Prince had such a swag, charisma and musicality that vulnerability isn't the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about his music. However, there are some songs that do show a vulnerable side of him. Which are your favorite examples of this type of song? I will just list a couple so that others can add their selections as well..

Condition of the Heart - His vocal here is so tender and plaintive.

Wally - His pain seeps through despite his humor.

"Anna Stesia"

"If I Was Your Girlfriend"

Empty Room - Love the way the driving vocals and guitar play off each other, and the feel of both.

Comeback - As with Empty Room and so many other songs, P is just amazing at expressing with his vocals. The vocals here go along with the acoustic guitar to make the whole song sound to me beautifully light, achingly wistful, fragile.

Breakdown

The Dance

Nothing Compares 2 U

Papa

The Beautiful Ones

Touch Me/ Sunrise Sunset

maybe Colonized Mind

Hello?

Dark?

Not sure about Dark. Any vulnerability in Dark would be some fierce vulnerability.

Also unsure of others. Maybe in some cases it's more to things like reverence or regret. Then there's P's fun songs about wild obsession, e.g. Automatic. Or sadness about missing someone. P has lots of songs about missing someone. Lots of lonely songs. 17 Days, It's Gonna Be Lonely, Another Lonely Christmas, There is Lonely, etc.

So many great songs that it's hard to pick favorites. Do really love Empty Room. Sorry to list so many. If I should delete some from post, please just say so. Bad form to hog Prince songs!

[Edited 12/12/20 7:08am]

- Somethin in the water

- Gigolos get lonely, too

- Open book

- Don't play me

- Tangerine

Gigolos get lonely, too

The opening couple of lines to Solo spring to mind.

Comeback - from The Truth?

When You Were Mine?

In last night's uncertainty, I wondered if there is such a thing as "vulnerable bravado."

Was also thinking that I should look up "vulnerable" in the dictionary. I didn't, as it was late and I was lazy, but better late than never. I know for sure gandorb knows a lot more about these psychology topics than I do, but FWIW, here's what the Merriam-Webster site says:

As to OP intent...probably safe to rule out #3, though you never know with P and contracts.

Princeworld-wise, it's tempting to continue to be silly and take the bridge-card-game context out of #3. Then you have "liable to increased penalties but entitled to increased bonuses after winning" in a contract game.

[Edited 12/13/20 7:47am]

,

[Edited 12/12/20 5:31am]

June

There is Lonely

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

He didnt He was guarded, or aloof, even singing ballads. Adore even is full of him preening. Anna stesia is beautiful but hardly expressing his vulnerability. The lyrics are too dense to really extrapolate much that is clear If I was your gf is the closest to revealing some vulnerability Maybe empty room On the whole though, prince was not kurt Cobain He was fine exposing anger or hurt at others treating him badly But never exposing much self reflection or self blame at all [Edited 12/12/20 2:09am] [Edited 12/12/20 2:10am]

What can he say that Shakespeare hasn't said before?

Seriously, though, I completely take your point in that he could be incredibly guarded.

[Edited 12/12/20 7:45am]

radici27 said:

June

There is Lonely

Agree

He cried on stage while singing these songs: (There may be more I don't know about)

-Forever in My Life

-The Love We Make

-The Breakdown

IMO, Prince knew how to act swaggy, (No. Minnie), not certain he always felt it.

Prince was both blessed and cursed by his Pride.

Blessed in the sense of what he accomplished in the sense of music and financial success.

But cursed in the sense of making himself appear vulnerable to the public.

It's hard to be humble when you're living in two worlds:

(1) He created a image, almost a superhero, in Prince the musician. And he lived in that world very often. Endless amount of music production, concerts, press releases, etc. But he chose his lyrics very carefully, in what he wanted the public to know about his personal life. He was just starting to make himself vulnerable with Emancipation. "Baby" off Emancipation was such an intimate look into his personal life.

(2) But then there's his personal life. Where everyone is forced to sign Nondisclosures. Secrets. And he spent equal if not more time in his personal life than his career. But he was too afraid. Fear. Too afraid to make himself vulnerable by exposing things form his personal life at the risk of the public's opinion.

Just my 2 cents

Don't Talk 2 Strangers (1996)

FanAllMyLife said:

Prince was both blessed and cursed by his Pride.

Blessed in the sense of what he accomplished in the sense of music and financial success.

But cursed in the sense of making himself appear vulnerable to the public.

It's hard to be humble when you're living in two worlds:

(1) He created a image, almost a superhero, in Prince the musician. And he lived in that world very often. Endless amount of music production, concerts, press releases, etc. But he chose his lyrics very carefully, in what he wanted the public to know about his personal life. He was just starting to make himself vulnerable with Emancipation. "Baby" off Emancipation was such an intimate look into his personal life.

(2) But then there's his personal life. Where everyone is forced to sign Nondisclosures. Secrets. And he spent equal if not more time in his personal life than his career. But he was too afraid. Fear. Too afraid to make himself vulnerable by exposing things form his personal life at the risk of the public's opinion.

Just my 2 cents

Yes, 100%

Some of us have spent alot of energy trying to understand (out of interest/love) #2 with quite a bit of push-back.

One needs to perfect the skill of 'reading between the lines', but it can be a treacherous endeavor.

[Edited 12/12/20 17:25pm]

Nightcrawler said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

I nominate bambi. Really put his heart on the line there, exposing his deep wound that a lesbian wasnt going to let him make sweet love to her. Has a man ever had to deal with worse treatment? No wonder he was so hurt. [Edited 12/13/20 8:50am]

Do like this bit from I Wanna Be Your Lover, because it's IMO imaginable and relatable:

"and I get discouraged
Cuz U treat me just like a child"

Will leave it to others to give opinion on whether I Wanna Be Your Lover is notable for expressing vulnerability.

Edited to add: I replied to the wrong thing, as this was in response to your earlier take on I Wanna Be Your Lover.

[Edited 12/13/20 9:00am]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

I nominate bambi. Really put his heart on the line there, exposing his deep wound that a lesbian wasnt going to let him make sweet love to her. Has a man ever had to deal with worse treatment? No wonder he was so hurt. [Edited 12/13/20 8:50am]

Snarkey!

Margot said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Margot said:

Snarkey!

Huh

I thought you were kidding...sorry