By Piper Murphy

A musician can only hope to be immortalized throughout their music, and very few actually manage it. Prince is one who has accomplished it with his song ‘Purple Rain’. Now, nearly 40 years later the song’s lyrical meaning is still a topic of discussion. When the song was released it peaked on the charts at number two, just behind ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ by Wham!. With the song being as popular as it is, why is no one sure exactly what it means?

Here are some of the lyrics:

“I never meant to cause you any sorrow

I never meant to cause you any pain

I only wanted one time to see you laughing

I only wanted to see you

Laughing in the purple rain

Purple rain, purple rain

I only want to see you

Laughing in the purple rain”

Who better to tell us what the words mean than the man who sang them? Prince explained his song as “When there’s blood in the sky – red and blue = purple… purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the purple rain”. However, fan’s weren’t satisfied with this answer and wanted to know more. Lisa Coleman- a band member- described the song as a new beginning, and the rain being a cleansing metaphor. She even discussed how the song’s release would break the limiting rule for genres in radio. Coleman stated “We had struggled for a couple of years, trying to write one song for a Black music station, and one for a rock station, but ‘Purple Rain’ the song was played on every kind of radio station, from country to Americana to rock ballad”. 

The song even resonates with Christians who see it as a worship song about renewal after death. They might be on to something as Prince describes an apocalyptic end and might be referring to the fresh or ‘born again’ start that comes after. A common thing is to turn to the Urban Dictionary to explain something like this song. The Urban Dictionary describes “Purple Rain” as a feeling of restlessness. It even mentions confinement and boredom. The song touched so many people despite genre, race, and religion. I imagine another 40 years from now people will listen to the song and dispute the deeper meanings. 

Photo Credits from: https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/music/features/thoughts-had-listening-prince-purple-rain-album-first-time-943729.html