The song Purple Rain is a bit like that scene in Extras where Ricky Gervais shows up to a Christian group wearing Travolta's suit out of Saturday Night Fever. He thinks it's all going to be about sex, and it ends up being all about religion.
This song is a fine example of the way Prince says cool sounding things that don’t mean anything. How many million people have sung along to the chorus (including me) without the faintest idea what on earth Purple Rain is supposed to be or represent? The high point is when Prince says “Everybody here knows what I’m talking about come on raise your hand”. Sh*t, I don’t know what he’s talking about but I’m raising my hand anyway, because he does enough to create this feeling that we sort of know what he’s on about: he’s lost someone, forever, he wishes them well, he is sad, he is uplifted, (or something).
Various people have various things to say about what this song means, but let's be honest: it's pop music - it "means" the words sound cool with the guitar riff.
As this is the most serious song on the Purple Rain album it somehow seems appropriate to mention that I once owned a video of a Prince concert. There are many things I could share with you from this video but I will pick the most offensive.
There was a section where Prince engaged in a particularly long guitar solo. It involved a lot of gyrating with the guitar between his legs, and even though you got the idea he went the extra mile in establishing the guitar as penis metaphor. He had a hose attached to his guitar. The nozzle came out the end of the guitar where the “head” was, and (have you guessed already?), at the climax of his solo a white liquid began shooting out the end of his guitar.
One thing I have always wondered is how did the audience that got sprayed with this white liquid react? There must have been a moment of sheer horror, a few seconds of tentativeness as you checked what the hell the liquid actually was, a sense of relief (presumably), and then what? I’m really not sure how I would react to someone spraying sheets of fake sperm over me, and I pray to remain unsure for the rest of my life.
5 comments:
I'm doing school work and you're writing about getting covered in fake sperm. Teachers cover a wide spectrum of activities during the school holidays. I wonder if anyone is jelly wrestling right now?
Why didn't you come to school today? Worried about your sperm count?
Richard (of RBB)
Inbetween me reading blogs I am working at home because Eleanor is sick (again). I am not counting sperm. I'm picking Meanette Jelrose for jelly wrestling.
What would you do if you were at a jazz concert and the trumpet player sprayed fake sperm all over you?
This post was almost a post on request. Danyl wanted a post on what the f Purple Rain means (which I didn't answer, but pretended to), and bingo (was his name-o) I supply one. I would like to request a post from Richard's Bass Bag about fingerless gloves.
I may as well comment on my own blog...
I would describe the thing on Prince's upper lip as bum fluff. When I was a school boys who had just hit puberty had bum fluff on their upper lips. I have two questions about this:
1) what is the evolutionary advantage to growing hair on your upper lip when you hit puberty?
2) how come everyone thought Prince was cool but those same people would give their mates sh*t at school for having bum fluff?
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