Shit I Learned from Prince

I came of age in the 80s in Chicago. It wasn’t Minneapolis but when you’re from the MidWest, anyplace in the region that’s doing something awesome is close enough to call your own. And Prince was doing “awesome” before that was a thing.

I was familiar with Prince before he went mainstream with Purple Rain. Controversy and 1999 would get serious (though edited) air time on the black stations in Chicago. He was edgy by all standards. He played with gender norms and was extremely forward about sexuality, the latter giving him some “room” for the former in the eyes of some folk in the community. After all, in those days, there were not a lot of black men walking around in g-strings and heels. It was a less tolerant time, but the brother left no doubt about his passions. His music spoke.

In the Michael Jackson versus Prince debate (yes, this was a thing), one was considered “innocent” and the other decidedly not so. I cast my lot with the “decidedly not so” guy with long hair, heels, ruffled shirts, crazy hot backup singers and a guitar that could melt your speakers if you dared crank them up high enough.

He’s the reason purple became my favorite color (cliche, I know). I even wore my Jheri curl in his style, poof up front, long in back, sides slicked back. Look, it was the 80s. It all seemed like a good idea at the time (a phrase that summarizes the entire decade).

I heard someone talk about how music during these years can actually “form” a person. Prince did that for me. When you read the lyrics for his songs, especially the B-sides, you can see this path he was laying out to connect the dots as he saw them. Here’s some of what I learned from Prince:

It’s all connected.

The pinnacle of spiritual enlightenment is God. The pinnacle of sex is the orgasm. The pinnacle of human connection is love. Those three pinnacles are the same peak of one mountain. You can’t truly know one without the other. His explicitly folding spirituality in with sex and love was ground-breaking in many ways.

Love everyone.

Love is one of those words that people either get because it fits their narrative or they dismiss as some Venice California (the old version) airy shit that doesn’t have a place in the heart of a heterosexual man. Those latter folks fail to appreciate the nuance that is love and how it applies to everyone. Many cops feel regret for killing, even if the person was armed. Many soldiers feel deep sorrow for the death of bystanders. That “regret” is an expression of love for their fellow man. Prince preached loving everyone, period. His lyrics championed that we are all children of God, equal in every way (“I said life is just a game; we’re all just the same; Do you wanna play”).

The facade only matters if you want it to.

What you wear and how your carry yourself only matter if it’s furthering your goals. If their (you know, them) judging you helps you move forward, let them judge. If it doesn’t, correct them. In either case, their judgment is their choice, and you can give a shit about it or not. That’s your choice. You do you. Prince lived this phrase long before it was a thing. Ultimately, you should focus on what’s important (“Some people wanna die; so they can be free”).

Do your art with everything you’ve got.

Love music? Play it. Love art? Make it. Love basketball? Love fashion? Love food? Whatever. Do the thing you love and do it with all your heart. Pour your soul into it. What the fuck are you saving your soul for anyway? For that matter, why do you think you have a soul? Pour it in and pass it around.

Have standards.

We got his art on his terms. (You can have any color you want, as long as it’s purple.) He re-imagined his sound, his band, his look. As he evolved, so did his music and message. Love yourself and what you make enough to give the best version of it to those who care enough to take it. Pay attention to what the world needs and see if your art can fulfill that need. It probably can for someone. Love those people.

Handle your shit.

I heard someone on the radio talking about how Prince was notorious for suing people who used his image and music in ways he didn’t like. And? You’re talking about the guy who changed his fucking name to an unpronounceable symbol for years until one of the largest entertainment companies in the world returned his rights to it. The rules of the game were used against him so he changed the piece he was playing on the board (that’s different and takes more balls than just quitting the game). When called upon to defend your art, do it with everything you have available to you.

Never give up. It will get better.

The lyrics to Let’s Go Crazy are very fitting today. He starts with the standard wedding opening and the meaning of life. He then goes into how the after-world is great (“a world of never ending happiness; You can always see the sun, day or night”) but you have to get through this life first, and it’s on you (“Things are much harder than in the after world; In this life; You’re on your own”). It’s his version of the lemon to lemonade encouragement but with more power, flair, percussion and serious guitar (“And if the elevator tries to bring you down; Go crazy, punch a higher floor”). He acknowledges all the wrongs that life can offer (like calling his “old lady” while she’s in the process of cheating on him) including death (“We’re all gonna die”) but insists on finding a better way, despite the ills of life. Don’t ignore them. Go through them.

I give Prince credit for opening my eyes to move beyond superficial measurements of a person and their worth. You could judge him for the hair, but then he hits you with the music. You can judge him for his (alleged) womanizing, but then he hits you with the spirituality of the lyrics. He made it hard to judge in the old ways we were taught. He made you think holistically.

Like many folks, I was lucky to see him perform (Purple Rain and Lovesexy tours). He poured himself into each show. Simply amazing. There are so many clips of him and his music, but I’ll share this one from his Superbowl performance. The video isn’t amazing for its sound but more as a mini-documentary on Prince and his passion for the art of the show.

The show manager called Prince and told him it was raining, and he apparently answered with “Can you make it rain harder?” Classic. Like rain is going to stop Prince from playing music and putting on a show. As it turns out, only death could do that.

#RIPPrince Rogers Nelson

Thank you. We love you too.