![]() ![]() ![]() So stripped down to its most-basic elements, “Purple Rain” is indeed a love song with a considerable degree of complexity. Even Lisa Coleman, one of the members of The Revolution, has interpreted it differently from Prince. So from his perspective, what is actually going down in this tune is that he and the addressee are basically experiencing “the end of the world” together. And they are both tasked with surviving this ordeal or ‘letting their faith/god guide them through the purple rain’. Now in all respect to the musical genius that was Prince, on the surface at least the lyrics do not seem to reflect this storyline at all. But considering that he is the one who actually wrote the song, we have no choice but to take his word for it. What Prince has said about “Purple Rain”Īnd then we also have to take into consideration what the Purple One himself has said concerning the meaning of this track. And according to Prince, the narrative featured is actually set in an apocalyptic scenario, kind of like another of his songs that we’ve covered, 1982’s “ 1999”. Or as he explains it, “purple rain” actually alludes to the idea of “blood in the sky”. Or stated differently, the redness of blood mixed with the blueness of the sky produces “purple rain”. So apparently when he first wrote this tune, it wasn’t exactly what you would call a love song nor one which necessarily fit into the overall plot of the “Purple Rain” movie. And this may explain some of the ambiguity contained therein. However, considering that the track was indeed edited down and had over two minutes and an entire verse from the original recording omitted, it is possible that the song, in its entirety, was intended to convey a whole different meaning. Indeed in the deleted verse Prince states to the addressee forthrightly that he ‘doesn’t think he wants her love’ and if forced to choose between her affection and money, would choose the latter. So it is theorized that throughout the lyrics there are also references to said film. Now as will be mentioned in the lower section of this post, this song actually serves as the title track for a movie Prince starred in. In other words, she wants her romance with Prince to be on the downlow. However, he’s not willing to play such a role. And seemingly in the third verse he is saying that both he and she need to venture forth and find someone new. Also to some degree it can be said that he is putting the onus on her to choose between him and her current boyfriend. Prince has befriended a certain lady. Throughout the course of their friendship either they became romantically involved, or at least that’s the way she idealizes their relationship. But it seems she already has a lover. Now the way the story contained within plays out is like this. ![]()
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