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Thread started 07/01/18 11:27am

sro100

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Can You Listen to "Way Back Home" and not cry?

It's just so sad.

Y'all?

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Reply #1 posted 07/01/18 11:44am

Silvertongue7

I can.
But it’s an amazing song (and I wish he had released it free from affirmation speech and with Affirmation 2 as an instrumental coda)
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Reply #2 posted 07/01/18 11:51am

Krystalkisses

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I can listen to it without crying. But it makes me feel incredibly sad. I think it is the saddest song he EVER did. You can just feel this person just feels like they are not long for this world. The isolation and alienation in the song is palpable and he just feels like he is trying to convay that normal things, life patterns , experiences , that most people find peace in , it alludes him and he almost feels like a freak and accepts he will never feel comfortable here. sad Very sad song.
[Edited 7/1/18 11:52am]
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Reply #3 posted 07/01/18 1:36pm

kingricefan

I couldn't even listen to it the first time I put on that cd without bursting into tears. It is a very sad song.

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Reply #4 posted 07/01/18 1:57pm

NorthC

sro100 said:

It's just so sad.



Y'all?


Oh yes. However,listening to Breakcast Can Wait... That makes me go uzi brick brick machinegun shoot saw grenade chair chillout blowup
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Reply #5 posted 07/01/18 6:07pm

Genesia

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I couldn't two years ago. I can now.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #6 posted 07/01/18 7:22pm

luv4u

Moderator

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Genesia said:

I couldn't two years ago. I can now.


Me too sad

canada

Ohh purple joy oh purple bliss oh purple rapture!
REAL MUSIC by REAL MUSICIANS - Prince
"I kind of wish there was a reason for Prince to make the site crash more" ~~ Ben
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Reply #7 posted 07/01/18 7:37pm

purplepolitici
an

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Yes. Fine song, but not 1 of my favorites, not even from that album boxed.

For all time I am with you, you are with me.
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Reply #8 posted 07/02/18 10:16am

steakfinger

Yes. Easily.

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Reply #9 posted 07/02/18 12:23pm

Germanegro

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I dunno about that song. When I hear it, I always go, like, hmm . Can't even describe it. That is one song of his that I'll have to examine and reflect on for a while longer to "get," especially since his death came ot of nowhere for me.

[Edited 7/2/18 12:27pm]

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Reply #10 posted 07/02/18 12:32pm

Germanegro

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NorthC said:

sro100 said:

It's just so sad.

Y'all?

Oh yes. However,listening to Breakcast Can Wait... That makes me go uzi brick brick machinegun shoot saw grenade chair chillout blowup

You don't wanna hear about a brotha' getting left in a certain way?

question mushy lol

I digress smile

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Reply #11 posted 07/02/18 12:32pm

disch

You know, to be honest, I always had a problem with the lyric: "All I ever wanted was... to be left alone!"

-

It's like, so you decided to become a world-famous rock star, then?

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Reply #12 posted 07/03/18 6:16am

jcurley

It really is nothing to do with his death or pre knowledge of. The lyrics are merely a reflection on getting back to obes self ...its tone is more dour tgan its lyrical content. More lyrically like holy river.
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Reply #13 posted 07/03/18 7:40am

poppys

disch said:

You know, to be honest, I always had a problem with the lyric: "All I ever wanted was... to be left alone!"

-

It's like, so you decided to become a world-famous rock star, then?


It's not literal. Many artists feel this way even though they want to make a living, see Greta Garbo, the most famous actress of her time.

See the source image


He decided to pursue his art and gave it everything, fame happened, not saying he didn't like a lot of it. Many people want to be famous, but they're not. He didn't want people crawling up his butt. Now that he's dead, they literally are doing exactly that (for the sake of investigation).

"if you can't clap on the one, then don't clap at all"
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Reply #14 posted 07/03/18 8:28am

SignOthetimes1
987

I'm good with every song apart from that one

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Reply #15 posted 07/03/18 2:04pm

purplethunder3
121

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I dunno; I havent listened to it in quite a while... I tend to listen to the 80s and early 90s music these days since there are no sad connections to that, only good feelings from the past.

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #16 posted 07/03/18 2:27pm

erik319

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It's the song that came on shuffle in the car just after I'd heard of his death.

I cried like a baby.

It's probably one of his saddest, most powerful songs.
blah blah blah
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Reply #17 posted 07/03/18 4:20pm

purplethunder3
121

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Genesia said:

I couldn't two years ago. I can now.

thumbs up!

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #18 posted 07/04/18 12:07pm

PeteSilas

from the first time i heard the song, i could relate, most of the songs I cover of Prince's as a musician, i can't relate but so much, this one was totally me, i'm ready to "go back home" anytime so, it'll probably be the next Prince song I take on. Also, in my opinion it's about as great as anything he ever did.

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Reply #19 posted 07/04/18 12:38pm

gold31

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I still haven't been able to play it since he passed.

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Reply #20 posted 07/04/18 1:13pm

jjam

The best thing he did in over 20 years and it always felt like, for once, Prince was opening up his heart and being honest and confessional lyrically.

Wish there was a version of it without the voiceover part in the intro.

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Reply #21 posted 07/04/18 3:16pm

PeteSilas

jjam said:

The best thing he did in over 20 years and it always felt like, for once, Prince was opening up his heart and being honest and confessional lyrically.

Wish there was a version of it without the voiceover part in the intro.

susan rogers suspected that he wanted to erase the song wally simply because he was emotionally naked, i think it's true but.., i think there are a handful of his songs that are amongst my personal faves where he is emotionally naked, no pretense, no cares about how people are gonna take things. One is old friends for sale (again, unreleased for about ten years) avalanche (obscurely released) and Way Back Home.

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Reply #22 posted 07/05/18 3:31am

bonatoc

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gold31 said:

I still haven't been able to play it since he passed.


I feel ya. If this or SISIA comes on random,
I skip to the next.

The Colors R brighter, the Bond is much tighter
No Child's a failure
Until the Blue Sailboat sails him away from his dreams
Don't Ever Lose, Don't Ever Lose
Don't Ever Lose Your Dreams
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Reply #23 posted 07/05/18 7:56am

disch

No I think he really did want fame — he wanted big record sales, big crowds, to be be known and renowned, all of that. He was driven to that from a pretty young age.
-
It was just a silly song lyric that may have reflected how he was feeling in his mid-50s about being “left alone,” but I doubt that’s what he “always wanted.”
-
The closest meaning was that he always wanted to be “left alone” by record companies to produce and release the music exactly as he wanted. That I could understand.
-
Anyway, this is sort of a pleasant tune but not one of his greatest, I think.

poppys said:



disch said:


You know, to be honest, I always had a problem with the lyric: "All I ever wanted was... to be left alone!"


-


It's like, so you decided to become a world-famous rock star, then?




It's not literal. Many artists feel this way even though they want to make a living, see Greta Garbo, the most famous actress of her time.

See the source image


He decided to pursue his art and gave it everything, fame happened, not saying he didn't like a lot of it. Many people want to be famous, but they're not. He didn't want people crawling up his butt. Now that he's dead, they literally are doing exactly that (for the sake of investigation).

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Reply #24 posted 07/05/18 11:10am

PeteSilas

no, i interpreted it as pretty literal, I mean, you can't be left alone in this world, none of us can. Too many people, too many agendas, too many responsibilities that we're brainwashed to live up to. I really do think he meant those words and he did his best to do that with his life, he had more freedom to be left alone than most of us do, most of us have to go out in public, deal with hostile, angry, disgruntled, plain fucked up peoples, he could avoid a lot (of course not all, but a lot) of that. How many people have to spend most of their lives working with strangers, many of whom they hate and feel they have no choice? Prince meant what he said, I believe. Also, I do believe that any artist of his importance, whether it's elvis, or springsteen, they always felt different, even like a freak, it's just part of the psychological profile of being a rock star. they ain't like the rest of us, let's face it.

disch said:

No I think he really did want fame — he wanted big record sales, big crowds, to be be known and renowned, all of that. He was driven to that from a pretty young age. - It was just a silly song lyric that may have reflected how he was feeling in his mid-50s about being “left alone,” but I doubt that’s what he “always wanted.” - The closest meaning was that he always wanted to be “left alone” by record companies to produce and release the music exactly as he wanted. That I could understand. - Anyway, this is sort of a pleasant tune but not one of his greatest, I think. poppys said:


It's not literal. Many artists feel this way even though they want to make a living, see Greta Garbo, the most famous actress of her time.

See the source image


He decided to pursue his art and gave it everything, fame happened, not saying he didn't like a lot of it. Many people want to be famous, but they're not. He didn't want people crawling up his butt. Now that he's dead, they literally are doing exactly that (for the sake of investigation).

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Reply #25 posted 07/05/18 11:44am

poppys

PeteSilas said:

no, i interpreted it as pretty literal, I mean, you can't be left alone in this world, none of us can. Too many people, too many agendas, too many responsibilities that we're brainwashed to live up to. I really do think he meant those words and he did his best to do that with his life, he had more freedom to be left alone than most of us do, most of us have to go out in public, deal with hostile, angry, disgruntled, plain fucked up peoples, he could avoid a lot (of course not all, but a lot) of that. How many people have to spend most of their lives working with strangers, many of whom they hate and feel they have no choice? Prince meant what he said, I believe. Also, I do believe that any artist of his importance, whether it's elvis, or springsteen, they always felt different, even like a freak, it's just part of the psychological profile of being a rock star. they ain't like the rest of us, let's face it.

True true. And the more they give the more people want. It is a dilemma. People want them to be the same as a "regular person" for the fantasy of being them. I think Prince gave more than most, even with all his eccentricities. A lot of performers just leave it on the stage and let underlings handle all the rest. You don't see Dylan inviting fans to his house for a concert.

"if you can't clap on the one, then don't clap at all"
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Reply #26 posted 07/05/18 11:50am

PeteSilas

poppys said:

PeteSilas said:

no, i interpreted it as pretty literal, I mean, you can't be left alone in this world, none of us can. Too many people, too many agendas, too many responsibilities that we're brainwashed to live up to. I really do think he meant those words and he did his best to do that with his life, he had more freedom to be left alone than most of us do, most of us have to go out in public, deal with hostile, angry, disgruntled, plain fucked up peoples, he could avoid a lot (of course not all, but a lot) of that. How many people have to spend most of their lives working with strangers, many of whom they hate and feel they have no choice? Prince meant what he said, I believe. Also, I do believe that any artist of his importance, whether it's elvis, or springsteen, they always felt different, even like a freak, it's just part of the psychological profile of being a rock star. they ain't like the rest of us, let's face it.

True true. And the more they give the more people want. It is a dilemma. People want them to be the same as a "regular person" for the fantasy of being them. I think Prince gave more than most, even with all his eccentricities. A lot of performers just leave it on the stage and let underlings handle all the rest. You don't see Dylan inviting fans to his house for a concert.

he did, he let the fans rip his shit up from what I hear, just one of the mass of contradictions that was Prince.

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Reply #27 posted 07/05/18 2:58pm

Wlcm2thdwn3

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I don't cry when I hear it but it is sad. i have dreams all the time when I'm lost and can't find my way back home. Doesn't everyone?

smile

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Reply #28 posted 07/05/18 5:03pm

PeteSilas

Wlcm2thdwn3 said:

I don't cry when I hear it but it is sad. i have dreams all the time when I'm lost and can't find my way back home. Doesn't everyone?

smile

i don't have that dream but the them of home is universal, I think it's accurate though to describe death as getting home.

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Reply #29 posted 07/05/18 5:27pm

poppys

PeteSilas said:

Wlcm2thdwn3 said:

I don't cry when I hear it but it is sad. i have dreams all the time when I'm lost and can't find my way back home. Doesn't everyone?

smile


i don't have that dream but the them of home is universal, I think it's accurate though to describe death as getting home.


I think so - to both.

"if you can't clap on the one, then don't clap at all"
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