LAWD

Reinout said:[quote]

TampaPurple said:

Unless the people held in Guantanamo Bay are American Citizens, then the 14th Amendement certainly doesn't apply to them, nor does any other part of the US constitution. So I seriously doubt this is what he is talking about. I believe he is most likely making reference to reparations for slavery.

No one here is trying to prevent "an artist" from stating something serious. But if you are going to do so, make sure what you're stating makes sense - make sure its just not pure pablum. This song is nothing like SOTT, which was more a statement on the human condition. To compare this song to SOTT seriously degrades the value of SOTT.

McD said:

Okay. First and foremost if you missed the point of my reply then it's obvious why you're missing the point of the song. If I understand you correctly, you are basing your opinion of why Prince is "out of his element" singing this song because of lucrative spending habits and the way he deals with his own business practices. That argument has no relation to the lyrics of this song. All I will say is that it ain't Prince who's "out of his element" on this song.
[This message was edited Sat Apr 3 9:25:51 2004 by psykosoul]

One of my fav. on this album!( i mean the Best!) it has a smooth jazz/Bill Withers/Curtis Mayfield vibe...4 me!

I don't claim to know what every single phrase was referring on his song, but to me most of it is quite clear. Without going for phrase to phrase, it's obvious that the song speaks in the general, and the note on what does Prince know about being poor, he does have family and friends, a life, he reads and talks to people like most of us do. I've never lived in the projects but I can gather from what I have heard that it's not the place to be, and it's not too hard to image what it is like to live there, with a little effort. It doesn't take a life experience in all things to empathize with a situation. The Ozone, come on, how technical can one get with how long man has been keeping track of the atmospheric changes. I think the simple fact that life has sustained itself these many years without the aid of man is proof enough, and the ice age is not global warming. Wars, I don't know if he meant America or not, but let's take America, now I love my country, like I love my parents, but I complain about them both just the same (my constitutional right), and they are both wrong from time to time. Since I'm not a war scholar, I can't go into detail but WWII comes to mind, no we didn't declare war until Pearl Harbor but there were issues going on about the Japanese and oil trading. We pissed them off, and they retaliated, truth be told. That's at least one in my book, no need to go into the others. AIDS is this periods Black Plague (which was preventable too, except for the fact of ignorance or lack of knowledge of hygiene), maybe it's not the money but the education where it is most needed is what he is referring to.
Geez, said more than I meant to say oh well, I ain't the first and sure as hell won't be the last.

morningsong said:

Maybe this is becoming my personal crusade, but I can't let some of these comments go unchecked.

Life may have sustained itself these many years without the aid of man, but several millions of species have gone extinct without his help too. My point in the ice age reference is that many things cause climatic changes, and there is scant evidence that anything man has done has affected it. You can quote all the junk science you want, but the proof just isn't there.

You are kidding me about WWII, right? I mean, you do realize that a full fledged massacre was occurring in Europe, right? We stayed out until they drew our own blood. If you can point to how we started it, I'd like further details.

Aids = Black Plague? Not likely. When aids starts decimating whole neighborhoods on a national scale, I'll panic. When they start driving dump trucks full of dead people through the streets on the way to the incinerator, I'll freak.

And education? How much money does it take to tell people one simple rule? 1. Don't stick anything in you that has been in anyone else without protecting yourself, whether it is needles or body parts.
[This message was edited Sat Apr 3 11:20:06 2004 by TampaPurple]

Rawanda had a million people murdered in the time span of 4 months. There are thousands in this world who go hungry while a person like myself wont touch leftovers. As the Cinnamon Girl form indicates, racisim is still rampant world wide. There is a war on going and more brewing, encase your not peronsally effected. Friends are turning into enemies and self is only concerned about self. Yet, all this has been predicted over and over and over again in the Bible.

In Dear Mr. Man, Prince touches on all these issues in his own cryptic way.

muleFunk said:

and they have: Bush and clinton and all the big corporations have sold us down the river"

the bottom is about to fall out and THEY ARE THE ONES THAT ARE GOING TO BE HOLDING ALL THE CHIPS WHEN NO ONE ELSE HAS SHIT!

they know this, wake up! everything is coming into place where the big wigs have the monopoly, eletric companies , oil, gas, food, they are have been trying to take away our voice in the media, to no avail - YET. Now Janet who really didn't do anything just pushed some new laws into place putting a choke hold on our freedom of speech/expression

its quite sad, and is quite a situation we are in NOW

yes sadly I do foresee Prince being a target like BOB MARLEY really, he knows this too, why you think he moved? OUT OF THE COUNTRY!

THE SWAT IN HIS VIDEO? WHEN HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THIS, WHY WOULD HE PUT THAT IN A VIDEO?, so you get used to seeing it, those aint body guards, they full blowen agents carrying semi automatics in the video, WHY would he put that in a video when he never puts videos out?

HES TELLING " US " SOMETHING

"Its got a good beat and you can dance to it"

CalhounSq said:

co-sign

Let me restate, WWII was not America's fault, true, but it is under scrutiny that while the atrocities that were happening in Europe the US did not involve itself in assistance. Yet, there were other things going on. And true in the nature course of life many species have gone extinct, but I don't quite remember that in a the song, maybe I missed that part. As far as the Ozone layer is concern, obviously, you choose not to believe the evidence that is present, I know some people who don't believe we actually went to the moon, since it really can't officially be proven, yet the common concensus believes and that is sometimes all one has, to speak out on what they believe it true.
As far as the AIDS issue is concern, perhaps you haven't had anyone close to you die of the disease, so it's just a simple question to you, but looking at it from a global point of view there are some suspicious about the origins as I'm sure you are aware of, this is not to say that other issue ought to go unrecognized, who's really saying that.
Besides after it's all be said and done, we are talking about the Prince of controversy. Always got to have a little spice to liven it up a bit.

And I think the phase is We tired o'y'all, maybe that's considered the 3 words, not correct gammar but it serves the purpose.

Sleep on !

AIDS and many other forms of cancer are results of the USA,USSR,Isreal,South Africa, et al ,attempts to create biological weapons aimed at killing certain groups of people.

Why is it that you never hear about the attack on the Capitol with anthrax although it happened along with 9-11?
Because it was an internal threat and not external.

Why is it that no one talks about Oklahoma City & the fact that the son of theGerman prime minister was with Mc Vey weeks before the event ?

I need gas to get around however why is it that a country that put men on the moon( ) cannot create another source of fuel ?

14th amendment is another fly in the ointment of the elites in the USA because of what Prince recited in the song.The next part says that ....." No state shall abridge the rights & privlages of any citizen nor deprive them of the equal protection of the laws.

That is what struck down Jim Crow in this country.It just took 96 years for some people to realize it.

"Who said that 2 kill is a sin
Then started every single war that Ur people been in?"

This line sounds like an argument against Christianity!!!

BinaryJustin said:

I think it refers to the fact that governments decide when you go to war. It's meant broadly imho, especially in the US situation where it can be suggested that the US decided to get involved in wars that did not directly involve it i.e Vietnam, Korea, Iraq etc etc.

CalhounSq said:

Indeed. But that's the org sometimes.

ok here's my question about this song. he say:


"Listen, Ain’t no sense in voting – same song with a different name
Might not b in the back of the bus but it sure feel just the same"


how, exactly, does our hero want us to address the injustice of the world if we are not allowed to effect positive social change by taking part in the political process peacefully by, say, voting?

i betcha rose parks voted

XxAxX said:

Your "hero" isn't telling you how to live your life. You can vote all you want. He's basically saying that he sees no benefit in it. I happen to agree.

OdysseyMiles said:

hmmm. you're right, he ain't truly my hero these days. love his music but just disagree with this anti-voting stance. disappointing, imo

so, you think rosa parks voted??

XxAxX said:

Doesn't matter.

you're right. rosa parks' contributions to society and the manner in which she effected change don't matter.*



*sarcasm



yeah i understand the point you're making but i really, really disagree with you on this point. voting does matter.
[This message was edited Tue Apr 6 12:31:34 2004 by XxAxX]

here, let's save tiome:

OM: does not

X: does so

OM: does not

X: does so

OM: does not

X: does so

OM: does not

X: does so

OM: does not

X: does so

OM: does not

X: does so

it's all good

XxAxX said:

Ah...I think this is a blant finger point to the Bush/Gore presidential race. Depending on yopur view, Bush did not win the election. Thus, Prince could simply be saying he feels and injustice was perfomed election year 2000. Rumored statistics show Gore as being victorious.

hilton02895 said:

well yes, i understand and agree with that. but imo that's all the more reason to get involved and stop the use of diebold voting machines which enabled vote theft, not to stop voting entirely.

i don't see how sitting passively by helps anyone

XxAxX said:

That's cool. Just wanted to explain my understanding od Prince's lyric. As a Christian, he'd rather put his full trust and faith in God, rather than men. He's not necessarily telling others not to vote, although some may take it that way. He's merely expressing his feelings on the matter.

OdysseyMiles said:

i KNOW he is but.. .. jesus was, himself the quintessential political activist. he took steps, personally, to challenge the status quo and make changes. how can anyone not hear that call???

Xpertlover said:

None of us really know what he meant, so someone write Mr. Prince a letter and ask him politely. To make sure he reads it make a fake IRS envelope

jagshrapnel said:

dang. good idea. "dear mr. prince. once again your lyrics puzzle me . . ."

TampaPurple said:

I guess if you've never been through a ghetto, you couldn't relate. Not a stab, just an observation. It's just funny how the ghetto is littered with alcohol and cigarrette billboards. This is just his way of pointing out that people are working hard around the clock just to be able to afford (at a low pay rate) a house in the ghetto. MY $0.02...