Prince named an album and a movie Purple Rain. Everything about him is purple. I'm not a hardcore hardcore fan, but Prince is one of my favorite artists. I always have wondered the heck the color Purple signifies for Prince, and what Purple Rain the song and movie mean. Anytakers?

Maybe something to do with weirdness, like haze, mb some jimi influence. Or just rain to purify? Sorry if I seem really ignorant, Purple Rain's a good song musically, but if i knew what was going on lyrically, I think it'd be much more powerful for me.

Well, he's been big on the end of the world, the Book of Revelations and such. One theory is that the purple rain is the rain of blood against a blue sky, making purple.

Well, Purple is usually a colour assosiated with Royality, and since his name is Prince then I think it's a colour that chose him rather than he choosing it. Definately some Jimi influence as well. To me, "Purple Rain" is a feeling of spiritual realisation. It's when you're one with God. I'm not religious, but I do believe in the spiritual/higher-being/state of mind. When you're "In the Purple Rain" then you have reached that realisation.

IT's about vaginas. It has two major moral messages

Prince is conveying his absolute obsession with Vaginas. In his obsession the protaganist goes absolutly insane and wishes to actually bathe the vagina with his own hands. The problem is that at that point, his perception becomes distorted and the only thing he can see bathing such a vagina in is rain that happens to be purple. (MORAL MSG #1: Obsession with vaginas will distort your perception)

The hallucinations get worse and the protaganist ends up seeing an entire army of vaginas--A virtual Valitia, if you will. He realizes at that point that he has chovanistic tendencies and emplores all the vaginas to follow him as their leader so he can guide them all to his halucination--purple rain. It is their that he seeks to wash all the vaginas. That is he metaphorically sees himself baptising all the vaginas in the world with his purple rain.

In this manner he can have every vagina in the world without having to steel them from other men. (MORAL MSG #2: Don't still other people's vaginas)


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[This message was edited Tue Jun 22 3:52:04 2004 by AsianBomb777]

One theory says that this when a woman wearing mascara - very popular in the 80's - cries, you get purple rain. There's some other story about a woman who died on the operating table and while under, saw raindrops fall from the sky with purple light behind them, therefore purple rain. Neither would make much sense with the lyric "I only want 2 c u laughing in the purple rain" though.

Maybe, like a lot of great songs, it's semi-meaningless words that sound good.

MrSquiggle said:

If the woman on the operating table died, how do you know what she saw??

Heidi said:

Well, she was legallyl dead for something like ten minutes and brought back to life.

toejam said:

I agree with this because in the song emancipation ,which is about setting urself free and being in a higher state of mind etc, he says 'see u in the purple rain' wjich kinda sums it all up

I always thought that purple was the color of God's tears, therefore thats what the purple rain was.

I always thought it had something to do with the Chupacabra. Anyone see that X Files episode where they mentioned it?

I'm a lyrical genius so let me take a crack at this.

Prince is speaking in the voice of God in “Purple Rain.” The rain cleanses the earth and purple symbolizes royalty. *Not to mention that “God” was the B-Side to the single “Purple Rain.”

Think about the lyrics:
I never meant to cause you any trouble, I never meant to cause you any pain. I only wanted to one time see you laughing… in the purple rain

I never wanted to be your weekend lover: we go to church on the weekends then go back to doing everything else during the week

You say you want a leader, but you can’t seem to make up your mind: all the fighting and confusing over leadership and religious orders that keep us separated.

I think you better close it and let me guide you to the purple rain: God sent us a savior to guide us into His garden that grows from the rain

Hello everyone. This is my first post so I'll try to make sense. I always thought Purple Rain actually had something to do with the deleted barn yard love scene that was never used in the film. According to the script, if I remember correctly, when Prince and Apples made love it started to rain and the combination of the rain and the mist or fog made the rain look purple. Thus creating the Purple Rain. After reading that portion of the script and watching the movie after Prince performed the song, it actually made sense why Apples was so emotional after his performance. I am praying that this scene as well as other deleted scenes will be included in one of the documentaries on the special edition.

Purple Rain: Can someone say metaphor? Purple Rain = Heaven.

LaughinAtYall has a good point too, I can agree that Purple Rain = God, as well.

MrSquiggle said:

Actually the first one makes sense. "I only want to see you LAUGHING in the Purple Rain"

Tears of laughter, not sorrow. Tears of joy, not pain. Joy from knowing God.

LaughinAtYall said:

shhh, don't tell anyone...

but U R a lot closer than everyone else

purple = royal.....

lmfao!!!!!


yall chill with all the lil theories k? purple rain means nothing! just like mm bop means nothing...when the writin 4 purple rain was goin on prince told the writer guy that he wanted "purple" in the title....so the dude came up with Purple Rain.
[This message was edited Tue Jun 22 8:38:49 2004 by Moonwalkbjrain]

I think LaughinAtYall gave a good disection of the song.

Prince played a lot with the seeming dichotomy of sex and God - physical relationships/pleasure and spiritual well-being.

I think it's been discussed here before, and many fans are of the thought that Purple Rain the album is one of Prince's most lyrically spiritual albums (and certainly more concerned with such matters than the previous 5 albums).

Purple Rain can be read as a song about a relationship (romantic love) or God (spiritual love) in pretty much the same way as I Would Die 4 U can.

I think this duality in the lyrics (and presumably the authors thinking) led to some great, great music. The orthodox belief that sex is for reproduction in a loving, monogamous relationship, Prince's womanising and polygamous lifestyle - that's a fight within itself, then you have the recurring theme in Prince's music that sex (a physical act) is a way of communing with God (the spiritual) - which questions everything else, yet, brings it together as one also.

Shame Prince seems to endorse a more dogmatic and medieval view of such matters these days.

Moonwalkbjrain said:

yeah i read this somewhere too, prince was writing in a purple journal/ diary during the 1999 tour or something and when the movie came across prince wanted the title to have the word purple in it instead of being called "dreams"

LaughinAtYall said:

I AGREE WITH THIS. PRINCE ALSO DURING THE PURPLE RAIN TOUR HAD "GOD'S" VOICE BOOMING OUT AT PRINCE. P THEN ASKED "GOD" IF HE WANTED 2 TAKE A BATH WITH HIM. I DIDN'T DIG PRINCE DOING THAT, USING GOD'S NAME IN THAT KIND OF TEXT, BUT IT DEFINATELY TIES IN WITH THE THEORY GIVEN ABOVE. I CAN SEE PRINCE SPEAKING IN THE VOICE OF GOD IN PURPLE RAIN LYRICS, JUST LIKE HE DID IN 'I WOULD DIE 4 U". THERE ALSO, HE WAS SPEAKING IN THE VOICE OF GOD. THAT'S VERY DANGEROUS AND NOT A WISE THING 2 DO, BUT YEAH, IT MAKES SENSE WHEN U READ THE LYRICS IN THOSE 2 SONGS. P DID THIS AGAIN ON "TEMPTATION".

rstokey2 said:

YES, THE LYRICS R TIED IN WITH THAT SCENE. PROBABLY BECAUSE OF RATINGS AND WARNER BROS TARGETING THE FILM 2 A YOUNG AUDIENCE AND NOT WANTING 2 ROCK THE BOAT, THAT SCENE WAS DELETED.

Purple rain= Purple hell


I'm sooooo sick of this song...and plus its so over rated....really

In Romeo and Juliet , there is a mention of 'purple fountains' which means fountains of blood

Thinking about the movie and reading the lyrics, I think Prince is saying that he
didnt want to make someone abandaon their dreams and stray from their beliefs,
he only wanted to show them how much he loved them and wanted to make them
happy.
And I agree I think the actual Purple Rain in a metaphor for God/Heaven

thekidsgirl said:

....Or maybe it was about a purple romp in the hay, but I'll stiick with somthing a bit more meaningful

I thought he was Purple Rain

Wendy said at the time that Purple signified the color of the sky at dawn.

Isn't purple also minnesotas state color?

that makes sense.....

Rhondab said:

really.

Googled "Aura reading":
Purple: indicates spiritual thoughts. Purple is never a strong point in the Aura. It appears only as temporary "clouds" and "flames", indicating truly spiritual thoughts.
I remembered that a purple aura indicated some "higher" realm of thought. Although it's generally known that purple is "the color of kings;royalty" obviously his name IS Prince....but he doesn't seem to go for the simple obvious in symbols.
There's also the idea that "purple rain" referred to the emotional eruption (eruption of tears, whether joyful release or painful release,whichever) that signals an end of a depression. I forget where I heard this.