Daily Prince 9/14/20: Fixurlifeup

Perfect song for today. “Fixurlifeup.” Prince was always prophetic.

“Fixurlifeup” was the first single by 3rdEyeGirl feat. Prince, released in May of 2013. It’s a track on Prince and 3rdEyeGirl’s lone album, September 2014’s Plectrumelectrum. As with everything else on PlectrumElectrum, this song rocks. When I say it rocks, I don’t mean it the way people mean it when they say, “this rocks,” or “you rock.” This song is rock and roll. 3rdEyeGirl didn’t fuck around. Real musicians playing real music. Prince sang lead vocals but did little else, if anything, on this track. This song is Donna, Hannah, and Ida. Just press play on the YouTube link above and skip forward to the 2:40 mark.

Not only is this an old school rock and roll song unlike anything people are making in popular music anymore, but it features inspiring songwriting. The writing is credited to Prince and 3rdEyeGirl on this track, so I’m not sure if anyone specific deserves credit. It’s difficult for me to imagine that this song was written in 2013 and not 2020, because the message fits. I suppose it’s universal, so it’ll always fit. I love the lyrics to this song so much, I’m just going to post them all here so you can read along while you listen:

Tell me how some people walk in the sun
While others just walk in the dark
Lookin’ at the world through the barrel of a gun
Hands behind their back and a parked car
America you might fair better
London you’re sure to be toast
You’ll always get the dream that you deserve
From what you value the most

You need to fix your life up
Fix your life up
Fix it up

Girl with a guitar is twelve times better than another crazy band of boys
Trying to be a star when you’re just another brick in the misogynistic wall of noise 
When the leaders learn how to follow
And let all the people lead
Instead of everybody getting what they want
They can get what they need

You need to fix your life up
Alright
Fix your life up
Fix your life up

Don’t worry about what the crowd does
Just worry about being good at what you love
Don’t make this complicated
You know it’s true
Don’t make us put somebody else in for you

If you watch the video, they throw a message up on the screen in the final seconds that says, “When did the truth become illegal?” Again, prophetic. Maybe that’s always been true, but never more than now, at least in my lifetime. If you haven’t been able to figure it out, I love this song, and the Prince/3rdEyeGirl era, as brief as it was. By 2013 Prince had done so much that it felt to me like performing with 3rdEyeGirl was energizing. Their live performances were spectacular. It was cool to see Prince back with a rock band. The video for “Fixurlifeup” kind of cracks me up because even though it’s 30 years later, it’s a throwback to the Dirty Mind/Controversy/1999 videos with Prince and his band performing on a stage. This video is in HD and has a flashy video board and graphics, but it’s really just a rock band on a stage just like his old videos.

Once again, I think I ride for 3rdEyeGirl harder than anyone. People severely slept on PlectrumElectrum, and “Fixurlifeup” might be the highlight of the album. Bad ass rock and roll with great songwriting. One of my favorite 21st century Prince songs.