Jan. 2, 2025
Prince - "Purple Rain"
This cosmic narrative explores how Prince's multi-dimensional masterpiece "Purple Rain" became a transcendent cultural supernova. Tracing his humble Minneapolis roots catalyzing the avant-garde vision, it deconstructs the album/film's prismatic intermingling of spiritual awakenings and carnal ecstasies through a fictional lens. From the yearning title track's guitar raptures exorcising pain, to "When Doves Cry" ushering in the video revolution, each facet is examined as a portal into self-actualization through art. Ultimately, the boundary-obliterating creative statement's enduring legacy inspiring generations to fully embody their truths is enshrined as an immortal individuating force.
Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed!
Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!
We now have Merch! FREE SHIPPING! Check out all the products like T-shirts, mugs, bags, jackets and more with logos and slogans from your favorite shows! Did we mention there’s free shipping? Get 10% off with code NewMerch10 Go to Caloroga.com
Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed!
Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!
We now have Merch! FREE SHIPPING! Check out all the products like T-shirts, mugs, bags, jackets and more with logos and slogans from your favorite shows! Did we mention there’s free shipping? Get 10% off with code NewMerch10 Go to Caloroga.com
Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
WEBVTT
1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:14.039
Calorogu shark media. In the pantheon of pop culture's most
2
00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:18.839
transcendent artistic statements, few singular works have quite seared themselves
3
00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:23.039
into the collective consciousness like Prince's magnum opus, Purple Rain,
4
00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:31.920
released in nineteen eighty four. This quasi autobiographical opus about
5
00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:35.880
an ongenuse stormy coming of age within Minneapolis's gritty underbelly,
6
00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.880
achieved a multi dimensional pop culture ubiquity seldom witnessed before
7
00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.159
or since. Purple Rain was no mere album, but a
8
00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:49.000
tootemic audio visual supernova, fusing music, cinema, dance, and quaking
9
00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:54.079
social upheaval into a spectacle radiating liberation, an endless possibility
10
00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:57.840
for generations to come from the moment that searing title
11
00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.960
track guitar lead warped its way into the ratosphere. Amidst
12
00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:06.840
squalls of atmospheric synthesizers and princes trembling yet resolute falsetto invocations,
13
00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:10.560
it was evident we'd undergone a metaphysical sea change. This
14
00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:13.840
was a new cosmos being violently birthed before our very
15
00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:19.760
eyes and senses, the eternal combating the ephemeral, fiery spirituality,
16
00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:25.359
scorching away all misguided dogma. Navigating Purple Rain's prismatic expanse
17
00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:28.920
meant surrendering yourself fully to the oral and visual rapture
18
00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:33.760
conjured by the Minneapolis Maverick's fearless disassembly of genres, identities,
19
00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:38.480
and societal constraints. In the film's fictional setting and on wax,
20
00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:43.599
Prince embodied the sacred and profane with fierce lucidity, honoring
21
00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:48.400
familial bonds while howling towards self actualization, cradling both milky
22
00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:52.200
innocence and unholy indigo lusts within the same trembling whisper.
23
00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:56.719
In the end, the eternal power of Prince's avant garde
24
00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:03.599
masterpiece transcended identities and preconceptions. These ceremonial songs, outrageous dance, exoricisms,
25
00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:08.159
and emotional character arcs merged into a disruptive psychedelic rapture.
26
00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:12.280
We found our voices in this gender fluid, synesthetic visionary's
27
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:16.240
anthems of transcendent individuality, just as rapidly as he seemed
28
00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:19.919
to vibrate on a separate reality from our earthly plane.
29
00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:23.759
But to properly grasp the meteoric cultural gravities that propelled
30
00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:28.520
Purple Rain into immortal spheres requires examining Prince's humble, earthly
31
00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:33.280
foundations as well. Born in nineteen fifty eight to a
32
00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:37.719
broken home and surroundings permeated with racial prejudice and familial trauma,
33
00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:41.919
Prince Rogers Nelson found refuge early on by immersing himself
34
00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:46.800
in music as a preternaturally gifted multi instrumentalist and songwriting
35
00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:50.719
prodigy who quickly outshone many of his Minneapolis mentors, and
36
00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:55.960
outrageous confidence and lyrical audacity blossomed by the dawn of
37
00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:59.080
the nineteen eighties. The world would soon bear witnessing to
38
00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:04.319
pop's next visionary supernova. When nineteen eighty two S nineteen
39
00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:09.599
ninety nine first blasted its lurid, apocalyptic party chants across airwaves,
40
00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:14.280
listeners were shook by its fearlessly liberated sensuality and genre
41
00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:18.439
demolishing sound. Here was an alchemist of funk's carnal propulsions,
42
00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:22.960
rock's mystic head rush, and futurist electronic textures, sculpting one
43
00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:28.479
singularly immersive strand of avant pop delirium. In the wake
44
00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:32.639
of that breakthrough, expectations ignited for what spectacle lay in
45
00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:36.960
store for Prince's first foray into cinema. Nineteen eighty four's
46
00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:42.360
Purple Rain release exceeded those wildest expectations upon its historic impact,
47
00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.599
an uncompromising examination of the sacred and profane and our
48
00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:51.879
universal trials, birthing individualism from life's darkest initiations, while the
49
00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:56.520
baroque album centerpiece remains the wrenchingly vulnerable emotional climax. From
50
00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:01.240
start to finish, Purple Rain is a constantly evolving synesthetic
51
00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:06.800
phantasmagoria were transported through lush, psychedelic dream palaces one instant
52
00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:11.360
when doves cry, then plunged into harrowing forays into domestic
53
00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:15.560
strife and gothic into personal psychosis. The next the beautiful
54
00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:22.199
ones we witness innocent infatuations blossom into carnal catharsis darling
55
00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:26.720
Nicki juxtaposed against ballads of wounded aching like the title track,
56
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.439
opus a transcendent howl to dissolve cycles of pain through
57
00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:35.120
artistic self actualization, all culminating in the live performance segments
58
00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.079
where Prince spontaneously combusts into a revelatory church of ecstatic
59
00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:42.120
dance and guitar shredding that remains one of modern concert
60
00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:46.079
cinema's most rapturous epiphanies to this day. In its rapturous
61
00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.600
nineteen eighty four reception and for years following, Purple Rain
62
00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:54.160
endured as a radically transformative, full bodied cultural phenomenon. Sonic
63
00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:58.600
explorers emerged altered by the vulnerabilities and liberation ethics imparted
64
00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:03.199
by Prince's stunningly sure three hundred sixty degree embrace of sexuality,
65
00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:08.120
self growth, and divine compassion. The ethereal ballad When Doves
66
00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.560
Cry in particular, stood apart, ushering in the era of
67
00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:15.519
the music video event while becoming an endlessly interpretable metaphysical
68
00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:20.120
transmission for many. Its heartrending minimalism and cryptic lyrics about
69
00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:24.160
love itself being an untameable carnal and spiritual force shook
70
00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:28.839
foundations as swiftly as its stripped down, funk transcended language.
71
00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:33.240
Of course, Purple Rain still remains the holistic album's sacred engine,
72
00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:37.279
an emotional wrecking ball for exorcising demons. It remains the
73
00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:40.319
pre eminent rock slash, R and B requiem to healing
74
00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:45.279
childhood wounds, confronting one's repressed and profane iterations and emerging
75
00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:50.160
into self authorship through creation. Like the cinema Verite live
76
00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:54.639
performance centerpiece, Prince transfigures from vulnerable mystic in the verses
77
00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:58.279
to rapturous guitar deity capable of scorching the earth with
78
00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:03.160
shredding boudoir ecstasies. As the epic Opus crescendos for nine
79
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:06.720
and a half desolate, sanctified minutes, he cracks the cosmos
80
00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:11.360
asunder vocally and instrumentally, the performance representing the eye attaining
81
00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:17.040
individuation in the ultimate transcendent, becoming more in a moment.
82
00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:32.000
Thirty years later, Purple Rain's multi dimensional cultural imprints have
83
00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:36.879
remained cemented as ubiquitous influence on pop art music's convergence
84
00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:42.040
of spirituality sexuality, and as an intergenerational rallying cry for
85
00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:47.519
self actualization through artistry. Countless contemporary musical titans, from Janelle
86
00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:51.600
Monet to Kendrick Lamar regularly cite the cinematic Holy Work's
87
00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:56.560
avant garde freedoms and unbound sensual spiritual energies opening their
88
00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:00.959
own creative doors. Meanwhile, the film itself has endured endless
89
00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:05.519
anniversary screenings, academic analysis, and mimetic significance on par with
90
00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:09.920
two thousand and one A Space Odyssey, hardly a year
91
00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.079
passes without new flourishes on the pop zeitgeist, directly mirroring
92
00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:19.279
Prince's original kaleidoscopic world building and liberation ethics. But most importantly,
93
00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:23.560
the eternal beam of Purple Rains inspiration and conviction for
94
00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:27.639
individuation blazes brighter than ever before. For in the most
95
00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.959
recent generations of spirited youth turning to music and art
96
00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:35.279
for self discovery, this timeless confluence of sound, visuals, and
97
00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:39.519
ideas continues to spark the most personal awakenings. So whether
98
00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:43.439
you're encountering its phantasmagoria for the first time or bearing
99
00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:47.720
spiritual witness to Purple Rain once more, prepare to embrace
100
00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:53.920
transformation this time fully surrender yourself to every nuance and wrinkle,
101
00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:58.839
the angelic falsetto invocations, the howling guitar raptures, and the
102
00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:03.240
radical authenticity of Prince's singular vision. Let its songs and
103
00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:06.560
imagery once again act as cosmic catalysts for your own
104
00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:11.120
soul's journey towards ultimate individuation. For in the end, that's
105
00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:15.199
the immortal power behind every element of this avant garde masterpiece,
106
00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:20.839
like a psychedelic supernova, forging heavier elements from its dying furnace.
107
00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:26.319
Purple Rain exists as an eternal creative singularity, endlessly conceiving
108
00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:30.399
new astral bodies of self discovery and unfurling each listener's
109
00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:35.480
autonomous spirit into their own sacred revolution, all facilitated by
110
00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:39.600
that electrifying opening rain shower of guitar transmissions from Pop's
111
00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:45.080
quaking gender mystic revolutionary. We simply bear witness, embrace the epiphany,
112
00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:49.159
and follow his trail of endless violet blessings back to ourselves.
113
00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:54.759
I'm Andrew Irons and this has been another engaging episode
114
00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:58.080
of The hit Maker Chronicles. Join us next week as
115
00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.799
we continue to uncover the stories behind behind the songs
116
00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.080
and artists that have left an indelible mark on the world.
117
00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:07.720
The hit Maker Chronicles is a production of Calarrogus Shark
118
00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:12.440
Media executive producers Mark Francis and John McDermott. Portions of
119
00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:15.120
this podcast may have been created with the assistance of
120
00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:15.720
Ai
1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:14.039
2
00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:18.839
3
00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:23.039
4
00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:31.920
5
00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:35.880
6
00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.880
7
00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.159
8
00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:49.000
9
00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:54.079
10
00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:57.840
11
00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.960
12
00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:06.840
13
00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:10.560
14
00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:13.840
15
00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:19.760
16
00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:25.359
17
00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:28.920
18
00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:33.760
19
00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:38.480
20
00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:43.599
21
00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:48.400
22
00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:52.200
23
00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:56.719
24
00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:03.599
25
00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:08.159
26
00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:12.280
27
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:16.240
28
00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:19.919
29
00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:23.759
30
00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:28.520
31
00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:33.280
32
00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:37.719
33
00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:41.919
34
00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:46.800
35
00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:50.719
36
00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:55.960
37
00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:59.080
38
00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:04.319
39
00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:09.599
40
00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:14.280
41
00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:18.439
42
00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:22.960
43
00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:28.479
44
00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:32.639
45
00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:36.960
46
00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:42.360
47
00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.599
48
00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:51.879
49
00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:56.520
50
00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:01.240
51
00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:06.800
52
00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:11.360
53
00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:15.560
54
00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:22.199
55
00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:26.720
56
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.439
57
00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:35.120
58
00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.079
59
00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:42.120
60
00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:46.079
61
00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.600
62
00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:54.160
63
00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:58.600
64
00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:03.199
65
00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:08.120
66
00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.560
67
00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:15.519
68
00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:20.120
69
00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:24.160
70
00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:28.839
71
00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:33.240
72
00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:37.279
73
00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:40.319
74
00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:45.279
75
00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:50.160
76
00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:54.639
77
00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:58.279
78
00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:03.160
79
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:06.720
80
00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:11.360
81
00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:17.040
82
00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:32.000
83
00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:36.879
84
00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:42.040
85
00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:47.519
86
00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:51.600
87
00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:56.560
88
00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:00.959
89
00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:05.519
90
00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:09.920
91
00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.079
92
00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:19.279
93
00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:23.560
94
00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:27.639
95
00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.959
96
00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:35.279
97
00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:39.519
98
00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:43.439
99
00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:47.720
100
00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:53.920
101
00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:58.839
102
00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:03.240
103
00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:06.560
104
00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:11.120
105
00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:15.199
106
00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:20.839
107
00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:26.319
108
00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:30.399
109
00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:35.480
110
00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:39.600
111
00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:45.080
112
00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:49.159
113
00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:54.759
114
00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:58.080
115
00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.799
116
00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.080
117
00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:07.720
118
00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:12.440
119
00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:15.120
120
00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:15.720