces? Thieves in the Temple is betta too Why? Says who? Dirty Mind has great tunes Why are they great?, but it is beginner Prince OK, that's an argument: his art had yet to mature, but it could be argued that Emancipation is better than SOTT following that logic. People seem to think that is the best he can do. I don't think so, DM is a fan favorite but usually 1982-1987 albums get more praise. Crazy.

Uptown, we love ya but you are no Purple Rain or 1999. Why not?

.

Uptown is a hippie anthem in the age of post-punk, and this is what makes it such a strong piece. The way Prince merged the ideals of the baby boomers hippie era with the disillusion/frustrations of the generation x that was his core audience was one of his greatest strength at the time, and Uptown illustrates this perfectly. We late X's/early Y's were so angry at our elders for not fulfilling the peace and love ideal they had created, and at the same time we were totally sold to that ideal. That made for a very interesting moment in Western History, and a very interesting generation. Uptown embodies that paradox perfectly

Drums...dobedobedobedobedobedobe

Synth...chn chn, chn ch chn che...ch chn, da da da da da da da

chn chn, chn ch chn ch...ch chn, da da da da da da da

She saw me walking down the street...

cool guitar

and it turned me on, when she looked at me and said, "Come here"

I don't usuallly talk to strangers but she looked so pretty.

What can I lose, if I I...

What's up little girl? I ain't got time to play(Cool lyric)

Baby didn't say too much

But she said, "Are you gay?" (What everyone wants to know who listens to him.)

That took me by surprise. I didn't know what to do.

I just looked her in her eyes and said, "No. Are you?"(Cool response)

For this song, it's the way Prince sings it, plus the guitar and music backing him up and embellishing things. The whole thing is just cool. It's a manifesto. It's a song. It's him.

databank said:

NorthC said:

databank said:

"Sure, it is a really good ditty Why?, but that is it. It teaches us about Prince's private world but is a pretty basic funk jam with a nice melody line Why more basic than any other Prince track with a nice melody line? It surely is no masterpiece like Starfish or even Seven Why are they masterpieces? Thieves in the Temple is betta too Why? Says who? Dirty Mind has great tunes Why are they great?, but it is beginner Prince OK, that's an argument: his art had yet to mature, but it could be argued that Emancipation is better than SOTT following that logic. People seem to think that is the best he can do. I don't think so, DM is a fan favorite but usually 1982-1987 albums get more praise. Crazy.

Uptown, we love ya but you are no Purple Rain or 1999. Why not?

.

Uptown is a hippie anthem in the age of post-punk, and this is what makes it such a strong piece. The way Prince merged the ideals of the baby boomers hippie era with the disillusion/frustrations of the generation x that was his core audience was one of his greatest strength at the time, and Uptown illustrates this perfectly. We late X's/early Y's were so angry at our elders for not fulfilling the peace and love ideal they had created, and at the same time we were totally sold to that ideal. That made for a very interesting moment in Western History, and a very interesting generation. Uptown embodies that paradox perfectly

Yep and his answer was to just have fun, everybody just a-freakin'. Just like Sexuality and 1999 it shows a mix of hedonism and idealism that just sums up the 1980s perfectly. "You're gonna have to fight your own damn war" is no Blowing In the Wind or The Times They Are a-Changing, but even Dylan himself went on record saying that "songs aren't going to change the world." So if all that we have left is a world with freaks running behind their dicks not giving a damn what anybody thinks, then why not. At least we'll have created a little perfect world for a little while. And gotten some pussy. But... 2freaky wanted to start a debate and he got what he wanted!

I'm sure he did, he's a respectable member of this community as far as I'm concerned

[Edited 12/15/17 11:08am]

The overall quality of simplicity and richness on personality.

2freaky4church1 said:

You seem to be looking at this track from just a musical perspective. From a social and historical perspective its very profound. It represents a turning point in history where America was becoming more liberal in its views towards sexuality, specifically homosexuality and lesbians.

It may not be the best track musically but its certainly a pivotable track in capturing the sentiment and the social changes undergoing in America at that time. This is one of the reasons why this track is so great. Personally, for me, I love the song because it captures freedom from judgement and is a great upbeat song that makes me feel good.


Listen to the lyrics and it paints a vivid picture of what it was like for Prince to express himself so freely and what it meant to him.

[Edited 12/15/17 13:04pm]

rogifan said:

You trolling?

maceoparker007 said:

You seem to be looking at this track from just a musical perspective. From a social and historical perspective its very profound. It represents a turning point in history where America was becoming more liberal in its views towards sexuality, specifically homosexuality and lesbians.

It may not be the best track musically but its certainly a pivotable track in capturing the sentiment and the social changes undergoing in America at that time. This is one of the reasons why this track is so great. Personally, for me, I love the song because it captures freedom from judgement and is a great upbeat song that makes me feel good.


Listen to the lyrics and it paints a vivid picture of what it was like for Prince to express himself so freely and what it meant to him.

[Edited 12/15/17 13:04pm]

I think if you "weren't there" when "Uptown" first came out, you can't appreciate its stark uniqueness for the times. With 30 years of hindsight, it's not nearly as complicated or near-divinely-inspired a tune as what came later. But at the time, the sound, the funk-meets-pop vibe... it was all new.

.

(For the record, I "wasn't there" for his early stuff. I was certainly aware of the juggernaut that was "Purple Rain", but I didn't get on board as a devoted fan until "Sign 'O' The Times". So I'm just speaking as an armchair critic.)

NorthC said:

2freaky wanted to start a debate and he got what he wanted!

Bah!! He's trolling.

It is an effortless song that touches the upper echelon of his elite songs.

It sets out his funk manifesto of carefree lusty individuality (a good chunk of his persona, well at least his surface persona)

With all the LRC, Kiss overexposure etc I would say it is underappreciated and ignored as far as popular opinion and the casual fan.

It would a great song to work in a medley with the Rolling Stones Miss You (that he also covered) as well as their track Shattered and the Prince track When U were Mine.

dbpdexter said:

One of my favourites. I was looking forward to having him reinvent it and turn it into a funk workout ala DMSR in Musicology.

Someone posted a brief clip on IG one time of him playing it overseas around 2011/2012 and it sounded brilliant. If anyone has that full clip or knows on what recording it may be on, I'd appreciate it!

2freaky4church1 said:

Sure, it is a really good ditty, but that is it. It teaches us about Prince's private world but is a pretty basic funk jam with a nice melody line. It surely is no masterpiece like Starfish or even Seven. Thieves in the Temple is betta too. Dirty Mind has great tunes, but it is beginner Prince. People seem to think that is the best he can do. Crazy.

Uptown, we love ya but you are no Purple Rain or 1999.

i thought most of the dirty mind album was lame myself, i know it got rave reviews but i never was crazy about it. dirty mind established him as a bold new artist of the time though and Uptown gave a name to this mythical place in his mind that he created. I've often stated that the great rockers have a vision of an alternate world, you can hear it in elvis' sun sessions just as vivid as you ever will and of course springsteen did plenty of the same.

Ironic thing, it's a known rumor/fact that prince didn't write uptown, morris day did and prince offered him the choice between some money or a recording deal and morris took the deal.

the critics were comparing each and every album after dirty mind to it unfavorably so at least in a lot of the music rags, dirty mind marked his zenith. it's been over 30 years so i don't expect everyone to remember that. Personally, I loved When You Were Mine, always have but never was crazy about the rest, and in comparison to his other albums around that time it's just not as good. His second album is still a great album in my mind, just chock full of great tunes and showing all the earmarks of the coming minneapolis sound. In it's own way, that might be the album that they should all be measured by.

databank said:

"Sure, it is a really good ditty Why?, but that is it. It teaches us about Prince's private world but is a pretty basic funk jam with a nice melody line Why more basic than any other Prince track with a nice melody line? It surely is no masterpiece like Starfish or even Seven Why are they masterpieces? Thieves in the Temple is betta too Why? Says who? Dirty Mind has great tunes Why are they great?, but it is beginner Prince OK, that's an argument: his art had yet to mature, but it could be argued that Emancipation is better than SOTT following that logic. People seem to think that is the best he can do. I don't think so, DM is a fan favorite but usually 1982-1987 albums get more praise. Crazy.

Uptown, we love ya but you are no Purple Rain or 1999. Why not?

.

Uptown is a hippie anthem in the age of post-punk, and this is what makes it such a strong piece. The way Prince merged the ideals of the baby boomers hippie era with the disillusion/frustrations of the generation x that was his core audience was one of his greatest strength at the time, and Uptown illustrates this perfectly. We late X's/early Y's were so angry at our elders for not fulfilling the peace and love ideal they had created, and at the same time we were totally sold to that ideal. That made for a very interesting moment in Western History, and a very interesting generation. Uptown embodies that paradox perfectly

databank said:

purplethunder3121 said:

GiggityGoo said: