Thanks a lot for the rousing "Vikings fight song," Prince.
"The reason the Vikings lost was that damned fight song. After hearing it they didn't know whether to fight, win or march for civil rights," said Sheletta Brundidge, an FM107 show co-host and comedian.
She might be onto a thing or two, including this: "As soon as I heard it, I knew right way, that's the 'Black National Anthem.' Are we fighting or unifying? I was confused."
She's talking about the haunting melodic similarities between the anthem and the "fight song" -- which STUNK and has been justifiably ripped all over the Internet, radio and by ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption." On Friday afternoon, Brundidge said she read a post on startribune.com about Prince's fight song and decided it was worth discussing on her new 7-9 p.m. weeknight talk show.
"Donny Love [FM107 producer] had the song in the system. As soon as he pulled it up [she recognized the music; Love did not.]. Now, of course, nobody in Minnesota knows the 'Black National Anthem.' But girrrl, Donny pulled them up and had them on two different channels, and he would play one, pause it, and play the other one and pause it. They were absolutely in sync."
At Sheletta.com, she posted both songs. I'm inclined to think she's dead on because I instantly disliked the melody of Prince's sorry "Purple and Gold." That's my usual reaction to the anthem, also known as "Lift Every Voice and Sing." The message of the song is laudable, but the up and down tempo has always been displeasing to my ear (which wasn't fooled by Prince's version, albeit jazzed up).
I'm guessing that the anthem is in the public domain, so nobody's suggesting Prince faces any copyright issues.
Prince told Fox 9's Robyne Robinson that he was inspired to write the song after being on hand for the Vikings' spanking of the Cowboys in the divisional matchup.