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Thread started 04/09/18 7:34am

Latin

Video: PRINCE'S Top 10 Political Songs

Check out Prince's Top 10 Political Songs produced by Prince's Friend.

"Published on Apr 7, 2018. Politics was a huge part of Prince’s identity, whether it was the fact that he didn’t actively vote himself because he believed the US has a flawed system to his protest songs that reach back all the way to the beginning of his career. Prince always had an opinion about the state of the world, and while some of his songs were about creating a better world, others called out bigotry, racism, and tried to offer solutions to these issues."

Here it is:

https://m.youtube.com/wat...2Y9U3ouvOU
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Reply #1 posted 04/09/18 7:15pm

206Michelle

Cool! Thanks for posting!

.......

The list is:

10. United States of Division

9. When Will We B Paid? (cover of the Staples' Singers)

8. Right the Wrong

7. Race

6. Cinnamon Girl

5. Partyup

4. Fixurlifeup

3. Act of God

2. Colonized Mind

1. Baltimore

.......

Live 4 Love ~ Love is God, God is love, Girls and boys love God above
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Reply #2 posted 04/09/18 7:16pm

206Michelle

My favourite of these ten songs is Colonized Mind; I listen to it regularly. I actually learned a bit more about the meaning of CM by watching this video.

Live 4 Love ~ Love is God, God is love, Girls and boys love God above
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Reply #3 posted 04/09/18 11:48pm

SimonCharles

206Michelle said:

Cool! Thanks for posting!

.......

The list is:

10. United States of Division

9. When Will We B Paid? (cover of the Staples' Singers)

8. Right the Wrong

7. Race

6. Cinnamon Girl

5. Partyup

4. Fixurlifeup

3. Act of God

2. Colonized Mind

1. Baltimore

.......

Curious list.

*

No place on this list for Sign O The Times, Annie Christian, Uptown, Family Name, Ronnie Talk To Russia, Free, America, Dance On? OK. I guess I would make a different top 10!

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Reply #4 posted 04/09/18 11:48pm

SimonCharles

SimonCharles said:

206Michelle said:

Cool! Thanks for posting!

.......

The list is:

10. United States of Division

9. When Will We B Paid? (cover of the Staples' Singers)

8. Right the Wrong

7. Race

6. Cinnamon Girl

5. Partyup

4. Fixurlifeup

3. Act of God

2. Colonized Mind

1. Baltimore

.......

Curious list.

*

No place on this list for Sign O The Times, Annie Christian, Uptown, Family Name, Ronnie Talk To Russia, Free, America, Dance On? OK. I guess I would make a different top 10!

Oh, and Black Muse, too.

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Reply #5 posted 04/10/18 3:46am

purplerabbitho
le

And obviously his politics were all over the board..some songs sounding hawkish, some sounding pacifistic, some sounding reactionary, some sounding liberal/progressive, some promoting black pride, some promoting no particular racial affliation (Controversy), some sounding libertarian, some sounding law-abiding. . Some songs having more than one of those characteristics --Act of God, for example, with its condemnation of both the treatment of the poor and the supposed heavy taxation of a rich man like himself ] Also we should include in the extended list already started , Planet Earth with its religious attack on people's abuse of the environment, war and prejudice (unique JW take on the subjects.. Oddly, he is saying we should take care of the planet and each other since we are going to be here forever but I wonder why he doesn't just think God will save the planet for us...) Also Dreamer could be added.

206Michelle said:

Cool! Thanks for posting!

.......

The list is:

10. United States of Division

9. When Will We B Paid? (cover of the Staples' Singers)

8. Right the Wrong

7. Race

6. Cinnamon Girl

5. Partyup

4. Fixurlifeup

3. Act of God

2. Colonized Mind

1. Baltimore

.......

[Edited 4/10/18 3:55am]

[Edited 4/10/18 3:56am]

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Reply #6 posted 04/10/18 9:48am

SimonCharles

purplerabbithole said:

And obviously his politics were all over the board..some songs sounding hawkish, some sounding pacifistic, some sounding reactionary, some sounding liberal/progressive, some promoting black pride, some promoting no particular racial affliation (Controversy), some sounding libertarian, some sounding law-abiding. . Some songs having more than one of those characteristics --Act of God, for example, with its condemnation of both the treatment of the poor and the supposed heavy taxation of a rich man like himself ] Also we should include in the extended list already started , Planet Earth with its religious attack on people's abuse of the environment, war and prejudice (unique JW take on the subjects.. Oddly, he is saying we should take care of the planet and each other since we are going to be here forever but I wonder why he doesn't just think God will save the planet for us...) Also Dreamer could be added.

206Michelle said:

Cool! Thanks for posting!

.......

The list is:

10. United States of Division

9. When Will We B Paid? (cover of the Staples' Singers)

8. Right the Wrong

7. Race

6. Cinnamon Girl

5. Partyup

4. Fixurlifeup

3. Act of God

2. Colonized Mind

1. Baltimore

.......

[Edited 4/10/18 3:55am]

[Edited 4/10/18 3:56am]

I'd forgotten Dreamer...Controversy, yes.

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Reply #7 posted 04/10/18 11:04am

littlemissG

avatar

Dear Mister Man needs to be included.
No More Haters on the Internet.
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Reply #8 posted 04/10/18 11:06am

littlemissG

avatar

I just remembered the seldom heard Avalanche.
Check it out on YouTube.
No More Haters on the Internet.
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Reply #9 posted 04/10/18 11:33am

namepeace

My choices as of today, in rough chronological order:

Partyup

Ronnie, Talk To Russa

Annie Christian

America

Sign O' The Times

Dance On

Money Don't Matter 2 Night

Cinnamon Girl

Race

Colonized Mind

Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016

Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
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Reply #10 posted 04/10/18 12:40pm

SimonCharles

littlemissG said:

I just remembered the seldom heard Avalanche. Check it out on YouTube.

Good shout, yes.

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Reply #11 posted 04/10/18 12:40pm

SimonCharles

namepeace said:

My choices as of today, in rough chronological order:

Partyup

Ronnie, Talk To Russa

Annie Christian

America

Sign O' The Times

Dance On

Money Don't Matter 2 Night

Cinnamon Girl

Race

Colonized Mind

Absolutely

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Reply #12 posted 04/10/18 4:26pm

purplerabbitho
le

Avalanche is a doozy. I do not totally agree that Lincoln was quite as bad as he makes him out to be. Forced INto Glory is an exagerrated book with some factual inaccuracies (and leaves out some important changes in Lincoln) . But the song still registers with me because of the emotional power of it. I imagined how it felt for Prince to first read some of Lincoln's racial supremacy comments during hte Lincoln-Douglass debates. It must have been crushing to think that a president z(held in such high regardamongst blacks and whites) thought or stated (at least at one point) that maybe blacks were inferior to whites in terms of intellect and characer. Crushing blow.

SimonCharles said:

littlemissG said:

I just remembered the seldom heard Avalanche. Check it out on YouTube.

Good shout, yes.

[Edited 4/10/18 16:35pm]

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Reply #13 posted 04/10/18 4:33pm

pinkcashmere23

cool Thanks Latin!

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Reply #14 posted 04/10/18 8:11pm

djdaffy1227

avatar

Annie Christian would be top of my list.

[Edited 4/10/18 20:12pm]

Making love and music are the only things worth fighting for.
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Reply #15 posted 04/10/18 9:20pm

206Michelle

MDM2N and SOTT should be on this list.
Live 4 Love ~ Love is God, God is love, Girls and boys love God above
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Reply #16 posted 04/10/18 9:31pm

1725topp

Latin, thanks for posting. This list and the comments show that Prince was much more of a socio-political writer than he's given credit, regardless of whether one agrees with his varying stances or not. Ultimately, he was an artist who was so much more than the sexual icon for which he's often remembered. And, yet, even in his sexuality, he was quite insightful and socio-political.

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Reply #17 posted 04/11/18 2:11am

JorisE73

206Michelle said:

MDM2N and SOTT should be on this list.


MDM2N should be number 1 imo. SOTT number 2.
When MDM2N dropped with the Spike Lee video it was pretty eye opening.

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Reply #18 posted 04/11/18 10:20am

datdude

yeahthat yeahthat yeahthat

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Reply #19 posted 04/11/18 11:15am

OldFriends4Sal
e

What makes Annie Christian or Sign O the Times 'political' songs?

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Reply #20 posted 04/11/18 11:52am

jdcxc

purplerabbithole said:

Avalanche is a doozy. I do not totally agree that Lincoln was quite as bad as he makes him out to be. Forced INto Glory is an exagerrated book with some factual inaccuracies (and leaves out some important changes in Lincoln) . But the song still registers with me because of the emotional power of it. I imagined how it felt for Prince to first read some of Lincoln's racial supremacy comments during hte Lincoln-Douglass debates. It must have been crushing to think that a president z(held in such high regardamongst blacks and whites) thought or stated (at least at one point) that maybe blacks were inferior to whites in terms of intellect and characer. Crushing blow.





SimonCharles said:




littlemissG said:


I just remembered the seldom heard Avalanche. Check it out on YouTube.

Good shout, yes.



[Edited 4/10/18 16:35pm]



Avalanche is absolutely brilliant. The beautifully written metaphor of the shared societal responsibility of racism...”who’s gonna carry the weight?”

I don’t read the Lincoln part as 100% literal. It is meant to shock and question our historical perspectives. It is a perfect introduction to his personal history of musical/cultural exploitation that is told through his discussion of John Hammond/Harlem Renaissance/Sir Duke.

Can’t believe Avalanche didn’t make the list!
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Reply #21 posted 04/11/18 12:34pm

OldFriends4Sal
e

...If the Kid Can't Make U Come (Morris makes the woman site the Pledge of Allegiance)

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Reply #22 posted 04/11/18 11:36pm

SimonCharles

OldFriends4Sale said:

What makes Annie Christian or Sign O the Times 'political' songs?

They're both "State of the Nation" social commentary.

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Reply #23 posted 04/12/18 2:01am

Vannormal

1. Crystal Ball

2. Hello

3. Controversy

4. Ronnie Talk 2 Russia

5. Sign O The Times

6. The Future

7. Lady Cab Driver

8. The Same December

9. Dear Mr. Man

10. Free

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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Reply #24 posted 04/12/18 2:29am

SimonCharles

Vannormal said:

1. Crystal Ball

2. Hello

3. Controversy

4. Ronnie Talk 2 Russia

5. Sign O The Times

6. The Future

7. Lady Cab Driver

8. The Same December

9. Dear Mr. Man

10. Free

Good shout, that. Absolutely.

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Reply #25 posted 04/12/18 3:01am

Vannormal

At the time, the track "Crystal ball" was seen by his staff and band members as his most (and best) political effort.

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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Reply #26 posted 04/12/18 5:30am

OldFriends4Sal
e

SimonCharles said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

What makes Annie Christian or Sign O the Times 'political' songs?

They're both "State of the Nation" social commentary.

I always see 'social commentary' as very different than 'political'

Like Controversy the song is about Prince personally, not politically, it isn't even religious

He called America a patriotic song

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Reply #27 posted 04/12/18 7:44am

alandail

littlemissG said:

I just remembered the seldom heard Avalanche. Check it out on YouTube.

I can't listen to Avlanche, he tries to teach a history lession, but gets the history all wrong. The Spielberg movie is a better representation of what happened.

[Edited 4/12/18 8:04am]

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Reply #28 posted 04/12/18 7:46am

alandail

206Michelle said:

MDM2N and SOTT should be on this list.

MDM2N was the first thing I looked for to see where they listed it. Really surprising they forgot it completely.

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Reply #29 posted 04/12/18 10:28am

Rev

avatar

OldFriends4Sale said:

SimonCharles said:

They're both "State of the Nation" social commentary.

I always see 'social commentary' as very different than 'political'

Like Controversy the song is about Prince personally, not politically, it isn't even religious

He called America a patriotic song

Seriously, most of these songs are not "political".

I bleieve Prince was not political, but would call out social injustice.

He's also way more conservative than orgers will admit.

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