On Episode 110 of the Press Rewind – Prince Lyrics Podcast, Snax (snaxonline.org) and I take a dark trip into the mind of a psychotic, jealous, violent, and misogynistic alter-ego on “Bob George” from the legendary Black Album. Despite the disturbing imagery presented in the song, there’s a lot of humor to lighten the mood between gunshots and threats. This R-rated cinematic track is definitely funky, so, Bob, if you’re out there, let me see you dance.
“Why can’t we just dance? Why can’t we just dance?”
The craziest song of Prince’s career up to this point (“Sister” would still get a lot of votes), “Bob George” is one of those tracks that you play for people who know “Kiss,” “Purple Rain,” and “Raspberry Beret” to send them into a spiral of confusion. It’s violent, misogynistic, and frankly, hilarious; it worked amazingly well to represent “bad-Prince” during act 1 of the Lovesexy tour. An unreleased song used as a touring centerpiece, Prince knew bootlegging was a thing and winked at this knowledge while flashing his little gun.
The goal of each episode of Press Rewind is to:
- Take a track by track look at the lyrical content of Prince’s discography
- Discuss my own interpretation of each song’s lyrics along with any guest I may have
- If submitted, discuss listener’s interpretations of each song’s lyrics
Thank you for joining me on this journey through Prince’s catalog!
