Forget about being "woke" or this #METOO thing. The rape lyrics in those songs are simply vile. Evil. Prince never released these versions. Prince would have never released them with those lyrics included. You know that. The man matured. Besides do you really want to witness Prince getting "canceled" by the mob?

Now...having said that. Would it have been better to simply edit out the bad bits and release them?Honestly, I think that would have been better.

[Edited 1/3/20 8:03am]

homesquid said:

EyeSpy said:

homesquid said:

Forget about being "woke" or this #METOO thing. The rape lyrics in those songs are simply vile. Evil. Prince never released these versions. Prince would have never released them with those lyrics included. You know that. The man matured. Besides do you really want to witness Prince getting "canceled" by the mob?

Now...having said that. Would it have been better to simply edit out the bad bits and release them?Honestly, I think that would have been better.

[Edited 1/3/20 8:03am]

It must have been a difficult decision for Michael Howe - such strong material to leave unreleased. But I completely understand the motive for leaving the two songs off the 1999 Super Deluxe Edition. What I will say however is that a proper analysis of this time period is simply not complete without these recordings and in particular Extraloveable which is surely one of best pieces of work from that era. Therefore, my own personal preference would be for the estate to make these two songs available as a download only, perhaps with some sort of disclaimer. That way, us fans are satisfied as completists and the estate has avoided the backlash of those songs appearing on a major record release.

I don't agree with censorship in any form, but these songs were too important to leave off, especially Extraloveable, which easily would have been the strongest on the set. That being said, these words could have been edited out without anyone noticing a thing, without a beat being missed. Of all the liberties they have taken with his music, somehow taking out 1 word is crossing the line? Makes no sense.

The songs are on YouTube and have been for years. Nobody gives a fuck.

EyeSpy said:

It must have been a difficult decision for Michael Howe

I'm not sure that it was his decision strictly speaking, at least not entirely.

“Even though those two tracks are resolutely of the era, both tracks contain somewhat lamentable rape references. Given the egregiously insensitive candour of the lyrics and our lack of wanting to take creative license by editing or manipulating the tracks, we decided not to include them. Even though we want to shed light on the entire creative period, we certainly don’t want to be inflammatory or insensitive. We didn’t think it was right to include them.”

In this interview he seems to be speaking on behalf of a team. I'm under the impression that it's Michael's job to archive / digitize the material and WB gets the final say on what makes the cut.

Galaxy said:

Extra Loveable & Lust u Always should have been Included on the 1999 Deulux Edition. On both songs its Prince showing humour and being playful. There is nothing evil about both of these songs Some people are too serious. Extra Loveable should have been released as a single.

Bullshit. Rape is evil and joking about rape isn't funny or playful. You aren't serious enough. Prince should have never sang those words. He would be mortified by the negative blowback his reputation would get. They should have just edited out the words so crybabies like you would have what you wanted. But you'd still complain that they made those edits.

homesquid said:

Galaxy said:

Extra Loveable & Lust u Always should have been Included on the 1999 Deulux Edition. On both songs its Prince showing humour and being playful. There is nothing evil about both of these songs Some people are too serious. Extra Loveable should have been released as a single.

Bullshit. Rape is evil and joking about rape isn't funny or playful. You aren't serious enough. Prince should have never sang those words. He would be mortified by the negative blowback his reputation would get. They should have just edited out the words so crybabies like you would have what you wanted. But you'd still complain that they made those edits.

There's a big difference between raping a person and singing/writing/acting/joking about it...
What's next; banning every movie/play/book that depicts rape in a way some oversensitive cunt doesn't agree with?!

Neversin.

VaultCurator said:

EyeSpy said:

It must have been a difficult decision for Michael Howe

I'm not sure that it was his decision strictly speaking, at least not entirely.

“Even though those two tracks are resolutely of the era, both tracks contain somewhat lamentable rape references. Given the egregiously insensitive candour of the lyrics and our lack of wanting to take creative license by editing or manipulating the tracks, we decided not to include them. Even though we want to shed light on the entire creative period, we certainly don’t want to be inflammatory or insensitive. We didn’t think it was right to include them.”

In this interview he seems to be speaking on behalf of a team. I'm under the impression that it's Michael's job to archive / digitize the material and WB gets the final say on what makes the cut.

He's discussed the team of (I believe 3) stakeholders who decide the content before - him being one of them.

Prince re-recorded Extraloveable, himself. That's the strongest indication possible that he no longer felt the original version was viable for release. People ask all the time, "What would Prince think/do about this?" In this case, we know beyond a reasonable doubt.

The rapey version is readily available. Anyone who feels so inclined may listen to it at will.

homesquid said:

Neversin said:

homesquid said:

Forget about being "woke" or this #METOO thing. The rape lyrics in those songs are simply vile. Evil. Prince never released these versions. Prince would have never released them with those lyrics included. You know that. The man matured. Besides do you really want to witness Prince getting "canceled" by the mob?

Now...having said that. Would it have been better to simply edit out the bad bits and release them?Honestly, I think that would have been better.

[Edited 1/3/20 8:03am]

TROLL.

Genesia said:

Prince re-recorded Extraloveable, himself. That's the strongest indication possible that he no longer felt the original version was viable for release. People ask all the time, "What would Prince think/do about this?" In this case, we know beyond a reasonable doubt.

The rapey version is readily available. Anyone who feels so inclined may listen to it at will.

...but he re-recorded/overdubbed/remixed/re-arranged every song he released after the project he created it for was already years past...

[Edited 1/3/20 11:59am]

And I mean, there's a vast amount of music Prince "would have never released" as he "matured." Didn't he perpetually drop "Erotic City" for similar rationale? Better delete that one from your collections, too.

[Edited 1/3/20 11:59am]

Genesia said:

Prince re-recorded Extraloveable, himself. That's the strongest indication possible that he no longer felt the original version was viable for release. People ask all the time, "What would Prince think/do about this?" In this case, we know beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prince was performing a new version of Purple Music with completely different lyrics before his death. Does that mean Purple Music shouldn't have been released on 1999 Deluxe?


The original version of Old Friends 4 Sale shouldn't be on Parade Deluxe because he re-recorded it with less personal lyrics?

[Edited 1/3/20 12:06pm]

sulls said:

oh yeah, "Head", there's another one he "matured" past. Better get the delete button and trash compactors handy everyone.

[Edited 1/3/20 12:08pm]

Strive said:

Genesia said:

Prince re-recorded Extraloveable, himself. That's the strongest indication possible that he no longer felt the original version was viable for release. People ask all the time, "What would Prince think/do about this?" In this case, we know beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prince was performing a new version of Purple Music with completely different lyrics before his death. Does that mean Purple Music shouldn't have been released on 1999 Deluxe?


The original version of Old Friends 4 Sale shouldn't be on Parade Deluxe because he re-recorded it with less personal lyrics?

[Edited 1/3/20 12:06pm]

Do any of those songs reference rape?

WhisperingDandelions said:

Genesia said:

Prince re-recorded Extraloveable, himself. That's the strongest indication possible that he no longer felt the original version was viable for release. People ask all the time, "What would Prince think/do about this?" In this case, we know beyond a reasonable doubt.

The rapey version is readily available. Anyone who feels so inclined may listen to it at will.

...but he re-recorded/overdubbed/remixed/re-arranged every song he released after the project he created it for was already years past...

He redid every song? Yeah … no, he didn't.

what about the girl screaming for help at the end of DMSR?????? who gave estate/howe the final decisions????

Show of hands: How many of those who think the rapey songs are just fine and dandy are men?

We'll wait …

Genesia said:

Prince re-recorded Extraloveable, himself. That's the strongest indication possible that he no longer felt the original version was viable for release. People ask all the time, "What would Prince think/do about this?" In this case, we know beyond a reasonable doubt.

The rapey version is readily available. Anyone who feels so inclined may listen to it at will.

By no stretch of the imagination is that "beyond a reasonable doubt". Prince didn't bother explaining why he re-recorded the song, as far as I know, and that'd be the ONLY way that reasonable doubt would be met.

So then what is the issue with releasing them if they are readily available? Where's the moral outrage about these songs given how readily said access is? Hint: It doesn't exist and it wouldn't exist and the only thing they've done is ensured the future value of said songs when they ultimately cave and release them (which they will).

Genesia said:

Genesia said:

Show of hands: How many of those who think the rapey songs are just fine and dandy are men?

We'll wait …

Show of hands: How many of those complaining about Extralovable & Lust U Always because it has a naughty no-no word and they're unable to comprehend context, also never gave a second thought to Horny Toad where a sex-crazed Prince talks about harassing a woman until she lets him in, fingering her vagina until it bleeds and him getting off on their screams?

We'll wait ...

(PS. Horny Toad - Available on 1999 Deluxe at all major retailers with WB, the Estate and Michael Howe's personal approval )

[Edited 1/3/20 15:14pm]

We'll get Lust U Always, however, it will be the late 1986/87 version which he re-recorded for Robert Palmer. I wonder what that particular version sounds like. I'm sure somebody has a copy of it.

Genesia said:

Show of hands: How many of those who think the rapey songs are just fine and dandy are men?

We'll wait …

Probably most of them. Honestly, it bums me out how flippant some of these fans are about this topic. There's nothing "playful" about threatening sexual assault, it's just plain fucked up. There are plenty of (released) Prince songs I like where he pushes into uncomfortable territory with his lyrics, but at least mutual consent is usually implied. The minute that goes out the window, like in "Extraloveable", all fun and playfulness are immediately gone.

The most confusing part is that those lyrics add literally nothing to the song. They aren't necessary, they're just shocking for the sake of being shocking. I don't understand why anyone would put so much energy into defending their "artistic value" when they have none whatsoever within the context of the lyrics. All of the great art that tackles heavy subjects like rape usually has context, or something to drive home the trauma and violence of the topic. Where is that context in "Extraloveable"?

Without that, you're just advocating something that is arbitrarily tasteless, and that's a bad look. Not surprising coming from the folks who complain about "sensitive snowflakes" at any given chance, though.

Neversin said:

Genesia said:

Show of hands: How many of those who think the rapey songs are just fine and dandy are men?

We'll wait …

Sure, try to derail the topic into some man-hating cliché whine fest... You want to cry about your man-hating dramedy then start a topic somewhere else and let fans discuss the topic at hand... Neversin. [Edited 1/3/20 15:01pm]

Genesa asked a question and you are the one who whined about a non-existent "man-hating cliche whine fest". Replace your tampon, Neversin.

Genesia said:

Prince re-recorded Extraloveable, himself. That's the strongest indication possible that he no longer felt the original version was viable for release. People ask all the time, "What would Prince think/do about this?" In this case, we know beyond a reasonable doubt.

The rapey version is readily available. Anyone who feels so inclined may listen to it at will.

Excellent obsevation. Only idiots defending the "rape lyrics". Defintely going to be mostly men and crybabies who cry about crybabies being too PC.