As soon as you said comeback you lost me and probably many others! He never went away. Mind you this year you might have a point!

1. 'if prince had the chance to do it all again, tell me would he, could he'?
   
   
2. I'm On Fire by Johnny Cash is the obvious song to cover because if you're like me, a 52 year old white female. that's probably the only song anybody really knows by Johnny Cash. OR Walk The Line. Prince was a habitual line stepper too he just saved that for special occasions.
   
   
3. The Electric Chair SNL performance had some line stepping.
   
   
4. Come to think of it, every time Prince showed up anywhere, it was a comeback.
   
   
5. Alicia Keys might have a better chance of doing a Johnny Cash style comeback since she has that song "This Girl Is On Fire".
   
   
6. Prince even sported a beard once upon a time and depending on your internet browswer you may or may not have known that Jaquan Pheonix played Johnny Cash in a movie.
   
   
7. Did Prince ever perform WITH The Time? Ever?
   
   
8. Do we have to ask if he was ever really "with the times"?
   
   
9. People don't give this site enough credit for prompting so many excellent subject material from which to reference and do digital papers on.
   
   
10. I'm really curious about what got the poster of this topic started on even suggesting such a thing, why not ask about a willie nelson style comeback?
    
    
11. Who's grading this stuff?
    
    
12. What's the preferred word count?
    
    
13. If this was really and truly "MY ORG" I think I would set a standard about that and let the games begin.
    
    
14. Speaking of games, I am happy to report that people in my household learnt of the song "I'm On Fire" By Johnny Cash from playing a Tony Hawk skateboarding playstation 2 video game.

oh hey lists!

what is this: Path: ol » li

I could go on and on...let's ask LL COOL J does he have a fan site like this, I doubt it.

Prince never left until he did permanently.

Next.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

I mean its doubtful he ever would have, but its an interesting idea, though i struggle to think of a song that would say something about his life and project him in a new way like cash's remake of nineiinch nails hurt did for him. Id pick i think i just dont know what to do with myself by burt bacharach via the white stripes cover [Edited 10/26/22 0:57am]

The problems with this question are that it assumes both that Prince went away at some stage and that Johnny Cash's album with Hurt was a comeback album.

As other's have said, Prince did not go way or need to "come back" by covering others.

Also, Johnny Cash did not "come back" with that album. It is the 5th album in a series of covers and it was only 2 years after the preceding one. There was 2 years between each of these albums except between the 3rd and 4th because he was sick.

[Edited 10/26/22 11:56am]

As far as the general public went, Prince's Musicology tour was his "comeback." Loads of people went to that who hadn't been before. BUT! As was already said--he never went away...

INSERT GIF OF JOHNNY 5 with the audio "i'm standing beside myself"

there, is that how this works? is that how coding works?

because that's now how this fan site works all the time;

how difficult is it to be able to scroll through all the previous responses to get to the point of why i felt like responding in the first friggin place maybe i didn't want to stare at purplethunder3

121 while i'm writing

i better get off of here i'm about to begin heckling people again

[Edited 10/26/22 13:49pm]

ofc prince never 'went away', but his career was a series of ups and downs with regard to exposure, like many older artists' careers' after the mid 90s or so. he was always making music but it wasnt always getting to people, or making much of a dent. so yes musicology was a strong comeback, but who heard that actual album? the real comeback at that time was him as a live act, and that was his real switch after the mid 00s. the music kept coming, inevitably, but no one really cared about it, except for die hards, and a small number of the music buying/listneing public. again thats not unsuual for older acts, but the point is, johnny cashs rick rubin-produced stuff made his actual SONGS relevant again culturally. so that is what a 'johnny cash style comeback' means.

He had to humble himself, have somebody like Jack White produce. White would give him advice, but he would have to take it. He should try to change his sound like he did post 1999. Work with innovative ideas not just sounds. Avoid the same kind of ballads. Be weird, space funky. Part old school, part new. Hard beats, shorter songs. Nother over 5 minutes. No jamming. Better lyrics. Odd time changes, play guitar in studio like you do onstage. Stay away from trends, and do not fish for hits. No bad rappers lol

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

ofc prince never 'went away', but his career was a series of ups and downs with regard to exposure, like many older artists' careers' after the mid 90s or so. he was always making music but it wasnt always getting to people, or making much of a dent. so yes musicology was a strong comeback, but who heard that actual album? the real comeback at that time was him as a live act, and that was his real switch after the mid 00s. the music kept coming, inevitably, but no one really cared about it, except for die hards, and a small number of the music buying/listneing public. again thats not unsuual for older acts, but the point is, johnny cashs rick rubin-produced stuff made his actual SONGS relevant again culturally. so that is what a 'johnny cash style comeback' means.

Rick Rubin produced 4 albums of covers with Cash with 5 singles in nearly a decade (excluding the posthumous one). Of these most people can name 1 song - indeed this is the only single from the American Recordings that charted. The 4 American Recordings albums charted in the US with average position of 96

In the mean time in Prince's final 8 years he released more albums (and they were not albums of covers) and had more charting singles. The final 4 released in two years had a US chart position average of 25

What does culturally relevant mean? In what way was Cash not culturally relevant before "Hurt"? Why do you think Prince was not culturally relevant just because people liked his old stuff better than his new stuff (which as you say is a common position for older artists).

[Edited 10/27/22 22:09pm]

Those Rick Rubin Cash albums are terrible. It's truly amazing what one hit single will do to obfuscate an era. Out of like a hundred attempted covers over a decade and like six albums worth literally one song resonated with the public. And forever attached to Rick Rubin's legacy as exhibit C in what a "genius" he is.

Prince's studio covers were awful anyway. You know you're past the point of no kool-aid return in your purple cult fandom when you start ranking those the same as the originals.

The music video is what made that Cash cover work anyway. Everyone raved for years and it was like wtf, but when you pull up the video it's like "oh, okay."

I think people need to really just go listen a bunch of johnny cash records and watch a bunch of johnny cash performances before answering the question

and thanks to whoever pointed me in the direction of how to change my forum preferences i'll be back with late comments later

Remember, only seven word responses are acceptable.

WhisperingDandelions said:

Those Rick Rubin Cash albums are terrible. It's truly amazing what one hit single will do to obfuscate an era. Out of like a hundred attempted covers over a decade and like six albums worth literally one song resonated with the public. And forever attached to Rick Rubin's legacy as exhibit C in what a "genius" he is.

Prince's studio covers were awful anyway. You know you're past the point of no kool-aid return in your purple cult fandom when you start ranking those the same as the originals.

Today when you hear a Prince song played publiclly, it will almost certainly be a Prince written song.

When you hear a Cash song it will very likely be "Hurt".

Why would Prince or any Prince fans want Prince's legacy to be tarnished by him being remembered by one cover song he sung at the end of his career to represent one possible view of his life?

heartpeacesheart said:

I think people need to really just go listen a bunch of johnny cash records and watch a bunch of johnny cash performances before answering the question

and thanks to whoever pointed me in the direction of how to change my forum preferences i'll be back with late comments later

Except the question is about whether there could an equivalent cover song to "Hurt" that Prince could have released just be fore he died that would make Prince's songs "culturally relevant" again. It is not about Cash - except for the dubious assumption that "Hurt" made Cash culturally relevant again.

What does culturally relevant mean? In what way was Cash not culturally relevant before "Hurt"? Why do you think Prince was not culturally relevant just because people liked his old stuff better than his new stuff (which as you say is a common position for older artists).

an artist can still be loved and liked for old songs. but its not the same kind of relevance, or impact as having something that 'takes off'. the stones are still massive live draws. they are relevant touring artists. are they 'culturally' relevant? id say not. but they are still an inescapable presence. they are also kind of anomalies.

but a HIT is what attracts new fans, new listeners to a song, to an artist.

it doesnt necessarily have to be a commercial, chart hit, but it can be a song that just gets around, that takes off.

eg. kate bush's running up that hill became culturally relevant again due to it featuring in stranger things, a show i dont care about, but which a lot of people do, and talked about a lot, which means = cultural relevance.

cultural relevance basically means whats cool, whats hot, whats trending, or you could say, popular with young people.

so cash's hurt, might be just one song that took off, but it was enough to remind people outside of his core audience about him. i didnt know much about him until that song came out. had that song not come out, there would have been no walk the line movie. hurt gave his career a new lease of life.

IanRG said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Those Rick Rubin Cash albums are terrible. It's truly amazing what one hit single will do to obfuscate an era. Out of like a hundred attempted covers over a decade and like six albums worth literally one song resonated with the public. And forever attached to Rick Rubin's legacy as exhibit C in what a "genius" he is.

Prince's studio covers were awful anyway. You know you're past the point of no kool-aid return in your purple cult fandom when you start ranking those the same as the originals.

Today when you hear a Prince song played publiclly, it will almost certainly be a Prince written song.

When you hear a Cash song it will very likely be "Hurt".

Why would Prince or any Prince fans want Prince's legacy to be tarnished by him being remembered by one cover song he sung at the end of his career to represent one possible view of his life?

tarnished?

it might be unrepresentative, but one of us, and i cant make you love me, are two of the best things he recorded in the late 90s.

his piano cover of case of u is again one of the best things he made in that period.

this idea of a career being tarnished is silly and kind of extreme. it was prince himself who argued that he included so many covers on emancipation as warners (apparently) didnt want him to release any while he was signed to them. i.e. he might have released more covers if he was able to. supposedly. so this idea that he wanted only to be known for his self written material is kinda skewed.

besides, theres no shame in a cover being your most famous songs.

eg - my favourite things by john coltrane.

putting your own stamp on a cover is what being a musician is about.

[Edited 10/29/22 1:11am]

WhisperingDandelions said:

Those Rick Rubin Cash albums are terrible. It's truly amazing what one hit single will do to obfuscate an era. Out of like a hundred attempted covers over a decade and like six albums worth literally one song resonated with the public. And forever attached to Rick Rubin's legacy as exhibit C in what a "genius" he is.

Prince's studio covers were awful anyway. You know you're past the point of no kool-aid return in your purple cult fandom when you start ranking those the same as the originals.

theyre not all terrible.

it doesnt matter that only one song was a hit.

that song drew attention to the other albums he was making at this time.

that whole period though redefined the idea of the modern comeback for vintage artists. maybe to the extent that it has become a bit corny and stale, but at the time, it was largely still a fresh idea, a new way to make an older artist mainstream again, and exploit and highlight age, rather than pretend they hadnt aged (things i cant really imagine prince enjoying doing).

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

What does culturally relevant mean? In what way was Cash not culturally relevant before "Hurt"? Why do you think Prince was not culturally relevant just because people liked his old stuff better than his new stuff (which as you say is a common position for older artists).

an artist can still be loved and liked for old songs. but its not the same kind of relevance, or impact as having something that 'takes off'. the stones are still massive live draws. they are relevant touring artists. are they 'culturally' relevant? id say not. but they are still an inescapable presence. they are also kind of anomalies.

but a HIT is what attracts new fans, new listeners to a song, to an artist.

it doesnt necessarily have to be a commercial, chart hit, but it can be a song that just gets around, that takes off.

eg. kate bush's running up that hill became culturally relevant again due to it featuring in stranger things, a show i dont care about, but which a lot of people do, and talked about a lot, which means = cultural relevance.

cultural relevance basically means whats cool, whats hot, whats trending, or you could say, popular with young people.

so cash's hurt, might be just one song that took off, but it was enough to remind people outside of his core audience about him. i didnt know much about him until that song came out. had that song not come out, there would have been no walk the line movie. hurt gave his career a new lease of life.

I think you are reading far too much into the success of one song. In the process you are belittling Cash's impact, legacy and following. "Walk the line" was not inspired or enabled by "Hurt". IMHO "Hurt" would never have even been a success for Cash but for his pre-existing strong cultural relevance (which is not measured by whether you personally knew an artist or new releases of covers)

The opportunity provided by the American recordings meant Cash did not retire, that is all - To bring this back to your question: This is irrelevant to Prince's career because he never retired. It is irrelevant to "Running up that hill" because this was not a new cover song that gave Kate Bush's career a new lease of life - it was selected for "Stranger things" because this show is a period piece and "Running Up That Hill" was a well known song by Kate Bush from that time period.

[Edited 10/31/22 17:39pm]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

IanRG said:

Today when you hear a Prince song played publiclly, it will almost certainly be a Prince written song.

When you hear a Cash song it will very likely be "Hurt".

Why would Prince or any Prince fans want Prince's legacy to be tarnished by him being remembered by one cover song he sung at the end of his career to represent one possible view of his life?

tarnished?

it might be unrepresentative, but one of us, and i cant make you love me, are two of the best things he recorded in the late 90s.

his piano cover of case of u is again one of the best things he made in that period.

this idea of a career being tarnished is silly and kind of extreme. it was prince himself who argued that he included so many covers on emancipation as warners (apparently) didnt want him to release any while he was signed to them. i.e. he might have released more covers if he was able to. supposedly. so this idea that he wanted only to be known for his self written material is kinda skewed.

besides, theres no shame in a cover being your most famous songs.

eg - my favourite things by john coltrane.

putting your own stamp on a cover is what being a musician is about.

[Edited 10/29/22 1:11am]

Prince having covers as a small part of his discography is completetly different from stopping writing and performing new songs and only releasing 5 albums of covers.

It is not extremist to argue that Prince being made relevent by one single cover song done just before he died is a tarnished relevance compared to being recognised, remembered and cherished for his own massive set of songs. It is silly to seek to prefer Prince be known for a cover song done near his death.

And if it's any consolation to you Rick Rubin marks, for a decent segment his Coachella cover of "Creep" is probably ranked #2 or #3 most "known" "Prince song" after PR given how intensely kept his material offline for the internet, post-Napster generation. Between "Creep" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" to 90% of the general population as evidenced by sheer ratio of YouTube reaction videos vs. other tracks, those indeed were his Johnny Cash later-period "comebacks", so you can resteasy knowing the greatest artist of all time too is defined and remembered by dilettantes for mediocre, tepid cover versions.

Such a triumph, his legacy of getting teenagers and twenty-somethings gleefully sprinting back to their bookmarked Beatles and Radiohead spotify pages is secured.

[Edited 10/31/22 19:36pm]