If A Man Is Considered Guilty For What Goes On In His Mind…

Prince “Electric Chair”

In the past few days there have been at least three occasions in which I have experienced a moment of paranoia that people in my immediate vicinity were capable of reading my mind. It only lasts for a few seconds, but in that time the existence of telepathy seems entirely plausible, and the fear that anyone could have this psychic gift is quite valid, especially if you happen to be thinking horrible, hateful thoughts or something that could hurt another person’s feelings.

Even if this is a little weird, I’m not too concerned about it, and I’m reasonably certain I’m not on the path to, say, full-blown schizophrenia. This is most likely the result of a) reading X-Men comics since I was five and b) an overactive sense of guilt. In the case of the hateful thoughts, the possibility of transparency is mortifying — it’s bad enough to know that I can be so angry and bitter about specific people, I don’t think I could handle strangers being privy to that sort of thing. The paranoia seems more like taking a rational outside perspective on my own train of thought, and thinking “Oh, you’re really going to be so petty, even in the privacy of your own skull? For shame.”

In “Electric Chair,” an absolutely brilliant song made woefully obscure by its inclusion on the Batman soundtrack, Prince imagines a hypothetical scenario in which his private thoughts are held up to both public scrutiny and the law of the land. In this case, it’s a matter of revealing his methods and intentions — he’s been using a girl’s friend to get closer to her, hoping to make his move. In terms of 80s Prince songs, this is not all that scandalous, but the chorus hits this sweet spot of nagging guilt for using people and utter shamelessness about his desire. He’s playful and coy, but he’s not messing around here. This is a by-any-means-necessary situation for him, and he’s not about to apologize for his intensity.

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