# Purple Rain was about Mumia Abu Jamal?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 16, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758 "2017-05-16T15:50:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/1 "2017-05-16T15:50:21Z")
According to [this Cracked.com article](http://www.cracked.com/article_18628_the-6-most-misguided-causes-ever-made-famous-by-celebrities.html) the late Prince wrote _Purple Rain_ for Mumia Abu Jamal.
All I can say is, whaaaaa???
Back in the day, I was a Prince fan in good standing. My favorite song was, and still is _Purple Rain_. My best friend was a Prince fanatic though. She went to concerts, traveling to Minneapolis from Chicago to see him, and read every last word she could find about him through the press and fan clubs and whatever else she could dig up.
And she never reported this factoid to me, and she definitely would have, had she run across it.
Now, I was perusing Cracked on the bus today, and they casually report this piece of trivia about one of my favorite songs.
I tried looking up other things on the internet about whether this was true. Granted I didn’t search very long because my bus stop was coming up. But other than a comment from Mumia on the occasion of Prince’s death, I couldn’t find a thing linking _Purple Rain_ to Mumia.
So, is _Purple Rain_ about Mumia’s incarceration? Don’t bother trying to argue about whether Mumia’s plight is right or wrong. I don’t care either way.
Maybe it was just a throwaway joke by Cracked? But it wasn’t all that funny.
---
### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/2 "2017-05-16T16:01:12Z")
I call BS. Easy enough to do with _Cracked_’s notion of how facts work. The wiki has a fairly good explanation of what Prince said it meant/was inspired by and nary a mention of Mumia.
Unless some previously unknown notes have turned up in Prince’s files, this appears to have been invented from whole cloth.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/3 "2017-05-16T16:09:57Z")
Let’s take a look at the context here.
Here is how the “information” about Prince and the movie _Purple Rain_ are presented:
> [@](#):
>
> Since that time, everybody from Paul Newman to the European Parliament has lobbied, in one way or another, for his release.
Then there’s a picture of the movie poster for _Purple Rain_ with the caption
> [@](#):
>
> Prince wrote Purple Rain as an extended allegory of Abu-Jamal’s story.
And for some reason, the OP ran with this as if it were real, actual information and not an inserted bit of snark for humorous effect (even tho it appears on a site that bills itself as “America’s Only Humor Site Since 1958”).
:rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/4 "2017-05-16T16:11:44Z")
The only reference to Prince is the caption “Prince wrote Purple Rain as an extended allegory of Abu-Jamal’s story.” under a picture of the Purple Rain album cover. 99% of the time on Cracked, picture captions are meant to be jokes.
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/5 "2017-05-16T17:03:33Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> Let’s take a look at the context here.
>
> Here is how the “information” about Prince and the movie _Purple Rain_ are presented:Then there’s a picture of the movie poster for _Purple Rain_ with the caption And for some reason, the OP ran with this as if it were real, actual information and not an inserted bit of snark for humorous effect (even tho it appears on a site that bills itself as “America’s Only Humor Site Since 1958”).
>
> :rolleyes:
But it wasn’t that snarky. And it wasn’t funny. So I just thought they meant it.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/6 "2017-05-16T17:12:54Z")
You focused on that, and not the bombshell revelation that Alec Baldwin helped frame Mumia?! I’m
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/7 "2017-05-16T17:17:16Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> You focused on that, and not the bombshell revelation that Alec Baldwin helped frame Mumia?! I’m
OMIGOD!!! ALEC BALDWIN KILLED **MILLER** IN MID-POST!!!:eek::eek::eek:
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### Author:  [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/8 "2017-05-16T17:21:30Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
>
> OMIGOD!!! ALEC BALDWIN KILLED **MILLER** IN MID-POST!!!:eek::eek::eek:
It wasn’t Alec Baldwin, it was an Alec Baldwin Impersonator. Who looks so much like Alec Baldwin that they could pass for the same person? The mind, it wonders.
Also, Cracked is trash. If they said the sky was blue, I would have to find a window.
---
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/9 "2017-05-16T17:21:31Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#):
>
> The only reference to Prince is the caption “Prince wrote Purple Rain as an extended allegory of Abu-Jamal’s story.” under a picture of the Purple Rain album cover. 99% of the time on Cracked, picture captions are meant to be jokes.
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
>
> But it wasn’t that snarky. And it wasn’t funny. So I just thought they meant it.
you know how John Oliver will deliver a lot of expository information and then pause, adopt a different tone to his voice and then crack a one-liner before returning to his argument/exposition? As **muldoonthief** said, the pictures in a Cracked article are the equivalent of Mr. Oliver’s one-liners.
I agree that this was perhaps not their best work, but the sheer over-the-top absurdity of how, exactly, _Purple Rain_ could _possibly_ be an allegory for Mumia abu Jabal’s life is what makes the humor work for me. YMMV, obviously.
---
### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/10 "2017-05-16T17:46:23Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> I agree that this was perhaps not their best work, but the sheer over-the-top absurdity of how, exactly, _Purple Rain_ could _possibly_ be an allegory for Mumia abu Jabal’s life is what makes the humor work for me. YMMV, obviously.
I dunno, why would “clouds in my coffee” bring to mind Warren Beatty?
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/11 "2017-05-16T18:31:29Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
>
> I dunno, why would “clouds in my coffee” bring to mind Warren Beatty?
Srsly?
Okay.
“Clouds in my coffee” is a line from Carly Simon’s song _You’re So Vain_, which she has stated is about 3 (self-absorbed) men in her life, the only one of whom she’s ever named publicly: Warren Beatty.
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/12 "2017-05-16T19:44:23Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> Srsly?
>
> Okay.
>
> “Clouds in my coffee” is a line from Carly Simon’s song _You’re So Vain_, which she has stated is about 3 (self-absorbed) men in her life, the only one of whom she’s ever named publicly: Warren Beatty.
.
Soooo…the “clouds in my coffee” is about the two other guys?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/13 "2017-05-16T20:14:36Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
>
> But it wasn’t that snarky. And it wasn’t funny. So I just thought they meant it.
That’s how irony works. You say something ridiculous with a straight face.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/14 "2017-05-16T20:14:41Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
>
> .
> Soooo…the “clouds in my coffee” is about the two other guys?
Srsly?
Okay…
No, the line is supposed to remind you of the song, which is widely known to be about Warren Beatty (at least in part; he thinks the whole song is about him, natch).
The line “he thinks the whole song is about him” is another reference to the song, in case you missed that.
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/15 "2017-05-16T22:04:18Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> Srsly?
>
> Okay…
>
> No, the line is supposed to remind you of the song, which is widely known to be about Warren Beatty (at least in part; he thinks the whole song is about him, natch).
>
> The line “he thinks the whole song is about him” is another reference to the song, in case you missed that.
Why would I need to be reminded of the song when the only time I hear the words “clouds in my coffee” is while the song is playing? :dubious:
Hah! Gotcha there!
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/16 "2017-05-16T22:28:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> That’s how irony works. You say something ridiculous with a straight face.
That’s not irony. Irony has to do with twists of fate. Like that story about the woman who sold her hair to buy her husband a watch chain, when he had already sold his watch to buy her a fancy hair comb.
---
### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/17 "2017-05-16T22:36:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> That’s how irony works. You say something ridiculous with a straight face.
>
> > [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
> >
> > That’s not irony. Irony has to do with twists of fate. Like that story about the woman who sold her hair to buy her husband a watch chain, when he had already sold his watch to buy her a fancy hair comb.
[You’re both wrong.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2krXq8fw90)
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/18 "2017-05-16T23:37:20Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> [You’re both wrong.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2krXq8fw90)
Irony is like rain on your wedding day.
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/19 "2017-05-16T23:46:13Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> [You’re both wrong.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2krXq8fw90)
**MILLER**!!! Thank God you’re all right! But how did you escape from Alec Baldwin?
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purple-rain-was-about-mumia-abu-jamal/786758/20 "2017-05-17T05:15:15Z")
You can’t tell from the tone and word choice that that was Alex Baldwin posting on **Miller** ’s account?
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