(no subject)

[shadowkat]

1. From J. Scalzi - Twitter:

2016 hates us. Each and every one of us. On a personal level that's hard to grasp. It's just sitting there mouthing "you know what you did."

Ugh. Yes.

2. So, Prince...

I adored him in the 1980s and 1990s. Sort of lost track of him, after he changed his name, which he changed back again. Still adore him actually. He was such a kind soul. Did you know that he helped struggling artists? The bands in Purple Rain said in interviews afterwards, how he'd discovered them and furthered their careers.

What he also did, much like David Bowie, although in some respects even more so, was make it okay to be different. More than okay, cool. He embraced his eccentricity and encouraged others to do the same.

Here's an article in The Guardian - Prince Broke Expectations for Black American Men.

He exuded love, kindness, and acceptance wherever he went. He was possibly one of the greatest musicians that ever lived, on piano and guitar, with extraordinary vocal range. A good businessman, who held onto the rights of all of his songs.

And his favorite color was Purple. (Which you know, is as it should be.)

Spike Lee threw a block party last night in Forte Green to celebrate his life, and buildings around the world turned purple. New Yorker's turned the Prince Street subway station into a makeshift memorial within hours of his death..

So yes, I adored him. And I know he's still dancing...in the afterlife.

Two renditions of on my favorites...Let's Go Crazy

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

The Lyrics:

Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called life

Electric word life
It means forever and that's a mighty long time
But I'm here to tell you
There's something else
The after world

A world of never ending happiness
You can always see the sun, day or night

So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills
You know the one, Dr. Everything'll Be Alright
Instead of asking him how much of your time is left
Ask him how much of your mind, baby

'Cause in this life
Things are much harder than in the after world
In this life
You're on your own

And if the elevator tries to bring you down
Go crazy, punch a higher floor

If you don't like the world you're living in
Take a look around you
At least you got friends

You see I called my old lady
For a friendly word
She picked up the phone
Dropped it on the floor
(Ah, ah) is all I heard

Are we gonna let the elevator
Bring us down
Oh, no let's go!

Let's go crazy
Let's get nuts
Let's look for the purple banana
'Til they put us in the truck, let's go!

We're all excited
But we don't know why
Maybe it's 'cause
We're all gonna die

And when we do (When we do)
What's it all for (What's it all for)
You better live now
Before the grim reaper come knocking on your door

Tell me, are we gonna let the elevator bring us down
Oh, no let's go!

Let's go crazy
Let's get nuts
Look for the purple banana
'Til they put us in the truck, let's go!

C'mon baby
Let's get nuts
Yeah
Crazy

Let's go crazy

Are we gonna let the elevator bring us down
Oh, no let's go!
Go crazy

I said let's go crazy (Go crazy)
Let's go, let's go
Go
Let's go

Dr. Everything'll be alright
Will make everything go wrong
Pills and thrills and daffodils will kill
Hang tough children

He's coming
He's coming
Coming

Take me away!

Comments

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I have always loved him, since i first heard "1999," and even more when I saw Purple Rain. I think he made it OK for so many people to be different.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

He did. He didn't worry about the media or seem to care what other people thought. He said -- this is me. I love you all.
Take me as I am.

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

To me, Prince was the last flower child... Maybe the only true flower child. While the flower children of the sixties sold out and bought stock portfolios, Prince built his life around the values they left behind: freedom. No judgment. No labels. Love and support.

He wasn't a simpering, dewy-eyed dreamer, though. He was a tough, shrewd businessman. But that seemed to be out of necessity.

Paisley Park and Strawberry Fields forever.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

An interviewer once asked Eric Clapton what it was like to be the best guitarist in the world, and Clapton responded, "I don't know, ask Prince."

What's amazing about Prince, was you could listen to his songs, and each one was different. He maintained and held on to all the rights to his songs, managed his own career, and furthered the careers of others. I remember after seeing Purple Rain, reading and seeing interviews with the two bands that had performed in it - both said how Prince helped them and furthered their careers. Including helping them navigate the music industry, which was not a nice biz.

I saw Purple Rain twice in the movie theater when I was high school, my mother took us, believe it or not. She adored him and insisted. We loved the movie so much, we insisted that friends who were visiting from California see it and we'd take them to it. So, within two weeks we saw it again. The whole theater stood up at the end and danced to the final song, Purple Rain. Both times. We sang it on the way out of the movie theater. I had that movie and the songs memorized as a kid. (And most of his albums, don't have them now, alas. My albums and tapes are long gone - the causalities of various moves. Did recently repurchase Purple Rain on itunes. May get a few more...)

Not everyone loved his music of course...a coworker thought he was just a weird guy anyway, but as my 12-year-old niece would retort, he was weird in a really good way. Like I am. Like she is. And shook the mainstream pop world and media up a bit.