When lovers say 'I would die for you', they are generally not meaning to risk their lives, but using life and death metaphorically. As a metaphor, the saying testifies to the lengths of their devotion. It can say, "You matter so much to me that I would put the sanctity of your life and well-being before my own." It can also say, "I don't have any words to express my love for you, and my imagination can only take me to the furthest line to cross, that limit of my own life."
Prince's usage brings something else to the table. He says 'I would die for you / darling if you want me to'. He does not say he is willing to die to save the lover, or that his devotion is so total that there is no limit he would not cross. Rather, he says that the desire of his lover is the most important thing in the world. 'Darling if you want me to'. He is willing to be destroyed at the lover's whim.
This is an interesting twist on the previous interpretations, because the sacrifice he speaks of is at the lover's mere desire, not for his or her being. So whereas previously the saying went: I love you so much, I would even die for you, now the saying goes: Your desire (for me) matters more to me than my own life.
The song is not seeking affirmation or an answer, such as in the similarly structured song 'If It Be Your Will', where Leonard Cohen sings 'If it be your will / That I speak no more / And my voice be still / As it was before / I will speak no more' with great emphasis on the phrase 'If it be your will' to invite an answer from the lover. Rather, it is a celebration, almost, of the lengths of his devotion, yes, but also the contingency of his being on the lover's desire for him.
When lovers say 'I would die for you', they are generally not meaning to risk their lives, but using life and death metaphorically. As a metaphor, the saying testifies to the lengths of their devotion. It can say, "You matter so much to me that I would put the sanctity of your life and well-being before my own." It can also say, "I don't have any words to express my love for you, and my imagination can only take me to the furthest line to cross, that limit of my own life."
Prince's usage brings something else to the table. He says 'I would die for you / darling if you want me to'. He does not say he is willing to die to save the lover, or that his devotion is so total that there is no limit he would not cross. Rather, he says that the desire of his lover is the most important thing in the world. 'Darling if you want me to'. He is willing to be destroyed at the lover's whim.
This is an interesting twist on the previous interpretations, because the sacrifice he speaks of is at the lover's mere desire, not for his or her being. So whereas previously the saying went: I love you so much, I would even die for you, now the saying goes: Your desire (for me) matters more to me than my own life.
The song is not seeking affirmation or an answer, such as in the similarly structured song 'If It Be Your Will', where Leonard Cohen sings 'If it be your will / That I speak no more / And my voice be still / As it was before / I will speak no more' with great emphasis on the phrase 'If it be your will' to invite an answer from the lover. Rather, it is a celebration, almost, of the lengths of his devotion, yes, but also the contingency of his being on the lover's desire for him.