So much has been written about the once-in-a-generation musician Prince. I can’t tell you how happy I am that I have been a part of that particular generation. His style captivated, confused, and catapulted. He got people singing and dancing. But more importantly, he got them talking.
As someone who grew up with the music of Prince playing regularly on the radio, I thought I knew what he was about when I’d be bopping around dancing to his seemingly-simple lyrics and inescapable beats. Little did I know or expect that that indulgence would reach an entirely different stratosphere where he was concerned. Let me explain.
Prince sang about sex. He seemed to love it. And loved to sing about it. Who could blame him? He had that in common with the youth of that time. And he left no stone unturned either when it came to his songs: Head, 1+1+1is3, New Position. Love him or not, I think most people thought they had him figured out. But I wonder if he pulled off one of the most clever musical endeavors of his time, if not EVER. Let me explain.
Over the course of his 37? year career, he released 36 albums. 36! His popular song releases topped charts regularly throughout his entire career. But the real musical treasures were found embedded within his albums for those seekers who were brave enough to look. Going through his music catalog, one slowly begins to observe an evolution of spirituality that he seems to undergo. And it seems obvious after a while that he was completely aware of it. Looking back on interviews and concert footage, one may even believe that it was completely intentional when he would interject, “if you know what I’m singing about up here, c’mon, raise your hand,” during a stage performance of Purple Rain. Was it intentional? He doesn’t seem the random type. Or unprepared. For a man who was such a complete ARTIST, with specially designed outfits, custom designed guitars, and a home base that contained everything he needed to produce his unbelievably well-concocted musical renderings, chance sure doesn’t seem to be the way he played the game. How many gossip pics have you seen of Prince taking out the garbage wearing sweats and Crocs? EXACTLY.
Prince’s musical mastery was broad. He could sing. Man, could he sing. And play instruments. Wow, could he play instruments. He whipped up musical pieces that would come together in ways that the result ended up much more than simply the sum of the parts. But the dime on which his entire career turned was his lyrical genius. Not only did the man know how to write lyrics, he knew how to play with them to draw in his target audience, hook them with his music, and then attempt to instruct them. Acceptance, guidance, love, justice–just some of the themes that Prince’s music touched upon. Sex was a natural hook. It’s human. It’s natural. What better way to get his listeners to listen to songs about God and spirituality?
Working your way through his music catalog, one can almost witness how Prince’s spirituality evolves. Further consideration of song lyrics will cause you to stop at a line that seems out of place: in his song 1+1+1is3, we’re singing here about a threesome, right? Yeah, but the three players may not be who you think they are. (I think I feel Prince smiling slyly in Heaven right now. I see you, my purple friend.) What was he singing about in there when he mentions a “theocratic order”? When you pin down that line and listen to the song based around the line, something very different emerges: instead of singing about a sexual threesome, was he informing any potential romantic partner that he was only open to partnering if God was included in the relationship? Shit, I bet you didn’t see that coming.
Once you see that, the rest of his clever inclusions begin to fall into place. Was Purple Rain actually about St. Germain’s Violet Flame? Was Prince single-handedly trying to shower the world with love and understanding?
The level of Prince’s genius continues to rise and deepen. I could probably make a case for this perspective as a PhD thesis, but this is just a blog. Food for thought. Check out his music. Listen deeply. With an open heart. Maybe that’s all he was really asking for.
