June 24, 2009 11:03 AM
Prince: "Colonized Mind" - no hope without God
I know this is pretty far out there, but World magazine's write-up on Prince's new album - which is very strangely only available through Target - grabbed my attention:
Prince identifies God as the only solution for a world in which the "evolution principle" has led to racism, fascism, materialism, and single-parent households that incubate kids incapable of showing either love or respect.That intrigued me enough to search for the lyrics for the song in question - so in case anyone else is equally intrigued:
Colonized MindUpload: the evolution principal
U c a rock on the shore and say
"it's always been there"
Download: no responsibility
Do what you want nobody cares
Upload: the master race idea
Genetically disposed 2 rule the world
Download: a future full of isolated
Full of isolated boys and girlsUpload: a 2-party system
The lesser of 2 dangers
Illusion of choice
Download: a veiled form of fascism
Nothing really ever changes
U never had a voiceIf you look, ur sure gonna find
Thruout mankind's history
A colonized mind
The one in power makes law
Under which the colonized fall
But without God it's just the
blind leading the blindUpload: a joint venture record deal
it's just another way 4 the man 2 steal
While he's sticking you with the bill
Download: the temporary
acquisition of fleeting fame
and fortune
Nothing 2 leave in ur willUpload: a child with no father
Download: no respect 4 authority
Upload: a child with no mother
Download: a hard time showing loveIf you look, ur sure gonna find
Thruout mankind's history
A colonized mind
The one in power makes laws
Under which the colonized fall
But without god
it's just the blind leading the blind
Comments
Prince is a Jehovah's Witness, so that may have something to do w/his openness about God. Regardless, the lyrics are true, and you gotta admire anyone who isn't so beholden to fame/fans, that they compromise your belief system.
Cathy
Posted by: Cathy | June 24, 2009 3:46 PM
Clearly Prince doesn't understand evolution and the arguments against it. "U c a rock on the shore and say 'it's always been there'." What does that have to do with evolution? I don't know anyone religious or non-religious who says that... Baffling. Even other JW people must be scratching their heads over this song's lyrics.
I've been a Prince fan since 1987, and have tolerated his confusing spirituality for most of it. But in the last few years he seems to have lost his mind completely.
Posted by: Joseph Kelly | July 9, 2009 4:14 PM
The line "U c a rock on the shore and say 'it's always been there'" is addressing the notion that evolution does not, cannot, address what happened before or to cause the "Big Bang." So while a belief in a God cannot refute evolution, neither can evolution refute the belief in a God. Taking the whole song into context, Prince is simply showing how the very people who charge others with being brainwashed or having "colonized" minds are the very people who also suffer from being brainwashed or having "colonized" minds. So, what Joshep Kelly calls confused, Prince would call searching. In fact, as the song indicates, perhaps it is Joshep Kelly who is "colonized" or "limited" in his thought process because he is unafraid to explore or see things differently. I may not agree with Prince's particulars, but I love that the song, itself, is twisting the framework or discussion to raise the question of whether or not it is those who embrace only the physical who are the ones with the colonized minds, espeically since things are rarely what the seem to be, even in the physical. "Upload: a 2-party system/ The lesser of 2 dangers/ Illusion of choice/ Download: a veiled form of fascism/ Nothing really ever changes/ U never had a voice." As a black man living in America, I agree that the American party system is an illusion and that black people need to invest in a better system rather than voting for the lesser of two evils. Even Barack Obama, who was seen as American finally getting past its race issue, threw black people under the bus by cutting funding to HBCUs. So, yes, this system is an illusion, and those who believe or invest in it are equally colonized.
Posted by: Poet | November 25, 2009 8:50 PM
