Just remember the Black Album (which had Bob George) was removed from Tidal a few months after addition.

AaronReturn2005 said:

Just remember the Black Album (which had Bob George) was removed from Tidal a few months after addition.

Sad times indeed........

I'm feeling a new Prince original compilation album called 'Warning: Parent Advisory' is the way to sort this.

erik319 said:

Prince himself mentioned and edited the questionable lyrics from Xtraloveable when he revisited it.

Prince was singing Purple Music with totally different lyrics on the Piano & A Microphone tour and he wouldn't have kept the original ones if he re-recorded it. Does that mean it shouldn't have been included on 1999 Deluxe?


Which is the annoying thing about the Estate and Michael Howe trying to redefine Prince's history. Instead of letting the chips fall where they may by releasing all relevant tracks, they're editing and emphasized certain portions to certain people that would cancel Prince without a second thought. They're playing with fire and putting his entire legacy at risk.

[Edited 12/2/19 20:46pm]

Censorship is evil.

Censorship is the first reaction of `leftist` people that cannot see any context with stuff.

Censorship is therefor a weak action.

So in this age of censorship we have to oppose any steps in such direction.

.

I forgot to mention that `information` wants to be free.

Doubting that? See what the internet did.

[Edited 12/3/19 5:07am]

SquirrelMeat said:

jazzz said:

erik319 said:

Prince himself mentioned and edited the questionable lyrics from Xtraloveable when he revisited it. I find the lyric uncomfortable and wouldn't be bothered if the word was edited out. Same goes for Lust U Always and U. You can edit Schoolyard to your heart's content too.

. Ok, so install Audacity, select the part of the waveform that bothers you, and apply the reverse effect. Then save the edited wave file. But don’t promote the organized censoring of who knows how many songs in the Vault. Other people might want to hear the songs as they were originally put to tape, without any form of mutation... There is a lot of discussion on this site about added reverb or reversed channels. Editing out words seems more appropriate to some. . .

We've already got the songs as they were committed to tape. You already have a bucketful of songs singing about the cheery topic of rape and underage sex. They're already out there for you to 'enjoy'.

I'm talking about the tactful editing of one word. I'm pretty sure that could be done with the multi tracks very well and without any major noticable change.

Ask yourself why these haven't been released by Prince up to now (or if they have, why they've been re-recorded). Prince himself clearly didn't want these songs out with those lyrics still in. So let's respect his decision whilst still getting these amazing songs available to a wider audience (obvs, not including Schoolyard in that!).

Genesia said:

erik319 said:

“P Control” wont ever get remasted or released again either — even though there are enough funky versions to make a “Maxi (Pad) Single” — because of today's so-called feminists even though it's essentially a paean to women and about female empowermentand — albeit from a delightfully gutter persepctive.

appleseed said:

“P Control” wont ever get remasted or released again either — even though there are enough funky versions to make a “Maxi (Pad) Single” — because of today's so-called feminists even though it's essentially a paean to women and about female empowermentand — albeit from a delightfully gutter persepctive.

You're projecting, P Control has already been released on Spotify by the estate.

udo said:

Censorship is evil.

Censorship is the first reaction of `leftist` people that cannot see any context with stuff.

Censorship is therefor a weak action.

So in this age of censorship we have to oppose any steps in such direction.

.

I forgot to mention that `information` wants to be free.

Doubting that? See what the internet did.

[Edited 12/3/19 5:07am]

Does anyone who talks like this have an ounce of self-awareness?

EL and LUA aside, think of how many other songs we don't even know about will never be known because some mamma-jamma feels it's their moral obligation to keep from offending the masses. That's a maddening thought... I wish the elite circle brothers would just leak EL and LUA because we're never going to see them officially released.

jazzz said:

djThunderfunk said:

When it comes to lyrics suggesting rape or incest, I don't think it was brave or openness. I think he was being intentionally risque shocking to court critics. He knew what made them tick and he played them like a fiddle.

[Edited 12/2/19 5:52am]

. Ok, there might have been a provocative element in it. Still, evoking a reaction is also a quality of art. Especially if it triggers a response in the social debate. The early 80s was still a time of big sexual taboos in the USA (and rest of the Western world). People like Prince may have been in the forefront of a second wave of the sexual liberation. Such a role sometimes asks for strong means. Ignoring and even censoring this now is a denial of history. . And furthermore... how bad are the lyrics of EL and LUA anyway? Are they worse than those in some other, released songs of Prince? By applying censorship, will we finally grant Tipper Gore a victory over Prince... come on people, this is 2019, not 1984! .

Many people on this thread are being vey unfair. The Estate was wise, imo, to not release full versions of these two songs. I would have preferred an edit with those lines taken out or the songs just faded early, but I am ok with how they handled it.

Are these lyrics worse than other released songs by Prince? Yes, absolutely. Prince NEVER used the word "rape" in any of his released songs. It would be a travesty, imo, for somebody to come along after the fact and release songs with extremely offensive lines about raping somebody, which Prince himself never used in any of his releases. A song like, say, Darling Nikki which upset Tipper Gore so much, is very, very far from the lyrics that got these songs left out. Plus Prince already released multiple versions of Extraloveable (Xtraloveable) and none of them contain this line, so he obviously didn't want it out there. He already made that decision pretty clear.

Tipper Gore isn't winning anything here. I don't foresee the estate censoring any already released music, and they're not being prudish. They're releasing stuff like International Lover (Take 1) where Prince sings about making a woman wet and then calls out to his engineer, which Michael Howe specifically mentioned, plus a song called "Vagina."

Regarding the OP's question, the only that I can think of is maybe Schoolyard which was already mentioned, but my sense is it wouldn't be censored.

[Edited 12/3/19 7:30am]

jaawwnn said:

appleseed said:

“P Control” wont ever get remasted or released again either — even though there are enough funky versions to make a “Maxi (Pad) Single” — because of today's so-called feminists even though it's essentially a paean to women and about female empowermentand — albeit from a delightfully gutter persepctive.

You're projecting, P Control has already been released on Spotify by the estate.

Versace Experience just got a release with what, 3 versions of the song?

AND, it's on the OFFICIAL youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/w...oH7n2RDS_M

[Edited 12/3/19 8:04am]

Meanwhile, Militant is telling his viewers on youtube (and I'm sure his contacts with the estate) that we would accept censored versions.

https://www.youtube.com/w...&t=16s

Everybody that disagrees, please correct him.

djThunderfunk said:

Meanwhile, Militant is telling his viewers on youtube (and I'm sure his contacts with the estate) that we would accept censored versions.

https://www.youtube.com/w...&t=16s

Everybody that disagrees, please correct him.

While I disagree on censored versions, I do agree with his suggestion as a single release, not tied to a bigger project like 1999 Super Deluxe.

sulls said:

djThunderfunk said:

Meanwhile, Militant is telling his viewers on youtube (and I'm sure his contacts with the estate) that we would accept censored versions.

https://www.youtube.com/w...&t=16s

Everybody that disagrees, please correct him.

While I disagree on censored versions, I do agree with his suggestion as a single release, not tied to a bigger project like 1999 Super Deluxe.

THIS I agree with. OK, don't put them on a high profile release, or streaming services.

Put out a single directly to fans!!

djThunderfunk said:

that we would accept censored versions.

https://www.youtube.com/w...&t=16s

Everybody that disagrees, please correct him.

.

Done.

mbdtyler said:

udo said:

Censorship is evil.

Censorship is the first reaction of `leftist` people that cannot see any context with stuff.

Censorship is therefor a weak action.

So in this age of censorship we have to oppose any steps in such direction.

.

I forgot to mention that `information` wants to be free.

Doubting that? See what the internet did.

[Edited 12/3/19 5:07am]

Does anyone who talks like this have an ounce of self-awareness?

.

Would you have any real arguments against my statements?

You imply stuff about the person which is a very weak discussion strategy.

controversy99 said:

Many people on this thread are being vey unfair. The Estate was wise, imo, to not release full versions of these two songs. I would have preferred an edit with those lines taken out or the songs just faded early, but I am ok with how they handled it.

Are these lyrics worse than other released songs by Prince? Yes, absolutely. Prince NEVER used the word "rape" in any of his released songs. It would be a travesty, imo, for somebody to come along after the fact and release songs with extremely offensive lines about raping somebody, which Prince himself never used in any of his releases. A song like, say, Darling Nikki which upset Tipper Gore so much, is very, very far from the lyrics that got these songs left out. Plus Prince already released multiple versions of Extraloveable (Xtraloveable) and none of them contain this line, so he obviously didn't want it out there. He already made that decision pretty clear.

Tipper Gore isn't winning anything here. I don't foresee the estate censoring any already released music, and they're not being prudish. They're releasing stuff like International Lover (Take 1) where Prince sings about making a woman wet and then calls out to his engineer, which Michael Howe specifically mentioned, plus a song called "Vagina."

Regarding the OP's question, the only that I can think of is maybe Schoolyard which was already mentioned, but my sense is it wouldn't be censored.

[Edited 12/3/19 7:30am]

Yeah I can see that argument alright, but how I see it is that Prince already chose to not release these songs. They are already outtakes.

The Prince legend that he has 100 or whatever A+ guaranteed hits just sitting there has taken a bit of a beating, most (not all) of the unreleased stuff we're getting is, to varying degrees, incomplete. People say he shouldn't talk about rape in a song? He clearly agreed and already made that decision by not releasing a song where he does - what we are doing at this point is taking a look behind the scenes at the process of creating the albums he did release, not digging up complete unreleased albums. If people just accepted this then it'd be a lot easier to contexualize the tracks. The fact that the two tracks are two of the more complete outtakes on there (along with the likes of Possessed and Moonbeam Levels) is another reason it's a real shame they haven't been released on this.

[Edited 12/3/19 9:31am]

udo said:

Censorship is evil.

Censorship is the first reaction of `leftist` people that cannot see any context with stuff.

Censorship is therefor a weak action.

So in this age of censorship we have to oppose any steps in such direction.

.

I forgot to mention that `information` wants to be free.

Doubting that? See what the internet did.

[Edited 12/3/19 5:07am]

„Censorship is the first reaction of `leftist` people that cannot see any context with stuff.“

Really? I wonder where you are from.

THANK YOU, DEZ! I'VE GOT IT !!!! YO, ESTATE!!! JUST LISTENED TO THE STORY OF 1999, EPISODE 3. KEEP THE 'rape' REFERENCES, JUST PUT AN EXPLOSION OVER IT!!!

erik319 said:

Funny how "fams" complain about things and say Prince wouldn't have blah blah blah but when it comes to the music it's release everything even though it's highly unlikely he'd be releasing music with cursing.

udo said:

Censorship is evil.

Censorship is the first reaction of `leftist` people that cannot see any context with stuff.

Censorship is therefor a weak action.

So in this age of censorship we have to oppose any steps in such direction.

.

I forgot to mention that `information` wants to be free.

Doubting that? See what the internet did.

[Edited 12/3/19 5:07am]

So when 2000s and later Prince sang Housequake and omitted words like bullshit and damn was that censorship?

udo said:

mbdtyler said:

Does anyone who talks like this have an ounce of self-awareness?

.

Would you have any real arguments against my statements?

You imply stuff about the person which is a very weak discussion strategy.

You're villifying leftists with broad strokes because *gasp* not everyone is okay with Prince singing about raping a woman. Quite frankly, those lyrics were insensitive, pointless, and not worth the trouble they'd stir up. Clearly Prince himself agreed or he would have released the song with those lyrics intact at some point.

I'm not suggesting that all copies of the original track should be scrubbed from the internet. I'm not even saying that sensitive subjects can't be tackled in art, I just don't believe that those lines were challenging or "artistic" in any meaningful way. They're grossly aggressive and completely kill the mood in what is otherwise a playful (albeit darkly playful) song. They would have been gross in 1982, and they're even worse now that we try to handle topics like rape and sexual assault with more thoughtfulness and empathy than decades ago.

Not everything you disagree with is authoritarian censorship. The estate isn't obligated to release this song, and if they ever do, people have as much of a right to criticize its lyrical content as you have to defend it (.....seriously though, Prince's rape songs are the hill that y'all want to die on?)

He villifies leftists because they're the modern day moral majority except they don't even have religion as an excuse for their behavior. It's all about feelings and who's the biggest victim. Their enemies are morally wrong and need to be silenced. Problematic ideas need to be scrubbed from history. Of course, they get to decide what ideas are problematic and, if you dare to disagree with them, you're an enemy.

Don't like people thinking that about you? Pick up a book, learn the history of what a "leftist" is (spoiler: they were some of the biggest free speech advocates and defended everybody's rights) and learn to live in the world as is instead of expecting the entire world to cater to you.

[Edited 12/3/19 18:08pm]

Strive said:

He villifies leftists because they're the modern day moral majority except they don't even have religion as an excuse for their behavior. It's all about feelings and who's the biggest victim. Their enemies are morally wrong and need to be silenced. Problematic ideas need to be scrubbed from history. Of course, they get to decide what ideas are problematic and, if you dare to disagree with them, you're an enemy.

Don't like people thinking that about you? Pick up a book, learn the history of what a "leftist" is (spoiler: they were some of the biggest free speech advocates and defended everybody's rights) and learn to live in the world as is instead of expecting the entire world to cater to you.

[Edited 12/3/19 18:08pm]