LUMPENPROLETARIAT—Don’t make me waste my time; don’t make me lose my mind, baby…

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“The Beautiful Ones” (1984) by Prince and The Revolution  [1]

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[1]  “The Beautiful Ones” is the third track on Prince and The Revolution‘s soundtrack album Purple Rain, which was featured prominently in the 1984 film of the same name.  Produced, arranged, composed, and performed by Prince, the song was recorded at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles by Peggy Mac and David Leonard in early September 1983.

“The Beautiful Ones” is a haunting musical tale of emotional longing and unrequited love.  Starting out as a slow falsetto ballad, with Prince’s piano and organ-sounding synthesizers providing a lush backdrop, it gradually builds in volume and intensity, and by the end of the song, Prince is screaming out, “Do you want him, or do you want me? ‘Cos I want you.”  The song comes to a quiet close, with Prince’s keyboards and drum solo serving as the closing instrumentation.

The song replaced “Electric Intercourse” on the Purple Rain album.  It was originally written for Susannah Melvoin (Revolution band member Wendy‘s twin sister) to woo her away from her then-boyfriend.

In the film, Prince sings the song directly from the stage to his on-screen flame Apollonia, who is sitting with his rival Morris Day.  The song is a direct and urgent appeal to Apollonia to choose Prince as her lover—and it is a direct challenge to Day.  Ultimately, as the song ends and Prince lies, apparently spent, on the floor of the stage, Apollonia leaves in tears.  (Later, she surprises him when he is unlocking his motorcycle to leave the 1st Avenue club in Minneapolis.)

The version on the Purple Rain album is slightly cut; a longer version of the song exists.

“The Beautiful Ones” features notable qualities of Prince’s musicianship and stage presence.  Many artists take to the stage and focus on their ability to perform a musical work, so that it sounds the best it can.  Many artists, which sound amazing, scarcely move their bodies during their performances.  But, then, there are some artists, who manage to, not only, sound amazing, but embody a certain physicality, which is capable of harnessing what some call the lower chakra, and in so doing commune with the audience in such a way, which is cathartic for the artist and the audience.  An artist capable of that, such as Prince or Jim Morrison or Jimi Hendrix is quite unique.  Some would understand this as functioning communally in a shamanic capacity.

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[28 APR 2016]

[Last modified 10:04 PDT  1 JUN 2016]