I guess Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson) died this morning. In fact, I was not a huge fan of his music, but he is of my generation, and of my adopted city (Minneapolis), and his music and cultural impact were both ubiquitous in my college years. Certainly I think he was quite talented, an original artist and thinker, and entirely deserving of his fame and fans. I can conjure several of his songs into my mind without prompts, including "1999" and "Purple Rain," and and I saw the movie of the same title as the latter, "Purple Rain," many times. Probably the thing Prince did that I found most interesting, as a linguist, was when he changed his name to an unpronounciable symbol (at right), and for a number of years was therefore known as "The Artist formerly known as Prince." This appealed to my interest in absurdist and Borgesian linguistic follies.
I would have preferred to put a Prince song, below, but… well, he was also quite assiduous in his control of his creative output, including his long-standing dispute with his music label, and his famous quote that working for his label was like slavery. Because of that, quality youtube videos of his music are quite hard to find. I would have posted a less well-known song, perhaps something with political content, like his 1981 "Ronnie, Talk To Russia." I suggest you go find it somewhere, if you're interested.
Meanwhile, since that's not available, here's something utterly unrelated and of a different genre and epoch.
What I'm listening to right now.
Nothing But Thieves, "Excuse Me."
Lyrics.
His space crowds out your space, your space
Your space crowds out hers
Coffee breath and headphone hiss
But no one says a word
Eyes upon the paper headline
Refuge in your phone
Bumping shoulders
Cough and sniff
But no one says hello
Woahhh
Excuse me while I run, I really gotta get out of here
Woahhh
Excuse me while I run, I really gotta get out of here
My heart beats like yours does, hers does,
Her heart keeps good time
And everyday I mind the gap between you and me
Here comes someone else to share the air we breathe
Woahhh
Excuse me while I run, I really gotta get out of here
Woahhh
Reach out for anyone, and they will tell you get out of here
Woahhh
I'm asking everyone, you've gotta help me get out of here
Woahhh
Excuse me while I run, I really gotta get out of here
Meanwhile
Under the gun
Hey everyone
Our work here is done
We out
You gonna come?
Hey everyone
Our work here is done
Woahhh
Excuse me while I run, I really gotta get out of here
Woahhh
Reach out for anyone and they will tell you get out of here
Woahhh
I'm asking everyone, you've gotta help me get out of here
Woahhh
Excuse me while I run, I really gotta get out of here
[daily log: walking, 6km]