A friend of mine could not stop laughing when he heard this song come on in my car years ago. He thought it was so wrong that he made up a new verse:

"It's like a bunch of deaf people playing Marco Polo who knows which way the swimmers all go."

i think he was making fun of the game.

you can win if you are blind.

you just have to be first.

(and be "x")

nayroo2002 said:

RJP1205 said:

good lord, its a metaphor.... how is he making fun of anyone?...smh

RJOrion said:

good lord, its a metaphor.... how is he making fun of anyone?...smh

By making that metaphor? I feel like there is a failing in logic in this thread.

The words are right there. A simile works by painting one thing as matching another. The situation he is inventing is "like a bunch of blind people playing tic tac toe, who knows where the zeros or the x's go?"

The lyric is using a potentially offensive illustration or situation.

Like someone said on Prince.org back when this album dropped:

https://prince.org/msg/7/410848

i see common sense and rational reasoning doesnt apply here... accusing him of "making fun of blind people" is idiotic...its not even singling out "blind people"... youre taking the lyric completely out of context by victimizing the socalled "blind people"... apparently you dont even know what the song is even about...when placed in context with the rest of the songs' lyrics, its obvious he's not "making fun of blind people"

how is that not incredibly clear?

ufoclub said:

Where is Elaine Benes when you need her?

Just when I think you're the shallowest man I've ever met, you somehow manage to drain a little more out of the pool.

"... a fool with a Condition Of The Heart..."

OH MY GOD!!!

PRINCE IS MAKING FUN OF PEOPLE WITH HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE!!

this lyric isnt deep.

if i was being kind, i might say that rather than making fun, id just say hes using a very clumsy similie or analogy.

its the kind of lyric that if it was written in 1955, today we would say 'lol! cant believe people used to write stuff like this!'

Like a buncha blind people playing tic tac toe
Who knows where the zeroes & the x's go?
Like a buncha blind people playing tic tac toe
Who knows where the zeroes & the x's go?

there is no hidden meaning to this.

it is just saying blind people do not have a clue where to put their feet if they had to play tic tac toe as yknow, they cant see. less charitably, its saying ha, blind people wouldnt know or be able to play tic tac toe as lol, they cant see shit!

you can say hes just making a simple, obvious point, but in the 2010s, its not really thaaat cool a point to be making. there's something a little bit off about the wording of 'buncha blind people' part too.

if lets say, a white artist wrote something like 'like a buncha black people in the night, its hard to make out even a beacon of light', im preeeeeeeeeeetty sure people would get why this is a bit of a dumb lyric quicker.

[Edited 2/4/21 10:22am]

[Edited 2/4/21 10:25am]

LoveGalore said:

ufoclub said:

By making that metaphor? I feel like there is a failing in logic in this thread.

The words are right there. A simile works by painting one thing as matching another. The situation he is inventing is "like a bunch of blind people playing tic tac toe, who knows where the zeros or the x's go?"

The lyric is using a potentially offensive illustration or situation.

Like someone said on Prince.org back when this album dropped:

https://prince.org/msg/7/410848

Prince built his career on offensive lyrics. By comparison, this doesn't even register

oh be quiet.

no one said its 'offensive' so relax your kneejerk reactionary defences.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

LoveGalore said:

ufoclub said: Prince built his career on offensive lyrics. By comparison, this doesn't even register

oh be quiet.

no one said its 'offensive' so relax your kneejerk reactionary defences.

"[M]aking fun of" isn't a synonym for "offensive"?

Yeah … wrong.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

this lyric isnt deep.

if i was being kind, i might say that rather than making fun, id just say hes using a very clumsy similie or analogy.

its the kind of lyric that if it was written in 1955, today we would say 'lol! cant believe people used to write stuff like this!'

Like a buncha blind people playing tic tac toe
Who knows where the zeroes & the x's go?
Like a buncha blind people playing tic tac toe
Who knows where the zeroes & the x's go?

there is no hidden meaning to this.

it is just saying blind people do not have a clue where to put their feet if they had to play tic tac toe as yknow, they cant see. less charitably, its saying ha, blind people wouldnt know or be able to play tic tac toe as lol, they cant see shit!

you can say hes just making a simple, obvious point, but in the 2010s, its not really thaaat cool a point to be making. there's something a little bit off about the wording of 'buncha blind people' part too.

if lets say, a white artist wrote something like 'like a buncha black people in the night, its hard to make out even a beacon of light', im preeeeeeeeeeetty sure people would get why this is a bit of a dumb lyric quicker.

[Edited 2/4/21 10:22am]

[Edited 2/4/21 10:25am]

your point is getting dumber and dumber..."like a buncha black people"in the night?..LMAO

go ahead....keep digging the hole of stupidity, and then just jump in..

ill pour the dirt over you, when youre done

Genesia said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

oh be quiet.

no one said its 'offensive' so relax your kneejerk reactionary defences.

"[M]aking fun of" isn't a synonym for "offensive"?

Yeah … wrong.

i said it was making fun of. i.e. taking the piss out of. i.e. finding humour in it.

its not actively trying to be provocative or offend. i.e. its not 'head'.

RJOrion said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

this lyric isnt deep.

if i was being kind, i might say that rather than making fun, id just say hes using a very clumsy similie or analogy.

its the kind of lyric that if it was written in 1955, today we would say 'lol! cant believe people used to write stuff like this!'

Like a buncha blind people playing tic tac toe
Who knows where the zeroes & the x's go?
Like a buncha blind people playing tic tac toe
Who knows where the zeroes & the x's go?

there is no hidden meaning to this.

it is just saying blind people do not have a clue where to put their feet if they had to play tic tac toe as yknow, they cant see. less charitably, its saying ha, blind people wouldnt know or be able to play tic tac toe as lol, they cant see shit!

you can say hes just making a simple, obvious point, but in the 2010s, its not really thaaat cool a point to be making. there's something a little bit off about the wording of 'buncha blind people' part too.

if lets say, a white artist wrote something like 'like a buncha black people in the night, its hard to make out even a beacon of light', im preeeeeeeeeeetty sure people would get why this is a bit of a dumb lyric quicker.

[Edited 2/4/21 10:22am]

[Edited 2/4/21 10:25am]

your point is getting dumber and dumber..."like a buncha black people"in the night?..LMAO

go ahead....keep digging the hole of stupidity, and then just jump in..

ill pour the dirt over you, when youre done

lol i made an analogy as dumb as the original lyric.

if you are so butthurt by that then more the fool you.

this thread has convinced me that if i made a thread criticising prince's line "you drive by me like some kind of fag" on blanche, people would be 'wtf hes just using the british slang term for a cigarette'.

[Edited 2/4/21 10:45am]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

RJOrion said:

your point is getting dumber and dumber..."like a buncha black people"in the night?..LMAO

go ahead....keep digging the hole of stupidity, and then just jump in..

ill pour the dirt over you, when youre done

lol i made an analogy as dumb as the original lyric.

if you are so butthurt by that then more the fool you.

blackness and blindness have nothing to do with each other.....your so called analogy was in no way in any context, connected to the original lyric meaning or any other meaning...metaphorical or not...and since you clearly lack the basic intelligence necessary to comprehend that, im done.

only a racist white person (or someone who thinks alike) would compare "blackness"(ethnicity) to a disability.... youve exposed yourself

RJOrion said:

only a racist white person (or someone who thinks alike) would compare "blackness"(ethnicity) to a disability.... youve exposed yourself

au contraire my good kneejerk fellow!

you have exposed your puddle-deep ability to appreciate a basic linguistic analogy (not surprising considering your defence of the lyric this thread is about). the reason i created that line about black people and night is to illustrate exactly the trap that you fell into, that it is easy to say what might not be permissable to say about one group, but easily acceptable for another. so thank you for helping to illustrate my point.

but i am sorry if i offended your religious worship at the purple altar.

as you were.

[Edited 2/4/21 11:39am]

Here's a question or two or three:

Are artists obligated to be politically correct, polite, inoffensive, or well spoken in their art?

-

Is an artist work a representation of the "actual person" like a personal manifesto? Or is the work a creation? A piece of fiction?

-

Are there rules/limits to art and what/how it should be created and communicated?

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Genesia said:

"[M]aking fun of" isn't a synonym for "offensive"?

Yeah … wrong.

i said it was making fun of. i.e. taking the piss out of. i.e. finding humour in it.

its not actively trying to be provocative or offend. i.e. its not 'head'.

That is not the meaning of "to make fun of" in American English.

skywalker said:

Here's a question or two or three:

Are artists obligated to be politically correct, polite, inoffensive, or well spoken in their art?

-

Is an artist work a representation of the "actual person" like a personal manifesto? Or is the work a creation? A piece of fiction?

-

Are there rules/limits to art and what/how it should be created and communicated?

the answer is no, artists can say what they like.

equally, the listener is allowed to point flaws out in what they make as they see fit.

just because an artist makes music, doesnt mean that it cant be critiqued or questioned.

also, just because an artist creates something, doesnt mean that it is a personal statement of their beliefs, but equally, if it reveals something of their beliefs and thoughts, then we are allowed to hold that work, if not the artist, to task.

LoveGalore said:

See Eggplant for the cringiest lyrics of all time: "She's RETARDED. You know, S L O W." Ookay we fucking get it you infant.

Technically, that's not an actual lyric. It's just a conversation between lyrics. And that's how we talked in the 80's. When you called someone retarded, you were calling them, you know, S L O W.

RJOrion said:

i see common sense and rational reasoning doesnt apply here... accusing him of "making fun of blind people" is idiotic...its not even singling out "blind people"... youre taking the lyric completely out of context by victimizing the socalled "blind people"... apparently you dont even know what the song is even about...when placed in context with the rest of the songs' lyrics, its obvious he's not "making fun of blind people"

how is that not incredibly clear?

What? That is not logical.

Let's illustrate.


If the lyric said (with same meaning within the song):

"Like Stevie Wonder trying to playt tic tac toe, who knows where the zeros or the x's go?"

Is that poking fun at Stevie Wonder? Yes. Even if the song is not about Stevie Wonder the metaphor or simile is using Stevie Wonder. Get it?

The lyric is painting a funny picture of a "a bunch of blind people playing tic tac toe"

JUST AS

The next lyric could have been (and still the song is not literally about them)

"Like a bunch of deaf people playing Marco Polo, who knows where all the swimmers will go?"

Get it?

ufoclub said:

RJOrion said:

i see common sense and rational reasoning doesnt apply here... accusing him of "making fun of blind people" is idiotic...its not even singling out "blind people"... youre taking the lyric completely out of context by victimizing the socalled "blind people"... apparently you dont even know what the song is even about...when placed in context with the rest of the songs' lyrics, its obvious he's not "making fun of blind people"

how is that not incredibly clear?

What? That is not logical.

Let's illustrate.


If the lyric said (with same meaning within the song):

"Like Stevie Wonder trying to playt tic tac toe, who knows where the zeros or the x's go?"

Is that poking fun at Stevie Wonder? Yes. Even if the song is not about Stevie Wonder the metaphor or simile is using Stevie Wonder. Get it?

The lyric is painting a funny picture of a "a bunch of blind people playing tic tac toe"

JUST AS

The next lyric could have been (and still the song is not literally about them)

"Like a bunch of deaf people playing Marco Polo, who knows where all the swimmers will go?"

Get it?

some people will not get it.

it wouldve been easy to make this lyric better; e.g. "Like a man with a blindfold playing tic tac toe, who knows where the zeros or the x's go?"

[Edited 2/4/21 13:41pm]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said: