This is an absolutely superb piece of writing. It's about Prince. Give it a read if you get a chance.
I would never really have called myself a Prince fan, yet I've probably watched that video a couple dozen times in the past. 90% of his stuff wasn't my stuff. That 10%, though. It's the covers that do me in. Somewhere out there, there's a video of Prince doing your favourite artist's best-known song that'll make you question why Prince wasn't do it in the first place.
Some of his newer stuff: The version of that song from that SNL episode mentioned previous is stellar. Alas, it exists almost nowhere online, unless you were to track down a torrent of the episode (hosted by Chris Rock) which is mercifully well-seeded right now.
I didn't like it DTLW. From me it wasn't about Prince but about how a young American was able to use Priince as a symbol )) to get him through his confused youth. Nice story but not about Prince really. It was too much about Prnce being different, rather than being just bloody good. For me, anyway.
That's fair enough. I thought it was very good. I always find it fascinating how people connect with music and how songs and artists can have such a big influence on people, regardless of which stage of life they are in. In respect of what you said, though, this was definitely more of a cultural look at Prince and how this individual connected and viewed him. While very good, if you were hoping for an analysis or deeper insight into the man himself or just recognising how bloody brilliant his music was, then it would've left you feeling disappointed.
I kinda liked it for that reason, it gives a different spin, but I'll definitely be getting The Guardian today regardless (as I do every Friday) to read what Alexis Petridis has to say - for me he's the best music writer around right now.
