The Music, The Love....Prince.

I am a true 80's kid, there is no denying it. The Generation-X'er's believed in our music and across the board, no matter what ethnicity, we pretty much all knew and could(and still can!)sing you a wide variety of songs from that era; from The Cure to Run DMC, we got it. But personally, there is that one that changed music for me and that one is Prince. I come from a musical family, Singers one and all. There wasn't one genre of music that at some point, wasn't played in our home. But when my older sister came home from college with Prince's Controversy album; stick a fork in me, cause I was done! It wasn't as if I hadn't heard Prince before. Sure, we had I feel for you, Soft and Wet(totally not supposed to listen to that song!), Nothing Compares To You, etc. but Controversy was different for me; maybe because I was a teenager and full of angst? And what speaks to a teenagers heart more than Rock and Roll? I listened to Annie Christian and HEARD it. The song Controversy in itself was a Controversy "Do you believe in God? Do you believe in Me?" I, at 14, fell undeniably in love with Prince. Not for the reasons most teenage girls fall in love with Rock and Roll Gods; no, I was too deep for that(and didn't we all think we were deep? :) I loved Prince for his rebellious nature, I loved him because my Mama didn't! for his thumbing his nose to anyone that said he had to dress a certain way (Prince encouraged us all to wear frilly blouses and brooches), Be a certain way, or play a certain type of music. Most of all I loved him for the music. With the passing of Natalie Cole and Maurice White, I felt the loss of my childhood. Their songs are attached to the memories of family parties, me and my sisters holding concerts in our house and most of all; my Mama. Prince's music helped change who I was as a teenager, yes! I blame him. That was my teenage self, after listening to the B-side of the 1999 album, going to THE best hairstylist in our town at the time, Mr. Bill Duncan, and saying with a very confident voice(confidence that I didn't really feel) "Cut it like Grace Jones!" and he DID! "Be glad that you are free! Free to change your mind. Free to go most anywhere, anytime." This is the song I had been listening to when I decided to cut my hair like Grace, this is the moment I decided that I was never going to be part of the "In" crowd.. nor did I want to be.  I was Free. So here is my love letter to you Mr. Rogers; that chunky teenager wearing the Doc Martens and sporting the Grace cut. Rocking the long earring and believing she will be part of The Revolution and The Hot Mix Five:) That Girl and this Woman thank you. Wishing all of you Love and Peace.. but mostly Peace.