Before getting into the deeper meaning of “Why Doves Cry” it’s important to know some intriguing things about Prince to understand the meaning better.
The Artist had a “Secret Life” that not many people knew about, and some of that strange life he shared in his music.
Prince is a Legend. From his early years he was multi talented playing the guitar, drums, and piano at a high level.
In his early work he even played most instruments in his albums before he really blew up in 1979 when “I wanna be your Lover” went platinum.)
His parents were extremely encouraging, especially when it came to pursuing his musical passion.
He started developing his powerful voice at a young age. When he was 14, he started to become extremely flamboyant and started his first band Grand Central.
His parents were very encouraging, and wanted him to play music (fun fact: Princes dad was actually called Prince onstage in his jazz group which is why he named his son Prince)
He was moved around constantly from house to house to different families. Prince said: “It was nice on one hand, because I always had a new family, but I didn’t like being shuffled around.” “I was bitter for a while, but I adjusted.”
Prince eventually ended up living with his friend Andre Cymones, and the pair formed the band Grand Central. His first band.(Later called Champagne) They scrounged some cash from a family friend, and were able to record at a small studio (studio moon).
The owner wanted to work with someone on some songs (Chris Moon) and recognizing talent got Prince to work with him. Moon said “Prince always used to show up at the studio with a chocolate shake in his hand, sipping out of a straw,” He looked pretty tame. Then he’d pick up an instrument and that was it. It was all over.”
Soon after, Prince made some huge leaps in his career getting a huge deal with Warner Bros (thanks to his manager Owen Husney.)
At Warner Bros, Prince showed even more talent (that he learned while at Studio Moon) by producing his own music as well. Not many artists could do this, which really set Prince apart.
At this point Prince could seriously do it all. On top of this, Prince was able to market his music. Which was a talent he picked up just by being himself. An eccentric, flamboyant personality who enjoyed writing about sexual topics.
The Haunting Meaning of “When Doves Cry”
The meaning of “When Doves Cry” has actually been interpreted by many people, since Prince never explicitly told anyone the meaning even though he left behind many clues.
With a huge passion for symbolism, the clues seem very obvious. Symbols like Doves and Purple violets (which both are well known symbols for love)
Prince had a love for doves, not just an interest. He really loved them and owned two of his own “Majesty and Divinity” to these beautiful birds were very near and dear to Prince, he even gave them credits in his song “Arboretum”.
And no, he didn’t give them credit for inspiration. He actually gave them credit because they were in the song as ambiance.
The birds loved him to, in fact not long after Prince had died the birds stopped cooing. When Princes music was played for them they started to sing again. Heartbreaking.
(Note: If you’d like to see Divinity you can see her at the Paisley Park Museum, Majesty passed away in January)
As a symbol, Doves actually mean many things. Prince worked a lot of spirituality and symbolism into his work.
As a symbol, the Dove is usually known for love and peace. A sign for new beginnings, and a prophecy of things to come.
Doves crying is actually a symbol that means things are changing from bad to good, a prophecy that whatever you’re going through is coming to an end. Source.
Doves can also symbolize a release of hate and revenge in the heart. Source
Since Prince was a very spiritual person, we can assume this is the reason Prince named this song “When Doves Cry” and it does fit what the Lyrics seem to be saying as well.
The song seems to be pointing to a fight between a couple, one where both of them were at one point perfect for each other and now things are different. There’s constant fighting and things are simply getting ugly.
However, in spite of this they both seem to realize this.
“Maybe I’m just too demanding
Maybe I’m just like my father, too bold
Maybe you’re just like my mother
She’s never satisfied (she’s never satisfied)
Why do we scream at each other?
This is what it sounds like
When doves cry”
We can assume that when Prince says “When Doves Cry” he’s using the symbolism of doves to say it’s time for a change from bad to good. Maybe since they’re never satisfied with each other, it’s simply time to move on.
Now, Doves aren’t the only clues for what the songs meaning is. There is some other symbolism in the music video as well as some more obvious things.
The opening intro is Prince getting out of a bathtub naked then you see him with a girl directly on top of him. In this scene she gently grazes her lips against his. This looks sexual, and many people do see most of his songs as being highly sexual however Prince denies this on many occasions saying once “People hear the sex more in my songs much more than I ever write it.” Seems that Prince was trying to show just the good parts of a relationship here.
Now, you also see in the intro Violets covering the floor. Prince obviously wants to symbolize love again here, since a purple violet symbolizes thoughts of Love. source
The last symbol you see is also in the lyrics right after he talks about the Violets.
It’s also not as obvious, but repeats the meaning of Doves Crying.
“Dream, if you can, a courtyard
An ocean of violets in bloom”
Now, this one wasn’t as obvious….and did take me awhile to find, but if you look up the meaning of dreaming a courtyard you’ll actually find that having a courtyard in your dreams means that you are having problems in your relationships and that you’re currently arguing and something needs to happen. source
Sounds like Prince is really trying to drive the message home that something needs to change from bad to good just like the symbolism from Doves crying.
This is all the symbolism I could find, it seems to me that Prince is really speaking through them.
The video seems to back up the symbolism as well, multiple scenes of a happy couple and then an angry couple followed by even one that seems like he’s almost looking into the past and seeing himself happy with a girl.
Of course there are also scenes that don’t really tell much about the meaning at all. Prince walking down the staircase to play with his band or coming in with the bird flying through the door first doesn’t really say much.
To Summarize and simply put it, the meaning of “When Doves Cry” is just a metaphor of what happens when a beautiful relationship goes sour and the changes that have to happen.
Note: This is a personal interpretation that I figured out after searching a lot of things online. I’ve found most people do agree that the song is about love and losing it, however I do think Prince was going for more than that. The Musician is incredible and slightly mysterious so I do think he added all this symbolism in. Hope you enjoyed the article!!!! Please leave a comment if you have anything you’d like to add or if there’s anything you think I left out.