Yeah,I think some of you guys are over-reacting.No one should believe for one second that Prince was serious about raping somebody.It's just a silly,tacky line.He doesn't sound the least bit threatening when he warns "I can be so cruel".Chances are,the woman he is singing to was probably bigger than he is...lol...

When I heard that line about rape, I was like "What?!" but it flows with the song.

In the song Lust U Always lyrics version, there is a referrence to rape in that song also.

Prince was doing alot of raping in the 1999 era days, Nasty Boy he is.

joyinrepetition said:

I love it when the Kid goes ODB on me

yummy

Pheremone, in a way has even sicker lyrics. Because, in that song, he is watching a woman get raped, and it turns him on.

JudasLChrist said:

That was a rather bold statement.

Number23 said:

quite.

DavidEye said:

I'm not sure anyone is suggesting that he was actually being serious about the threat.

Rather that rape is a serious crime which is sometimes treated too lightly in some parts of society, and whilst the manner and context in which Prince uses the word could be part of some role-play fantasy between two adults who trust each other, that context is not altogether clear, leaving him wide-open to the equally possible suggestion that he was using the expression with insufficient thought and sensuiitivity.

Just as some people thought that the dumping of a female in a trash recepticle, in Purple Rain, was comical and others thought it was needlessly offensive and lacked humour..

Number23 said:

Bold but true. Someone's gotta kick puritanism to the corner, y'know?

langebleu said:

I don't think the context needs to be clear, but even so the context is VERY clear in the song. It's called Extra Lovable, fer fux sake.

I don't see how a song could be insensitive, either. when I write a song, that song is mine to express my own truths and fantasies, thoughts etc... I have NO considerations for others or thier sensitivities at all. Why should I? I'm not making advertising. And that's how it should be. No one should be colonising an artist's mind.

That's not to say that artworks are beyond critique and can't be anlysed as social documents. It's just absurd to me that Prince is having this inspired, present, playful, UNGAURDED sexual moment in his song, and there's this idea he was supposed to stop mid-stream and edit himself cause it might offend feminists or people with Christian sensibilities, or something.

Ungaurded moments are often threatening to polite society, and that's a good thing.

JudasLChrist said:

No-one's suggesting that an artist's mind should be colonised.

That doesn't mean to say that other's won't regard the meaning they take from the song as insensitive.No dispute with that, other than the fact that some artists do create within the limitations they impose upon themselves and choose to censor themselves because they reconsider that what they once sung was an inspired, present, playful unguarded sexual moment, but, on reflection, at least seems careless rather than carefree. Others might choose to self-edit simply because they change their mind about the artistic merit of their work, regardless of others' sensibilities, social or moral values.

If prince chooses to censor his work, that's his artistic decision.

The fact that some will take offence at his work because they deem the lyrical content insensitive is something he can do little about.


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[This message was edited Sat Nov 1 14:49:53 PST 2003 by langebleu]

JudasLChrist said:

you think the idea of making someone have sex against their will is fun?
I guess people that don't actually experience this don't know exactly how offensive that line is.
There's nothing cool about fantizing about raping someone.
But, I imagine that neither you nor Prince have experienced sexual abuse. If so, you wouldn't think it's fun and prince would've never wrote that line in the first place.

DavidEye said:

It's not that people think he was serious, it's just that that line, or any lyric about rape will be highly offensive to someone. It doesn't matter if he was serious or not, certain people don't wanna hear about rape.
It's not something to joke about. If you haven't experienced it you probably won't understand.

JudasLChrist said:

Lots of interesting viewpoints that I feel point out the intent of the rape lyric. I know a number of women who have told me of fantasies that essentially amount to rape by someone they desire. It's not about the power, though of course many like to be dominated, but rather knowing someone they want wants them to the point where they'd ravage her. Is there a woman who doesn't appreciate being ravaged:?: ..like a character from a novel at least??

There are definitely things that turn us on sometimes that don't fit on the standard puritanical'menu', lol. Extra Loveable is a song ready to burst, like 2Freaky4Church said, the vocals interplay with the guitar rhythm...and the funky ass beat. She's so sexy that she'd turn my momma on, and make my daddy come back to haunt her?? That's some kinda extra sexy woman! If any woman would bring a mild mannered guy to the brink, where he'd be fantasizing about rape, it'd be her. The Pheromone comparison is a really good point... that song is much darker/colder to me but comes from the same place, which means its also much sexier in that freaky way.

mm.. great thread
[This message was edited Sat Nov 1 20:27:13 PST 2003 by JumpUpOnThe1]

I LOVE THE SONG!!! THE RAPE BIT IS A LITTLE SHOCKING BUT NO MORE THAN " I SINCERELY WANT TO FUCK THE TASTE OUT OF YOUR MOUTH"
NOW HE STATES THAT "EVERDAY A WOMAN SHOULD BE THANKED, NOT DISRESPECTED NOT RAPED NOR SPANKED..."

IT WOULD BE ASHAME IF THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE THAT TAKES HIS WORDS LITERALLY AND ACTS ON THEM...:POUT:

Bad line, agreed.i don't take that seriously,though.Girls used to say that back in the day and i had a girl tell me that the other night.It's just not meant in the same sense as real rape.Real rape is about control and anger anyway.It's not about sex.It's why men get raped by other men in prison.It's to control them and make them submissive and humiliate them. Prince was just like,23 or 24 then.There was a lot of cool going on thena nd a lot of crass.And I don't think of it like that anyway.

I saw Kill Bill earlier and I loved it.I am against violence and the world is full of really negative things.However,that was a great fun movie for me and I think a real gem of escapism(what up,jb!).I don't take the excessive violence thayt seriously in the movie ,either.

I took the Dez line as a dig on him because Prince knew he was getting real fed up with a lot of things and he wanted to get under his skin.Prince can be a real bastard,but I cannot deny his funky power.Kinda' like how vapid jessica Simpson seems ,but she's so damned cute I am her slave!(Rosario is my soulmate,though!)

erotic literature has many

'rape' references

sexual domination is often

seen as a good thing if it

exists between lovers

women and men often view sexual

domination differently

in many women's minds, it

does not involve pain or

humiliation

it's about aggression within control

prince wrote many erotic songs and

most women seemed 2 enjoy them

I Extra Loveable. Prince at his nastiest best! In fact all those 1982 outtakes R shit hot.

Moonbeam said:

Agreed, Moonbeam, I can't believe that the one little line in the song about rape would bother anybody, since Prince is known for his daring/risque lyrics.

I looove "Extralovable". Every time that song comes on, I get excited and turn it up a little for full enjoyment. That song rocks!

lovebizzare said:

Exactly. Someone posted above that it's no worse than "I sincerely want to fuck the taste out of your mouth," and I'm sorry, but that's just bullshit. Like Kiki said, if you've experienced rape, you know it has nothing to do with sex, rough or otherwise. I like rough sex in the right context, and I've had people want me so badly they were begging for it, and gotten off on that too. What people fail to understand is, that has nothing to do with RAPE.

It seems that the major differences in opinion about the rape reference in Extra Lovable are due to gender differences. Men can never fully understand the lifelong detrimental effects of rape and therefore appear insensitive at times. Someone mentioned that if the line were used lovingly towards someone they loved it would not be offensive. I beg to differ. I would challenge any man to say that line to their wives or girlfriends and report the reaction. Lastly, From my understanding Puritans were not as "puritanical" as people commonly believe. Research this.

fredericdoug said:

EHHHCH. Do yr own research. Susie Bright writes in one of her books from over ten years ago about having had 'rape fantsies' after having been sexually assaulted. Lot's of heterosexual couples DO have relationships were they engage in FANTASY sex play that deviates from the so called normitive sexual canon. What our psyches conscribe to us (as men AND women) as to what turns us on is not necessarily so PC and proper and generally does not please quite a few women's studies professors. But that doesn't matter. It is a truism that people cannot help what turns them on. It is also true that people act out on their desires in mutually consensual ways. That's just the way it is. If you can't deal with the fact that other people's sexuality does not necessarily resemble your own, you need to grow up.

Most people would feel for the person who actually had been raped for real. There's nothing that says rape victims are expected to participate in any kind of sexual expression that they don't want to.

JudasLChrist said:

I think the key here is that you are saying mutually consentual
Funk Mistress and others are talking about this loaded word being flung at them
When I was younger I would use this word out of context like "boy did we ever get raped at work last night" I stopped that when I came to fully apreciate what the word can mean to people
I do think it says something that the song is unreleased

fredericdoug said:

Men can be rape victims too, don't forget.

Extra-Lovable is a sub-par Prince outtake...I've never understood why people like it to beg with. I agree that the "rape" line is kind of odd, but I never took it too seriously...just probably ignorance from a young Prince...sort of reminds me about how you can except "a few turbulence" along the way.

well i found the rape part quit amusing xpecally when he said"Now are u gonna get in2 the tub, or do i have 2 drag u, dont make me drag u. i can b very cruel...only cuz he is super tiny, i mean who can he possibly hurt?,bu tif u hate that in Xtra Loveable u will hate the song Lust u always were he says "I will rape you if I must,"