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Prince...what happened, man?
Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
2 get through this thing called life
Maybe it is because I listened to certain Prince songs at a certain period of my life that some of his music so deeply resonates with me. And maybe because my musical interests expanded during the period in which Prince was doing different things....well, maybe that's when I outgrew Prince.
To me, Prince will always (and only) be the time from Purple Rain to The Hits/The B Sides.
Apollonia was the epitome of womanhood to me....thick, light-skinned, long hair, bustier, and a cape. I mean, can it get much better than a cape? I was five for Christ's sake!
When my uncle drove me around town, he always had the window all the way down. I closed my eyes and looked at the way the sunlight lit up my eyelids. Everything was crimson. The wind whipped around my face, and I imagined I was Apollonia or Prince riding on the back of that motorcylce through Minnesota.
For years I didn't know what "master baiting" was and how you could do it with a magazine. Thanks, "Darling Nikki."
I wonder if listening to Prince albums at a young age turned me gay?
Even though there were three albums after Purple Rain, the next one I have vivid memories of was the fourth one, Lovesexy. Remember the cover? Was he a man? Was he a woman? What the hell was he? And what does Hundalasiliah! mean? Is it like hallelujiah on crack?
"Alphabet Street" reminds me of Nickelodeon. Grandma and Pa-Pa finally decided to pay for cable and I used to RUN to their house after school until my mom picked me up at around 4:15 or later if I was lucky! Nick used to play videos sometimes and Alphabet Street was one of the most popular ones.
But my favorite one was "I Wish U Heaven"....the video was mesmerizing. Prince was...Prince...hypnotic falsetto...doves...apples...
Then Batman came out. It was bad/good enough that the movie itself was coming out and would be GREAT (we all knew it) but when it was announced that Prince would do the soundtrack....oh. My. God.
I guess I was in the fifth grade when I really got into the soundtrack...and the video for Batdance was off the hook. Budget -- but off the hook. I liked the fact that it had elements of a lot of the rest of the songs on the soundtrack.
"Stop the press, who is that?"
"Vicki Vale."
I consider Graffiti Bridge to be the last album of my childhood...it was innocent, playful, but deep...the movie SUCKED, but the album was classic. I liked it because it wasn't just Prince. It was Morris Day, Tevin Campbell, and Mavis Staples...I mean come on! Legends! Well, Lil Tevin wasn't a legend yet, but who didn't love "Round & Round"? That song reminds me of the Brooks family that lived across the street. (If anybody knows what happened to Mary, Freda, Gus, Laura, and Sarah, please let me know.) It reminds me of the summer time and a whole lot of other songs that were out. It reminds me of ending elemntary school and being afraid to start Junior High because of gym class and showers and bigger kids.
Some of those songs....man, they still move me. They move me.
Diamonds and Pearls came before this album, but it just didn't move me the same way. I guess we'll have to call this one the "symbol" album. This is the one...this is how I knew I was a man. And this was the beginning of the end of my love affait with Prince.
He had a new woman -- Mayte. Was she really his girlfriend or was it just a Blair Witch-type of publicity stunt?
He was hip-hop..... my name is Prince...and I am funky!
He gave me hard-ons with "I Wanna Melt With You" and "The Continental":
Baby, how u wanna how u wanna be done
Just say the word and we can start from number 1
And go the distance baby, until u tell me stop
I'll lose myself inside u till u get all I got
Talk 2 me baby, tell me how u wanna be done
And he even had Kirstie Alley on there....man, this album was everything to me. I came...of age...to this album.
And there I was in Junior High School....not really a man. But a man.
In 1993, The Hits/The B-Sides came out. That's how I caught up with all his early stuff, songs I missed on Sign O The Times, and fell in love with some B sides. I wore those tapes out until I finally had to get the CDs years later. I ushered in my high school years with Prince's finest moments.
I had a friend, Liana Jones. When I connected with her, I knew what it meant to be a Prince fan. She and I used to bug out listening to all of his more obscure work, like Come. I miss Liana. Last I heard she went to Parris Island. This was in 1997.
I grew. I started listening to all kinds of other music, even outside of David Bowie. (My pretend-father, in case you didn't know.) Listened to go-go...a little Biggie, a little Tupac. Puffy, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown. Anything that was on VH1, anything that was on MTV, and anything that the Russ Parr Morning Show played.
Now, I can't even listen to Prince. I just don't get him anymore. Yeah, Emancipation wasn't bad. Crystal Ball had its moments. But it just wasn't the same. I had already come of age....his music just wasn't forbidden anymore, not in the age of nasty rap from Luke, Lil Kim, etc.
I don't really have a profound statement to wrap this thing up. I used to really like Prince's music, and from time to time I still listen to some old songs to remember what it felt like to be seven, eight, nine, or ten, or just hittin puberty. Those memories are still vivid to me. Sometimes I remember things I planned on forgetting, and other times I remember things I am sorry I had forgotten.
Maybe Prince and I just grew apart. I'm thankful for the music he did give me while we were together though -- I wouldn't be the person I am without it.
Posted by Rashid on August 14, 2005 12:19 AM
Comments
Oh my God, I'm so feeling you. Prince & me ain't what we used to be either. I was young when I first heard 'I wanna be your lover'. And didn't totally understand my attraction to the little guy with the special voice.
But by Purple Rain ... his appeal was lasciviously clear. I went to see the movie so many times I lost count, always alone, hunkered low in the dark theater. It was closest thing I had to porn then. ;o)
Thanks for the trip over graffitti bridge .....
Commented by taylor Siluwé on August 14, 2005 8:42 AM
Oh my word, I feel sooooo old. Thanks, Rashid. LOL I remember pre-Purple Rain Prince when he would prance around in a black trenchcoat and some teeny weeny bikini draws talkin bout "Am I black or white/Am I straight or gay/Controversy!" I saw the visual and heard the music and that's all he wrote. He had me at "Head".
I too fell out of love with Prince for a while--the downward spiral began with the Symbol album for me--but he captured my affections again last year. After seeing his royal sexiness on the Grammys with Bouncy, it was on. Then Musicology dropped and although it was no Sign O' the Times, it was better than anything he'd put out in over a decade. And the cherry on top of my Prince cake was seeing him on tour last summer and being blessed with front row seats. Gasp and swoon! I could have died a happy woman that night.
And what can I say, my love affair with Prince--what he was and what he is--is back on again.
Commented by Butta on August 15, 2005 2:53 AM
I just re-discovered Prince in my adulthood due to hisperformance with Beyonce on the Grammy awards. I never knew he was that deep lyrically and was so expansive in his musical styles, besides what was released as singles. And yes I think in the 1990's we all kind of fell out of love with Prince, because the quality of the music was just not up to snuff, but after seeing him in concert last year, my love for Prince had been rekindled.
Commented by Ricky on August 15, 2005 10:36 AM
Prince was one of my favorite artists growing up. You couldn't get any better than 1999, Controversy, Purple Rain, Sign O' The Times, or Batman. It seemed like he couldn't go wrong. Right after the Symbol album, I wasn't feelin' his music as much anymore. It just wasn't the same. Maybe the battles with his record label at the time (Warner Bros) contributed to the downward spiral his music began to take during this period.
While a sophomore in college, my roommate introduced me to the Dirty Mind album. I fell in love with his music all over again while listening to this album. What a masterpiece! And what a turn on! Always did like the erotic twists and turns of his music. He further redeemed himself with the release of Musicology. Though it may not be as good as some of his much earlier work, I agree that it certainly is better than much of his 90's material.
Commented by BuddahDesmond on August 16, 2005 1:50 AM
I think I fell in love with Prince when I heard International Lover than later on he made Adore. I will spare you my feelings. LOL
Commented by Heather on August 25, 2005 9:03 PM
I loved the Prince you talked about. He was THE MAN! My all time favorite song ever is stil ADORE...
Funny you had a Liana friend too, and since go-go is a favorite of yours I will say I am from DC too.
Seeing Prince in concert today though reaffirms any love lost I might have had...
Commented by Liana on November 2, 2005 11:30 AM
i'm really sorry that you don't feel him anymore. i guess because i'm a little bit older than you, i have more of an appriciation for the man and his music. have you heard/seen the song/video "black sweat". man that shit is groovier than they come. sorry, did i say 'groovy'? i'm showiing my age...anyhoo, him and his music is just timeless to me and to me, he can just do no wrong. he could come out with a country and western album and i would still dig it. lovesexi tour was my first concert (Nov 29, 1989) when i was a junior in high school. i won tickets from the radio and i had to take my stepdad. but it was beyond exhilerating to see him in person. then, two yrs. ago, i took my 8 yr. old daughter to see him for her first concert. i guess you can say it's been a cathartic adventure for us to see prince first. maybe you should see him live--then you would fall in love with him all over again.
Commented by Stephanie on February 12, 2006 2:37 PM