Hi Miitch,
.
I can't remember which book I read it in (they all blur into one after a while), but I remember reading that Prince intended for that segment to be a response to the claims that satanic messages can be found by playing rock records backwards.
.
There was a bit of a Satanic panic in the early 80s when it came to rock music. One of the most famous examples being the claim that if you play Led Zeppelins 'Stairway to Heaven' backwards the lyrics sound like "Here's to my sweet Satan". It wasn't a deliberate secret message as was Darling Nikki, but it the lyrics coincidently sounded like this. This inspired Prince to create a backwards message for God.

.

The lyrics are not meant to sound like anything comprehensible when played forwards. I think this lyric site you mention has interpreted them in such a fashion, as happens with lyric sites.

[EDIT More info]

[Edited 10/4/19 5:26am]

When played backwards here is the full lyric ...
"Hello. How are you? I'm fine 'cos I know that the lord is coming soon. Coming soon."

Miitch said:

I was listening to Prince's infamous Darling Nikki, and for once decided to look for the ending played in reverse. It was easy to find on YouTube, and the lyrics are something like: "Hello, how are u? Fine, fine. The lord's coming soon. Coming, coming soon." But looking at some lyric sites, they have the lyrics for that ending bit as: "Sometimes the world's a storm. One day soon the storm will pass And all will be bright and peaceful. Fearlessly bathe in the, Purple rain" I'm assuming that they're trying to give the reversed bit (as it is on the track) a meaning, but I know not to trust online lyrics too closely. ("Dig if u will the picture of me, Marvin Gaye and the kids" for example) I believe it was well within Prince's ability to give his lyrics a double meaning, in both forwards and reverse, but I'm also skeptical of lyrics sites. Maybe someone could enlighten me?

You shouldn't assume.
I would guess the average Prince fan would have at least checked the Purple Rain lyrics sheet or CD booklet once when listening to the album. But I guess you didn't.
These 'lyrics' have been printed on the lyric sheet/CD booklet for Darling Nikki since 1984.

JorisE73 said:

You shouldn't assume.
I would guess the average Prince fan would have at least checked the Purple Rain lyrics sheet or CD booklet once when listening to the album. But I guess you didn't.
These 'lyrics' have been printed on the lyric sheet/CD booklet for Darling Nikki since 1984.

.

A touch harsh. It is the age of streaming and digital media. Maybe Miitch hasn't got the CD booklet?

JorisE73 said:

Miitch said:

I was listening to Prince's infamous Darling Nikki, and for once decided to look for the ending played in reverse. It was easy to find on YouTube, and the lyrics are something like: "Hello, how are u? Fine, fine. The lord's coming soon. Coming, coming soon." But looking at some lyric sites, they have the lyrics for that ending bit as: "Sometimes the world's a storm. One day soon the storm will pass And all will be bright and peaceful. Fearlessly bathe in the, Purple rain" I'm assuming that they're trying to give the reversed bit (as it is on the track) a meaning, but I know not to trust online lyrics too closely. ("Dig if u will the picture of me, Marvin Gaye and the kids" for example) I believe it was well within Prince's ability to give his lyrics a double meaning, in both forwards and reverse, but I'm also skeptical of lyrics sites. Maybe someone could enlighten me?

You shouldn't assume.
I would guess the average Prince fan would have at least checked the Purple Rain lyrics sheet or CD booklet once when listening to the album. But I guess you didn't.
These 'lyrics' have been printed on the lyric sheet/CD booklet for Darling Nikki since 1984.

Kindness, or better yet silence, is free.

You don't have to be anl[Name calling snip - luv4u] to get your point across. And if the matter was already resolved with someone else's more tactful reply, you can rest assured knowing the plight of ignorance that dwells in the minds of the decidedly not-average fans is being quelled astutely.

VaultCurator said:

JorisE73 said:

You shouldn't assume.
I would guess the average Prince fan would have at least checked the Purple Rain lyrics sheet or CD booklet once when listening to the album. But I guess you didn't.
These 'lyrics' have been printed on the lyric sheet/CD booklet for Darling Nikki since 1984.

.

A touch harsh. It is the age of streaming and digital media. Maybe Miitch hasn't got the CD booklet?

Get with the program. That's not how it works here. Someone asks a question or starts a debate then some super-fan, who relishes such moments, shoots them down.

Wow, ok.
My respnse wasn't meant to be harsh. English isn't my first language and as far as I can see I didn't come acroos as an asshole but was merely stating an observation.
Again I didn;t mean it as some BArt like smartass.
You lot are really touchy.

JorisE73 said:

I've owned CD and vinyl copies of Purple Rain, multiple albums for many many years, etc. Those Prince lyric sheets with the 2s and Us and the Rs I need like one of those cereal decoder rings to interpret, I learned quite early on in my fandom to never even try to attempt... I got flashbacks when someone posted the "Vagina" lyrics in another thread, it's just too much.

.

Anyway, I still think his question is valid even after verifying it had the Prince stamp of approval: Is it Prince trying to give the reversed bit it's own separate "meaning" or "throw us off" what the reserval is?

WhisperingDandelions said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

JorisE73 said:

Wow, ok.
My respnse wasn't meant to be harsh. English isn't my first language and as far as I can see I didn't come acroos as an asshole but was merely stating an observation.
Again I didn;t mean it as some BArt like smartass.
You lot are really touchy.

.

My apologies Joris. It's difficult to get tone across in text. I guess I just read your comment in a negative light. All the best.

dodger said:

VaultCurator said:

.

A touch harsh. It is the age of streaming and digital media. Maybe Miitch hasn't got the CD booklet?

Get with the program. That's not how it works here. Someone asks a question or starts a debate then some super-fan, who relishes such moments, shoots them down.

.

Owning a physical copy of Prince's best-selling album makes you a "super-fan"?

Miitch said:

JorisE73 said:

You shouldn't assume.
I would guess the average Prince fan would have at least checked the Purple Rain lyrics sheet or CD booklet once when listening to the album. But I guess you didn't.
These 'lyrics' have been printed on the lyric sheet/CD booklet for Darling Nikki since 1984.

True, and I consider myself more than an average fan. But, unfortunately for me, I'm young, and my parents haven't yet let me get any of his albums. I'm working on it, though But, until I can convince them, I have to make do with YouTube and various lyric sites. I wish I had the Purple Rain album, though. If you wanna buy it for me, that would be cool.

If I had an extra to spare i would send you one, but Black Friday is coming up so maybe you can get it with a big discount! And if you have money to spare than also get a vinyl copy just for the big sleeve.

BartVanHemelen said:

dodger said:

Get with the program. That's not how it works here. Someone asks a question or starts a debate then some super-fan, who relishes such moments, shoots them down.

.

Owning a physical copy of Prince's best-selling album makes you a "super-fan"?

.

Point proven

VaultCurator said:

JorisE73 said:

Wow, ok.
My respnse wasn't meant to be harsh. English isn't my first language and as far as I can see I didn't come acroos as an asshole but was merely stating an observation.
Again I didn;t mean it as some BArt like smartass.
You lot are really touchy.

.

My apologies Joris. It's difficult to get tone across in text. I guess I just read your comment in a negative light. All the best.

Ah no prob man. In writing most intentions are lost in translation. And my English in't that great so I can understand.

BartVanHemelen said:

dodger said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Owning a physical copy of Prince's best-selling album makes you a "super-fan"?

Did I say that?

Just so people don't misinterpret and thnk I'm being an asshole again, but answering a question with a question isn't exaclty constructive.

VaultCurator said:

JorisE73 said:

You shouldn't assume.
I would guess the average Prince fan would have at least checked the Purple Rain lyrics sheet or CD booklet once when listening to the album. But I guess you didn't.
These 'lyrics' have been printed on the lyric sheet/CD booklet for Darling Nikki since 1984.

.

A touch harsh. It is the age of streaming and digital media. Maybe Miitch hasn't got the CD booklet?

.

If only there was some kind... I dunno... search engine? Which would make it easy to find http://www.theimer.us/P1/...-V001.html ? (Which I found BTW by entering the text of the poem/extra verse in Google.)

JorisE73 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

VaultCurator said:

.

A touch harsh. It is the age of streaming and digital media. Maybe Miitch hasn't got the CD booklet?

.

If only there was some kind... I dunno... search engine? Which would make it easy to find http://www.theimer.us/P1/...-V001.html ? (Which I found BTW by entering the text of the poem/extra verse in Google.)

.

I am not worthy

BartVanHemelen said:

(Which I found BTW by entering the text of the poem/extra verse in Google.)

We're all happy for you! Learning to Google is a big step.

VaultCurator said:

JorisE73 said:

Miitch said:

JorisE73 said:

If I had an extra to spare i would send you one, but Black Friday is coming up so maybe you can get it with a big discount! And if you have money to spare than also get a vinyl copy just for the big sleeve.

I'm dying to get my hands on the vinyl copies. My parents are the only issue, since many of Prince's best works are hardly Sunday school material. I'll try though.

Do what kids did in the olden days: get a job, buy them yourself when your parents are away, and hide them in your bedroom.

BartVanHemelen said:

oh thanks for posting this... yes it was addressed... but it got me thinking that the 'offical' lyrics were in the Purple Rain Tour book...so I dug it out... and no! Not This but opening line to "Around the World in a Day." I totally forgot about that.

Genesia said:

VaultCurator said:

Hi Miitch,
.
I can't remember which book I read it in (they all blur into one after a while), but I remember reading that Prince intended for that segment to be a response to the claims that satanic messages can be found by playing rock records backwards.
.
There was a bit of a Satanic panic in the early 80s when it came to rock music. One of the most famous examples being the claim that if you play Led Zeppelins 'Stairway to Heaven' backwards the lyrics sound like "Here's to my sweet Satan". It wasn't a deliberate secret message as was Darling Nikki, but it the lyrics coincidently sounded like this. This inspired Prince to create a backwards message for God.

Christian rock band Petra did a similar thing a couple of years before Prince's effort. At the beginning of a track you hear just a garbled message. When you play it backwards, it says, "What are you looking for the devil for, when you oughta be looking for the Lord."

Pink Floyd fucked w/ fans when they buried a message that say fan mail or letters to Pink could be "sent to Pink, care of the funny farm...", but with no clear address after. I love that rock bands basically trolled every tele-evangelist and preacher who got on that bandwagon. Even the church I was raised in had a whole backwards masking thing, including extensive examination of "Stairway to Heaven" and "Black Dog." Some guy named Mike Donovan did the "talk." The church itself later did its own attack on rock music (blasting "DMSR" and "Let's Pretend We're Married" over the amazing sound system in the church) saying "notice the long beat at the beginning, it's the beat that gets them," passing around the sleeve of 1999, and even attacking folks like Amy Grant, Petra, and Stryper.

Satanic Panic is the perfect way to summarize it.