Skip to main content

Formative Critical Note


In the midst of the “Black Monday” stock market crash of 1987 and the rescue of “Baby Jessica”, legendary musician Prince came out with his studio album and song, “Sign o’ the Times”. Being an established musician and reigning hits such as “Purple Rain”, fans couldn’t wait to hear Prince’s new album. Although it didn’t earn as much recognition as his previous hits, “Sign o’ the Times” groovy and funky beats can distract many from the real message of the song and its criticisms of the social ills and sufferings during that time. This song sheds a huge light on people’s hunger for success and being the greatest, and how it distracts their minds from the realities of the world, causing them to lose sight of what's truly important. 


Prince gets straight to the point when he sings of a man who “died of a big disease with a little name.” The disease he’s talking about -- AIDS. The AIDS Epidemic were from the years 1981 to 1987. During this time, an increasing amount of deaths occurred from just AIDS itself. Being a well-known artist himself, Prince alluded to the AIDS Epidemic in order to portray to his listeners the consequences that come with the self-indulgent and pleasure-seeking lifestyles that many musicians promoted in this era. 

Besides alluding to major events in the US and in the world during the time, Prince also has an invective tone throughout his song. This invective tone is most notable in his second verse:

Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling of a church and killed everyone inside
You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin' you somebody died
A sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it

And yet we're sending people to the moon

With so many deaths and tragedies, Prince makes a dig at the nation as a whole. When he sings about how “A sister killed her baby ‘cause she couldn’t afford to feed it // And yet we’re sending people to the moon”, he sings of the greed and lack of priority in the country. This especially relates to the Parkland, Florida school shooting. A tragedy that could have easily been prevented with stricter gun laws, left many students and faculty dead. A tragedy that has left many with more motivation to fight for what's truly right, still has left certain individuals in opposition. These certain individuals are preventing the country from becoming a safer place, all for their own personal agendas and ignorance. 

As great of songs “Purple Rain” and “Kiss” are, I believe “Sign o’ the Times” is Prince’s most powerful songs. With a message that is dripping in venom, Prince sheds light on the greed and self-indulgence that diverts people’s minds from the sufferings in the world. It's scary to think that some people truly are blinded from the realities of the world, isn't it?  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Bill

The chart above shows my family's monthly water consumption. In August it was 72.8 cubic meters, in september it was 60.5 cubic meters, in October it was 64.9 cubic meters, in November it was 63.7 cubic meters, in December it was 25.8, and for January it was 47.7. The average is 55.9 cubic meters per month. The target was the average reduced to 20% less of our water consumption and the amount we would want to use instead of using an a lot more wasteful amount. Our target was 44.72 cubic meters per month.
3 comments
Read more

Significancy of Schindler's List: News Package

News Package Element/ Time Reference Script Introduction The Holocaust is one of the most famous genocides known by many around the world. There has always been speculation whether the movie, Schindler’s List, and its goriness was ever appropriate for students, especially for those who couldn’t handle the gruesome content in the movie. But one filmmaker, Steven Spielberg, made a monumental movement. He changed the lives of many with just one movie. He brought perspectives on prejudice and bullying to light in the phenomenal movie, Schindler’s List . Soundbite 1: Matthew Elms, 8th grade C-side social studies teacher (Elms, 5:43) “I have a hard time imagining an intelligent person sitting down and watching that movie and not being changed. And being the same person afterwards that they were before.” Bridge When asked on how the movie could change people’s perspectives on the world and prejudice, Matthew Elms, an eighth grade social studies teacher at SAS, had a s...
4 comments
Read more

Target

Airplanes flying low, smoke and fire everywhere, and destruction of the twins falling down. That was nine-eleven. It was the tragedy that shook the entire world and the time where many lives were lost trying to save the innocent.Tears fled from people’s eyes like a stream and hearts were slowly tearing apart as loved ones were getting torn apart from them. Grief and condolences were sent to the US and its people. And during that very sad time, Muslims were discriminated because about one percent of their population were the ones who attacked. Persecuted for doing something they didn’t do, something they didn’t have control of. Even being called horrible names like “terrorist”.  Going to an American school and being the only Muslim in my grade, I felt like a social casualty. A lost puppy in a thunderstorm. We used to talk about this event in class every year and my teacher would talk about the culprits that were the Muslim terrorists. And I would see the few peers who woul...
4 comments
Read more