I Would Collage 4 U

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Even though I haven't been that hard hit by the news of Prince's death, I'm going to jump on the glittery purple bandwagon of rhapsodizing about his death. I don't have an exciting story to tell of seeing Prince in concert or running into him at a club. My Prince memories are just humble stories of how his work intersects with my life. 

 The first moment that leaps to mind involves watching "Purple Rain" at the slumber party to celebrate my 15th birthday. (Yes, we actually had to rent a VCR for this special occasion). Of course the sex scene between Prince and Apollonia made quite an impression (if not a fully understood one) on the young Amy. My friend Jennifer mentioned this movie viewing recently and remembers my mom watching the movie with us and saying something like, "Now girls cover your eyes" during that sexy bit. I like to think my mom said this in a "LOL, I'm being a 'bad' parental figure right now, wink, wink" way (yes we had LOL feelings in the 80s before we had an acronym for it) because I want to remember my mom as hip like that. And I can relate to the awkwardness of being the supposed adult moral compass in a situation when you're not really sure that you're qualified. I think we told our "Little Brother" (at the time around 14) "not to watch" Doogie Howser sniff blow off a hooker during our potentially ill-advised screening of "Harold and Kumar."
"Don't watch this!"
Speaking of the Purple Rain sex scene, another thought that stands out about Prince is how his music was a measuring stick for how I changed through the years. Obviously, his sexually charged music and explicit lyrics took on a whole new meaning as I got older and eventually understood (at least most of) the literal and emotional meaning of his music. (I was rather a late bloomer and this was before the Internet so I couldn't easily look such subjects up.) My experience of Prince's music also changed as my understanding of Christian imagery changed. Although I still, in all seriousness, think "I Would Die 4 U" makes perfect sense as a lovely theme-song for Jesus.

 Although it's been a long time since I was a serious Prince fan, (my era spanned "Purple Rain" through 1988's "Lovesexy"), I was pretty die-hard back in the day. Prince was one of the select group of artists (including Bruce Springsteen and U2) that inspired me to make art. Okay, this "art" involved cutting out pictures of Prince, gluing them on a piece of black construction paper, and writing my favorite song lyrics around the photos in metallic silver Sharpie. Basically collage-lite. I don't really remember now what lyrics I found so inspiring, but I'm pretty sure I found "Let's look for the purple banana 'til they put us in the truck" highly meaningful. Obviously, "purple banana" is a deeply profound metaphor. 

 Beyond all the high school flashbacks and renewed appreciation for Prince's music (especially the amazing musicianship of Prince and all the artists who played with him) what affects me most about Prince's death is the feeling of community running through the public expressions of sadness. It's a cliche but I love how music is bringing people together. I also feel strangely proud to now call Minneapolis my home as well as blessed to have our local public radio station, The Current. 

 One thing that hasn't changed for me through the many years and versions of Amy is my love of purple, and my lack of ironing skills. So while I am too lame to go to any public Prince gatherings, I'm going to put on another rather wrinkled purple dress (a different one than the one I work to work today) and go to hear some live Minneapolis music. 

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