if you cannot hear the difference in tone between the earlier references about Prince's religion and how it is done on the Rainbow Children, I don't know what to tell you. For most of his career, he was talking about how god was love and all that. Then on the Rainbow Children he was talking about how things *had* to be and how there was a theocratic order.

.

Now... I got turned off by Lovesexy (the first time I listened to it, on the day it was released, I took the CD out the player and threw it across the room. It's had a crack ever since. It was because of the religious content, the production and, to be honest, the fact that it was the first time the CD was released before the LP.) because both the production and religious content were abhorrent to me. With the Rainbow Children, I love the music and production. The lyrics made (and make) me cringe, but I can listen past them.

.

Trying to equate the religious content of his earlier work to the Rainbow Children means you are either tonedeaf or trolling, it is such a difference.

donnyenglish said:

TrivialPursuit said:

That is not the same voice and you know it. It also wasn't spouting dogma

We are splitting hairs about the 1999 voice vs. the Rainbow Children voice.

:

If Rainbow Children is Dogma then so is I Would Die 4 U, The Cross, Lovesexy, Purple Rain, Temptation, The Ladder, 4 the Tears in Your Eyes, Annie Christian, etc. Prince's relationship with God is literally what his music was about. That relationship had many aspects.

:

TRC explored that relationship in a provocative way that challenged us, much like what is happening in the U.S right now with difficult questions that our society is grappling over. Ultimate, this process will provoked enough to be uncomfortable and will force us to look deeper within for answers is what will get us closer to the truth. We are already seeing a lot of change as a result of that provocation. That is what TRC is about and what his entire career was about.

:

That was literally the message of the Purple Rain tour that so many of you loved so dearly and hold out to be his golden age. What did you think his dialogue with God was about before he sung the song God? That was easily as "preachy" and "dogmatic" as anything he did on TRC. You were okay with the "dogma" then but it is different when it is not accompanied with Take Me With U and replaced with Family Name?

:

I'm not feeling most of the fans and former associates who speak the loudest now that Prince is gone. I'm afraid about what they are doing to his legacy.

[Edited 6/18/20 12:01pm]

Yes to all this.

-

For sure, Rainbow Children is an example of Prince searching and questioning and growing in his beliefs. Surely, he was challenging his fanbase to join him.

-

That said, this album is not the stict Jehovah's Witness dogma that many claim it to be. The core themes are (as has been pointed out) what Prince putting forth as far back as the Controversy album. Futhermore, The Rainbow Children is an interesting mashup of ideology. For example, there are references to the Akashic Records which is definitely NOT a JW/Christian Theme...it is a New Age concept. Prince seemingly always took different concepts from different faiths/belief systems and molded them into his own personal philosophy which can be seen in his music/lyrics throughout his career.

mediumdry said:

if you cannot hear the difference in tone between the earlier references about Prince's religion and how it is done on the Rainbow Children, I don't know what to tell you. For most of his career, he was talking about how god was love and all that. Then on the Rainbow Children he was talking about how things *had* to be and how there was a theocratic order.

.

Now... I got turned off by Lovesexy (the first time I listened to it, on the day it was released, I took the CD out the player and threw it across the room. It's had a crack ever since. It was because of the religious content, the production and, to be honest, the fact that it was the first time the CD was released before the LP.) because both the production and religious content were abhorrent to me. With the Rainbow Children, I love the music and production. The lyrics made (and make) me cringe, but I can listen past them.

.

Trying to equate the religious content of his earlier work to the Rainbow Children means you are either tonedeaf or trolling, it is such a difference.

I respectfully need to push back. There is nothing more dogmatic than reciting the entire Lord's Prayer in the middle of a song.

:

The Ladder is just like the Rainbow Children with him using a story as a means to convey the "dogma" that the path to heaven is through God. I cannot help but think that Wendy/Lisa singing backup vocals rather than Millenia is reason why The Ladder is less objectionable than Last December.

:

It does not get any more christian than I Would Die 4 U, The Cross and 4 the Tears in Your Eyes. Those songs are straight songs about Christ being the savior and the path to heaven and not just about the general concept of Love is God.

so to you saying "this is wonderful, you should know about it" is the same as "you should act/feel/think this way, otherwise you cannot be part of my club".

.

Guess I'd rather be banished than rainbow. This isn't about Prince adding religious themes in his music (they've been there forever in different forms), it's about they way he expressed it.

I've never had a problem with The Rainbow Children's content - I think it's a fantastic record, through and through.... lyrically, it's just what he was into at the time, and if that got him fired up to make a great record, then them's the breaks...

But there is CLEARLY - so clear it's painfully obvious - a difference between Prince's attitude here and in the albums that preceded it.

Yes, Prince had always sung about God, but there was such an obvious difference... previously, there was a freedom in his celebration of faith, spirituality and religion, it was something to set you free... 'Love is God, God is Love', etc.... even with the Lord's prayer in Controversy, it's done as much to be outrageous anything else, but it still feels inclusive.... partly because it goes hand in hand with his chant, 'people call me rude', etc. which is an inclusive chant and equates religion with that inclusiveness....

by the time of The Rainbow Children, Prince's religious content is all about limitations, there is very little freedom to be seen or felt anywhere.... it's about 'this is how it is, and if you don't like it, tough, you're going to hell'.... in THAT sense it is dogmatic, it is preachy... Prince was always spiritual, but he was never truly PREACHY until The Rainbow Children....

Perhaps, after a few years of hardship, the loss of his child, his divorce from Mayte, his divorce from a mainstream career and label (however much he wanted his 'freedom', that had to be a hard adjustment, after being Warners' darling for so long), he needed some regulation in his life, after things probably felt very out of control in the late 90s.... I'm speculating, of course, but this is often what draws people to organised religion, in my experience... the same could be said to have happened to Bob Dylan, a few difficult years and a bit of wilderness, followed by his religious transformation - as much to have a sense of order and get things back on track as anything else...

Prince got excited about this new sense of order, it gave him a renewed sense of purpose, that much is clear from the resulting album... it's just that most people didn't share the worldview he was then enjoying.

mediumdry said:

so to you saying "this is wonderful, you should know about it" is the same as "you should act/feel/think this way, otherwise you cannot be part of my club".

.

Guess I'd rather be banished than rainbow. This isn't about Prince adding religious themes in his music (they've been there forever in different forms), it's about they way he expressed it.

I think that the point of the Rainbow Children is the opposite of what you said. The point was that we all have a lot of differences, but we have many more similarities. When we come together on a higher level, we can get closer to our ultimate purpose which is serving God.

Rimshottbob said:

I've never had a problem with The Rainbow Children's content - I think it's a fantastic record, through and through.... lyrically, it's just what he was into at the time, and if that got him fired up to make a great record, then them's the breaks...

But there is CLEARLY - so clear it's painfully obvious - a difference between Prince's attitude here and in the albums that preceded it.

Yes, Prince had always sung about God, but there was such an obvious difference... previously, there was a freedom in his celebration of faith, spirituality and religion, it was something to set you free... 'Love is God, God is Love', etc.... even with the Lord's prayer in Controversy, it's done as much to be outrageous anything else, but it still feels inclusive.... partly because it goes hand in hand with his chant, 'people call me rude', etc. which is an inclusive chant and equates religion with that inclusiveness....

by the time of The Rainbow Children, Prince's religious content is all about limitations, there is very little freedom to be seen or felt anywhere.... it's about 'this is how it is, and if you don't like it, tough, you're going to hell'.... in THAT sense it is dogmatic, it is preachy... Prince was always spiritual, but he was never truly PREACHY until The Rainbow Children....

Perhaps, after a few years of hardship, the loss of his child, his divorce from Mayte, his divorce from a mainstream career and label (however much he wanted his 'freedom', that had to be a hard adjustment, after being Warners' darling for so long), he needed some regulation in his life, after things probably felt very out of control in the late 90s.... I'm speculating, of course, but this is often what draws people to organised religion, in my experience... the same could be said to have happened to Bob Dylan, a few difficult years and a bit of wilderness, followed by his religious transformation - as much to have a sense of order and get things back on track as anything else...

Prince got excited about this new sense of order, it gave him a renewed sense of purpose, that much is clear from the resulting album... it's just that most people didn't share the worldview he was then enjoying.

I think that I can agree that The Rainbow Children as an album is different than other Prince albums because the message is throughout that album and only on a few songs on other albums. Maybe that is why it is such a turnoff because it is easier to tune out the overtly preachy messages from The Ladder and Temptation when you have Pop Life, Rasberry Beret and Tamborine to listen to. There are only a few of detours on TRC, i.e., Mellow, Sensual Everafter and Love me 4 Me. With that said, he was still overtly preachy long before TRC.

[Edited 6/19/20 10:43am]

Darth Vader didn't talk like that lol

As prophesied, the Wise One and his woman were tempted by the Resistor. He,
knowing full well the Wise One's love 4 God, assimilated the woman first and
only. Quite naturally, chaos ensued and she and 5 others were banished from
the rainbow.4ever.
.
The Wise One who understood the law that was handed down from God long ago,
held fast in his belief that the Lord would bring him another one who loved him so.

.

The Banished Ones approaching the palace shouted obscenities. They tried 2
confuse the Rainbow Children and dethron their king. Using the lies promoted
by the whosepapers, hellavisions, and scagazines- The Banished Ones
constructed a Digital Garden around the palace that extended throughout the
world. Furthermore they demanded compensation 4 their time spent in the
palace b4 the exile. This was noise! "So be it," said the Wise One, and
gladly obliged with an INVISIBLE DEED. The Banished Ones accepted and
returned to their place of birth in MendaCity. As 4 the Rainbow Children,
they began deconstructing the Digital Garden. Door to door they went in
search of those willing to do The Work

.

From all over, the people came 2 do The Work. And with every phase of the
deconstruction the Everlasting Now became evermore reality. Everywhere the
people were witnessing a change, but the alchemy occurred most in the Muse.

.

To all his good brothers
The Wise One spoke highly of his Muse,
Because her love for the one true God
Was growing with every passing day.
So he said, "to all a good night",
Sent them to bed early and invited his Muse to join him in
The sensual ever after

.
As she fell in2 the Sensual Everafter, out of bodyout of mind,
she stroked her hair a hundred times.
And as she fell deeper in2 the hypnotic unwind, he counted his way in2 the suggestive mind.
Planting a seed that bears fruit on the tree,
he said, repeat after me.repeat after me.repeat after me.1+1+1 is 3

.

One after the other, the Banished Ones fled
As they watched from the distance
The destruction of the Digital Garden

With no more fruit to bear from its trees
The Haze was finally broken
With the rains came the awareness that never again
Would anyone ever lay claim to the treasures of the Rainbow Children

As though awakened from a dream
The Muse opened her eyes
This time as Queen

OldFriends4Sale said:

Darth Vader didn't talk like that lol

THANK YOU! I never knew why people started using that term. Vader wasn't a deep voice inherently, but rather altered.

I guess I just don't understand the why of using that voice at all.

purplethunder3121 said:

LMAO!!!!! <3

TrivialPursuit said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Darth Vader didn't talk like that lol

THANK YOU! I never knew why people started using that term. Vader wasn't a deep voice inherently, but rather altered.

I guess I just don't understand the why of using that voice at all.

Yes, this is one lack of a proper Rainbow Children era, because there is almost nothing from Prince about this project. No interviews, videos etc nothing to go on.

Maybe we would have understood more if the pt 2 came out

Was this Prince's voice on the speaking parts?

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes, this is one lack of a proper Rainbow Children era, because there is almost nothing from Prince about this project. No interviews, videos etc nothing to go on.

Maybe we would have understood more if the pt 2 came out

Was this Prince's voice on the speaking parts?

Well, that's not totally true, though. People who went to the Celebration that year sat in for over an hour for listening parties and discussions, some of which Prince attended. There are photos of him in the arboretum talking to fans about it.

But I get the point about a press junket type thing. Nothing much to offer. He sorta treated it like Around The World In A Day. Just toss it out there and let folks clamour over it and figure it out. Create a brouhaha.

And of course it was Prince. Sped up a bit, it's obviously his voice. I think most of us pulled some of those tracks into Audacity or Cool Edit back in the day and pitch-shifted the beginning. Sure enough, there he was, hiding in plain site.

OldFriends4Sale said:

TrivialPursuit said:

THANK YOU! I never knew why people started using that term. Vader wasn't a deep voice inherently, but rather altered.

I guess I just don't understand the why of using that voice at all.

Yes, this is one lack of a proper Rainbow Children era, because there is almost nothing from Prince about this project. No interviews, videos etc nothing to go on.

Maybe we would have understood more if the pt 2 came out

Was this Prince's voice on the speaking parts?

Did he actually work on tracks for this or was it just a planned project?

TrivialPursuit said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes, this is one lack of a proper Rainbow Children era, because there is almost nothing from Prince about this project. No interviews, videos etc nothing to go on.

Maybe we would have understood more if the pt 2 came out

Was this Prince's voice on the speaking parts?

Well, that's not totally true, though. People who went to the Celebration that year sat in for over an hour for listening parties and discussions, some of which Prince attended. There are photos of him in the arboretum talking to fans about it.

But I get the point about a press junket type thing. Nothing much to offer. He sorta treated it like Around The World In A Day. Just toss it out there and let folks clamour over it and figure it out. Create a brouhaha.

And of course it was Prince. Sped up a bit, it's obviously his voice. I think most of us pulled some of those tracks into Audacity or Cool Edit back in the day and pitch-shifted the beginning. Sure enough, there he was, hiding in plain site.

Yes I know about the discussion, that's why I said almost nothing. But there is nothing we have concreted to look at, to take our Rainbow Children discussion further than what we surmise from it.

.

Yeah, but even ATWIAD has some interviews, videos, singles/long versions, and the oh so interesting Listening Party that I would love to see photos of... Prince inspired kimonos of different colors, WB execs Prince John Nelson Wendy Lisa Susannah Joni Mitchell the Revolution flowers balloons paisley rugs and pillows etc We do have Prince talking about the music, even Condition of the Heart being a template of an early draft of UTCM etc love it love it.

.
I personally have pieced together more of the Rainbow Children though, with Prince's interviews from 1998-1999 and Mayte and Manuella I'm putting something together.

.

ah ok. I suspected it would be Prince. But never had anything further to go on. This voice reminds me of the opening voice to the Black Album, but more annoying. Do you think his regular voice would have worked?

purplethunder3121 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes, this is one lack of a proper Rainbow Children era, because there is almost nothing from Prince about this project. No interviews, videos etc nothing to go on.

Maybe we would have understood more if the pt 2 came out

Was this Prince's voice on the speaking parts?

Did he actually work on tracks for this or was it just a planned project?

Along with the album cover, my understanding is he had tracks worked on, and other he wanted to pull more directly from the JW's doctrinal hymnal book. That's where the project shut down.
I was told he even wanted to use Paisley Park for some JW worship services

OldFriends4Sale said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Did he actually work on tracks for this or was it just a planned project?

Along with the album cover, my understanding is he had tracks worked on, and other he wanted to pull more directly from the JW's doctrinal hymnal book. That's where the project shut down.
I was told he even wanted to use Paisley Park for some JW worship services

Is it because he moved away, in some respects, from that thinking?

skywalker said:

donnyenglish said:

We are splitting hairs about the 1999 voice vs. the Rainbow Children voice.

:

If Rainbow Children is Dogma then so is I Would Die 4 U, The Cross, Lovesexy, Purple Rain, Temptation, The Ladder, 4 the Tears in Your Eyes, Annie Christian, etc. Prince's relationship with God is literally what his music was about. That relationship had many aspects.

:

TRC explored that relationship in a provocative way that challenged us, much like what is happening in the U.S right now with difficult questions that our society is grappling over. Ultimate, this process will provoked enough to be uncomfortable and will force us to look deeper within for answers is what will get us closer to the truth. We are already seeing a lot of change as a result of that provocation. That is what TRC is about and what his entire career was about.

:

That was literally the message of the Purple Rain tour that so many of you loved so dearly and hold out to be his golden age. What did you think his dialogue with God was about before he sung the song God? That was easily as "preachy" and "dogmatic" as anything he did on TRC. You were okay with the "dogma" then but it is different when it is not accompanied with Take Me With U and replaced with Family Name?

:

I'm not feeling most of the fans and former associates who speak the loudest now that Prince is gone. I'm afraid about what they are doing to his legacy.

[Edited 6/18/20 12:01pm]

Yes to all this.

-

For sure, Rainbow Children is an example of Prince searching and questioning and growing in his beliefs. Surely, he was challenging his fanbase to join him.

-

That said, this album is not the stict Jehovah's Witness dogma that many claim it to be. The core themes are (as has been pointed out) what Prince putting forth as far back as the Controversy album. Futhermore, The Rainbow Children is an interesting mashup of ideology. For example, there are references to the Akashic Records which is definitely NOT a JW/Christian Theme...it is a New Age concept. Prince seemingly always took different concepts from different faiths/belief systems and molded them into his own personal philosophy which can be seen in his music/lyrics throughout his career.

That reminds me of the time at Xenophobia 2002 when he asked the Americans in the audience to raise their hands (or keep them up?) is they believed in god and a majority did. Then he tried with the rest of the world, and and it was almost no one. Then he made some funny comment and moved on.

Need to listen to that recording to see how good my memory is on that after 18 years!

OldFriends4Sale said:

As prophesied, the Wise One and his woman were tempted by the Resistor. He,
knowing full well the Wise One's love 4 God, assimilated the woman first and
only. Quite naturally, chaos ensued and she and 5 others were banished from
the rainbow.4ever.
.
The Wise One who understood the law that was handed down from God long ago,
held fast in his belief that the Lord would bring him another one who loved him so.

.

The Banished Ones approaching the palace shouted obscenities. They tried 2
confuse the Rainbow Children and dethron their king. Using the lies promoted
by the whosepapers, hellavisions, and scagazines- The Banished Ones
constructed a Digital Garden around the palace that extended throughout the
world. Furthermore they demanded compensation 4 their time spent in the
palace b4 the exile. This was noise! "So be it," said the Wise One, and
gladly obliged with an INVISIBLE DEED. The Banished Ones accepted and
returned to their place of birth in MendaCity. As 4 the Rainbow Children,
they began deconstructing the Digital Garden. Door to door they went in
search of those willing to do The Work

.

From all over, the people came 2 do The Work. And with every phase of the
deconstruction the Everlasting Now became evermore reality. Everywhere the
people were witnessing a change, but the alchemy occurred most in the Muse.

.

To all his good brothers
The Wise One spoke highly of his Muse,
Because her love for the one true God
Was growing with every passing day.
So he said, "to all a good night",
Sent them to bed early and invited his Muse to join him in
The sensual ever after

.
As she fell in2 the Sensual Everafter, out of bodyout of mind,
she stroked her hair a hundred times.
And as she fell deeper in2 the hypnotic unwind, he counted his way in2 the suggestive mind.
Planting a seed that bears fruit on the tree,
he said, repeat after me.repeat after me.repeat after me.1+1+1 is 3

.

One after the other, the Banished Ones fled
As they watched from the distance
The destruction of the Digital Garden

With no more fruit to bear from its trees
The Haze was finally broken
With the rains came the awareness that never again
Would anyone ever lay claim to the treasures of the Rainbow Children

As though awakened from a dream
The Muse opened her eyes
This time as Queen

Where is that Bayoc painting from??

leecaldon said:

Wait, are there people who don't know that the slowed down voice at the start of (and throughout parts of) The Rainbow Children album is that of Prince?

I'm not trying to be facetious or insulting... it's just that I've never, for one second since I first heard thought it was or could be anyone but Prince.

I've never heard the speaking voice sped up to normal speed... it's just, it sounds like Prince's voice, even slowed down.

I thought that was just a given, is all.

if that voice wasn't there, i would have definitely played that album a lot more often than just the 1 time i did. I remember liking the music.

And whoever throwing in All My Dreams or 1999 must have their ears cleaned.

OldFriends4Sale said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Did he actually work on tracks for this or was it just a planned project?

Along with the album cover, my understanding is he had tracks worked on, and other he wanted to pull more directly from the JW's doctrinal hymnal book. That's where the project shut down.
I was told he even wanted to use Paisley Park for some JW worship services

This has been something that telephoned into something it wasn't.

From what I could figure out, George Benson and a number of JW musicians got permission (and financial support) from the Watchtower to do contemporary takes on songs from their hymnal book. When it came time to release it, the governing body listened to it and one brother said no to its release. That it was too worldly. Since they couldn't unanimously agree, they shelved the album.

One night when Prince couldn't sleep, he did an instrumental cover of Life Without End (At Last!) and gave a copy to Larry Graham. Whether that was his contribution to the album isn't known but when the George Benson project leaked out, Prince's cover of Life Without End (At Last!) was on the end. In later reuploads of the album, it was removed.

Somehow all of the above has turned into Prince morphing the JW's super sacred songs into something for The Rainbow Children 2 and the Watchtower telling him he couldn't and and and. Haha.

Here's the lyrics for the song Prince chose to cover.

1. Can you see with your mind’s eye,

   Peoples dwelling together?

   Sorrow has passed. Peace at last!

   Life without tears or pain.
   
   

   (CHORUS)

   Sing out with joy of heart!

   You too can have a part.

   Live for the day when you’ll say,

   “Life without end, at last!”
   
   

2. In those days all will be young,

   All at peace with Jehovah.

   Troubles are gone, from now on,

   No need to weep or fear.
   
   

   (CHORUS)

   Sing out with joy of heart!

   You too can have a part.

   Live for the day when you’ll say,

   “Life without end, at last!”
   
   

3. Paradise all will enjoy

   As we sing of God’s glory.

   Long as we live, we will give

   Honor and praise to God.
   
   

   (CHORUS)

   Sing out with joy of heart!

   You too can have a part.

   Live for the day when you’ll say,

   “Life without end, at last!”

[Edited 6/20/20 15:42pm]

Strive said:

This has been something that telephoned into something it wasn't.

From what I could figure out, George Benson and a number of JW musicians got permission (and financial support) from the Watchtower to do contemporary takes on songs from their hymnal book. When it came time to release it, the governing body listened to it and one brother said no to its release. That it was too worldly. Since they couldn't unanimously agree, they shelved the album.

One night when Prince couldn't sleep, he did an instrumental cover of Life Without End (At Last!) and gave a copy to Larry Graham. Whether that was his contribution to the album isn't known but when the George Benson project leaked out, Prince's cover of Life Without End (At Last!) was on the end. In later reuploads of the album, it was removed.

Somehow all of the above has turned into Prince morphing the JW's super sacred songs into something for The Rainbow Children 2 and the Watchtower telling him he couldn't and and and. Haha.

Here's the lyrics for the song Prince chose to cover.

1. Can you see with your mind’s eye,

   Peoples dwelling together?

   Sorrow has passed. Peace at last!

   Life without tears or pain.
   
   

   (CHORUS)

   Sing out with joy of heart!

   You too can have a part.

   Live for the day when you’ll say,

   “Life without end, at last!”
   
   

2. In those days all will be young,

   All at peace with Jehovah.

   Troubles are gone, from now on,

   No need to weep or fear.
   
   

   (CHORUS)

   Sing out with joy of heart!

   You too can have a part.

   Live for the day when you’ll say,

   “Life without end, at last!”
   
   

3. Paradise all will enjoy

   As we sing of God’s glory.

   Long as we live, we will give

   Honor and praise to God.
   
   

   (CHORUS)

   Sing out with joy of heart!

   You too can have a part.

   Live for the day when you’ll say,

   “Life without end, at last!”

[Edited 6/20/20 15:42pm]

Interesting. Does that mean then that Prince didn't work on any original songs for a sequel to The Rainbow Children?

For me whatever is being spoken about, just from a pure musical perspective the low voice spoken word sections can meander go on for so long that it just gets boring - in my own personal opinion. I always fast forward through them so I can get to the actual song

purplethunder3121 said:

Interesting. Does that mean then that Prince didn't work on any original songs for a sequel to The Rainbow Children?

I honestly don't know.

I only know about that one JW song and how people conflate it with The Rainbow Children 2.

donnyenglish said:

mediumdry said:

if you cannot hear the difference in tone between the earlier references about Prince's religion and how it is done on the Rainbow Children, I don't know what to tell you. For most of his career, he was talking about how god was love and all that. Then on the Rainbow Children he was talking about how things *had* to be and how there was a theocratic order.

.

Now... I got turned off by Lovesexy (the first time I listened to it, on the day it was released, I took the CD out the player and threw it across the room. It's had a crack ever since. It was because of the religious content, the production and, to be honest, the fact that it was the first time the CD was released before the LP.) because both the production and religious content were abhorrent to me. With the Rainbow Children, I love the music and production. The lyrics made (and make) me cringe, but I can listen past them.

.

Trying to equate the religious content of his earlier work to the Rainbow Children means you are either tonedeaf or trolling, it is such a difference.

I respectfully need to push back. There is nothing more dogmatic than reciting the entire Lord's Prayer in the middle of a song.

:

The Ladder is just like the Rainbow Children with him using a story as a means to convey the "dogma" that the path to heaven is through God. I cannot help but think that Wendy/Lisa singing backup vocals rather than Millenia is reason why The Ladder is less objectionable than Last December.

:

It does not get any more christian than I Would Die 4 U, The Cross and 4 the Tears in Your Eyes. Those songs are straight songs about Christ being the savior and the path to heaven and not just about the general concept of Love is God.

I think Prince 1980s was like going to a CME church Prince 2000s was literally going to the Kingdom Hall

If you know anything about CME churches you understand why so many people are not affected by Prince's religiosity from the 80s

Rimshottbob said:

Wait, are there people who don't know that the slowed down voice at the start of (and throughout parts of) The Rainbow Children album is that of Prince?

I'm not trying to be facetious or insulting... it's just that I've never, for one second since I first heard thought it was or could be anyone but Prince.

I've never heard the speaking voice sped up to normal speed... it's just, it sounds like Prince's voice, even slowed down.

I thought that was just a given, is all.

I think, for me it is a given, but I just had no actually facts about it. It's not a big 'wait' moment.

Within the context of not much information surrounding the recording like we have from 1999 or Erotic City or Camille etc

leecaldon said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Along with the album cover, my understanding is he had tracks worked on, and other he wanted to pull more directly from the JW's doctrinal hymnal book. That's where the project shut down.
I was told he even wanted to use Paisley Park for some JW worship services

Is it because he moved away, in some respects, from that thinking?

Hard too say, I think Prince after the initial structure of the JW, still did his thing. Which is what we hear on the Rainbow Children ie Gnostic Gospels, Egyptology, Jehovah's Witness foundations and "Princeology"

But the Rainbow Children overall was used to tell the story of his finding of Mayte(and the NPG) the the marriage the dissilusion after losing Amiir and his divorce from Mayte(returning to the garden/we don't believe in contracts) after Manuella(the Muse) came along

The Muses 2 the Pharoah left Prince or Prince left the Muse around this time, so that might have been more to do with it.


In 2007 Prince was still trying to convert people like Morris Day prior to the Minneapolis 7.7.2007 shows(that Morris & the Time were book for)

In 2011/12 Prince was still putting out some very stringent interviews... like the one about "God saw people sticking it everywhere..." and he likes Muslim societies because the way if clear there etc not to mention the 'free' album 20Ten which the painting is a straight up JW brochure, and the music in a way could easily be the Rainbow Children pt 2 just without the Muse

donnyenglish said:

The Ladder is just like the Rainbow Children with him using a story as a means to convey the "dogma" that the path to heaven is through God. I cannot help but think that Wendy/Lisa singing backup vocals rather than Millenia is reason why The Ladder is less objectionable than Last December.

.

You keep going back to 80's songs that were supposedly so preachy... some songs he does talk about God and/or Jesus. But the Ladder? To you it may be a god song, to me it is a song about work ethic. "If you keep trying hard enough, you'll reach your goal". The line about "the love of god's creation" is about success to me, financial or otherwise. "you'll get positive vibes", if you will.

.

Anyway, you can use the Cross (aka "you have to know about this thing!") or For the tears in your eyes (aka "did you know what this dude did?"), but the Ladder, to me (and I think most people), just isn't a very religious song.