Prince, Sign O’ The Times | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 111th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Sign O’ The Times” by the late, great Prince.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 111^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Sign O’ The Times” performed by Prince.

“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.” Thought-provoking lyrics from the late, great Academy and Grammy award-winning musical icon, Prince. The lyrics hail from his 1987 hit, “Sign O’ The Times”, which peaked at no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Sign O’ The Times” was written and produced by The Purple One (duh) and appeared as the opening track from – wait for it – Sign O’ The Times 🤯! Sign O’ The Times (the album) peaked at no. 6 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum.

“Sign O’ The Times” is uniquely Prince – a great way to characterize this gem.  Minimalist, “Sign O’ The Times” thrives thanks to an electrifying, funky groove.  As the song progresses, it expands the instrumentation but never delivers a ‘wall of sound.’ Besides the groove, there are stellar guitar riffs and a funky bass line.  The star of the show is Prince who delivers marvelous vocals. He sounds authentic, expressive, and nuanced. He brings political, socially conscious, and thoughtful lyrics to life superbly.  In the first verse, he references AIDS, an epidemic in the 80s, and gangs (“In France, a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name”). In the second, he references a historic deadly hurricane, the effects of poverty, the space program, and drug use (“Sister killed her baby ‘cause she couldn’t afford to feed it / And we’re sending people to the moon”). In the third verse, he references nuclear weapons (“But if a night falls and a bomb falls / Will anybody see the dawn”).  Throughout his career, Prince wrote and performed songs that provided food for thought and a call for action.  Later songs like “Baltimore” and “Welcome 2 America” come to mind. While happenings he spoke about in “Sign O’ The Times” have improved (AIDS namely), in the 21^st century, we still have plenty of work to do to improve the times.  What doesn’t need to be improved? This song remains dope nearly four decades later.

Prince // Sign O’ The Times // NPG/Legacy Recordings // 1987

Prince, Sign O’ The Times: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 111 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; NPG/Legacy Recordings; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]