Forgive me if this has been discussed already, but...

I have always had trouble with the song (and indeed much of the album) Diamonds & Pearls
I almost started hating Prince for this cliche love song. It is produced in a generic way, and the lyrics are worn out rhymes with seemingly no thought having gone into them.

I only got over it by convincing myself that it was a metaphor for the way his career was going.
As a concession to the public, he made Diamonds & Pearls

"Diamonds & pearls" represent not jewels for a lover (like 100's of other singers have sung about!), but the highly polished songs on the album, and the listeners are the happy boys & girls.
That's the only explanation I have for the "boy or a girl" line, other than ambiguous sexuality, as in Anastesia.
"There will come a time love will blow your mind" is a message about god (remember god =love) and how when the public is enlightened they will realize how great a movie Graffiti Bridge was!
Is there something there, or is it just a bad song?

It is a beautiful song. The melody makes me remember of stevie wonder's "these three words"
Prince had tons of better ballads but it is still a good song and it DO is VERY catchy. My mother and my father and my sister love this song. :p

It is a catchy, pretty, well done song, but it has always struck me as one of the first of P's songs to follow rather than lead.

my mate insisted it was about giving a woman a "pearl necklace"...i disagreed but even my sister said when it came out she wondered if thats what he meant. you knwo what i mean right?

(to avoid having to explain in anothe rpost, it means to spunk over someones neck/chest, where a pearl necklace would be, get it now?! )

Diamonds and Pearls is a good song, but I'll admit it's been overplayed on the radio, tv, and in people's CD players wherever I go so I've grown kinda tired of hearing it. I always thought the lyrics were kind of dedicated to a possible future child, like Elton John's "You'll Be Blessed". I dunno, maybe I'm crazy, but that's how it always sounded to me. That would explain the lyrics, I think, "would you be a happy boy or girl" especially. Does anyone know what it's really about?

metaphor for butt beads.....butt beads

This will be the day
That u will hear me say
That I will never run away

I am here for u
Love is meant for two
Now tell me what u're gonna do

If I gave u diamonds and pearls
Would u be a happy boy or a girl
If I could I would give u the world
But all I can do is just offer u my love

Which one of us is right
If we always fight
Why can't we just let love decide (Let love decide)

Am I the weaker man
Because I understand
That love must be the master plan (Love is the master plan)

If I gave u diamonds and pearls
Would u be a happy boy or a girl
If I could I would give u the world
But all I can do is just offer u my love

D to the I to the A to the M
O to the N to the D to the pearls of love
D to the I to the A to the M (To the M)
O to the N to the D to the pearls of love

There will come a time (There will come a time)
When love will blow your mind (Blow your mind)
And everything U'll look 4 U'll find (Take a look inside)

That will be the time (That will be the time)
That everything will shine (Forever)
So bright it makes u colorblind (U will be color blind)

If I gave u diamonds and pearls
Would u be a happy boy or a girl
If I could I would give u the world
All I can do is just offer u my love

If I gave u diamonds and pearls (Pearls)
Would u be a happy boy or a girl (Yeah yeah)
If I could I would give u the world (Give u the world)
All I can do is just offer u my love (All I can do)

If I gave u diamonds and pearls (Diamonds)
Would u be, would u, would u
(Would ya, would ya, would ya be happy little baby)
A happy boy or a girl
If I could I would give u the world

---

I know wit this song I converted my best friend 2 liking Prince. I love the song myself..nice beat..good bkground singin'(as it wuz ending).

I never really like that song...kind of sappy.

I thought it was just about wanting to give one of the most precious things in life to the one you love when you have so much to offer when you really love someone, maybe not literally diamonds & peals, but the whole package of pure love, the most precious of all things, he wants to give his all to that special someone, which is why he offers from the finer, more beautiful things, the love is so bountiful, no matter what they choose, the person has their heart...I always LOVED this song.
[This message was edited Wed Apr 28 21:05:32 2004 by Starmist7]

softandwet said:

Okay, I get pearls of love, but the diamonds?
Sounds pretty damn painful for the guy

hIsMiRRoR said:

Yes, That would explain the "boy or a girl" line
And there are children featured in the video.

I always felt that the song was sort of a love letter or a Valentines Day card to give to a girl. It has one of the catchiest melodies I've ever heard. Sappy...so what...women love sappy.

Alrighty, lemme revise my earlier comment here. I didn't take all the lyrics into account, only the refrain. I think it may be about a future child AND a woman he hasn't been getting along with at the same time. Like he wants to have kids but he and his woman aren't getting along and he wants to fix things and have a baby. Well, you know what I mean anyway, right?

"Pearl Necklace" is the best song about a pearl necklace.

If I gave u diamonds and pearls
Would u be a happy boy or a girl
If I could I would give u the world
But all I can do is just offer u my love

I always thought this was from God's perspective (if u can dig that) and it was saying that God gave us His love and the world and everything in the world (including diamonds and pearls).

Just a side note about this song, I absolutley hated it until I saw the video for it. It was so awesome looking, I just couldn't help but like the song from there.