Here's what you have to understand about #Prince:
He was the Bowie of my generation. He took Bowie to the next level (if you're older or younger than I am and don't understand this, I'm sorry but I will ask you very politely to kiss my ass). He let you know it was OK to be whatever you wanted to be. He was free, and made you want to be free. To lose them both within months of each other is crushing, so crushing to me.
Two schools of thought about him: You either loved him, or you disliked him at first and then grew to love him. Either way - you loved him.
He taught us about sex and sexuality. He taught us about freedom. He made us aware of all the corners of America through his music. He schooled us suburban kids about other kids our age who were already dead from heroin. He schooled inner city kids about rock and roll. He taught us that it's all the same, man. It is all the same.
He was the baddest mamajamma in high heels. Ever. He was such a fucking badass.
Everyone knows he was a musical genius. Everyone knows he could do anything on stage. But you have to understand, it was more than even all that. He was a genius at manipulation. Style. Marketing. Art. He fought for his freedom from the music industry and won. He made you question things. He made you believe in things. He transcended. When he looked like he was gonna cry, you wanted to cry too. When he gave that little smirk, you were also in on the joke. He drew you in and kept you there until he was done with you. Then you could go back to whatever you were doing.
His death is such a shock because when you think of Prince, you think of LIFE. And living. He was alive. And he still is, you know? In each of us.
He is far more, to me, than the night I camped outside for tickets to the Purple Rain tour (3rd row on the second night motherfuckers - hit in the face with his guitar squirt, no less). More than the other nights I saw him in concert (I've paid for the privilege of seeing him perform more than any other artist in my life - four times I believe). He's part of the fabric of our lives, the soundtrack of distant times. He was us. Funky little mother who put it all out there and made you see and feel and react and live. He lives. We all live.
Nothing compares 2 U.
