I think he missed the point a bit on the no-cussing thing. He seemed to lighten up a bit about it later. One person was recording with him (can't remember who it was) and she said she got so comfortable around him, she kind of forgot about his aversion to cursing. She was excited and let out some positive expletives. His reaction was actually polite and something like "that's great, but lay off the cursing please" No swear jar was involved. This was much later though. He did like Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp A butterfly" though. I do think his intentions were good but misguided because there were certainly other ways to be god-loving that were more reasonable.

thebanishedone said:

Do you think that after stop swearing Princes reaction when somebody play his curse filled songs was strange? He was known to leave dancefloor during Brits 2006 after party when dj played Sexy MF or send his body guard to make dj stop spinning HEAD.I mean its obvious he stop cursing because of Larry Graham.in 1998 he started playing Days Of Wild clean versions but at one paisley show when Larry was out of town Prince did Days of Wild with original curse lyrics

What was that story where Questlove cursed in front of him and then jokingly said something like "I learned it from you" which disturbed him?

I think that was the main part of it. The idea that he was influencing younger people or preventing the next generation from coming to his concerts.

Young Prince didn't care if there was kids in the audience. Days Of Wild Prince didn't care if you had to go sit in the parking lot. Older Prince cared, and cared deeply about the effect he was having on the world.

[Edited 5/20/18 13:35pm]

Strive said:

What was that story where Questlove cursed in front of him and then jokingly said something like "I learned it from you" which disturbed him?

I think that was the main part of it. The idea that he was influencing younger people or preventing the next generation from coming to his concerts.

Young Prince didn't care if there was kids in the audience. Days Of Wild Prince didn't care if you had to go sit in the parking lot. Older Prince cared, and cared deeply about the effect he was having on the world.

[Edited 5/20/18 13:35pm]

YES THIS

jdcxc said:

Prince by nature is a true contrarian. I believe his stance was a direct rejection of the trend of pop culture toward crass vulgarity, sexism and nihilism. When he was younger, he was rebelling against the conservatism.

Good observation.

bet he still cashed them Dirty Mind checks! (and even on Ultimate there is a dirty word_

People change. Personally, even if it's not said, thinking of the words is just the same lol. I couldn't hold it against him either way.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

rogifan said:

This is what Prince said on 2014 about swearing: https://www.essence.com/2...-june-2014

I ask Prince about something that his bodyguard Romeo said before he came into the room, when he asked everyone not to curse. What about "Head"? What about "Sexy M.F.," "Darling Nikki," "Erotic City"? Long before rappers, Prince was one of the first artists to test the limits of profanity on records. "All you do is grow and change," he explains. "A lot of things I don't do [anymore]," he says, "and some things I do more of." Some of that stems from him becoming a Jehovah's Witness. Larry Graham, the legendary Sly and the Family Stone bass player, was not only a musical inspiration to Prince but a spiritual one as well, forcing him to question his use of profanity in his music and his personal life. "Did you ever hear Muhammad Ali curse?" he says. "Would you curse in front of your kids? To your mother? "Marsha, Lianne, Janelle, Donna, Hannah, Ida, Liv, Shelby—they're all my sisters. We shouldn't curse at them. We need to treat all of them, and all people, like royalty." Prince smiles again. "Janelle. She has so much power. She could stop an entire generation from cursing. Could you imagine a whole generation not cursing?"

I think the world would be a perfectly fine place if people didn’t curse. I think I could learn not to curse and wouldn’t miss it. 🙂

Janelle is cursing it up on her new album.

jdcxc said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

bet he still cashed them Dirty Mind checks! (and even on Ultimate there is a dirty word_

I think your missing the point of evolving artistry. He could do whatever he wanted with art he created.

no, i was just showing he was not all that worried over cussing as to ask for those albums to be edited or no loner sold.

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

I didn't like his decision, but I respected it.

I personally liked cussing Prince. He cussed clever like a lot of his lyrics, it was not just "for the fuck of it."

rogifan said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

no, i was just showing he was not all that worried over cussing as to ask for those albums to be edited or no loner sold.

You can’t change history. But he no longer performed those songs live or if he did he edited them to strip out curse words. For me, the fans bothered by this, I think it says more about them than it does Prince.

I know you can't but he could have had some of those albums pulled. He chooses not to.

Sometimes artists get a hair up their #*% and destroy huge swaths of their work. Such as when Lee Krasner destroyed all her paintings, basically because she was having a crisis of confidence as Jackson Pollock's wife. Never a good idea IMO.

I can see not swearing in your shows moving forward but leave the previous incarnations alone!

rogifan said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

Janelle is cursing it up on her new album.

I don’t get it. So unnecessary.

I agree, plus swearing can also show laziness or a slowing down of creativity. It is easier to fill in the vocabulary blanks with generic meaningless words while a lyricist's concise choice of vocabulary can make all the difference for future generations.

His decision not to be out and out dirty or curse actually made his lyrics more interesting. He still wanted to express himself, but he had to be more creative in getting his point across.

Conversely, on a song like "Shut This Down," he shouldn't even bother using a curse word, if the point is to simply edit it in the actual song. That was ludicrous.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

CherryMoon57 said:

thebanishedone said:

Prince was just giving excuses.the only reason he stopped cursing is because he wanted to please Larry Graham

Or God

thebanishedone said:

It's a terrible mistake to discount and/or edit an artist's work using cuss words as criteria, or anything small like that. No.

Let's not show any nudity by Michelangelo, DaVinci, Picasso or R.Crumb either. Oops, there goes the Sistine Chapel - no problem.

Heard from a good source that when confronted about the incident by Larry, P's response was: I never said no filth flarn filth and I don't know what you're talking about. I'm offended that you called, fuck you.

PliablyPurple said:

Heard from a good source that when confronted about the incident by Larry, P's response was: I never said no filth flarn filth and I don't know what you're talking about. I'm offended that you called, fuck you.

and while you're at it tell Bill to have a coke and a smile and shut the F up.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

bet he still cashed them Dirty Mind checks! (and even on Ultimate there is a dirty word_

Which word are you talking about on Ultimate?