I remember going to a shop to buy Musicology on CD on its day of release back in 2004. Now it’s available on vinyl for the first time I had to pick it up again. On its initial release it was seen as a comeback album but Prince hadn’t really gone anywhere. His previous album (N.E.W.S) contained four 14 minute instrumental tracks named after the points of a compass and before that music club exclusive releases, live albums and back in 2001 the heavily religious and jazz sound of The Rainbow Children… Prince never stopped creating, this wasn’t so much of a comeback then, just a return to the mainstream and a return to the funk “don’t you hear this old-school joint”.
Musicology is definitely Prince’s most political record in some time with songs like the controversial (in the US at least) Cinnamon Girl dealing with the rise of racism after the September 11th attacks, American foreign policy and radicalisation: “So began the mass illusion, war on terror alibi. What’ss the use when the god of confusion keeps on telling the same lie?”, government surveillance in Call My Name: “What’s the matter with the world today? Land of the free? Somebody lied. They can bug my phone and peep around my home. They’ll only see you and me making love inside”, with Dear Mr. Man being the most political of all and one of my favourite songs on the album: “Who said that to kill is a sin then started every single war that your people been in?”… I’ve always loved this album. https://www.instagram.com/cosmicscale/p/BtqsVlAgJb1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nwawdex5tw77
