When Prince & the Revolution released “Around the World in a Day” as the opening title track of their 1985 album, they invited listeners into a sonic landscape that transcended the evolving Minneapolis sound of Prince’s earlier work. This presentation examines this pivotal moment in Prince’s artistry, where his thematic focus expanded from earlier personal, romantic, and political themes to embrace spiritual exploration and global consciousness while maintaining a powerful countercultural stance.

Focusing on the title track as a gateway to the album’s world, I explore how Prince interwove traditional African cosmological concepts—particularly the fluidity between material and spiritual realms—creating a musical experience that functioned simultaneously as artistic expression and resistance. “Around the World in a Day” marks a critical turning point that introduced spiritual pilgrimage themes that would become hallmarks of Prince’s later catalog.

Jonathan H. Harwell is Associate Director for Collection & Resource Services at Georgia College & State University’s Russell Library, and was previously a librarian at Rollins College, Georgia Southern University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Berry College. He holds an MLIS from The University of Alabama, an MA in Social Science from Georgia Southern University, and a BA in English from the University of Southern Mississippi; and is currently working on an EdD in Educational Leadership from Georgia Southern University. In his former life, he was a teacher in Albania for two years. His passions include researching the cultural history of Quakers in the American South. He is co-editor of Theology and Prince (2020) and Theology and Protest Music (2023) from Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, and a DJ on WGUR-FM in Milledgeville, Georgia.

In this presentation, I analyze Prince’s song “The Ladder” within the framework of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory that categorizes human motivation into a progression of stages: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization, and transcendence. Prince’s lyrics use rich spiritual imagery and universal metaphors to depict a journey of striving for fulfillment. Beginning with the foundational need for existential security and progressing toward community, personal growth, and spiritual awakening, “The Ladder” mirrors Maslow’s progression of needs. Ultimately, the song portrays transcendence as the apex of human aspiration, aligning deeply with Maslow’s later work. This analysis not only explores Prince’s artistic genius but also invites listeners to reflect on their own psychological and spiritual journeys.

Chris Johnson is an independent researcher from Le Center, Minnesota. He is also a podcaster, writer, and part-time tutor. Chris earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in French and English from Augustana University. As an undergrad, he was nominated by professors to Pi Delta Phi, The National French Honor Society, and to Sigma Tau Delta, The International English Honor Society.

His research interests lie in popular culture, the history of American music, French literature and culture, and advocacy for disability rights. He has been a fan of Minneapolis musician, Prince Rogers Nelson, from the age of three. Chris hosts a podcast, the Purple Knights Podcast, a round-table discussion on Prince and related artists and people; new episodes are posted online every few months.

The song “Nothing Compares 2 U” has undergone significant re-invention with each iteration. It was first released on the 1985 eponymous Family album in a sparse arrangement, which heavily featured the lush string orchestrations of Clare Fischer. 

This presentation will compare and contrast four significant versions of the iconic song (The Family 1985, Sinead O’Connor 1990, Prince and Rosie Gaines 1993 Live Version, and the original Prince demo), with a discussion of the effect of changes in instrumentation, chords, and key.

Adam Rudegeair is a prolific composer, performer, filmmaker, and educator based in Melbourne, Australia. His music is rooted in jazz and funk, with significant influences from the sounds of New Orleans and Minneapolis. His current projects as a leader include Lake Minnetonka, The Bowie Project, and Retconned Bond.

In 2021 Adam completed his Masters studies at Box Hill Institute with the thesis, ‘Strange Changes: Re-imagining Jazz Structures for Improvisation Utilising the Compositions of David Bowie’.

Since 2008 Adam has presented the weekly jazz radio program Black Wax on PBS 106.7FM.

A year after his famous white “cloud” guitar appeared in Purple Rain (1984), Prince wore a bespoke sky-blue silk suit hand-painted with clouds for the “Raspberry Beret” music video. The clouds continued onto the set of the video shoot as well as the album cover for Around the World in a Day, both of which depict a colorful, diverse, and inclusive utopic world with a psychedelic dreamlike atmosphere. The motif of clouds would appear throughout his life in his clothing, instruments, lyrics, studio space, films, and videos. In his memoirs, Prince explains his fascination with clouds as a young boy: “I loved 2 play outside and felt completely free with no ceiling. Clouds seemed like home 2 me” (The Beautiful Ones 117). This idea of freedom, or living with no ceiling, was one of his key philosophies and he would continue to reject any societally imposed limitations on his artistic expression throughout his life. Grounded in a close analysis of the iconic suit worn in the “Raspberry Beret” video, this talk will explore the significance of clouds as an expression of freedom for Prince.

Karen Turman is a Preceptor of French in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. She earned her B.A. (2001) at the University of Minnesota, and her M.A. (2008) and Ph.D. (2013) in French Literature with an emphasis in Applied Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her interdisciplinary research interests include 19th-century Bohemian Paris, music, and dance during the Jazz Age, fashion and popular culture studies, community engagement scholarship, indigenous artists and activists in the Francophone Pacific, and topics of social justice and sustainability in the language classroom. Dr. Turman’s publications on Prince include an essay on Josephine Baker, Claude McKay, and Prince entitled “Banana Skirts and Cherry Moons: Utopic French Myths in Prince’s Under the Cherry Moon,” and “Prettyman in the Mirror: Dandyism in Prince’s Minneapolis.” She is currently working on a monograph on Prince and fashion.