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:

You've confusd "not voting" with "sitting passively by". Although I don't agree with Prince's views on voting, there are means of political activism other than voting. For example, releasing a song called "Dear Mr. Man".

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???

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...

XxAxX said:

Yeah, and there's nothing quintessentially spiritual about anybody on the ballot. Perhaps THEY should try to follow Jesus' example. Jesus came to to do the work of his Father and sanctify his name. He didn't run for office to get a feather in his cap.

If Prince wants to write a "wishy washy preachy" song
then so be it . .
Perhaps a good majority of yall need to listen to those lyrics
and take a look at The Real World
sorry bastards

Luv4oneanotha said:

wishy washy preachy song??

i like this song, i really do. it's just, why would any person of conscience choose to abstain from the political process? or seemingly advocate doing the same? i can see why he'd be discouraged by the corruption of the 2000 elections, but imo this is all the more reason to try harder next time to protect the basic fabric of american society.. .

for me i am taking a look at the real world and that's why i'm wondering why prince would choose not participate in a vital part of a democratic society, in times like these. does he not at least care about the environment? and what bush plans on doing to it? kerry is a better choice than bush if only on that point

and imo saying 'ain't no sense in voting' is far more harmful than any of the 'dirty' sexual lyrics he now eschews

just my 2c hey, from one sorry bastard to another

wishy washy preachy song??

i like this song, i really do. it's just, why would any person of conscience choose to abstain from the political process? or seemingly advocate doing the same? i can see why he'd be discouraged by the corruption of the 2000 elections, but imo this is all the more reason to try harder next time to protect the basic fabric of american society.. .

for me i am taking a look at the real world and that's why i'm wondering why prince would choose not participate in a vital part of a democratic society, in times like these. does he not at least care about the environment? and what bush plans on doing to it? kerry is a better choice than bush if only on that point

and imo saying 'ain't no sense in voting' is far more harmful than any of the 'dirty' sexual lyrics he now eschews

just my 2c hey, from one sorry bastard to another

Great post, TampaPurple. I was thinking of doing the same, going through the song line by line. But you made a better job of it than I would have done.

Personally, I wouldn't read too much significance (as a Christian or otherwise) into the word 'meek'. It's a difficult word that even most knowledgable English speakers wouldn't agree on (as proved here). Remember it's a word used once by a man 2000 years ago, or so the story goes. Then, over thirty years later, it's written down in Aramaic as a memoir by a very elderly gent who claims to remember his youth with Jesus verbatim. Then, the original scripts are lost and only a later transcription into Greek survives. Flash forward a millenium and a half and it's finally translated in English.

Now... a little word like 'meek'... what chance does it have of surviving that ordeal intact? Talk about bleedin' Chinese whispers!

In other words, don't take it too seriously as a philosophical basis to hang your beliefs on. Even if you do believe in the good book!

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.

muleFunk said:

No comments ?

I for one do like the song and do not have a fundamental problem with his social commentary either now or in the past. He's far from perfect, but that does not deny him the right to voice an opinion. But the point I would most like to make about the songs lyrics, one that I did not see in my brief scan of this thread, is that the perspective taken is fundamentally that of a black man, that of a person of color. Poverty is incidental.