Johnquest- #12 - Sign "O" The Times by Prince

SIGH “O” THE TIMES | PRINCE

It’s only natural to want to listen to Prince. Everyone wants to. Everyone does it. I do, sometimes, less than I should. I have a Taiwanese (?) tape of his greatest hits that somehow made its way to the very-much-not-taiwan land of BC. And then I took it home with me. Actually, BC’s coastal. That’s not too shocking. I’m sorry. I forgot how oceans work. Prince? We were talking about Prince?

This one looks like it’s gonna be one of the longest thus far (albeit ten songs less than the final one for ‘87…) but it’s Prince, guys, it’s Priiince. It’s gotta be good, that’s just how it is. That’s how Prince works. I wanna hear this! You probably wanna know what I think of this! Let’s get on with the music opinions and stop blathering!.

OVERALL VERDICT:

Dude, it's Prince. Not, at my opinion, Prince at his best, but it's still FUCKING PRINCE. You will see me say that a lot and that is because it is true. This is an album by prince. Sometimes it's dance-y, sometimes it's sex-y, sometimes it's christianit-y... Well, it's got diversity in sound and subject matter, I'll say. It's a GOOD ALBUM! I'm not likely to re-listen to it for fun but you can't deny that it's good. As previously stated: Dude, it's Prince.

TRACK BY TRACK:

1. Sign “O” The Times has some funk to it. It’s obviously the title track. It sounds like 80s music, that’s for sure. It’s got that low tuned synth that fucks me up. In relation to the naturally somewhat catchy lyrics and the WONDERFUL vocals, and the difficult subject matter (various portraits of the time’s anxieties and whatnot) introduce the album well. It’s a very good song- perfectly equipped for what it is. It’s still relevant- we still have shitty rockets and bombings and drugs and and and… Well, the world is getting better. I do believe that much. Oddly fearmongery about drugs! But it is of its time. I promise smoking weed won’t get you into hard drugs. I don’t think that’s happened to, like, anyone I know.

2. Play In The Sunshine continues well from the last track. It’s not an optimistic song, but I’d call it hopeful. It’s about a possible better future where happiness is, like, easy to have. Some people find this optimism vapid. I don’t really mind it though. And it sounds too good to grate me. Listen to that thump and that diiing. Beautiful sounds. Awesome layers of vocals, incredible PIANO!!! I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact I didn't live through 80s optimism proper that makes it easier to withstand. But christ alive, it sounds good. They should start doing this shit in modern music. Use nostalgia to make songs that sound good. Or AT LEAST get back to 2000s dance music. I have a soft spot for ‘like a g6’ and the like. We don’t have music where people say the same things over and over to rough synth noises anymore. That’s really sad. This song isn’t. My mind got away from me. None of this is about Prince anymore…

3. Housequake is a song for dancing to and being at parties. It makes me feel bad for listening to this album at 2:52 PM on a thursday. I should be doin this on a weekend AM. It is delightfully rough and reminds me a lot of old school hip-hop (normal hip-hop at the time) (Fatman Scoop comes to mind. Perhaps that’s just because it takes scoop was my go-to workout song for a good few multiple years there). It sounds like a dance track and also like a prince song. It’s really wonderful. It’s got some really nice sounds. I miss when mainstream music used sounds like these. Listen to that clapping and those horn-esque synths. The vocals rock too. Wonderful stuff.

4. The Ballad of Dorothy Parker is chill. Which is nice. Two dance tracks in a row? We gotta change it up. And think a little. Weave in some narrative again. This one… well, oddly enough it reminds me in tone of Deacon Blue’s album which I just reviewed. I find it more pleasant honestly. People have wanted to sound like this for years. If it weren’t for the synth I’d be more than willing to believe this came out in the past decade. It’s really a delight. The only negative attribute it has is mentioning Joni Mitchell (an angry mob of Saskatoonians trample me and throw me and my laptop full of tunes off the top of a grain elevator. Nobody knows if I survive)

5. It Is about, y’know, it! The thing with usually multiple people in it and sometimes there’s a sewer or a clown or it’s in maine or something. Sex, I’m talking about sex. I don’t know what you think I think about sex. I’d take a bland song about sex over a bland song about love any day. We are all so lucky that Prince has a notable attitude and good sound that makes an otherwise dull song about screwin’ it screwin’ style (unclear what kind of fuck he’s doing here. All I know is it’s sex.) sound good and not make me bored. Well, not make me too bored.

6. Starfish and Coffee at first seemed like an odd song to me and then I found out what it was about and it got odder. I don’t know. Am I fucked in the head? Do I find it odd to write a whole song about one lady your friend knew in middle school’s one presumed joke that never succeeded to land? I’m not going to call the presence of this song ableist. Lord knows the average neurodivergent person has dealt with world. This song is also just kind of talking about her? It’s not saying anything. It doesn’t sound bad. Not sure I understand the urge to write this one. It makes me think “sure.” as in, “okay, this song can exist. It’s fine. It doesn’t sound too bad.” Sure.

7. Slow Love Is… well, it’s a slow dance style love song. It’s alright? It’s about sex also. I guess it’s sensual. Sure. I don’t dislike it? It does sound GOOD. Like, actually good. There’s even saxophone! It’s also about a more specific kind of sex than track #5, which is always… well, it’s something. It’s a good song. Perfect for a dead wife montage or the start of “the Room”. Not one of a kind but a tried and true smooth smooth song.

8. Hot Thing has an awesome rhythm and… Man. It’s just good. Almost blancmange-y? The sounds at least. The vocals are good too, but I don’t need to say that. This is PRINCE we’re talking about. It’s another horny one but it’s a powerful kind of horniness. About seeing a lady or maybe someone else who’s young and sexxxxxy and niiiice and wanting to get your fuck on with them. It’s another danceable track. Honestly, I missed those. This is a horny song that’s specific enough for me to not even feel like it’s just about fucking. It’s doing its own thing. In case anyone’s taking notes.

9. Forever in My Life Is pretty sappy and I guess that’s pretty expected by the title. It’s another calmer song. The kind of thing you’d play in a cafe or, hell, at your wedding… I don’t have much to say. I’m sorry Prince. And all two or three regular Johnquest readers.

10. U Got The Look Is dancy again! And, no, it’s not by… honeymoon suite? Loverboy? Who did that song. My reference is failing. I like this one. It’s just fun! It’s clunky and delightful. Listen to these two 1980s lovers. They’re delightful. I’d love to dance to this, in some hypothetical club. I don’t actually think I would. I’m woefully unfit and kind of a shut-in. But, in spirit, I would. I like the words they use. “Hecka’”. Hecka slammin. Okay. Alright. It’s really fun. So much fun with the vocals specifically. I don’t know if there’s sampling at play or if they just did that. It’s fun anyhow..

11. If I Was Your Girlfriend starts sounding washed out in a really delightful way. MAN, I LOVE THESE SOUNDS. THEY’RE SO GOOD. Delightfully poised between dissonant and normal, like all the best music is. I thought at first that this one would maybe be genderbend-y, and it… Well, it is a little. But more than anything it’s a lamentation. One hell of a nice sounding lamentation. Just about wanting to be able to know someone fully without your romantic relationship on the line. Oh there’s so much good agony here. Insert “take ibuprofen with me” meme but it’s “become aromantic with me”.

12. Strange Relationship Is another lamentation. It seems we’ve hit the emotional point of the album. The nice thing about this is that it still sounds REALLY GOOD. It’s music about sad shit that’s also not a total bummer to listen to. To quote TPOH (don’t think this song’s album’s on here- but the downward road is!), it’s a "man tries to understand what the hell went wrong" kind of song. Just funkier. And not really like I’m An Adult Now in any way. I like this one a lot. From title to sound to outro to etc etc etc it’s GOOD! It’s a GOOD SONG!

13. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man has so much self-awareness. Oh that poor lady. This might be my favourite on the album- that screeching guitar, that late fleetwood mac vocal feathering whatever, the REGULAR VOCALS ALSO because IT’S FUCKING PRINCE. It sounds wonderful. It’s also about something horrible. Good on you for comforting her and also good on you for recognizing you can’t be as responsible or committed as her idea of “her man” was. It’s a hopeless song, in a lot of ways. But it feels realistic. You can’t fix someone else’s life for them. It sucks. But it can (and, has, here) been turned into a wonderful ballad. A wonderful ballad of agony, like all the best ones. CHRIST, THAT GUITAR. AAAAAAAAAAAAA. It has a nice long pensive outro too. Emotions captured in amber. Wonderful.

15. The Cross. Well, it’s about jesus. And, like, christ, man, leave some religion for the rest of us. I don’t know. I’m not exactly anti-christian music. I like Judee Sill and Daniel Johnston and Amanaz… But, like, all of the above have had that christianity as repeating deals. Somehow I’d never noticed this aspect of Prince. Maybe? Is he christian other times too? Nothing against that. Just, er, huh. I mean, it sounds good. I’m… Just not christian enough and maybe a little too religiously traumatized to properly dig this one. It sounds good. It sounds good…

16. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night returns us to optimism and secularism also. It’s got a wonderful beat. Layered as hell. The lady vocalist sounds wonderful. I DO think it’s going to be a beautiful night, is the thing. The crowd vocals in the back, the interaction- that’s the kind of thing that can make me believe in shit. I think Terry Pratchett put a word to this once. The sentiment of being a part of a whole. In Unseen Academicals, I think. That has nothing to do with this. There’s so many parts to this song and they’re all wonderful it IS going to be a beautiful night.

17. Adore Is another song for the lovers among us. Lucky them, they get all the songs. It is… touching? The emotion is there. It’s a song that sounds great! It’s… It’s a song. Feels like an easing out. It has a nice contrast with that first track, but, ultimately, does little for me. As I always seem to be saying, other people would probably like this one more than I do. Or maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe I’m stupid. Maybe I don’t say that ever at all. Who cares. Shut up and listen to prince. If anyone’s allowed to be sappy about love, it’s him. Because he makes it sound good.

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