Tag: Prince

My Secret Shame: Why I Don’t Like the song Purple Rain

May 14, 2020 – Prince and the Revolution: Live 1985 (2020) Youtube

The Prince estate is streaming this complete concert from 1985 through Sunday night, May 17. It is free to watch, but they ask for donations to the United Nations World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. If you read this in time, go watch this concert now while you have the chance.

The concert is amazing. Prince is at the height of his powers. It is like watching Michael Jordan in the early 1990s. Prince’s singing, piano playing, and guitar playing are all great; the band is so well-rehearsed and tight; Prince’s energy seems inexhaustible; the costumes, lighting, and choreography are all elaborate – it is really a show. There are so many high points in this concert, but if I had to choose just one, I pick the nearly endless, high energy performance of Baby I’m a Star, which closes the concert before the final encore of Purple Rain. Prince is having an amazing time during this song, running back and forth, calling out directions to the band, dancing with Jerome and members of the Time (I think). He is joined by Shiela E. on percussion, Eric Leeds on sax, and Apolonia Six on backing vocals. It is Prince at his most energetic, danceable and infectious.

I now must admit something I have never shared with anyone. But first I have to establish my bona fides. I am a big fan of Prince. I have seen him many times in concert, in giant arenas, medium-sized theaters and small clubs. I have bought every Prince album the day it came out, including The Rainbow Children. I know who Jamie Starr is, and I have listened to albums by The Family, Mazarati, and Madhouse – all produced by Prince. I have even seen the Prince movie Under the Cherry Moon. I may not be as big a Prince fan as my friend Eric Greene – who may have seen all 21 of Prince’s concerts in the Los Angeles Forum in April and May of 2011 when I only saw one of those shows – but I am in the top 1% of Prince fans for sure.

So, with my Prince fan credentials established, I can sheepishly admit to you that I don’t like the song Purple Rain. I recognize this is everyone’s favorite Prince song. It closed the Prince tribute concert on CBS in April, as it closed the live concert in 1985 that is streaming now. I know I should like Purple Rain, but I find the song turgid and obvious. The melody of Purple Rain is moving, yes, but what exactly is the song about? What is this “purple rain” that Prince is talking about? I guess the song is an apology to a lover that Prince hurt, but the song lacks all specificity. Purple Rain is a power ballad, and I have always hated power ballads and all anthemic songs that seem aimed at the last row of the stadium. The song’s production is overblown and manipulative. Purple Rain requires you to waive your arm over your head in a slow back and forth motion. I don’t want to do as directed – when everyone moves in unison on the orders of one person, I feel like I am in a Fascist rally being filmed by Leni Riefenstahl.

Prince has real moments of vulnerability that I find genuinely moving. My two favorite moving, vulnerable Prince moments are How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore, which was the B-side of the single 1999, and Sometimes it Snows in April from the album Parade. To me, the song Purple Rain is not a moving, vulnerable Prince movement; it is a moment of heavy-handed manipulation.

He Belonged to Me

April 21, 2020 – Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince (2020) CBS

Prince Rogers Nelson died 4 years ago today. He was the first music superstar my age that I followed and loved. I discovered Prince in 1981, six months or so after the release of Dirty Mind, his third album. I loved Dirty Mind — it is still probably my favorite Prince album — it was vital, rocking, soulful, funky and very, very sexy. He played all the instruments on the album. I became a devoted fan, buying his next album Controversy the day it came out and sitting 12th row at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. The intimate auditorium was electric — everyone thrilled to the concert, and it still is one of the best shows I have ever seen. The Time opened for Prince, and they may have been even better that night than Prince and his band. I also skipped class to go alone to the first showing of Prince’s first and best movie Purple Rain, a 10:00 am matinee.

I have followed Prince through the years, buying his records and seeing him when a could, at venues large — sitting in the last row of the Worcester Centrum for the Lovesexy tour — and small — standing behind Ron Wood and his 25-year-old girlfriend, 8 feet from Prince and his Jimi-Hendrix-syle power rock trio in the Conga Room, a small club in Los Angeles. Prince was my age — or so I thought when I discovered him, it turned out his publicists shaved a couple of years off his age. My other favorite musicians are all substantially older than me. I always felt Prince belonged to me in a way that other favorites didn’t because we grew up together, because I watched him become a star.

This concert tribute special was filmed in January. The weakest performances in this concert are the ones that most closely mimicked the original Prince songs — and even these performances are not bad. H.E.R. was a revelation — trading guitar licks with Gary Clark Jr. on Let’s Go Crazy and playing piano and singing her heart out on The Beautiful Ones. Other strong performances included Clark doing The Cross, Beck doing Raspberry Beret, St. Vincent doing Controversy, and Miguel doing I Will Die 4 U. Sheila E. presided over the whole thing. My favorite moment of the night was the reunion of the original members of The Time, including Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, doing a medley of their hits. They were a great band then, and they are a great band now.

The Prince tribute special airs again, this Saturday night, April 25th. Don’t miss it.