jjhunsecker said:

lavendardrummachine said:

I don't have the first clue what you're talking about even after someone messaged me to try and translate. Whatever you're on about is out of style and doesn't sound like it's what the org needs more of. We need more activity, not less.

[Edited 1/11/22 12:04pm]

[Not them snip - luv4u]

Move on JJ it's NOT them.

Now back to our regular station, same bat channel, same bat time.

TrivialPursuit said:

For sure I Hate U is about Carmen. But the twist at the end ("I love you, I love you, I love you") kind of takes the edge off any dissing.

Violet almost certainly is about Susannah, referring to being in the middle of a crystal ball. It's a theory anyway.

Phase3 said:

The Darth Vader voice destroyed the album's cohesiveness (and title track) and the misogynistic and mythological lyrics had me worried about Prince's sanity. Music was good but Everlasting Now and 1+1+1=3 were too similar. I attended a listening party with 2 other people in DC and 2 of us had reserved reactions. It's another "what might've been" album of unmet potential.
[Edited 1/11/22 22:59pm]

LoveGalore said:

For sure I Hate U is about Carmen. But the twist at the end ("I love you, I love you, I love you") kind of takes the edge off any dissing. Violet almost certainly is about Susannah, referring to being in the middle of a crystal ball. It's a theory anyway.

Yeah, that always confused me early on.

Now, I think it's that he was so obsessed with her (per the lore), infatuated, or simply in love with her, that while he still hates what she did, he still loved her. Love doesn't just end. In the song, assuming every word is based on a feeling he had, he says he's going to make love to her until she regrets cheating on him.

I'd like 2 have the defendant place her hands behind her back
So I can tie her up tight and get into the act
The act of showing her how good it used 2 be
I want it 2 be so good she falls back in love with me

Right now I hate U so much I wanna make love until U see
That it's killin' me, baby, 2 be without U

I think the implication is if he didn't love her so much, he wouldn't hate what she did to such a degree. What's that saying, the ones that you love the most can hurt you the most?

With "Crystal Ball" being referenced throughout some of his music, I don't see that as some vague reference to Susannah. Especially years later.

TrivialPursuit said:

And moreover, he made such a point about this album and its lyrical content, living the role of calmed down, Jehovah's Witness enlightened human being - which his sweaters, double-breasted wrapped suits, and thoughtful glasses - that it's hard to ignore the lyrics. They basically defined him. If there was ever a Prince record that stated "this is me," it was The Rainbow Children.

Most every other previous record is just Prince doing what he does in that moment. TRC was different. It was calculated.

Exactly this! Which actually makes Kevin Smith's account of his Rainbow time with Prince all the more fun to listen to.

TrivialPursuit said:

You're determined to make things WAAAAYYYY more dramatic than anything I indicated.


"Ode to Prince" = a sonic tribute (in the spirit of...).
The song obviously has a memorable hook, yet it's officially called "Untitled" (Sort of like an unpronounceable symbol). Questlove (and I believe Raphael Saddiq) indicated that D'Angelo was never built to be the sex symbol that the song turned him into. He obviously had some demons, but the situation was exacerbated.

YMMSS is very similar in the vibe of the baseline, but the message is brighter (no pun intended). That's what I noticed about TRC: had the same music been paired with sexy or sultry lyrics, were talking about a "neo-soul classic" in my opinion. The album is objectively polarizing in terms of message/music.

I also doubt the Angie Stone feature can be dismissed as coincidence. But it was a subtle back and forth between talents, not a bi-love triangle FFS.

TraSoul82 said:

Dude, I'm just debating. If you want to call it "dramatic," then that's on you.

TrivialPursuit said:

No disrespect intended. Sarcasm and hyperbole are two swords I wield often.

I just had an image of the video and imagined him looking down at Prince.
It was the hypothetical scenario I was referring to.


But as far as the album goes, it's one of the most sonically cohesive offerings I've heard from Prince. It has a "pocket" that I can sit back and enjoy. Typical for most; "Experimental" coming from him.

TraSoul82 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Dude, I'm just debating. If you want to call it "dramatic," then that's on you.

No disrespect intended. Sarcasm and hyperbole are two swords I wield often.

Understood. T'is hard to emote in text. I'm just debating, though. I like to expand on an idea, explore theories or whatever. I'm never that riled up about something on here. (Well, unless someone gets into race or whatever, but that seems to be less and less these days, thank God.)

I agree sonically it's a very interesting take on Prince music. I don't think he'd ever really done anything like that before. But man, those lyrics. I can't. hahaha

TrivialPursuit said:

...But The Rainbow Children isn't nuanced. It's preachy, uncompassionate, it's "my way or the highway." Because anyone in the storyline that isn't a rainbow child or a follower or whatever is rubbish. Like Prince said, "you can cut that how you want, but it's the truth." No, Prince, it's your truth.

I think about Wendy & Lisa, and how they had to deal with Trevor Horn's homophobic ass, then circled back around to Prince with his bullshit post-Rainbow Children...

Well said! I'm glad he later moved away from that dogmatic view (and reconciled with Wendy & Lisa).

DotsofU said:

It’s one of Prince’s top 10 albums of all time. Great musicianship, production, and song-writing.

Musicianship? Okay. Production? Okay. But songwriting... How often do you see a song from this album pop up in a "best Prince songs" top 10? Or even a top 30?

SantanaMaitreya said:

Hardly the rubric for quality considering he released 40 albums. Tons of people adore Last December, 1+1+1 is 3, Everlasting Now, Family Name, etc.

Really? Who?

EEEEKS, I am not a fan - although I really tried

Putting the lyrics/religion stuff aside - that's a can of worms I don't want to open.

This is when his funk started feeling less experimental, less edgy and monotonous. It started becoming a boring James Brown impersonation.....

Coming after NPS, Rave and the disaster that was 1999 New Master - this is the period where I finally started to give up on him.

There are a few gems: Mellow, Digital Garden, She Loves Me For Me

OOOh, can't forget I love Last December too.. so while there are 4 songs that I really like, unfortunately my extreme distaste for the rest overshadows these great ones....

SantanaMaitreya said:

Carlos Santana even covered "The last December"

TrivialPursuit said:

Polo1026 said:

It's dogma - only if you don't respect it. If you don't respect it then regardless of how it framed or who the messenger is, you'll always cringe at that ideal or the stance being taken. The Rainbow Children work is an affirmation - not a preachy this way or no way law but a disdain for the message makes it preachy regardless. The Cross IS preachy, period. The ONLY way we fix this is the Cross.

It also might bug you that Prince is the one saying "this is who I am" when he appeared to be preaching spitituality over organized religion. As someone raised by a pastor and doesn't subscribe to organized religion, the idea the Rainbow Children is preachy is laughable. Actually, the majority of what Prince is saying on that record would be considered blasphemy by christians.

The christian Prince is on this record is NOT a "Karen" matter of fact, I understand you're passionate about your dislike here, but watch that comparison please. Comparing this record to a "karen" which to me defines as a social terrorist, it goes well beyond what is necessary for respectful discourse. There are people that believe in Jesus that do not subscribe to any Karen behavior.

I actually don't need tips on how to view things or have an opinion, but your effort is honorable.

It is a Karen record because he came across, quite frankly, as a religious terrorist. As noted in other replies, the misogyny, anti-Semitism, fundamentalism, etc. is incredibly off putting and more than a 180 from Prince. And I never said Christians were Karens, although you're making me doubt that.

And how is it that it's okay for Prince to say "this is who I am," but suddenly I'm the bad guy for not liking that? Sorry not sorry, but my de facto stance is not to be blindly woo'd by everything ol' boy said or did. How am I the disrespectful one because I call it dogma? What a hypocritical point of view. Not unlike Prince's views on The Rainbow Children.

You can wave your PK flag all day, but I too was raised in a similar household. The independent Baptist church I was raised in was created by my grandfather (whose name I carry) and 4 other families. They found Southern Baptists too laxed in their way of doing things, and set out to create an even more conservative church. I was practically born in the aisle between the offering and the benediction. So don't come to me as if you have some unique POV. That church, by the way, still stands, with an even bigger building, owns literally half the block, and has a religious school attached to it. I've watched them buy every house on the block that someone sold, only to tear it down, and pave it for parking and storage. It's a monolith of gluttony and excess, which is ironic considering their conversative suffer-to-serve messaging.

There is no Christian Prince. There's a Jehovah's Witness Prince. And before that it was Seventh Day Adventist Prince; almost as bad but at least he was openly eating pussy and fucking. JW's aren't Christians. They're fucking insane.

thank you. thank you. thank you.

well done.

SantanaMaitreya said:

Musicianship? Okay. Production? Okay. But songwriting... How often do you see a song from this album pop up in a "best Prince songs" top 10? Or even a top 30?

Everlasting Now is in my personal top 10.