i personally think prince's more direct/explicit political songs he wrote and performed as he got older werent always that great as songs, mainly as i am not sure that was truly his forte. i respect that he wanted to write these songs, and the sentiment, and that he felt the need to make that point/statement and show exactly where he stood in case he was misunderstood, but idk, when it comes to political/protest music, there are many artists i listen to for that before prince. still, i think prince did pull out a few really good ones in his career. and most of them were the ones where it wasnt so on the nose.

1) money dont matter 2night

2) sign o the times

3) partyup

4) dance on

5) america/ronnie talk to russia (both slightly muddled in their politics maybe, very patriotic, kind of conservative, but hey both are bangers, so i would rather listen to these than we march lol)

[Edited 9/3/20 11:04am]

[Edited 9/3/20 11:05am]

[Edited 9/3/20 11:06am]

Annie Christian

Dance On

Sign O The Times

Family Name

2045 Radical Man

Animal Kingdom

Silicon

[Edited 9/3/20 12:17pm]

Don't forget about

Avalanche

Dreamer

Colonized Mind

Anne Christian

Dear Mr. Man

Black Muse (the first half at least)

United States of Division

When Will We Be Paid

What do regard as great, good or decent political or socially conscious song? many here I've read that say Dear Mr Man is not a good political song, and I wonder why is that?

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

i personally think prince's more direct/explicit political songs he wrote and performed as he got older werent always that great as songs, mainly as i am not sure that was truly his forte. i respect that he wanted to write these songs, and the sentiment, and that he felt the need to make that point/statement and show exactly where he stood in case he was misunderstood, but idk, when it comes to political/protest music, there are many artists i listen to for that before prince. still, i think prince did pull out a few really good ones in his career. and most of them were the ones where it wasnt so on the nose.

1) money dont matter 2night

2) sign o the times

3) partyup

4) dance on

5) america/ronnie talk to russia (both slightly muddled in their politics maybe, very patriotic, kind of conservative, but hey both are bangers, so i would rather listen to these than we march lol)

Did you mean conservative as in Republican? Because all his "gun control" chatter was very Democrat, not Republican.

Anyhoo...

Songs that are politically charged or social commentary:

Partyup

Uptown

Controversy

Sexuality

Ronnie Talk 2 Russia

Annie Christian

Lady Cab Driver

Free

America

Paisley Park

Sign O The Times

Dance On

Positivity

Money Don't Matter 2 Night

Live 4 Love

Elephants and Flowers

We March

Papa

Race

Right The Wrong

Animal Kingdom

Slave

The Love We Make

Cinnamon Girl

Dear Mr. Man

Love

Planet Earth

2045 Radical Man

Peace

When Will We B Paid

The War

United States of Division

...to name a few.

TrivialPursuit said:

TrivialPursuit said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

i personally think prince's more direct/explicit political songs he wrote and performed as he got older werent always that great as songs, mainly as i am not sure that was truly his forte. i respect that he wanted to write these songs, and the sentiment, and that he felt the need to make that point/statement and show exactly where he stood in case he was misunderstood, but idk, when it comes to political/protest music, there are many artists i listen to for that before prince. still, i think prince did pull out a few really good ones in his career. and most of them were the ones where it wasnt so on the nose.

1) money dont matter 2night

2) sign o the times

3) partyup

4) dance on

5) america/ronnie talk to russia (both slightly muddled in their politics maybe, very patriotic, kind of conservative, but hey both are bangers, so i would rather listen to these than we march lol)

Did you mean conservative as in Republican? Because all his "gun control" chatter was very Democrat, not Republican.

Anyhoo...

Songs that are politically charged or social commentary:

Partyup

Uptown

Controversy

Sexuality

Ronnie Talk 2 Russia

Annie Christian

Lady Cab Driver

Free

America

Paisley Park

Sign O The Times

Dance On

Positivity

Money Don't Matter 2 Night

Live 4 Love

Elephants and Flowers

We March

Papa

Race

Right The Wrong

Animal Kingdom

Slave

The Love We Make

Cinnamon Girl

Dear Mr. Man

Love

Planet Earth

2045 Radical Man

Peace

When Will We B Paid

The War

United States of Division

...to name a few.

Where is The Cross

slyjackson said:

...to name a few.

Where is The Cross

I said to name a few, not all.

TrivialPursuit said:

slyjackson said:

Where is The Cross

I said to name a few, not all.

No, you didn't.

slyjackson said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I said to name a few, not all.

No, you didn't.

The very last thing in my post is "...to name a few." Meaning, not all. I'm not familiar w/ a lot of those internet only tracks so I was clearly going to miss a few. I also only covered until Planet Earth, mostly.

TrivialPursuit said:

slyjackson said:

No, you didn't.

The very last thing in my post is "...to name a few." Meaning, not all. I'm not familiar w/ a lot of those internet only tracks so I was clearly going to miss a few. I also only covered until Planet Earth, mostly.

I don't like to be contradicted you know

The Cross and Planet Earth always rendered "Theocratic" to me

Escape

Sexuality
In A Large Room With No Light

Koo Koo

Make Yo Mamma Happy
Positivity

Sex was an interesting socially conscious proclomation


Democrazy

Has no one mentioned "Lavaux"? Don't sleep on "Lavaux"!

Groovy1 said:

Has no one mentioned "Lavaux"? Don't sleep on "Lavaux"!

that's one track i'll be pressing the snooze button on until 2pm

slyjackson said:

TrivialPursuit said:

The very last thing in my post is "...to name a few." Meaning, not all. I'm not familiar w/ a lot of those internet only tracks so I was clearly going to miss a few. I also only covered until Planet Earth, mostly.

I don't like to be contradicted you know

Stop being wrong and you won't be.

So... do you want to talk about the song being good or the lyrics? I mean, I love America, but the lyrics should have the last line of every verse removed to be acceptable. Sign Of The Times is a good song as well, but the lyrics don't make sense (from weed to heroin? Gateway drug is a lie.. from an exploding rocket to flying? Let's compare walking to flying as well.. same difference, nevermind that flying is statistically one of the safest modes of transportation. Since there's a poverty problem in the US, the first thing to take money from is from space exploration and all of the benefits that the science developed for it gives? etc...) Let's not even talk of the War, which I like as a song, but the lyrics go even further out there.

.

Prince had a social conscience. I'd even go as far as saying he was a good man. But, even though he could turn a phrase and had lyrical abilities, he never really was able to apply that to his politics and social conscience. He tended to be way to heavy handed, like in Baltimore. One of the few times it mostly worked, to me, is Money Don't Matter. But generally it worked better if it was more in the background and seeped through as a kind of outlook on life instead of trying to teach. (same for his religious views, by the way)

lustmealways said:

Groovy1 said:

Has no one mentioned "Lavaux"? Don't sleep on "Lavaux"!

that's one track i'll be pressing the snooze button on until 2pm

I like the imagery and it's a song the OP should keep in mind.

1999 ?

OldFriends4Sale said:

1999 ?

for sure

steakfinger said:

TrivialPursuit said:

slyjackson said:

I don't like to be contradicted you know

Stop being wrong and you won't be.

steakfinger said:

RJOrion said:

steakfinger said:

His political or socially conscious songs always sounded half-baked at best, ill-informed at worst, but most often they just sounded like some shallow shit from a bumper sticker.

LOL, damn. "You're Gonna Have To Fight Your Own Damn War, We Dont Wanna Fight No More" that shit couldve definitely been a bumper sticker in 1969

And a very good one at that.

steakfinger said:

His political or socially conscious songs always sounded half-baked at best, ill-informed at worst, but most often they just sounded like some shallow shit from a bumper sticker.

But that's the case with most pop stars

Act Of God