OK. I admit it. I never really "got" Prince. Or much of Bowie for that matter. Or Lou Reed.

This is not meant to denigrate these guys in ANY way. It's just something about me that really came to a head with Prince's passing. A rock icon - a contemporary of mine, basically the same age - a genius - a trendsetter - etc.

I REALLY want to like his music. Because it's as if I don't, then that's a mark against me. 

But try as I might, I'm not moved. And I kinda hate it. At  least for Bowie and Reed I have some solid favorites that I like to listen to again and again. I can't think of one song by Prince that I can't do without. (I happen to love O'Connor's cover of Nothing Compares 2 U - but for that I really have to give Sinead 90% of the credit for what makes that song so great.)

Anyone else in this boat with me? Not necessarily for these artists - any artist. 

hmm. I could start a whole series of posts on what I don't "get".

wine
al dente anything
Starbucks coffee
The Star Tavern's pizza

Aren't you the dude who doesn't "get" punk? What do you actually like? You've just listed a bunch of stuff that sucked me right in and changed everything for me right from the first moment I heard all of it--like a key fitting into a lock. All of that stuff, punk included, is so undeniably, fundamentally essential to my being that it's impossible to begin explain it, or to imagine anyone not vibrating to its brain-blowing perfection. I think you're just operating on such an alien plane of taste that I truly could never relate to you as a human being (on an art-appreciation level, that is).

I think it's safe to say you're not alone in harboring these feelings.  Regarding Prince or any musician / actor / author / cuisine / geographical location for that matter.

I am more interested in what compelled you to start this thread.  Do you really feel unfairly judged because your musical tastes don't intersect with everyone else's? Are people calling you out if you profess your disinclination to admire the man and his music? Is it a broad trend or are a few individuals giving you a hard time?

A few years ago I dared to comment that I thought Paul McCartney gave a somewhat boring halftime concert at the Superbowl.  I was called out by a couple of folks but not broadly. I won both duels (pistols at 20 yards).

Seriously, it got my dander up for a little while and then I decided that everyone has their tastes, almost everyone has their sacred cows, and sometimes my superior tastes will be in the minority.

So what I get, is that there aren't many Prince songs that don't instantly make you want to get up and dance your butt off or make love.  drop the mike.

imonlysleeping said:

Aren't you the dude who doesn't "get" punk? What do you actually like? You've just listed a bunch of stuff that sucked me right in and changed everything for me right from the first moment I heard all of it--like a key fitting into a lock. All of that stuff, punk included, is so undeniably, fundamentally essential to my being that it's impossible to begin explain it, or to imagine anyone not vibrating to its brain-blowing perfection. I think you're just operating on such an alien plane of taste that I truly could never relate to you as a human being (on an art-appreciation level, that is).

what a strange comment.

mrincredible said:

I think it's safe to say you're not alone in harboring these feelings.  Regarding Prince or any musician / actor / author / cuisine / geographical location for that matter.

I am more interested in what compelled you to start this thread.  Do you really feel unfairly judged because your musical tastes don't intersect with everyone else's? Are people calling you out if you profess your disinclination to admire the man and his music? Is it a broad trend or are a few individuals giving you a hard time?

A few years ago I dared to comment that I thought Paul McCartney gave a somewhat boring halftime concert at the Superbowl.  I was called out by a couple of folks but not broadly. I won both duels (pistols at 20 yards).

Seriously, it got my dander up for a little while and then I decided that everyone has their tastes, almost everyone has their sacred cows, and sometimes my superior tastes will be in the minority.

No, I don't feel unfairly judged - though I do kind of feel forced to acknowledge a genius that I frankly don't see.

I like a sh**-ton of music (I bet, imonlysleeping, that you don't even approach me in my eclecticism) and I have any number of artists that I admire the hell out of, not just for their accomplishment but because their music moves me. I mean, really moves me. Like I can't imagine living life without this music as part of it.

Also, I never said I didn't like Prince. Or Bowie. Or Reed . (unlike punk and other noise-musics, which I really can't stand) What I don't get is the Beethovian sense of greatness that is bestowed on them. It's kind of weird watching the world around you all agreeing on something - and something about which I like to think I have a certain level of sophistication - and not really seeing what they're talking about.

Most of the time when I find myself apart from the pack, I'm pretty confident about my stance and don't feel much pressure to change or reconsider. But not in these cases. Not confident at all.

Music should move you, and if none of the above do that for you you should be able to say that without feeling apart from the pack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SINtBF4_dHA

Hey man

"If it don't turn you on, you oughta leave it alone" - BT Express

Don't sweat it, if you can't feel it- you can't feel it. For what it's worth, It's not just the music- it's the man, the perspective, the presentation, the vibe. Just how the music hits you and holds you is going to be different for everybody. You get out of it what you need out of it- you understand?  My Prince is Soft & Wet, Sexy MF, Pop Life.  My wife who is a diehard fan can't hum a lick from any of those tracks. We feel Prince in different ways for different reasons.  I can't listen to country or folk music, but I dig the hell out of Johnny Cash- because I feel something when he sings. The bigger question is how somebody who rocks the screen name "drummerboy" can not feel that Prince funk.

"Different strokes for different folks"  - Sly

Of the three,  Prince's music is my least favorite.  But it still beats by a wide margin most of the music DB does get. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3YfAu2dIV4

whatever music moves you, so be it. There's music I don't like much but I can still appreciate the talent of the musician.

However, I'm not sure why anyone would start a thread at the time of a person's death- a person whose music meant so much to many- talking about how you don't like their music. It's seems like one of those "don't have anything nice to say..." situations.

drummerboy said:

I REALLY want to like his music.

Next best thing: Dig the bliss behind the fact that so many fans do.

I can understand db here. It's kind of how I feel about Springsteen. I mean my iPhone knows Springsteen better than me, because everytime I spell Springsteen wrong, it corrects me, but while I like a couple of his songs, he never got into my soul.

I'm a huge Prince fan, but I think I understand what you're saying. Like many art forms, it takes an investment of time to "get" it. I don't "get" a lot of jazz or classical music (but can still appreciate it), whereas if I totally get New Wave, funk, and industrial music. It's all a matter of where you invested your listening time. And that's just music, I'm not even talking about literature, fine art, architecture and gardening.. Just enjoy what you enjoy, without remorse; there's simply too much great music (and other expressions of creativity) to be truly invested in (unless you have the time to make a career out of it, perhaps).

ridski said:

I can understand db here. It's kind of how I feel about Springsteen. I mean my iPhone knows Springsteen better than me, because everytime I spell Springsteen wrong, it corrects me, but while I like a couple of his songs, he never got into my soul.

Fair enough.  I suggest avoiding any song that was a "hit".  Try the album, "Wild, Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle."

Listen to your junk man, he's singing. 

Ok. I admit it. I don't "get" the purpose of this thread. Given the international and overwhelming reaction to the death of Prince, is it really about this particular OP's taste ( or lack of ) in music?

annielou said:

Ok. I admit it. I don't "get" the purpose of this thread. Given the international and overwhelming reaction to the death of Prince, is it really about this particular OP's taste ( or lack of ) in music?

No.   

I "get" the thread.  I like some of Prince's music but still impressed to see the tremendous outpouring of emotion from so many.  

And I agree with Ridski on Bruce.  I appreciate him and like some Springsteen music, but recognize there are several levels of fandom beyond me. 

I'll ge truly devastated, assuming I outlive U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rolling Stones, etc 

As long as DB is passionate about something, there is no need to worry.  

I too "get' the thread but it left me with: So what DO you like? What genre? What artist comes on the radio that you turn up? LOUDLY? 

Although I enjoyed Prince, I was mainly into his older songs. I couldn't hum anything current. That said, what's cool about him (there's more?!) is that perhaps you may not "get" him but he wrote so many songs for other artists that you might like:

I Feel for You - is an original Prince song written/performed by him then later recorded by Chaka Khan

Stand Back - originally by Stevie Nicks, she called on Prince to work on it and give it life

How Come You Don't Call me Anymore - written/performed by Prince and later sung by Alicia Keys

breal said:

Thanks! Praise the Lord. I'm awake.

conandrob240 said:

whatever music moves you, so be it. There's music I don't like much but I can still appreciate the talent of the musician.

However, I'm not sure why anyone would start a thread at the time of a person's death- a person whose music meant so much to many- talking about how you don't like their music. It's seems like one of those "don't have anything nice to say..." situations.

as I said - it's not that I don't like their music. It's that I apparently cannot recognize a greatness that other people seem to see quite readily. Too very different things.

The thread is about me, not the artists.

Music is very much a matter of individual taste, whether you are talking about genres or particular artists.  There is no right or wrong about it, no matter what anyone might say.

Regarding Bruce, I only enjoyed his earliest albums.  I know people who can't stand him and people who idolize him. 

Prince was so multi-talented and a great showman.  I could see how people were mesmerized by him at concerts.  His fans connected with him and his music, be it joyful or sad.  It could lift them up when they were down. With all his fame, he was also a kind man who had many friends in the business who he helped and inspired.  And he was most comfortable living in his home town in Minneapolis. So, I do get how people loved him. 

drummerboy said:

conandrob240 said:

whatever music moves you, so be it. There's music I don't like much but I can still appreciate the talent of the musician.

However, I'm not sure why anyone would start a thread at the time of a person's death- a person whose music meant so much to many- talking about how you don't like their music. It's seems like one of those "don't have anything nice to say..." situations.

as I said - it's not that I don't like their music. It's that I apparently cannot recognize a greatness that other people seem to see quite readily. Too very different things.

The thread is about me, not the artists.

I didn't mean to cause a Bruce diversion, btw. It's a strange feeling when millions are genuinely emotional over the death of someone with whom you didn't feel a connection.

I get the "what am I missing" thing. Not so much about Prince as at one time I was a wild Prince fan, early, then either he changed his style or I changed mine. But, once in awhile there is something that people go crazy for and I am just not getting it. And I would like to, as I have pretty eclectic taste, as drummerboy mentions, but now and then I think, hmm, what don't I hear or feel there.

But now you have piqued my curiosity so do tell, who gets you dancin', singin' and who just full tilt boogie moves you!

It may be that db doesn't full tilt boogie at all.

That's the only explanation. Okay that was mean.  Different stokes.  But DB, have you had a listen to Purple Rain recently.  He was just a kid when he created that rekkid.  It's an album.  I bet u r an album man.  It's orchestrated.  It's funky.  The lyrics are way, way, way better than they needed to be.  "Let's Go Crazy" may not be 4 u.  OK.  So start with track 6, "When Doves Cry."  Maybe you weren't listening to pop radio back then, but it was . . . singular.  There was nothing, nothing around that sounded even a little like it.  It was an ear worm to the nth degree.  Then just let it ride through track 7, "I Would Die 4 U."  Maybe "Purple Rain," the album closer at track 9, is a problem because you are a person who likes lyrics to make sense?  Let that go. 

Finally, I would point out that Prince loved Jimi and James (Brown & Rick) anybody can hear that.  But he was also a fool for Joni.  

I am so down with Prince.

EVERYBODY full tilt boogies! What really intrigues me, is when a fellow fan gets nuts over my least favorite track or is completely un-phased by a tune that transports me! After reading one of the other  threads, where Stevie Wonder was picked several times, I'd bet that people could argue endlessly about their favorite Stevie  album or song! And think how nuts people get when they go to a concert and their personal favorite song was not played! They obviously had planned on a full tilt boogie experience! Hmm Blame It On The Boogie.

What is it that these guys did or didn't do that makes you unable to appreciate their greatness the way others do?  

a nice tribute:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjgHfAtwMsg&app=desktop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPwm6YHmlFU