‘Everything in darkness must come out into the light
When we love each other that's the only way that's gonna be right’
When we love each other that's the only way that's gonna be right’
Welcome to our last official day of the #3121album #PrinceTwitterThread. Today we’ll talk about ‘Get On The Boat’, track number 12 on ‘3121’ and also the album closer.
Before we get started, on behalf of @deejayUMB and myself I want to thank all our contributors: @yan_kry, @darlingnisi, @RichardCole_NOW, @PrincesFriendYT, @CaseyRain, @CasciTRitchie, @ehphd, @arrthurr and @pressrewind75. It’s been a blast!
Okay, now press play and listen to ‘Get On The Boat’. Preferably loud: open.spotify.com/track/7dB5lbgG…
Now tell me, is that an addictive horn hook or what? It immediately sounds familiar. As if it has always been there. And the funky beat (C.C. Dunham on drums, her husband @Dunham_Josh on bass) is reminiscent of James Brown. The groove is irresistible!
The horn section here is largely the same as during the 2004 Musicology tour. @maceoparker on saxophone, @candydulfer on saxophone, Greg Boyer on trombone. Added is Ray Monteiro on trumpet.
Where and when the song was recorded is not clear. Either at Paisley Park or at the 3121 Antelo Road mansion in Los Angeles, somewhere in 2005. In addition to aforementioned artists, Tamár can be heard here as well.
And as for the Latin percussion that comes creeping in from around 3 minutes, that is (of course, I’d almost say) Sheila E.
Musically the song rounds up ‘3121’ nicely. It has both the funk that is present on the album as well as the Latin influences. Yet it pushes both styles into higher gear by adding those addictive horns.
When this series of threads started @yan_kry gave us a unique look at the album opener (and title track) ‘3121’. To me that title track has always been the polar opposite of the album’s closing track.
Think about it, ‘3121’ is more sinister, kinda creepy. Prince using a Camille like voice, luring people in. ‘Don’t U wanna come?’ And the payoff is ‘You can come if U want 2,
But you can never leave’, which is an obvious nod to the Eagles classic ‘Hotel California’.
But you can never leave’, which is an obvious nod to the Eagles classic ‘Hotel California’.
‘Hotel California’ is about getting trapped in the dark underbelly of the music industry. There are ‘mirrors on the ceiling’, there is ‘pink champagne on ice’, yet all people there are ‘prisoners of their own device’. Prince has warned us before.
Heck, even before that (but that was already covered in the ‘The Word’ thread)
Once Prince was notorious for keeping his distance from the industry, by staying in Minneapolis. Far away from the shallow Hollywood lifestyle. And suddenly mid 00s there he is, seemingly fully embracing the lifestyle he once distanced himself from and inviting people to come.
Prince often put dual meanings in his songs. That makes his body of work so fascinating. This time Prince chooses yet another narrative to convey the ‘dark vs. light’ message that has been part of his work for decades.
And that message only reveals itself at the end of the album. Once again he sings ‘Don't U wanna come?’ but this time he invites us on a different path. ‘Everything in darkness must come out into the light.’ Here we are presented with the light, where the opener was dark.
With characters like Camille, Spooky Electric and Gemini popping up in his work, this is familiar territory. Yet as explained in the previous thread on ‘The Word’, the narrative changes slightly each time Prince’s belief system changes.
By 2006 he was an active Jehovah’s Witness. The 2001 ‘The Rainbow Children’ album was a religious testament, on ‘3121’ the message is more subtle. It is there though and it is quite obvious in both ‘The Word’ and ‘Get On The Boat’.
He opens ‘Get On the Boat’ with the lyrics ‘Look outside your window, tell me now what you see,’, which harks back to the apocalyptic ‘The Dance Electric’ gave to @andrecymone.
On ‘Get On the Boat’ it is still almost time to go, but the message is hopeful and positive. In ‘The Dance Electric’ we hear ‘We better love each other, it's almost time 2 go’ and this time the message is ‘When we love each other that's the only way that's gonna B right’.
As for boats, they are not frequently used as an image in Prince’s work. A somewhat tragic boat imagery is used in the song ‘All My Dreams’, which is a fan favourite outtake that will finally be released on September 25 as part of ‘Sign “O” The Times Super Deluxe Edition’.
Some ships are wandering, for instance in Sea Of Everything (2010).
Also there’s ‘Mutiny’ in which the protagonist takes over a ship. And in ‘Family Name’ he mentions the boat that brought slaves to the US, but most other mentions are not really relevant. At least, not for this thread.
There is ‘Bum Rush the Ship’ by the New Power Generation, but that is about a space ship. In a way the ‘Exodus’ album is about the ‘New Power Generation’ being saved on an interstellar ark.
That imagery has been used by artists such as Neil Young as well. In his magnificent (the song gets me every time) ‘After The Goldrush’ we are told of the chosen ones setting off in a silver space ship, to find Mother Nature’s silver seed a new home in the sun.
Anyway, the boat Prince sings about in ‘Get On The Boat’ seems to resemble an ark as well.
In myths and popular culture a boat is often a vessel from this life into the afterworld. Greek mythology tells of Charon the ferryman, who carries over the souls of the dead over the river Styx to Hades, the afterworld.
More on Hades and the Greek afterworld in the Loose! thread from a few months ago.
That imagery of Charon is still often used. For instance the Star Wars tv-show ‘The Mandalorian’ taps into the very same myth with the lead character almost dying and eventually crossing a river of lava on a boat to enter a next phase, with a droid as the ferryman.
In Egyptian mythology it is the sun god Ra that makes his rounds around the earth in his boat Atet and this imagery is often used as a symbol for growth, decline, death, and resurrection.
In the The Lord Of The Rings universe the Elves (and the occasional Hobbit and wizard) leave Middle Earth by ship to the Undying Lands, although it is never stated as such, it is implied that they are basically using a boat to reach the afterworld.
The boat in ‘Get On The Boat’ most likely has multiple meanings. It is in a way a vessel to the afterworld. ‘A world where everything will be alright’
Even fitting in with Jehovah’s Witnesses imagery of the life hereafter. Which kinda looks like an Around The World in A Day artwork outtake.
Which one of these images actually was! Find out which one in this video:
A boat is also a vessel that can save people. The whole ‘saving’ theme is elaborated on in my ‘The Word’ thread. We’ll continue here by looking at Noah’s ark, but if you want to check that thread it’s here:
Noah was a righteous man in a rotten world. God decided to cleanse the world to return it to its original state. Noah was chosen to save life on earth by bringing his family and pairs of all land animals on the ark he had built.
Prince offers a place on his ark. Instead of bringing animals, he makes room for other people. He doesn’t quite say how many people already are on board. But ‘there’s room for a hundred more’.
If we bring this to his Jehovah’s Witness beliefs, they believe that exactly 144,000 faithful people go to heaven to rule with Christ in the Kingdom of God. The others will be resurrected in the paradise that is the remade Earth.
That was an actual Jehovah’s Witness artistic interpretation of the 144,000… notice these are all white bearded male? Here’s another one, source JW.org. Some serious profiling going on there!
Anyway, according to Jehovah’s Witnesses most of the 144,000 are already in heaven. So maybe those ‘100 more’ are the last to be added. But that’s just speculation. And yes… this is yet another one…
The Noah’s Ark theme is apparent in the opening lines. The ark eventually was stranded on mount Ararat (in what now is Turkey) and Noah sent a dove out. ‘Look outside your window, tell me now what you see, coming up the mountain’.
Prince adds ‘for a new philosophy’. And that is a recurring theme in his work. Examples are to be found in the ‘The Word’ thread. But also for instance this one.
Or this one.
On a side note, in the recently released ‘Cosmic Day’ Prince also looks outside his window. There he sees ‘blue and whipped cream’. Then he adds ‘There goes a merman, uh-oh’… So sometimes he is just hallucinating.
And Prince might want to bring his old friends from The Time on his boat. ‘Never mind what time it is, the party's just begun.’
The Latin theme that runs through the album is also present in some Spanish lyrics. ‘No te alejes de este momento de inspiración’, meaning ‘don’t walk away from this moment of inspiration’. He wants to inspire people to ‘get on the boat’ and ‘get saved’.
In the credits it says that only Támar is doing the additional vocals. But maybe the Spanish is an unredited Liza ‘Lena’ Hernandez? After all, the song proceeds with ‘Panamama bring the drama’, shortly after.
Back in the day he got some backlash from fans who felt he was preaching too much. Which was weird as he had been doing that for decades. For those people he only had one message.
Like with ‘Lovesexy’ and ‘Newpower Soul’, Prince was enthusiastic about his beliefs and wanted to share them with as many people as possible. Most likely that is why ‘Get On The Boat’ was played at some high profile performances, instead of the then current singles.
For instance the live tv show Good Morning America, which kicked off with ‘Get On The Boat’.
At the press conference for the Superbowl performance Prince decided not to answer questions and play ‘Get On The Boat’ instead.
And once again (I shared this in my previous thread as well) at the ALMA Awards in 2007, where he played it back to back with ‘The Word’.
When Prince started performing with the 11-piece NPG Hornz ‘Get On The Boat’ was pulled from the catalogue again. And the horn hook proved to be just as addictive. A sample was shared on the 3rdEye TV channel in 2013.
The melody of the song was part of a 2007 Latin improvisation at the IndigO2 in London. That ended up on the ‘Indigo Nights’ cd and the jam is also called ‘Indigo Nights’. But if you listen carefully you’ll hear ‘Get On The Boat’ in there.
One famous ‘boat quote’ we have not yet mentioned dates back to 1987.
‘Soon the boat will sail & take us all away’
That's what it reads in the Thank U section of ‘Sign “O” The Times’ liner notes. So let’s get on board of that boat!
‘Soon the boat will sail & take us all away’
That's what it reads in the Thank U section of ‘Sign “O” The Times’ liner notes. So let’s get on board of that boat!
Which brings us to the next #PrinceTwitterThread series hosted by @deejayUMB and yours truly, celebrating the massive ‘Sign “O” The Times’ box set that will be released on September 25. The threads will follow shortly after.
Until then, thanks for your attention and support.
Until then, thanks for your attention and support.
But wait, it ain’t over! Tomorrow we’ll have a very Exclusive VIP thread by @ruthlesdva on the ‘3121’ era. Ruth was Prince’s manager at the time and has been extremely supportive of our threads the past couple of weeks. Check out her awesome comments & stay tuned for her thread!
