Song: Xenophobia - Live
Album: One Nite Alone . . . Live!
Year: 2002
From a live set in Portland, Prince immediately instructs the audience to not expect Purple Rain; that this is going to be something different. And this track is different. It takes a saxophone riff from Maceo Parker, repeated throughout the entire track, and layers onto it snippets of Prince addressing the crowd, a short synth solo, a long(ish) drum solo, a slow piano solo, some conversation with the crowd (including snubbing on fan because she answered that it's better to be a leader than a follower), a guitar solo and finally back to the Maceo riff with full band.
This track grew on me. I was a bit bored with the sax riff but did enjoy this as a jazz number of moderate skill. I listen to a lot of jazz and while I feel Prince and company are competent, they are in no way masters of the genre. Maceo is a definitely a legend, having played with James Brown as well as Parlaiment/Funkadelic, but the riff here is simple and you might not even know if it was him if not for Prince announcing him. I definitely would not turn to this track or any of Prince's jazz offerings if that were the genre I was craving. I can imagine the crowd enjoying it while also just wanting it to finish so that he could get on to some of his more pop, funk and soul oriented material.
Verdict: 2.5/5 stars
Would I sing it at karaoke? It's not that type of song, though I wish I had the stage patter that Prince possesses.
Song: Karma Man
Album: David Bowie
Year: 1967
From the Deluxe edition of Bowie's often overlooked first album. This is not the Bowie you imagine Bowie to be. This is a Bowie who writes odd ditties about odd topics - a gravedigger, a gnome and a mommie's boy all get their due on this album. Karma Man seems to be about a human oddity secured behind the tent curtains of a traveling circus. This is a man who's seen war and has been profoundly affected both physically and emotionally. It shows in his eyes and in the pinkness of his (presumably chemically burned) skin. For all that the tune is surprisingly jaunty, which doesn't surprise me given the mind from whence it sprang. Still, it's not all that catchy a tune in that the lyrics are both difficult to parse and difficult to remember. It is, however, a nice glimpse into the creative mind that will blossom over the next 50 years.
Fingertips sun at sideshow stalls, they throw the balls
At coconut furs that hide behind coloured shades that blind your eyes
Every child's mother holds an ice cream cone, they circle round
Perceived unknown by an eye that peers from a hole in a tent where no one goes
A figure sitting cross-legged on the floor
He's cloaked and clothed in saffran robes, his beads are all he owns
Slow down, slow down
Someone must have said let's slow him down
Slow down, slow down
It's pictured on the arms of the karma man
Fairy tale skin depicting scenes from human zoos
Impermanent toys like peace and war, a gentle face you've seen before
Karma man tattooed on your side, the wheel of life
I see my times and who I've been, I only live now and I don't know why
I struggle hard to take these pictures in, but
All my friends can see is just the pinkness of his skin
Slow down, slow down
Someone must have said let's slow him down
Slow down, slow down
It's pictured on the arms of the karma man
Verdict: 2/5 stars
Would I sing it at karaoke? No.
Winner: Xenophobia - Live, by a hair
Running Score: Bowie 13, Prince 8
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