Not trying to start a race riot up in this camp...but I can't help but rank The Rainbow Children as ONE of the BEST Prince albums ever. He posed some of the most daring questions I think have ever been put in his music (Would u rather b dead, or b sold?;)The ONA tour solidified my OPINION when he performed Avalanche, to boot. I saw the tour at the intimate Warner Theater in DC and there was a huge difference in how African-Americans (applauded loudly) and Non-African-Americans (muted) reacted to the imagery and lyrics, especially the part when he said "Abraham Lincoln was a racist...". Now I'm not the most religious person in the world, actually borderline atheist, but I couldn't helped but be moved by the lyrics of Muse to the Pharoh and Family Name. I know this has probably been tackled before, but just wanted to throw it out there again. The ONA show was the probably the most fulfilling Prince concert I've ever seen (didn't hurt that it was Easter Sunday 2001 and Carlos Santana played the solo on JIR either!). I left that show with a newfound respect for Prince as an artist, an accomplished musician and as an African-American.
I just ordered my presale tickets for the MCI Center in DC, but I know this will be a "hits" tour, so i'll just party and dance this time. But that night, Prince was gold.

I was one of the African Americans who did not applaud loudly when Prince said "Lincoln was a racist." I appreciate that Prince put his thoughts on a lot of things down on vinyl but to this day, some of the lyrics of TRC bother me. I understand more than I did two years ago but at the time, I didn't get it.

I think it's kind of like with The Passion of Christ...either you are moved enormously or not that much. It's hard for me to watch a movie like Amistad, Mississippi Burning or Rosewood, or even back to Roots because I just get so mad when I see how cruel people were, and still are still some extent. I know when I was visiting Cleveland and went to see Rosewood, I didn't want to talk to a white person for dyas, even though I knew they had nothing to do with what I saw. To me, I like Prince singing about orgasms and hats and love just as much as anybody else, but TRC is right up there with Parade as my favorites as far as concept albums. It's like listening to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" 30 years later and seeing that things really haven't changed all that much.

I for one dont really listen to lyrics (call me a muso), altho a few song lyrics on TRC did catch my attention. Im white and from England and I know about our bad history and so I have no problem with that particulary part of the song, Im not proud of our past. On the other hand, any artist who constantly talks about their own race will alienate the other colors who listen to their music.
Yes Prince, I know you are black and I know the history but I dont want to hear it forever or the English would be forever singing about the raping/pillaging we suffered by the Nords etc!
I prefer a song like Race from the Come album which advocates tolerance rather than a song that makes a race feel bad for something that their past generations were responsible for.

I for one hate it when I am told "I dont get it" when I listening to songs by other colours, like the Jimi Hendrix scene in "white men cant jump".

Its music, it either touches you or it doesnt.

I'm one of the white-ass honky motherfuckers who applauded LOUDLY when Prince sang "Abraham Lincoln was a racist..."

Shit gave me chills.

Yes Prince, I know you are black and I know the history but I dont want to hear it forever or the English would be forever singing about the raping/pillaging we suffered by the Nords etc!

I for one hate it when I am told "I dont get it" when I listening to songs by other colours, like the Jimi Hendrix scene in "white men cant jump".

point taken, but i don't think any Englishmen were hung from trees (legally, mind you), beaten, sold, difigured or raped in the last, oh let's say 150 years, or even since the civil rights movement in th e1950's and 60's . It's like the Holocaust for Jewish people... I can sympathize, but never really understand the depth of their emotions related to it (especially when people like Mel Gibson's father says that it "never happened"). I can watch Schindler's List and think how terrible Jewish people were treated and how cruel the Nazis were, but I feel it on a different level when I see the terrible things that happened in my recent ancestors lifetime. Songs of inclusion are cool sometimes, but sometimes you gotta take the nasty taste of the truth as well.

Nope, I wasn't so bowled over. I was more affected by the beauty of "Last December" than I was by Prince's "controversial" album.

Maybe there was an element of discovery for non-black listeners that didn't factor into my hearing of the songs. But, it's hard for me to view his "black" songs as anything more than a rehash of ideas familiar within "the black community." It just didn't seem revelatory to me.

If anything, it seemed to mark Prince's coming out as a Jehovah's Witness. All his lyrics about covenant and theocratic order mark doctrinal affiliations that were absent from his previous discussions of God and life purpose.

I'm white English, and I don't get the race-oriented lyric. In fact, I don't like avalanche at all - its kinda boring. I guess that the sentiments in it must be far more relevant to black americans.

I also find it strange that Prince suddenly adopted this perspective on slavery after he was brutally shackled in a multimillion dollar record deal. I'm all for politically aware music, but something about songs like Avalanche just doesn't sit right with me

I think its time to face the future, rather than beat each other with the past

Hmmmm.... call me the black guy who saw TRC as Prince's interpretation of the Bible with romantic sexual overtones. For example:

1. TRC - the garden of Eden
2. Muse for the Pharoh - from Adam and Eve to the beginning of Moses leading the People through the desert
3. Digital Garden - The people revolting against Moses and God
4. The Work pt. 1 - The people, having been punished, have renewed their faith in God
5. Everywhere - reflection of how God provided while the people were in the desert
6. Sensual Everafter - God renewed his promise of a new Jerasulim
7.Mellow - love song
8. 1+1+1 is 3 - God, Man, Woman; Man Woman, Child; The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit
9. Deconstruction - The passing of the old Earth
10. Wedding Feast - The Lord brings his Followers to the New Jerasulim
11. She Loves me for Me - skip it too much to care
12. Family Name - it's a social commentary yes, but I think its funky
13. The Everlasting Now - ?
14. Last December - I took it as a very bad attempt to emulate Anna Stesia but it is Princes way of trying to bring awareness to God

Now I can not tolerate ONA so I have no opinion.

Now, for the longest time, Prince refused to be identified as any race. I noticed during the past ten years, he suddenly "chose a side". But is he really educating the listeners or spouting hatred? Is he motivating others that there is no such thing as oppression if you fight the chains that bind?

I am tired of this discussion of what was. I prefer to discuss what you and I are doing to make the foundations of what will be.

meltwithu said:

I attended the same show at the Warner, am white, and I applauded loudly. Frankly, I did not think there was much of a division amongst race lines at the DC shows in terms of their reaction to Avalanche or Family Name... though I've heard discussions of that at some of the other tour stops. Who knows, I was enjoying it so much perhaps I just didn't notice?

And I agree with you, that was a great show! Even after growing up in MPLS and seeing him there thoughout my youth, the ONA Easter weekend shows in DC were some of my all-time favorite shows.

The Rainbow Children was a unique experence for me .

It was the Prince album that I waited years for .

Prince took the "shackels" off with TRC.

theblueangel said:

I had more of a problem with the structure of the album than I did with the lyrics or the music. I really REALLY didn't like the narration, and I thought the structure of his writing at the time was too wordy and literal, when what I was used to from him was more metaphorical and breezy. From the first month or two the album was made available up until recently, I've only listened to the album a handful of times (though I LOVE the live versions on ONA Live)...I busted it out of moth balls a week or so ago and gave it another listen, and I have to confess it sounds a lot better to my ears now than it did in whatever headspace I was in a couple of years ago.

I may not agree with some or even much of his thoughts on this album, but at this point, I find it a really fascinating part of his body of work. Certainly his most consciously close-to-the-bone and personal stuff yet.

The Rainbow Children/ONA Tour Revisted- Did African-Americans "Get It" More Than Non-African Americans?

No.

Rowdy said:

Personally, its just one song telling a story. I'm glad that he did that song. And yes, many things discussed are familiar to many African Americans. Not all. I give him credit for saying it still. That song is just sang very powerfully. You can hear the emotion in his voice that you sometimes would only hear when it is a gospel song. Which is not exactly new for Prince. In many ways....'Adore' is just as much of a gospel tune as 'Still Would Stand All Time'.

That being said, I don't think he needs to re-visit these type of songs all the time unless there is really something to say. I dig his songs on sexual topics, political, party oriented, spiritual, or just more of on the romantic side.
[This message was edited Fri Mar 26 17:00:13 2004 by dealodelandron]

Who cares? Prince is so irrelevant. Not a bad guitarist, so stick to what you're good at.
Mel Gibson on the other hand.....

meltwithu said:

Reading this reminded me of an act I saw in a comedy club a few months ago. I was with my girlfriend, and a few other friends. Three Black people and three white. We were the only Black people at the table, and in the entire club. One of the comics had a very in your face, 'this is funny cause it's common sense' kind of act. At one point, he started saying that it's a trip how people can't grasp that Jesus couldn't have been white given where he was born, the language spoken at the time, etc., all the reasons that say, Black people weren't indigenous to what is now Norway at the time, and that White people refuse to acknowledge it. The comic was white, and said that he simply thought it was amazing how people can't grasp this issue. Or are even willing to think about it. Now, he got major laughs his entire time onstage, except for when he bought this up. The way he did it was hilarious, and it was odd as we were the only people laughing! And this is in San Fran, land of diversity. If we stopped laughing, you could have heard a napkin drop. This was a topic of discussion amongst my girlfriend and the other people at the table for weeks. We just found it odd that, even when given information in a way that would totally refute what one was bought up to believe, that some people just did not even want to hear it. He also made a joke about Santa Claus, and a few other things that people trip on when confronted with. It's a very interesting phenomenon.
Regarding TRC and the concert...I read a book a while ago on Lincoln. To believe that the man was pro-black, or altruistic towards blacks back then flies in the face of logic, given the attitudes at the time. Say anything to challenge it, and people just refuse to even entertain that there might be another truth.
I think that Black people are more willing to look at different sides of an issue, keeping in mind that there is always more to what we are being told. Whites seem to take history at face value, never challenging the "facts." Maybe it's some subconscious guilt, or simply an ego thing. But interesting nonetheless.

hilton02895 said:

i feel you on some of your points, but i get the impression that maybe you were raised in a mixed or predominantly non-black surrounding (i could be wrong)...maybe Prince only made passing commentaries in the past because of his contractual situation, but he has been fairly consistent in his opinions since even before his "emancipation". just like Marvin and Stevie did a lot of commercial projects before they did their big concept albums. I for one am glad he is at least taking a stand and saying something in his music...i'm not a jehovah's witness and not even moderately religious, but i found the story he was telling to be fascinating, even if it wasn't my belief. i just really identified with parts of the album, which is what a good concept album should do...leave you thinking and pondering.