Here’s a quick peek behind the scenes at Daily Prince HQ. I receive my song from the Daily Prince Randomizer. I start my post on the WordPress website. I type the title, then I open a second browser window so I can get a link to the song from YouTube. For three glorious months I had a subscription to YouTube Premium. I don’t remember the exact deal I got, but I want to say I was able to try it for three months for only $1 or something. It’s difficult to overstate how good YouTube is when you remove the ads. My trial ended recently and now I’m back to peasant YouTube. I hate it. Living the good, ad-free YouTube life gave me a peek in to how the 1% live. It was glorious. $12/month for Premium is too much for me, so I’m back to suffering through ads while I wait for my Prince video. Not sure why I’m sharing that.
Here’s some more unnecessary news: I finally figured out how to put actual star ratings at the bottom of my posts instead of typing them out like an ignoramus. WordPress recently upgraded I believe it’s a new addition. If it used to be available, it certainly was difficult to find. I couldn’t figure it out, and I like to think I’m of at least average intelligence. I stumbled across it accidentally while trying to add a picture to a different post. I spent well over an hour tonight going through over 100 posts to remove the typed score and replace it with a cool graphic instead. Everything from June 1 to present now has properly starred ratings. I’ll finish the rest tonight. I’m quite proud of it. It almost looks like I know what I’m doing. That’s been a thorn in my side for months. Glad I got to the bottom of it.
Now that I’ve gotten that bullshit out of the way, let’s explore today’s song. “Curious Child” was the 17th track on Prince’s 1996 triple album Emancipation. Prince (or O(+> at the time) was credited with all vocals and instruments. The music has an 18th century vibe. The dominant instrument sounds like a harpsichord begging the question; Did Prince have a harpsichord? Did he rock a Mozart-style powdered wig when he composed this song? I digress. The melody and harpsichord give “Curious Child” a dreamlike feel.
Then there are Prince’s lyrics. There’s a troubling “this is the tale of a one-night stand with a teenager” vibe. The song is brief and the lyrics are few, but read this for yourself and tell me what you think:
In a room full of harlots and fantasy
Destiny beckoned us there
Curious child on the balcony
We took the dare
Careless I was to caress thee
Yet never regretting the time
The joy that we shared, it was meant to be
And not a crime
No, it’s not a crimeIf memory serves us, we will align
To the truth that we most often share
Curious child, you are on my mind
Do you care?
Curious child on the balcony. Careless I was to caress thee. It’s not a crime? I hate to say it, but if he’s describing what I think he’s describing, it most definitely is a crime. If I’m wrong here, please set me straight. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. Maybe he simply caressed the curious child. I’m assuming a caress led to more. Regardless, he’s not the first to dabble in statutory rape territory. Winger famously went there. Musiq Soulchild touched on it. There’s my personal favorite, the laugh out loud funny “Lovely” by Bell Biv DeVoe. I’m certainly not condoning it, but these songs are fictional tales. At least I assume (hope) they are…
“Curious Child” is beautiful and mysterious, but not really my cup of tea. Listening to Prince’s incredible falsetto floating over a haunting melody is always impressive and worth the listen, he’s just done it better on many other songs. There’s also the strong likelihood that he’s singing about having some kind of sexual rendezvous with a minor. I’ll pass on this song and find something better. Now here it comes…wait for it…my first official score using star graphics!
mookiefantana 