Quote Of The Day By Prince: 'Don't Ask Me About ...'

It's practically impossible to talk about Prince without descending into hyperbole, especially now that the man is gone and we're left with an ever-swelling legend. But there really won't be another musician like Prince, who released 39 albums, sold about 54 million physical records, won seven Grammys out of 38 nominations, wrote songs for other musicians, and, as debatable tales have been told, played up to 27 instruments. Prince, the person, did this all by focusing solely on music.

Prince's musical leanings were obvious from an early age. From piano to drums to guitar, Prince learned one instrument after another on the way to forming his first band in high school. He later recalled in a 2014 interview with Arsenio Hall on YouTube that there was absolutely nothing else he wanted to do, even at a broke 16 years old and flipping through the Yellow Pages looking for work. But even as he committing himself to music — going so far as to say things like, "I am music" in a 2011 Guardian piece — and saw his fame and career grow, he remained just as polite and thoughtful off-stage as he did flamboyant and explosive on-stage.

Prince never criticized other musicians, no matter having plenty of opportunities to do so in various interviews. As he told Mojo in 1997, "I know bands who in the press badmouth artists they revere in rehearsal. I don't wanna be like that. I crave great musicianship, and I don't care who provides it." At all turns, Prince was a man of his word who remained focused on his art. That's why he gets our quote of the day.

"The new pushes the old out of the way and retains what it wants to. Don't ask me about popular acts," Prince told The Guardian in the aforementioned 2011 interview. He continued, "Doesn't matter what I say. We ain't raining on anyone's parade. I ain't mad at anybody. I don't have any enemies."

We have this direct quote from Prince because The Guardian's Dorian Lynskey physically wrote it down. Much like Prince had plenty of unspoken rules for his staff to follow, he had plenty of explicit rules for the press, like no recording devices during interviews. Those explicit rules were balanced out by tangential, floaty responses that left Prince and his inner world a mystery, as usual — at least about small matters.

But when it came to speaking about music and other artists, Prince could be as direct as anyone. He said of Adele in The Guardian interview, "When she just comes on and sings with a piano player, no gimmicks, it's great." That's a plain and clear statement, one balanced by his opinion about Lady Gaga, which amounted to, "I don't know. I'd have to meet her." 

Rather than being an example of Prince waffling in public, or a mere gesture of politeness, this seeming duality exemplifies Prince's quote about not being asked about "popular acts." He let other musicians do their thing, while he did his — a gesture of mutual respect and autonomy that let the focus stay on music.

We're not going to try to pretend we fully understand Prince; no one did or does, which is part of his enduring appeal. But at the very least, when Prince talks about not (purple?) raining on anyone's parade, he's espousing a "You do your thing, I'll do mine" attitude. He fell back to this position rather than talk down about other artists in the 2011 Guardian interview in question. Do note, however, that he spoke well of Adele, meaning that when he had something good to say, he said it. To use another stock phrase, this is kind of like teaching kids, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

This is a fine enough attitude to adopt in certain situations, but to dig deeper, we've got to look at context. Prince said what he said after being asked about upcoming artists. Given his impenetrable confidence, it seems highly unlikely that he felt anxious about being supplanted by the talents of young stars, or afraid of career-damaging blowback at expressing his opinions. At the same time, he also said, "The new pushes the old out of the way" — not in a fearful way, but a factual one.  

It's Prince's later statement from The Guardian interview that grants final clarity. "I'm a musician," he said, "That's what I do ... Come to the show for that." In other words, Prince remained focused on a greater love of music, with each musician being a unique vessel. He wasn't wrapped up in petty name-calling and foolish power games, but was confident enough to let others be. We'd all be far better off if everyone took this example to heart.

• "People are all the same, deep down, and once you get to know somebody, you can always find some kind of commonality."

• "The best songs come from listening. Every new song is already present."

• "It's really hard to watch other musicians because you tend to, you know, it's like a painting you want to make straight ... It doesn't mean what they're doing isn't of merit. I just hear music differently.

• "I like to believe that my inspiration comes from God."

• "There's certain songs I don't play anymore, just like there's certain words I don't say anymore. It's not me anymore. Don't follow me way back there."

• "When people hear freedom in the music that we record, that's change."