music (manic) monday: prince

Since the news broke out this past Thursday about Prince’s death, I’ve been in this state of mourning for someone I didn’t know and never got to see live in concert. There have been countless celebrity deaths, especially musician deaths this year alone, and never has one affected me quite like this one. Not even Michael Jackson’s death affected me the way Prince has. I didn’t even cry when Michael Jackson died. I’ve cried quite a few times since news broke out whenever I hear some of Prince’s music and see tributes for him.

While I like and enjoy Prince’s music, I never would describe myself as a die-hard fan. But there was just something about Prince that is making his death a little more difficult for me to deal with. And don’t even get me thinking about if Bruce Springsteen leaves because knowing how huge a fan I am of his, and yes I would describe myself as a die-hard fan of Springsteen, I will truly be inconsolable. I mean, I still get teary-eyed for Clarence Clemons for crissakes!

Saturday, my sister and I watched a couple of showings of “Purple Rain” in a theater because we were too young to see it when it came out in 1984. We had only planned on watching it once, but we didn’t want to say goodbye just yet, so after we ate lunch, we went back to see it again for another showing. From the very first sound of “Let’s Go Crazy” and seeing him appear on the screen, my tears came. When they finally got to playing the song “Purple Rain” at the end of the movie, I didn’t want it to end and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the theater at this point. Even now I can’t get through hearing this song without feeling a little emotional.

I’ve watched the movie many times, but there was something extra special about watching it in a movie theater. People danced and sang and laughed and cried. Men and women wearing purple and sharing in a collective grief. Feeling the outpouring of love for this artist was amazing and I’m thankful it was made possible.

For the past few days I’ve been scouring the internet and reading and watching every piece of Prince I could find. He was so private and protective and refused to put his music and videos on anything: YouTube, Pandora, Spotify. Nothing. To respect this, I’m going to show other videos. You can find many videos of him people are putting up. They’re out there, especially now and most up them were uploaded on April 21, 2016.

Today, I’m going with TWO songs for my Music Monday post! Ooh a special edition!

The first song is a little more fitting for Music Monday. I mean, it’s got Monday in the title. How could I resist?

“Manic Monday” by The Bangles is a song I, and I’m sure EVERYONE with a radio has heard millions of times, but maybe someone out there by now doesn’t know the song was actually written by Prince, under the name Christopher.

 

Rest In Peace Prince

Enjoy and thanks for reading.