As the protests in Baltimore unfolded, Prince sat at his keyboard at Paisley Park’s soundstage in Minnesota and started penning a peaceful protest song, which just hit the web this morning. Click play and ponder the lyrics below. Then get the backstory on the writing of “Baltimore” at MyFoxTwinCities.
BALTIMORE
lyrics by Prince
NPG RECORDS, copyright 2015
NOBODY GOT IN NOBODY’S WAY
SO EYE GUESS U COULD SAY
IT WAS A GOOD DAY
AT LEAST A LITTLE BETTER THAN THE DAY IN BALTIMORE
DOES ANYBODY HEAR US PRAY?
4 MICHAEL BROWN OR FREDDIE GRAY PEACE IS MORE THAN THE ABSENCE OF WAR
ABSENCE OF WAR
R WE GONNA C ANOTHER BLOODY DAY?
WE’RE TIRED OF CRYIN’ & PEOPLE DYIN’
LET’S TAKE ALL THE GUNS AWAY
ABSENCE OF WAR- U AND ME
MAYBE WE CAN FINALLY SAY
ENUFF IS ENUFF IT’S TIME 4 LOVE
IT’S TIME 2 HEAR,
IT’S TIME 2 HEAR
THE GUITAR PLAY! (guitar solo)
If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newsletter, please find it here. Or follow our posts on Threads, Facebook, BlueSky or Mastodon.
If you would like to support the mission of Open Culture, consider making a donation to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere. You can contribute through PayPal, Patreon, and Venmo (@openculture). Thanks!
Great old school vibe and chill relaxed vibe for a poignant message. Well done. Prince is still the MAN!
I’m proud to say I saw Prince from the fourth row in Atlanta on the “Purple Rain” tour. He played the greatest guitar solo I’ve ever heard live.
And yet, he has a 14 person bodyguard contingent hired from Academia (Formerly, Blackwater), all who carry automatic rifles, handguns and an assortment of other weapons.
Is he having his bodygaurds give up their weapons, or are we the ones who are supposed to go first?
Maybe just me, but that riff sounds very like the one from Thin Lizzy’s “Sarah”.
1) “Eye” is obv “i” in the lyrics
2) Lyrics missing, the most important too. In the end the song says
“If there ain’t no justice,
there can be no peace.”
And that’s the best part.
In 2013, according to FBI statistics, over 6000 black Americans were murdered, mostly by other black civilians. Where are the “protests” for them?
If they would only listen !!!!