LAUSR

ABSTRACT This article explores the stances, ideas, and political vision of Prince Rogers Nelson through some of the songs he wrote and recorded. Prince used the term “aware” to describe someone who was knowledgeable. As he often demonstrated, he was concerned with some of the world’s big problems. Prince was consistently against war. Some of his songs contained lyrics decrying gun violence and calling for gun control. He also explored issues around social and racial injustice that apparently touched him enough that he wrote about them. Calling himself the “Purple Yoda” in a song from later in his career, he self-identified as remarkably attentive to the issues he cared about. Prince’s Purple Yoda moments extend back to his third album, Dirty Mind, and surface on his last album release before his death, HITnRUN Phase Two. In between, his audience was treated to more than a few Purple Yoda moments.