How one song sent me down a rabbit hole that changed the way I see art, history, and curiosity.
By Reiki RaEss | SomethingNuBian.com ☥🦋
I was about 11 years old when I first heard Prince’s Dorothy Parker.
Within the first fifteen seconds, I was hooked.
At that age, I wasn’t analyzing lyrics. I wasn’t researching literary figures. I certainly wasn’t thinking about symbolism or social commentary. I simply knew I loved the groove, the storytelling, and the effortless cool that only Prince seemed to possess.
Sometimes a song finds you long before you’re ready to understand it.
The Song Grew Up Before I Did
Years later, somewhere in my late twenties or early thirties, I listened again.
Not just heard it.
Listened.
Like many songs from our childhood, it sounded completely different once life had given me more experiences to filter it through.
For years, I interpreted the song one way. I thought it was about relationships, emotional connection, and perhaps even the idea that intimacy isn’t always physical.
Then I started reading other interpretations.
Some listeners believe the narrator is manipulating the situation. Others hear emotional infidelity. Some hear humor. Some hear seduction.
Prince had a gift for writing songs that refused to stay in one lane.
Instead of giving me answers…
he gave me another question.
Wait…
Dorothy Parker was a real person?
That discovery completely caught me off guard.
I had always assumed Dorothy Parker was simply a fictional character Prince created for the song.
She wasn’t.
Dorothy Parker was one of America’s most celebrated writers, poets, critics, and satirists. Her wit became legendary.
The more I learned about her, the more fascinated I became.
She wasn’t afraid to criticize power.
She marched.
She advocated for civil rights.
She believed writers had responsibilities beyond entertaining people.
She used words as tools.
And then I discovered something else.
The Legacy That Surprised Me Most
When Dorothy Parker died in 1967, she left her estate to Martin Luther King Jr..
After Dr. King’s assassination, the estate eventually passed to the NAACP.
That stopped me in my tracks.
Dorothy Parker wasn’t Black.
Yet she intentionally left what she had to continue supporting a movement she believed mattered.
Whether people agreed with every opinion she ever held isn’t really the point.
She decided her legacy would continue speaking after she no longer could.
As a writer…
I found that incredibly powerful.
Did Prince Know?
This is where the internet gets interesting.
I’ve read articles claiming Prince allegedly didn’t know Dorothy Parker was a real person when he wrote the song.
Here’s the thing.
Prince never said that.
At least, I’ve never found an interview where those words came directly from him.
I’ve found writers making the claim.
I’ve found people repeating the claim.
But repeating something doesn’t automatically transform it into fact.
So here’s my opinion, and I’m labeling it exactly that.
I have a hard time believing Prince didn’t know who Dorothy Parker was.
Not because I can prove it.
I can’t.
But because I have tremendous respect for him as a writer.
Not simply as a musician.
Not merely as an entertainer.
As a writer.
Prince was intentional.
He layered meanings into his work.
He loved language.
He loved mystery.
He rewarded people who paid attention.
Could it have been coincidence?
Absolutely.
Could he have simply liked the name?
Maybe.
But until Prince’s own words surface, I’m comfortable believing he was simply too curious, too well-read, and too intentional for the connection to be accidental.
Allegedly. 💜
The Real Lesson
Whether Prince intended to reference Dorothy Parker almost doesn’t matter anymore.
The song accomplished something bigger.
It made me curious.
One lyric sent me down a rabbit hole.
That rabbit hole introduced me to a remarkable woman.
That woman reminded me that writers don’t simply tell stories.
Sometimes they shape culture.
Sometimes they challenge injustice.
Sometimes they leave behind more than books.
Sometimes they leave behind courage.
That’s What Great Art Does
The older I get, the less interested I am in having all the answers.
I’m more interested in asking better questions.
A song became a history lesson.
A lyric became a biography.
Curiosity became appreciation.
And appreciation became gratitude.
That’s one of the greatest gifts art can give us.
Not certainty.
Curiosity.
Because curiosity has a funny way of introducing us to people we were always meant to meet.
Even if they’re introduced…
allegedly. ☥🦋
📓 Journal Therapy Prompt
What’s a piece of media that changed the way you see the world?
Maybe it was a song.
Maybe it was a movie.
Maybe it was a book you were too young to understand the first time.
What did you think it meant then?
What does it mean to you now?
Did the art change…
or did you?
Continue Your Healing Journey ☥
✨ Explore more reflections at SomethingNuBian.com
📓 Third Eye Open: The Dream Journal reminds us that meaning often reveals itself over time, whether in our dreams, our memories, or the songs we’ve carried since childhood.
🦋 Music Monday is a continuing series exploring the songs that shaped my life, challenged my thinking, and quietly changed the way I see the world, one lyric at a time.
Something Nubian 
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