Celebrate the amazing life, lasting afterlife of Prince

The title character of 20th-century French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s classic novella “The Little Prince” shares a kindred spirit with the short-statured musical genius Prince who rocked and reshaped our world over the past four decades.

Prince, who was born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958 and who was found dead Thursday at his suburban Minneapolis estate, exuded much of the same playfulness, mysticism, complexity, humanism, brotherhood and artistry of the precocious protagonist of “The Little Prince,” the fourth most-translated book in the world that continues to sell more than 2 million copies annually.

Both reigned and will continue to reign as artistic blockbusters.

For the artist adoringly known as Prince, it was his eclectic music and piercing messages that made him a household name worldwide. Before the explosive success of “Purple Rain,” mention prince and just about any listener would have needed a follow-up hint – a name, a nation or some other modifier to make any sense of the reference.

After the artist’s crash landing into the world’s musical consciousness in the 1980s, the mere utterance of the single word Prince made an instantly recognizable and riveting impact – with no modification needed, thank you.

To be sure, we will best remember the artistry and legacy of Prince through his massive catalogue of diverse and eclectic sounds and lyrics from the late 1970s to his soon-to-be-released 2016 CD, “Hit n Run Phase Two.”

As Jeff Burke, owner of the Record Connection store in Niles, put it, “He was one of the most dynamic musicians in the world. He could do anything – play, sing, dance, produce ... you name it.”

President Barack Obama led a long list of luminaries paying tribute to the musical master. “Few artists have influenced the sound and trajectory of popular music more distinctly, or touched quite so many people with their talent,” Obama said.

The Mahoning Valley businessman and the American president are spot-on in their assessments. Prince, after all, stood proudly on the world stage as an incredibly prolific songwriter, a virtuoso on guitars, keyboards and drums and a master mixer of funk, rock, rhythm and blues, techno, pop and even a little smidgen of country.

A STUDY IN CONTRASTS

Above all else, Prince embodied a study in contrasts. Contrast his reclusive and deeply secretive personal life with his raucous and hyper high-energy antics and acrobatics on stage. Or contrast his deeply held beliefs in the conservative tenets of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church with the subculture of his artistic niche – sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. Or note the relative soft-spoken outspokenness he embedded in his music and life to the other fiery side of the civil-rights movement surrounding him. In recent years, he became a foot soldier in the Black Lives Matter movement.

The thin and diminutive stature of the 5-foot-2 artist defied his gigantic standing and his larger-than-life talents. Those talents can best be remembered by turning to his hulking discography.

Consider, for example, “When Doves Cry,” the No. 1 song in America and much of the world in 1984. Its haunting lyrics of broken love and family strife spoke powerfully to the masses everywhere. The subject also had close personal meaning to Prince, as he kept live – and sometimes crying – doves at his Paisley Park compound until the day he died.

Consider “Purple Rain,” the artist’s signature show-stopping megahit from his major motion picture of the same name. The song mirrored the mysticism of the musician, with fans attempting to assign multitudes of meanings to its lyrics and beat. True to his enigmatic persona, however, Prince never let on to his own interpretation.

Or consider “Let’s Go Crazy,” an upbeat pulsating anthem to the necessity to live life zestfully each and every day. In it, Prince preaches:

“Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. Electric word, life. It means forever, and that’s a mighty long time. But I’m here to tell you, there’s something else. The afterworld. A world of never-ending happiness.”

Fortunately for the legions of fans who Prince left behind, a taste of that never-ending happiness always will remain just a “press play” away.