This is not a traditional biography, as the author lets us know right up front. It is a deep and fascinating look into this man called Prince, and his life, in a very unique way. Released two years after his death, Joseph Vogel uses interviews from Prince’s past, and organizes them into a series of themes. It is both a bold play, and a wonderful experience for the reader to form their own opinions about who Prince was.
So I’m going to follow that model and make this review a bit different. I’ll list the chapter titles — they are all simple, but telling — and what the theme/subject matter is, as listed. Because this is, in my opinion, a very unique and personal book to each reader, I’ll only include one point that really stood out to me. I think that curiosity for those who want to read, or have read the book, will appreciate.
OK…so…let’s get nuts…
Chapter 1: “Not red, not blue, but purple: Prince and politics.”
Critics debated the song “Sign O’ The Times," asking whether it was critical of America (and blind patriotism more broadly) or critical of those who refused to take pride in and pledge allegiance to their country, In a 1985 interview with MTV, they noted it was one of the most political songs he’d ever done, and asked what the song is supposed to say to people. Is it straightforwardly patriotic or is it more complicated than that?
Prince responded simply “Straightforwardly patriotic.”
Chapter 2: “His own genre: Prince and sound.”
“I make music because if I don’t, I’d die.I record because it’s in my blood. I hear sounds all the time. It’s almost a curse: to know you can always make something new.”
Chapter 3: “We created this: Prince and race”
“They say that even if you just have one drop of black blood in you, it makes you entirely black. But in fact I don’t necessarily look on myself as a member of the black race — more a member of the human race.”
Chapter 4: “Something that you’ll never understand: Prince and gender”
In a 1997 VH-1 interview, Chris Rock asked him bluntly: “The androgynous thing. Was that an act, or were you searching for your sexual identity.” Prince responded “I don’t suppose I was searching really. I think I was just — being who I was. Being the true Gemini that I am. And there’s, um, many sides in that as well.” He paused briefly, smiling, before acknowledging “And there was a little action going on too.”
Chapter 5: “Let your body be free: Prince and sex”
Asked about his sexual orientation in a 1981 Rolling Stone feature, Prince said “I’m not about that,” before adding “My sexual preferences aren’t really any of their business. The most important thing is to be true to yourself.”
Chapter 6: “Looking for the ladder: Prince and religion”
In a 1990 interview with Rolling Stone, Prince said “When I say God don’t mean some dude in a cape and beard coming down to Earth. To me, he’s in everything if you look at it that way.”
Chapter 7: “Transformed: Prince and death
Prince died on April 21, 2016. Joseph Vogel writes that “this was (Prince’s) final paradox — he died, but he did not accept “gone” or “dead.” As Prince put it in one of his final messages on Twitter: “I am #transformed.”
