The 33 1/3 series from Continuum is made up of pretty short books about albums, short enough so that I figured I'd read two or three in succession. Michelangelo Matos wrote the one on Prince's Sign 'o' the Times. It's pretty good. Matos is a fairly witty writer, and his love for his subject is obvious.
And hard not to share. Prince was on a very short list of artists who at least gradually gained a kind of universal reach. Which allowed him to go to some pretty avant-garde places. As I'll tell anyone who can't get away fast enough, "When Doves Cry" strikes me as possibly the weirdest song ever to reach #1 on the charts.
2 comments:
Did we see the movie 'Purple Rain' with you? I remember we saw it at a theatre when it premiered and I seem to recall we appeared to be the oldest people in attendance. It was great and he was an amazing performer. We saw him in concert twice and I can affirm your point that his popularity became universal. So many people of every age and persuasion were swept away.
'When Doves Cry' is a beautiful and ultimately sad song about how love between two people can be destroyed. You're right that such insight is a great rarity at the top of the charts.
I did see Purple Rain, but not with you. I think I saw it with Chris, actually. It was quite an exciting show, nonetheless. He was versatile enough so that no matter what you were into there was some aspect of his work that would reach you. That's one of the secrets to his success, I think.
It's a very wild and innovative song. One way I'd put it is that it feels internal, like something someone is thinking to themselves, in an emotional state.
Post a Comment