Around the World in a Day - Prince (CD 1990)

Prince and his band
Prince is a changeling, and yet he isn't. When his musical legacy is examined whom will he be judged against? Cameo or Van Halen, will he be examined in light of the funk, the rock, the symphonic moments, the ear candy, the sex or the "spiritual noise" (as Morris Day called it in Graffiti Bridge)...will he be tried by a jury of his peers? Well no offense, but who the hell would that be?

This music was the peak for the Revolution - the band that Prince started out with - the beginnings of his career and the start of his life of fame and fortune. With the release and subsequent success of Purple Rain, Prince attained worldwide fame, and that movie and album are still putting beans and rice on the table in Minneapolis, but the creative peak was the next album after that, Around the World in a Day. Once the band did the album that they made it with, they did this one for themselves - Around the World is an artistic success.

Throw back to the days of war and LSD
This album does feel like it is from 1968 or 69 - when Sgt. Peppers and Pet Sounds came out. While it is clearly a concept album, the song writing stands up on its own. The collection of songs is extremely funky, sexy, spiritual, touching, and emotional. Prince even tossed us a commercial bone with Raspberry Beret - a sure fire hit, and the most vacuous song on the album.

The Songs

1 - Around the World in a Day - the opening cut and a joyful exploration of the human soul. Prince uses a little bit of a middle eastern feel - and of course the blatant sexual reference to going "around the world" (could we expect any less) - and tying that to what could have been a global trip, or just a day of meditation. The first line is "open your heart, open your mind... which is exactly what Prince would like to have us all do at the beginning of this album. One of my favorite cuts.

2 - Paisley Park - my favorite song by Prince. This song is named after Prince's recording studio - and is used to describe the people there, the people in his world...and the people that you might meet in the streets of Minneapolis. Ultimately the chorus says - "Paisley Park is in your heart, which again is where he would like us to go. In this song he talks about forgiveness, "there is a woman who sits all alone by the pier, her husband was naughty and caused his wife so many tears, he died without knowing forgiveness and now he is sad.... maybe she'll come to the park and forgive him - and life won't be so bad"

It is probably a reference to his father and mother, or even to himself, and his dalliances. Prince often refers to himself in his expanded sexuality, and to his own death and dying, which he does later in this album as well. The music is simple on this one, and while the screaming guitar is right there in the emotion of the moment - it stays out of the way of the message.

3 - Condition of the Heart is a classic, a stunning ballad - this song starts with a symphonic introduction written by Wendy and Lisa giving the whole album an air of superiority. They connected with Prince's deeply sad and broken state to really capture the moment. This is one of Prince's falsetto crying out to the world to give him some peace kind of when am i going to find my true love kinda tunes. They always make me cry, and this one is no exception.

4 - Raspberry Beret - this one is an interesting tune, i think of this as one of Prince's campfire songs - every body just singing and clappin' and havin a good time. Commercially very successful as America was desperate to find something off this album to love as they did Purple Rain, but the changeling had moved on. This song just doesn't have any substance, a bit of fun though.

5 - Tambourine - the blatantly sexual tune of the album, a Prince metaphor if ever there was one. Tambourine representing sex organs in this particular song, it is a Sheila E vehicle for her amazing percussion rhythms - and that is really the substance of the music...it is sex and drums...a tribal run if you want to think of it that way, but Latin too. This song is hot.

6 - America - "God shed his grace on theeeeeeee - America, set the children freeeeeeee" - this one is the album's hard rocker. This song cranks, jams, and tears down the lighthouse. Prince does a bit of politicking on this album, and this song has a bit of it, attacking policy on the (still in place then) iron curtain and the poverty curtain. Prince just lets the Revolution loose on this song doing what i always thought they did best, which is play rock.

7 - Pop Life - this was probably the next biggest hit on the album, and i think one of the funkiest things prince ever did. This has a very Brothers Johnsony/Strawberry Letter kind of feel to it, yet again going political, attacking Hollywood, and the industry for the perceived slights against "daddy pop. Prince was never given his due until Purple Rain, not seen as the genius that he is - and after that he decided to give the industry the finger a little for having given it to him for so long. This is a great song, and the bass line is particularly sparkling.

8 - The Ladder - well here is the spiritual noise that Morris talked about. Prince gives me the most interesting mix of sexual and spiritual of any artist i think before or since. In this song you are given the Christian message that we are all looking for the ladder, we all want "salvation of the soul. The whole song has a gospel flavor, and some strong lyrics...if it had been on one of the Hawkins Family Love Alive albums, or maybe a song done by Shirley Ceaser this one might have been nominated for a Dove award, wouldn't that be a hoot.

9 - Temptation is the climax of the album (pun intended)...and the falsetto screamer.... this one talks about women who are getting wet "the running hot water of the daughter of morality"...hehe - could you just get hotter prince? And he gets himself increasingly worked up until his voice gets so high that it is just a squeak at one point. The music is kind of a strip bar thing, with Saxes and ripping guitars. It is kind of a variation on Night Trane or some other old time titty bar tune. Then at the very end, Prince has the voice of God come on and condemn him for all of his badness. He says that Prince has to die, and so Prince thinks that the lesson is that sex is somehow related to love.... (Very different from the lessons of the previous album with Little Nikki and Computer Blue).

Stop the music
Prince actually leaves us with the line that he has to go now, and he doesn't know if he will be back. Of course, several million fans speculated for months if that meant he was cashing it in, retiring or what. Then he did Cherry Moon and we breathed a sigh. However, the truth is the band had peaked with Around the World. Nothing that came after that had the creative flare that this one did. This was the Revolutions Waterloo - it was their finest moment by far. The feature of Wendy and Lisa, the Sheila E song, and the continuous incredible grooves. There are other peeks with other bands in the life and world of Prince, but this album was personal, only for he and his band mates. And it is a jewel - if you want to truly hear Prince at his best musically, most sensitive and controversial, this one is the one to buy.