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Sign O' The Times Lyrics
Oh yeah
In France a skinny man
Died of a big disease with a little name
By chance his girlfriend came across a needle
And soon she did the same
At home there are seventeen-year-old boys
And their idea of fun
Is being in a gang called The Disciples
High on crack, totin' a machine gun
Time, time
Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling of a church
And killed everyone inside
You turn on the telly and every other story
Is tellin' you somebody died
Sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it
And we're sending people to the moon
In September my cousin tried reefer for the very first time
Now he's doing horse, it's June
Times, times
It's silly, no?
When a rocket ship explodes
And everybody still wants to fly
Some say a man ain't happy
Unless a man truly dies
Oh why
Time, time
Baby make a speech, Star Wars fly
Neighbors just shine it on
But if a night falls and a bomb falls
Will anybody see the dawn
Time, times
It's silly, no?
When a rocket blows
And everybody still wants to fly
Some say a man ain't happy, truly
Until a man truly dies
Oh why, oh why, Sign O the Times
Time, time
Sign O the Times mess with your mind
Hurry before it's too late
Let's fall in love, get married, have a baby
We'll call him Nate... if it's a boy
Time, time
Time, time
A great song with Prince viewing late 80s society as nearing the apocalypse. But the song is unfortunately still relevant (maybe even more so) today. The entire album is in my opinion a concept about late-80s life, when the good times died, finances hurt, people feared world war, and retreated into meaningless sex and drugs to try to escape. So, yeah, pretty much it's not that much different than 2007.
The "big disease with a little name" is obviously AIDS, which at the time the song was written (1986) was still somewhat of a mystery due to it being so unexpected and people having problems distinguishing reality from myth on it. Must have been especially scary for our favorite sex addict Prince.
The teenage Disciples gang refers to the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples gang, which reeked havoc on the city in the 80s and 90s, making Chicago the murder capitol of the US for a lot of years.
The Rocket Ship exploding refers to the Challenger explosion where a schoolteacher who trained to be an astronaut died along with several others.
"Baby make a speech, Star Wars fly" is talking about then-President Ronald Reagan and his Star Wars missile defense shield in outer space during the Cold War. It turned out to be a huge bluff, but possibly prevented nuclear war with Russia.
The ending verse is just a wish to try to enjoy life while you can, and just ignore the bad times. A definite late-80s sign o' the times. Prince is a great lyricist when he wants to be. Unfortunately he spends most of his songs obsessing about sex. That's fine once in a while, but songs like this show he is way too talented to be so low brow all of the time.
@cmp744 I think the last line "We'll call him Nate, if it's a boy." Might reference the Chinese killing their daughters. I just felt that way when I first heard, like they wouldn't keep the maybe unless it was a boy.
@cmp744 I think the last line "We'll call him Nate, if it's a boy." Might reference the Chinese killing their daughters. I just felt that way when I first heard, like they wouldn't keep the maybe unless it was a boy.
@cmp744 I really like your analysis. I agree that Prince did have the talent to write well, but he did write a lot of stupid songs that were radio friendly because he always gives us great production.
@cmp744 I really like your analysis. I agree that Prince did have the talent to write well, but he did write a lot of stupid songs that were radio friendly because he always gives us great production.
"Sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it, And we're sending people to the moon" I think that line says it all. Prince is so under-rated as a musician and a songwriter, and this song is exhibit A.
definitly one of the best songs ever. It's very similar to Marvin Gaye's What's going on.
social commentry - to a beat and a guitar lick
Genius. such an accurate truthful depiction of our pitiful times even Mr. Bob Dylan couldn't have said it better.
This song has recently been cover by British rock gods Muse, whom I think did an amazing cover of it, you can find it on YouTube. I have heard rumors they were possibly going to.record it which would be awesome. They did it on the Radio 1 and on A French Night show. It's amazing....the trouble is I have been trying to find the Prince version of this song and I cannot find it. Can anyone tell me where I can find it? Every time I try to look it up it only brings up the album of the same name. Thanks in advance if anyone has any advice :-) youtube.com/watch. OR antiquiet.com/news/2012/09/muse-covers-princes-sign-o-the-times-on-radio-1-live-lounge/
@musemadness Prince doesn't let his stuff on the internet, you'll have to buy it.
@musemadness Prince doesn't let his stuff on the internet, you'll have to buy it.
What are they going to do to that baby if it's not a boy? I can guess.
I always thought he was saying "The Senate knows when the rocket ship explodes."
Totally agree sammm,princes finest song.
godly song