Parade - review

No doubt fuelled by the film (which I still haven't seen!) Prince uses the characters from the film itself to tell us his stories. Ignore those specifics and get lost in the madness, because it's the sound of this album that will grab you. He puts it perfectly on the second track 'New Position' when he says, "Forget your past, you got to try my new funk!" It's almost as if he used the same drum machine for every song on the whole album, there's a very tidy, minimal feel to just about all of the beats, but for whatever reason, it's just as addictive as the sounds of all of his previous albums.

'Let's go fishing in the river, the river of life!'
'I love you baby, I love you so much, maybe we can, stay in touch!'
'I think of you dear, do you think of me, or do you lie?'
'Act your age not your shoe-size!'

'New position' is Prince through and through, the short funk, the spurt of insanity, the strange quality of the music, the mystery as to just what it is in the recipe of the beat that makes one want to shake like an earthquake. 'Girls & Boys' is another such funky delight, somewhat reminiscent of his earlier lengthy funk-jams on '1999', this extended funk-fest rocks in a completely different way, with a minimalist beat that is brought to life by the most FUNKY saxophone. How many more times can one say funky when describing Prince? What other damn word is there for this music that makes you want to move in such ridiculous ways? There is no other word. You should all buy this album and listen to it, whatever I say still couldn't replace the experience of this experience!

What makes it all the more enjoyable for the artistic fans who admire Prince's out-of-this world approach to song-writing, is the way in which he is drugged by the music into saying the strangest things, as if what he says has no meaning or no matter, he's just spurting out whatever comes to his lips after mentally kissing the funk. On the saxophone solo of 'Girls & Boys' you'll hear Prince just simply making noises, strange noises, again and again in stranger and newer ways. After this, he carries on with one of the most amazing raps I've ever heard. The problem is I don't know what he's saying, something about happiness, but it really doesn't matter, and it's not really a problem because it just sounds right.

That escapism is again felt on the albums most liberating moment- 'Mountains'. The drums are grand, ethereal, whilst also keeping your head nodding, but it's Prince in his very highest falsetto voice that makes this the classic it is.

"Once upon a time in a land called Fantasy,
17 mountains stood so high.
The sea surrounded them and together they would be,
The only thing that ever made u cry."

The music climbs and climbs, and it's truly at this point that you begin to realise, these few years, from 83-86 really were the young Prince at his very highest creative peak, higher than mountains. I can only show love for such an immense talent that continues to inspire me to this day. What else can you say with songs like these?

If 'Mountains' is about escapism, and creating your own world through the open music and lyrics, then 'Kiss' is simply about admiring this mans genius and specific vision. It is electronica before electronica knew what it could be. It is something else, it's hard to appreciate for some I know, when I first heard it I wasn't quite sure what to make of it because the boring Tom Jones version was so engrained in my mind. But within the context of the album, this song doesn't sound like the blockbuster hit that it was, it just sounds like another significant piece of one diamond that was cut into 12 pieces. 12 songs. If electronic music can transcend itself, break free from its circuits and infect our organic souls, then the first such piece of music to acknowledge would have to be the snare drum on 'Kiss'. Turn it up loud and dance you silly people, this isn't for nothing!

Every single other interesting song on this album is interesting (most notably, the delicious insanity of 'I Wonder you'- which is as mad as it sounds, the totally instrumental 'Venus De Milo', 'Life can be so nice', and the French accordion lullaby 'Do U Lie?'). However it's the final song that makes 'Parade' the classic LP it is. Through the time I have known this song it has never failed to move me. I don't listen to it everyday because it's that emotionally charged and I don't want it to lose it's effect, but 'Sometimes it Snows in April' will always be one of the all time greatest songs ever recorded. For all the current obsession with imperfection in the so-called 'neo-soul' movement, Prince proves himself, once again, decades ahead of his time. On an album full of drum machines and synths, on an album that didn't even feature that much of his best friend- the guitar, it would have been safe for most critics to call 'Parade' "Princes electronic album", but then Prince never liked to be boxed. He put this at the end of the album, and you can feel his intention once the music begins, the wandering beauty of those lost guitar notes, and wise-guiding piano, as his yearning voice cuts through with soul and stays shy and ambient at the same time. It's about as heavenly as music could ever aspire to be. When the first verse opens up, we see what he's up to. He records the whole thing live, seemingly in one take, with imperfections in his voice, you can hear every slide on his guitar, you can actually feel his fingers making this wonderful music, and the words make you close your eyes and feel the pain he so clearly feels as he sings away the beautiful chorus.

"Sometimes it snows in April,
Sometimes I feel so bad.
Sometimes I wish that life was never ending,
But all good things they say, never last."

It goes on for a mercifully long time, just long enough for the artist to release the emotions he had to release, it's just right, beautiful organic music of mother nature, and the poetry of life poured into our souls like warm milk, healing our jagged edges and nerves, soothing our moments of pretension/perfection and calming our over-active intellects. It was this song that prompted me to start learning guitar, but more importantly it was this song that made Prince my friend.

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi, 12 Apr 2004