SONG TITLE: THE CROSS
PERFORMER: PRINCE
SONGWRITER: PRINCE
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1987
COMMENTS: "The Cross" [from the Sign O' the Times album] is (along with "7") Prince's best charismatic Christian number. The man has a good sized stack of overtly Christian testimonial songs scattered amongst albums of songs about, well, you know, Prince stuff: sex and ego - exactly not traditional Christian ideals. Nonetheless, he makes the most convincing Christian music of his generation: "Sweet song of salvation/ a pregnant mother sings/ Her kids live in starvation...Soon all of our problems will be taken by... The Cross." Way more real than Stryper, God knows.
One of the ways in which this song is exceptional in the Prince catalogue is that it absolutely is not funky. For all the broad stylistic ground he covers, almost every song is at least broadly built on and against post James Brown r&b dance music. There's not a hint of that here.
This song is instead built roughly on the "Stairway to Heaven" model. Simple melody delivered as ballad, and then cut loose with the metal. The song structure / dynamics are obviously Zeppelinesque, but the distorted blues stylings, the throb of it, is much more Hendrix like. Then there are all the little Prince things that come from, well, Prince alone.
Those little Prince things, the unique musical traits that make his work personal and memorable, most often come from his careful attention to detail. This goes back to the "chamber music" argument. The precisely dull thud of the drums, and the exact dramatic entrance into the original quiet soundscape: "...if we can just bear..[BOOM] The Cross." Every note of this recording counts. The tempo is only medium, but the big bass boom on every beat sets up a quiet but desperate anxiety. The sitar sounding riff puts its own little hippie spin on things. The raw blues guitar chords are thundering around like the 10 headed beast from Revelations roaming the earth, or the Man from Mars eating bars and cars, or whatever.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
I always thought "The Cross" was Prince's interpretation of what Lou Reed would sound like if he became a Xian (hey, if Bob Dylan can do it, Unca Lou could). "Sign O' the Times" is my favourite Prince album, and the film concert is amazing for two things, the dance steps Price does in heels, and ripping his backing singer's skirt off with his teeth while sliding along the stage.
2 - Mark Desmet
This song was covered exceptionally by the Blind Boys of Alabama. Seek out their version for a more than "by the numbers" treat..
3 - Al Barger
Thanks for the Blind Boys tip, Mark. That's worth hearing. I am most pleased.
4 - Mark Saleski
the Blind Boys rock.
anybody cool enough to cover Prince, Tom Waits and Stevie Wonder is ok with me.