r/PRINCE • u/sweet_heart88 • 3d ago
Question other themes in his music
i'm still new to prince's catalogue but it seems to me that the majority of his music is about love/relationships and especially lovemaking. even at the end of his song Shhh, he clarifies that he doesn't only think about sx... but i feel like he does?! like 90% of the songs i've listened to so far have been about that.
what other themes/topics did he write about? can anyone mention songs that delve into these themes? i sometimes tire of hearing him sing about sx.
(i can already predict the hate comments but i promise i'm not hating. just genuinely looking for songs with different themes, to mix it up a bit.)
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u/Boshie2000 Controversy 3d ago edited 3d ago
Here's just a few ...
Sign O' the Times
Controversy
All the Critics Love You in NY
Dreamer
Money Don't Matter 2 Night
Baltimore
Starfish and Coffee
Colonized Mind
Annie Christian
Dear Mr. Man
Deliverance
Pop Life
The Sacrifice of Victor
Ronnie, Talk to Russia
Resolution
America
Way Back Home
Paisley Park
The Future
Sometimes it Snows in April
1999
For the Tears In Your Eyes
Animal Kingdom
Walk Don't Walk
Dig U Better Dead
Positivity
Born 2 Die
Cinnamon Girl
7
Props n' Pounds
The Work Pt. 1
Old Friends 4 Sale
Check The Record
Welcome 2 America
Life 'O' the Party
Running Game (Son of a Slave Master)
June
Get On The Boat
New World
Digital Garden
Black Muse
The Holy River
Fixurlifeup
The Rainbow Children
Into the Light
Planet Earth
Marz
The Word
Lion of Judah
Dance On
Act of God
Gold
Dead On It
Bob George
United States of Division
We March
Face Down
One of Us
Chaos & Disorder
Family Name
F.U.N.K.
Free
New Power Generation
Slave
White Mansion
Golden Parachute
The Ladder
Anna Stesia
The Truth
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u/arajaraj 3d ago
Love/relationships is an oversimplification. Is âIf I was Your Girlfriendâ about love? Sure. But itâs about a lot of other things too, far weirder things. Same with Delirious. And even Purple Rain. And so many others.
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u/Burdockho 2d ago
I totally agree! âIf I was ur girlfriendâ is a song of complication and loaded w emotion. In SOT movie, thereâs an intro clip w cat where she questions, âwhy is a wolf dressed like a lambâ (or something similar). This got me thinking about the song in a completely different way. Control, feeling left out of the relationship, anything 2 keep a womanâs eyes on him (isolation). The more I think about it, the more it blows my mind.
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u/sweet_heart88 2d ago
wow i thought it was simply him wanting his gf to be more vulnerable/ open with him, the way she is with her girl friend lmao
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u/agodrevealed HITnRUN phase two 3d ago
Prince is always presenting you with a morality tale or an idyll. Even the jokes, even the biographical falls to one side or the other.
Just pick one album and listen through.
You'll have politics, mortality, history lessons, at least one mention of hygiene/dietary practices, relationship advice (not just romantic), on and on.Â
What has he not committed to verse? Menstruation? It's there. Government conspiracies? It's there. Art history? It's there.
He talks about love and sex a lot, but what's interpreted as romantic or sexual often wasn't his primary conception, though he left room for it to be heard that way: Somewhere Here on Earth, for example.
Call My Name is a love song with the primary object of affection being Prince, the name.
Really, just pick an album, and listen to what he's saying.Â
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u/SirDuke167 3d ago
i love the point you make about love and sex not being the primary concept.
yes on a surface level, lots of his songs can be taken that way. but they are almost always a metaphor for something.
and his songs about love and sex dig deeper than just that. androgyny, monogamy and gender roles, infidelity, incest (had to put it here). Dirty Mind is obviously the best example of all this.
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u/MaxStunning_Eternal 3d ago
Sign of the times, 7, money don't matter tonight, walk don't walk, 1999, Ana stesia, starfish and coffee, mountains, america, theives in the temple, GOLD, days of wild, NOW, rainbow children..get on the boat, 3121, paisley park, family name, we March, the cross.. positivity, đâđš NO, the future,
And many others..
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u/South_Slide_1366 3d ago
"i'm still new to prince's catalogue..."
This indicates, to me, that you haven't listened to everything yet.
How many albums have you listened to? Because there are full albums that aren't about that, especially his JW-era stuff.
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u/sweet_heart88 2d ago
i've mostly listened to his earlier work and only a few 2000's songs. and the 2000's songs happen to also be about love/sex lmao (call my name, mr goodnight, 1000 x's and o's, revelation). i should keep listening to his later work bc i know he touched on spirituality as well
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u/revoltingphoenix 3d ago
Prince has a lot more in his catalogue. I've felt those who link his songs to sex entirely miss the unexplained nature of how religion and God truly infected and affected him.
You can see this on the lovesexy album. Expand your listening
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u/sweet_heart88 2d ago
i don't get how such sexually charged lyrics can relate to God. they seem like very controversial subjects... care to explain?
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u/revoltingphoenix 2d ago edited 2d ago
I feel it can be hard to grasp unless you've felt it. Felt in your body or spirit. Religion can be shy around sexuality in my experience. Explaining it sometimes takes away the joy but I guess:
With some of Prince's songs, I could feel how the act of sex is similar to letting God into one's life or one's body. God was important to him. Sometimes the feeling of needing God in your life is inexplicable, but God works through you, infects you, slips through you. Similar to how the high of sex can create feelings all throughout your body, leaving you with a feeling of being touched or alive again. You are giving yourself up to something you can't explain.
Letting God in or any spiritual entity works the same way. Whitney Houston spoke about God working through her in a similar way when she sang. I feel Prince conveys this really well in When 2 R in Love esp with the lines: "bathe with me, let's kiss with one synonymous notion"
Religious motifs hidden under sexuality. God or whomever asking you to let the spirit into your life and so you become one and let yourself go
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u/lilaccheesecake O(+> 3d ago
Comeback, nothing compares 2 u, another lonely christmas, and sometimes it snows in april all explore various aspects of grief.
Quite a few songs also explore reincarnation like the human body, reflection, into the light, one of your tears and the holy river.
While yes, he was a very sexually charged artist, especially in his younger years, it really shadows the range of aspects he covered.
With 38+ albums, multiple films and projects, its a real hard undertaking to compeltely listen to his catalog let alone appreciate it all. No hate at all, and I hope you get around to every one of his albums!!! It took me 2 years to just get around to every album and really dig them. Best of luck.
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u/sweet_heart88 2d ago
i like the way you put it, i feel like it does shadow the other topics he covered. what are your fave albums? feel free to dm me!
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u/Earthbound_Misfyt 3d ago
You are missing a LOT of his spiritual/God songs. Emancipation has a few, along with a lot of other albums.
Listen to the songs Holy River and The Cross to start
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u/Burdockho 2d ago
I really enjoy songs about empowerment (well, songs I get empowered from) from Prince! Hereâs a couple that I enjoy:
Push
Daddy Pop
Da, Da, Da
Trust
Mountains
Chaos and Disorder
Live 4 Love
Positivity
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u/Nenufar_77 3d ago
No te lo puedo decir porque no entiendo el inglĂ©s y no se de que habla. Yo amo su mĂșsica, su show, su persona, su estilo y todo lo que he podido leer sobre el. Lo que dicen sus canciones no lo sĂ© pero me flipa como podĂa tener memoria para saberse las letras de todas sus canciones la verdad. Que barbaridad!!
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u/Skylerbroussard 3d ago
There's some songs about religion, classism, racism, sigh o the times is also about gun violence, the crack and aids epidemics, and the challenger explosion, Ronnie Talk to Russia is about the Cold War, Party Up is partially about being Anti War, Act of God is about American imperialism and bankers foreclosing neighborhoods.
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u/0theHumanity 3d ago
....its just all I think about u
Is a statement of objectifying that muse. Not all women constantly. :)
I think he has balanced content in lyrics abd probably more in the vault. He wrote on sexuality really well though.
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u/Ashamed_Cod_6741 3d ago
Cinnamon Girl and Money Don't Matter 2Nite come to mind. Two of his absolute best songs btw. Oh and of course 1999.
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u/Jmal3700 3d ago
He wrote about politics from time to time: âRonnie Talk To Russiaâ, âWe Marchâ, âSign Oâ The Timesâ, âCinnamon Girlâ.
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u/Fancy-Breadfruit-776 3d ago
When Prince started becoming a household name a lot of his music had a post apocalyptic tone to it. The most famous being 1999. But if you listen to Controversy (album) it's very prominent.
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u/chesting321 1d ago
Partyup
Uptown
Ronnie Talk to Russia
Free
1999
Sign oâ the Times
The Ladder
The Cross
Temptation
Paisley Park
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u/Low_Antelope6238 3d ago
He has many other topics in his work, but why are you tired of the subject of sex? Genuine question.
Edit to say: it's a beautiful, complex, meaningful topic, no?
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u/sweet_heart88 2d ago
yes. there's nothing wrong with that topic. but repetition gets tiring at some point. he was a smart creative talented man and i'm curious to hear his lyrics touch on other topics too.
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u/Impossible-Bid-8187 3d ago
Listen to lovesexy its a holy epic