You may have often wondered what it might look like to go all out, to take what you were given in life and make the uttermost of it. You may have asked yourself if you had what it takes to change the world, but doubted that you could ever get it together enough to take the first step. You may have questioned, like Neo in Matrix, if you were the chosen one, when circumstances were so totally unfavorable for a revolution.
The pop musician superstar and global phenomenon, Prince, just passed away relatively young at only 57 years of age, while a shocked world went within to console itself on the loss of what was once simply a biracial, suburban kid from Minneapolis. Prince came of age late in the sexual revolution when the women’s movement was in full steam.
Born from a couple of professional jazz musicians who divorced a few years after, Prince Rogers Nelson threw his whole being into music at a very early age, trying to master every single instrument he could get his hands on, developing a voice that went from deep voice to high falsetto and proceeding to become an outstanding dancer.
How It All Started with Purple Rain
Building his own band, Prince signed with Warner Brothers while still a teenager. He experienced early success and edged toward the Top 10 charts, where, in the 1980’s, every major album would sell over a million copies. His outstanding early success and incomparable versatility as a musician who transcended every genre, such as rock, rhythm and blues and soul, gave him the chance to star in his own autobiographical movie, Purple Rain, for which he won an Academy Award.
In 1984, Michael Jackson was the supreme pop singer, and Madonna was rapidly climbing up the charts. Ronald Regan was President, locked in a deadly cold war with the Soviet Union that seemed to make nuclear annihilation all but inevitable.
Earlier, Prince had sung his inimitable “1999,” as to how that would be the date the world might end, but that nothing would stop him from celebrating. Purple Rain had an even greater impact on the world than John Travolta’s Saturday Night Fever, which had launched the disco wave. The impact of Prince’s on-screen presence, riveting and electrifying music and songs captured a nation, and the world.
From here, Prince would begin a decades-long career competing with Michael Jackson on every front, as both stars were wholly given to reinventing themselves at every turn. Soon Madonna would join them in defining the 1980’s, and to a large degree, American music, itself. Prince would end up having a running war with the record labels to the point where he withdrew his name and created a bisexual love glyph, or sacred symbol, to represent him.
How Prince’s Super Bowl Performance Transformed Everything
When we jump to the Super Bowl in 2007, we see a more mature Prince, staging a half-time concert with 100,000 people in the stadium and well over 100 million people on TV.
What nobody could foresee was that this day in Miami would be soaked with rain. Prince had a stage set up in the form of his love symbol with beautiful tile and lights. The producers all advised him to give up on the performance, as it was far too dangerous. He had four live electric guitars, and he was confronting high winds and heavy rain. Prince responded to the query, “Can you make it rain even harder?” Ultimate cool.
What followed was one of the most magnificent performances in all of history with the whole world watching. Prince, with his beautiful women dancers and band gave it all out with consummate poise.
No one slipped on the tiles and no one got electrocuted, even though there was lightning in the sky and fireworks were going off all around them. Prince offered a melody of songs leading up to his ultimate, “Purple Rain.” For this song, people had run out of the bleachers and were surrounding him on the field. He invited the audience to join with him while singing and dancing.
The lyrics were secondary, but what people heard, saw and felt there was far more than a crooner’s love song. It was a literal anthem, a celebration of creation with utter praise for the creator. No church choir has ever sung as eloquently. It is as though the Second Coming of Christ was in full motion and he had come to share the glorious news with every sentient being. This is a magic moment that you can view here:
What most people don’t know about Prince is that he was born in a strict Protestant family of Seventh-Day Adventists who were all about the Second Coming. Although he rebelled as a youth to embrace utter freedom in his lifestyle, Gospel permeates his music as much as all the vaunted romancing and sexuality.
In Later years, Prince had become a Jehovah’s Witness in his community, and actually went door-to-door to share his faith with other. He cleaned up his life as a vegetarian with no booze or drugs.
How Prince Changed the World
Did Prince contribute in changing the world? We only need consider what happened next.
In 1985, a year after the release of Purple Rain, the Cold War had thawed and Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan became fast friends. Jesse Jackson ran for President in both 1984 and 1988, setting an historic precedent. Prince’s stellar Super Bowl performance in 2007 was a year before Barack Obama became the first Afro-American in history to be elected President.
Prince had done much to bring black and white people together, as well as boot women’s role in society, as he continued to feature female musicians, singers and dancers. He was even transgender in his orientation. Although affluent and politically conservative, all were welcome to sing and dance with him. Along with Michael Jackson, he opened up the way to the deep globalization we have seen in the 1990’s and 2000’s, bringing the whole world together.
While Prince had phenomenal musical genius on the level that might be compared to Mozart and Beethoven in classical music, changing pop music forever, defying every category, playing literally dozens of instruments in a single recording, he had something else that made the greatest difference.
Prince was passionate about life, itself. Life is a precious gift from God not to be wasted. We, as creation, are here to celebrate our Creator. What is more, we, ourselves, are creators to create yet another world, another universe in communion with Him.
How You, Also, Can Change the World
Prince chose to “live out loud,” to live and breathe possibility.
Why can’t we follow his lead?
If Prince is right in his faith, then the Prince of Peace will soon join us to set all things right. Our challenge is to be true to the Light that we are given. Every day, we can continue to open up the envelope until the Messiah comes. We may not have anything near Prince’s talent to start with.
Yet each of us has a gift, a hidden inner power and talent that can make this a better world. Why not pull it out and start using it? As never before, the world is waiting for us to make a difference. Yes, you can! Yes, we can! We can start with gratitude and celebration. The rest will come. You, like Prince, are an infinitely precious gift to the world.
Prince: A Eulogy and The Power of Purple Rain appeared first on http://consciousowl.com.
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