Prince wants to sell you the Watchtower and Awake magazines.
May 28, 2001 11:35 AM Subscribe
Prince wants to sell you the Watchtower and Awake magazines. I am very surprised at this turn of events. What's he gonna do about all his songs that have so much sexual content?
Hmmm... I always pictured Prince as a scientologist.
I wonder where he's going to find the time to knock on doors and go witnessing? Will he be disguised like Michael Jackson was? Will the two big bodyguards behind him scare people into converting?
This is going to be interesting. Wonder how long it'll last, given his penchant for constantly changing.
posted by EricBrooksDotCom at 11:46 AM on May 28, 2001
I wonder where he's going to find the time to knock on doors and go witnessing? Will he be disguised like Michael Jackson was? Will the two big bodyguards behind him scare people into converting?
This is going to be interesting. Wonder how long it'll last, given his penchant for constantly changing.
posted by EricBrooksDotCom at 11:46 AM on May 28, 2001
Hmm. Not like Prince has never had any weird religious beliefs/leanings. Anyone recall "The Cross," on "Sign o' the Times," just a few short tracks after "U Got the Look" or "If I Was Your Girlfriend?" And there's an electric sitar on that Jesus song?!?!?
Strange though this may be, at heart it's the same ol' rock 'n' roll, evangelical Protestant-inspired sacred v. the profane thing that's torn so many other musicians apart, including fellow Minnesota native Bob Dylan. And why not? It's where the music comes from. (Jazz comes from many of the same places too, but you never seem to hear of this with jazz musicians, at least not of the past 40 years or so. Why exactly is not clear, but I'd imagine jazz's becoming more cerebral and less hot, as it were, has something to do with it.)
In any case, the sacred/profane thing is common thread in all art, only not in the same way. Evangelical religion is more personal, intimate, direct. There's a fine line between lust and religious heat of this type. So Prince is more or less the same Prince as before, only he's picked a most peculiar denomination through which to channel the New Prince Thing. He just better not appear at my doorstep at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday.
posted by raysmj at 12:04 PM on May 28, 2001
Strange though this may be, at heart it's the same ol' rock 'n' roll, evangelical Protestant-inspired sacred v. the profane thing that's torn so many other musicians apart, including fellow Minnesota native Bob Dylan. And why not? It's where the music comes from. (Jazz comes from many of the same places too, but you never seem to hear of this with jazz musicians, at least not of the past 40 years or so. Why exactly is not clear, but I'd imagine jazz's becoming more cerebral and less hot, as it were, has something to do with it.)
In any case, the sacred/profane thing is common thread in all art, only not in the same way. Evangelical religion is more personal, intimate, direct. There's a fine line between lust and religious heat of this type. So Prince is more or less the same Prince as before, only he's picked a most peculiar denomination through which to channel the New Prince Thing. He just better not appear at my doorstep at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday.
posted by raysmj at 12:04 PM on May 28, 2001
He's not a Jehovah's Witness. The press report took some of his quotes out of context and combined them with Larry Graham's beliefs to assign this to him.
He refuted it himself on his own weblog, but it's not archived so I can't point to it.
posted by anildash at 12:16 PM on May 28, 2001
He refuted it himself on his own weblog, but it's not archived so I can't point to it.
posted by anildash at 12:16 PM on May 28, 2001
Prince, by the way, is to be congratulated for his pro-artist stance re the whole Napster thing (click on the "freedom" button thing), regardless of what religion he is or is not into. He's been more progressive in this regard than any major artist (no pun intended) than I can think of, and he rarely gets any credit for it in hep circles. Just for the record.
posted by raysmj at 12:54 PM on May 28, 2001
posted by raysmj at 12:54 PM on May 28, 2001
Anil, where is his weblog? i'd be interested in seeing it.
posted by summer1971 at 2:23 PM on May 28, 2001
posted by summer1971 at 2:23 PM on May 28, 2001
My favorite part was this:
Jehovah's Witnesses are an apocalyptic group that interprets the Bible differently than traditional Christian organizations.
See, all those other groups have their beliefs firmly grounded in reality...
posted by owillis at 2:30 PM on May 28, 2001
Jehovah's Witnesses are an apocalyptic group that interprets the Bible differently than traditional Christian organizations.
See, all those other groups have their beliefs firmly grounded in reality...
posted by owillis at 2:30 PM on May 28, 2001
Summer, his pseudo-official blog is on his NPG Online site, but it's written to seem like it's coming from some vague, Borg-like collective. It's been mostly about his own concert tour of late, but he used to have a lot of relatively good commentary on artists' rights, from the unique perspective of someone who's been a Britney-sized star.
There's a general news blog, too, which is independent. It's hosted on Prince.org, which is run by a couple of great guys who are unfortunately beset by scary fans who are stuck in some weird mid-80s time warp. You can read the news page, but you're better off ignoring the comments that follow on the articles.
Sure makes me appreciate MeFi in comparison.
posted by anildash at 2:49 PM on May 28, 2001
There's a general news blog, too, which is independent. It's hosted on Prince.org, which is run by a couple of great guys who are unfortunately beset by scary fans who are stuck in some weird mid-80s time warp. You can read the news page, but you're better off ignoring the comments that follow on the articles.
Sure makes me appreciate MeFi in comparison.
posted by anildash at 2:49 PM on May 28, 2001
Gee, I wonder if they'll let him wear a purple shirt & tie, as opposed to the standard issue white, when he goes door to door with the Watchtower magazines...
posted by danger at 6:21 PM on May 28, 2001
posted by danger at 6:21 PM on May 28, 2001
I think you are confusing Jehovah's Witnesses with Mormons. Witnesses aren't required to wear any particular colors when they are out in field service.
posted by summer1971 at 6:45 PM on May 28, 2001
posted by summer1971 at 6:45 PM on May 28, 2001
Sorry,.. my mistake, I've only seen them coming by in white shirts... I just figured Dress Code..
posted by danger at 9:51 PM on May 28, 2001
posted by danger at 9:51 PM on May 28, 2001
Jehovah's Witnesses have been giving away magazines and books for about 10 years now (but maybe suggesting an optional donation).
Prince has been looking into the beliefs of the Witnesses for a few years now, every time something like this comes out it makes waves on the Witness discussion sites as people debate it, try to separate fact from fiction and offer up opinion on the value of a celebrity being a Witness.
posted by mutagen at 1:01 PM on May 29, 2001
Prince has been looking into the beliefs of the Witnesses for a few years now, every time something like this comes out it makes waves on the Witness discussion sites as people debate it, try to separate fact from fiction and offer up opinion on the value of a celebrity being a Witness.
posted by mutagen at 1:01 PM on May 29, 2001
Jehovah's Witnesses have been in the door to door "Witnessing" business for a lot longer than ten years. Their website offers a lot of information on their group.
posted by summer1971 at 1:30 PM on May 29, 2001
posted by summer1971 at 1:30 PM on May 29, 2001
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posted by summer1971 at 11:35 AM on May 28, 2001