great production,great musicianship and maybe the best ever funk crossover hard rock heavy metal song by prince.

great
sound

poor/
weak
lyric

awesome
music
composition

Very good song, I really enjoy this track!

A lot of people think he is being racist, but I think this is incorrect. The song isn't so much about how terrible the world is, but moreso, being able to overcome the past and our ancestors and overcome the labels that are distilled onto us when we are born without our choice (boy or girl, white or black, rich or poor, and of course, your family name etc).

Musically it's TOO FUNKY!

P is getting was geting to deep with name, wrds, letters, etc., my name is Allen, thats not much different than Nelson, Im just proud of the name my father gave me.

i actually think that FAMILY NAME holds the key to the understanding of THE RAINBOW CHILDREN album.

and it's so fierce, he spits in the song. and i like the computervoices, i can talk along with them now in the right timing, guess that makes me sort of a geek, innit ?

Monster Groove, but too silly and princeybonic for patient ears


"Boy, whu-chu f-cking yapping about? Get to the blinkin point Nelson"

I think Family Name is the type of song that if you understand it and if you are a Black person living in the U.S., then I think you can have a much better appreciation for what he is getting at. But, the problem is that most people (whether black or not) won't give the song enough thought to truly understand it, and so what happens is that it tends to go over most people's head.

Aside from that, I believe the issue of having a "slave name" simply won't resonate with people who don't have a slave name... in fact it may not resonate with people who do have a slave name, but definately not with those who don't.

Family Name is a thought provoking song, but from the stanpoint of the lyrics, it will probably only appeal to the fans who like it when Prince dives into the deep end. But that to me is one of the most fascinating things about Prince's art, and that is simply that as a fan, you don't have to like the song for it's lyrical content because musically, the song is still awesome. Prince has the rare ability to appeal to people on many, many differnt levels and that is what makes him so unique. Family Name is a perfect example of that.

Within the context of TRC, I really like it. One of the best from that album. Would I include it on a mix of my favorite P tunes? No.

I really love this song, i love the story thingy at the start, but when he starts 2 sing the track is great, a really good,feelgood funky, tune

andykeen said:

i'm with andy here 2

I like the bit about consulting the akhashic records - digging in deeper than the surface of who you are.

Deeply funky.

I don't care about the lyrics on this one, cos the music is too thumpin.

i don't like the music, and i don't like the lyrics. all the TRC album sucks IMHO