HOLY HEC....

This song has got some POWER and is SO RELEVANT...

and as Usual Princes Guitar cuts your heart in half...

Reproducing the Lyrics here for convenience..

I want to talk about it
Colonized mind


Upload: the evolution principal
See a rock on the shore and say
"it's always been there"
Download: no responsibility
Do what you want nobody cares

Upload: the master race idea
Genetically disposed to rule the world
Download: a future full of isolated
Full of isolated boys and girls

Upload: a two party system
The lesser of two dangers
Illusion of choice
Download: a veiled form of fascism
Nothing really ever changes
You never had a voice


Listen to me one time


If you look, your sure going to find
Through mankind's history
A colonized mind
The one in power makes law
Under which the colonized fall
But without god it's just the blind leading the blind


Upload: a joint venture record deal
It's just another way for the man to steal
While he's sticking you with the bill
Download: the temporary acquisition of fleeting fame and fortune
Nothing to leave in your will

Wait a minute

Upload: a child with no father
Download: no respect for authority
Upload: a child with no mother
Download: a hard time showing love


If you look, your sure going to find
Through mankind's history
A colonized mind
The one in power makes laws
Under which the colonized fall
But without god
It's just the blind leading the blind

Here is a Previous thread from the org...

http://prince.org/msg/7/292203

Mixed opnions..as always..

Good Prince track, but you gotta acknolwedge it's origins:

[Edited 9/14/18 4:14am]

ufoclub said:

ufoclub said:

I'm still amazed that at this point how many people don't know that "Colonized Mind" is a ripoff or is greatly influenced by Miriam Makeba's "Quit It," espeically with all of the disucssion about that which occured on this site in 2009 when Lotus/MPLS was released. Yet, be that as it may, "Colonized Mind" remains one of my favorite Prince songs as it is in my top ten.

1725topp said:

I'm still amazed that at this point how many people don't know that "Colonized Mind" is a ripoff or is greatly influenced by Miriam Makeba's "Quit It," espeically with all of the disucssion about that which occured on this site in 2009 when Lotus/MPLS was released. Yet, be that as it may, "Colonized Mind" remains one of my favorite Prince songs as it is in my top ten.

Please don't pull back the curtain!

I was surprised when I first heard of the true origin of the music to "Colonized Mind." For it to have been so obviously stolen, I feel there had to have been an ulterior motive beyond "hitmaking." Other than adapting the work of a bandmate, or buying off somebody else's song, had he ever done this kind of thing before--beyond sampling, of course?

>

I feel that lifting her tune could have been Prince's deliberate intention to raise the profile of great Miriam Makeba. Aren't majority of her works underappreciated or left unheard by the rising generations?

ufoclub said:

Good Prince track, but you gotta acknolwedge it's origins:

[Edited 9/14/18 4:14am]

littlemissG said:

ufoclub said:

Good Prince track, but you gotta acknolwedge it's origins:

[Edited 9/14/18 4:14am]

A little more than ‘borrowed’.

no question about it, still a great tune and a perfect example of how Prince was coming back to his roots yet once again as he had been more and more since his heyday.

It's a really simple and common chord progression though, I could easily believe Prince's song came about independently. At the very least it is enough of its own thing in terms of melody and lyrics.

ian said:

It's a really simple and common chord progression though, I could easily believe Prince's song came about independently. At the very least it is enough of its own thing in terms of melody and lyrics.

Its a lot more than the chord progression! It's the lead guitar phrases, style, mix, pace, rhythm and tone. And then the lead vocal is a match too in some moments.

ufoclub said:

ian said:

It's a really simple and common chord progression though, I could easily believe Prince's song came about independently. At the very least it is enough of its own thing in terms of melody and lyrics.

Its a lot more than the chord progression! It's the lead guitar phrases, style, mix, pace, rhythm and tone. And then the lead vocal is a match too in some moments.

I don't agree - it's a really simple song, a lot of those licks are what anyone would improvise on the spot in that key. Possibly it was an influence, but the song is so basic, I could totally see it springing up independently.

ian said:

To be honest, I hear "The Love We Make" more than "Colonized Mind" in that YouTube clip.

ian said:

ian said:

ufoclub said:

Its a lot more than the chord progression! It's the lead guitar phrases, style, mix, pace, rhythm and tone. And then the lead vocal is a match too in some moments.

I don't agree - it's a really simple song, a lot of those licks are what anyone would improvise on the spot in that key. Possibly it was an influence, but the song is so basic, I could totally see it springing up independently.

.

I also do not agree. This type of chord progression exists in hundreds of songs. Nope... don't hear it in the vocals nor the guitar.

.

It's possible Prince heard it at some point in his life, but that's about it... As a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, I have so many influences that it's highly llikely that you all could say the same about some of my songs. I have similar influences as Prince, and Prince himself, so alot of my stuff sounds like a Prince tune.

.

AWESOME song, amazing album... one of my favs. This is the guitar heavy album that everyone wanted.

ufoclub said:

ian said:

I don't agree - it's a really simple song, a lot of those licks are what anyone would improvise on the spot in that key. Possibly it was an influence, but the song is so basic, I could totally see it springing up independently.

Can you find an example of another song that sounds this similar?

The intro to "Guitar" sounds just like U2's "I Will Follow"

herb4 said:

ufoclub said:

ian said: Can you find an example of another song that sounds this similar?

The intro to "Guitar" sounds just like U2's "I Will Follow"

I meant that sounds like the common musical details of "Colonized Mind" / "Quit It"

A third example.

Giovanni777 said:

ian said:

I don't agree - it's a really simple song, a lot of those licks are what anyone would improvise on the spot in that key. Possibly it was an influence, but the song is so basic, I could totally see it springing up independently.

.

I also do not agree. This type of chord progression exists in hundreds of songs. Nope... don't hear it in the vocals nor the guitar.

.

It's possible Prince heard it at some point in his life, but that's about it... As a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, I have so many influences that it's highly llikely that you all could say the same about some of my songs. I have similar influences as Prince, and Prince himself, so alot of my stuff sounds like a Prince tune.

.

AWESOME song, amazing album... one of my favs. This is the guitar heavy album that everyone wanted.

As the sample goes... "bizarre!" Find a third song that sounds like these two. If it exists, I'm sold. This is about the tone and timing and notes and vocal pattern... not simply the chords.

Speaking of, I've got on the random classic R&B on the digitial radio, and just heard a really close match to "I Hate U". Wish I had checked to see what 70's song that was.

Here is is, I think Prince took the mood and musical idea (reverb, chorus voice arrangement, and all) of this and made his own song "I Hate U"



Now I see nothing wrong with this... I think this is how all pop music artists work, they recycle elements that have already been popular and remix and perosnalize them with their own touch.

ufoclub said:

ian said:

I don't agree - it's a really simple song, a lot of those licks are what anyone would improvise on the spot in that key. Possibly it was an influence, but the song is so basic, I could totally see it springing up independently.

Can you find an example of another song that sounds this similar?

https://bossip.com/1200403/bossip-exclusive-prince-and-spike-lee-sued-over-song-theft/

And the chorus of "My Medallion" was stolen from "Spill the Wine" by Eric Burdon and War.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W77Kwh6f0TE

[Edited 9/15/18 14:29pm]

I think that Colonized Mind is brilliant, but Prince should have credited Miriam Makeba if Quit It inspired CM, which I feel is the case.

[Edited 9/15/18 15:36pm]

206Michelle said:

ufoclub said:

Germanegro said:

>

I feel that lifting her tune could have been Prince's deliberate intention to raise the profile of great Miriam Makeba. Aren't majority of her works underappreciated or left unheard by the rising generations?

There is no need to make excuses. Maybe George Harrison lifting the the tune to He's So Fine for his own song My Sweet Lord was his attempt to raise the profile of the Chiffons. That's not how it works. If Prince wanted to raise someone's profile he would have just covered the song. How is stealing the music for an obscure song and replacing the lyrics going to do anything for the obscure artist is no one knows who she is?