“Prince”

All day I contemplated what I wanted to say about today's visit to Paisley Park, and my thoughts kept winding back to the same refrain: loneliness.

Paisley Park is an unremarkable building on an unremarkable road in Chanhassen, Minnesota. And while you can certainly see a similar abandon in the decor, it is NOT Prince’s "Graceland." The space is lighter. More open. Spacious. Versatile. Expansive. Flexible. Paisley Park is neither a home, nor an office.

It’s a sanctuary. *** It’s pretty obvious that he built it to surround himself with safe people. But I have another theory: the throngs of people invited into the lounges and the party rooms and the sound stages and the atrium and the recording studio - all were summoned, in part, to buffer the artist against a profound sense of loneliness. I could feel it.

Or was that just me? *** Prince's rain-soaked Super Bowl halftime show is shown in its entirety at the end of the tour. I can’t watch that performance without being overwhelmed. His Herculean talent was one for the ages - a monster responsibility.

I believe his artistry was the alpha and omega of his passion, and that a mortal love would have to stand on the far side of a possessive paramour - his Muse. "Every song was either a prayer or foreplay.” -- Prince

Nov. 17, 2016
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