WhisperingDandelions said:

"Crystal Balls"--er, wait a tick...

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

this way lies decline.

prince 'getting more to the point' was also just part of his following the trends in rnb/rap of the time.

That's following "trends" in society period, not just rap and r&b.

Everyone's more direct/loose now compared to the 80s. Innuendo was kind of necessary then--if Purple Rain came out now he could probably put "Darling Nikki" out as lead single and get Top 40 radio play/trending. He was following the era, not the trends.

[Edited 9/11/23 14:15pm]

is that a good thing though?

so many modern lyrics are pieces of shit.

i like steve lacy but some of his lyrics are just a huge turn off (though maybe im old). same for sza.

i get that culture has become cruder, or at least, more casual, or informal, but idk if thats necessarily a positive, at least not in pop music

laytonian said:

The "suck my balls" scream is at the very end, although I never noticed it before

Wonder who he's talking to? Warner Executives?

Awesome Solo at the end and those Screams before and after he says "suck my balls" ....

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

"Crystal Balls"--er, wait a tick...

That's following "trends" in society period, not just rap and r&b.

Everyone's more direct/loose now compared to the 80s. Innuendo was kind of necessary then--if Purple Rain came out now he could probably put "Darling Nikki" out as lead single and get Top 40 radio play/trending. He was following the era, not the trends.

[Edited 9/11/23 14:15pm]

is that a good thing though?

so many modern lyrics are pieces of shit.

i like steve lacy but some of his lyrics are just a huge turn off (though maybe im old). same for sza.

i get that culture has become cruder, or at least, more casual, or informal, but idk if thats necessarily a positive, at least not in pop music

Prince's pushing of the envelope lyrically honestly got the ball rolling to where we are now.

Like his love of drum machines/synth based compositions. Now you can argue maybe stuff's too tech-based and too raunchy... guess who help steer us there.

Whether I like it not the converse would be that indeed lyrically it was "better" lyrically in the 70s, or the 60s, or the 50s, etc. where you get progressively less and less raunch.

[Edited 9/11/23 18:03pm]

[Edited 9/11/23 18:04pm]

purplethunder3121 said:

Pretty well known but that is not David'd hand...