To hear the news that Prince passed away on Thursday
afternoon was like feeling your heart crushing inside you.
Prince, like David Bowie, you felt were going to live
forever. They would go on and live to be an absurd age because they, it often
felt like, were not human. At times it felt like we lived among aliens and
gods. While many musicians will be want to be “rock gods,” few actually are.
Prince was godlike.
To hear that the 57-year-old died in his home, possibly due
to the flu is about as unbelievable as seeing a unicorn in your backyard.
Prince and death were things you just don’t think of.
But Prince, Bowie, and many of the greats we lost this year,
in fact, too many greats, were mortal.
They were of our kind but they lead a pack of special ones
-- people that will challenge the system, authority, art and even themselves.
Prince once said: “One thing I'd like to say is that I don't
live in a prison. I am not afraid of anything. I haven't built any walls around
myself, and I am just like anyone else. I need love and water.”
He was one of us. We were never one of him.
For us at Officially A Yuppie, while we never got to cover
Prince in concert or interview him, he was always an influence.
We began our “Great Soundtracks” feature because of our love
for Purple Rain – the greatest soundtrack of all time.
Like Bowie, Lemmy, Phife Dawg, George Martin, and many
others we have lost the last five months, this Prince-sized hole in the music world will be
felt for a longtime. While we still have the music, the blueprints they laid
out and ideas, there will never be another.
The world just seems a lot less funky now.
