Is it too early to say I wasn't a massive Prince fan?

The tributes are still flowing in, but a month has passed, so I thought I might, tentatively, politely, say, you know, Prince, not a massive fan, to be honest.

I know how some people felt when Bowie died. Of course, people die all the time who we're not fans of, but these two combined such universal acclaim with popularity and iconic coolness, they meant so  very much, genuinely, to so very many people, that I would really have felt like a bit of a dick either saying I wasn't a massive Prince fan or pretending I did... until now ...

I thought about Prince's music a lot when he died. I wondered what my favourite song was. But, really, I had nothing. For a while, I thought I liked the early 90s single Morning Papers, but not really. Raspberry Beret is pretty ok, I like the first verse, that's for sure. "boss was  Mr McGee". I like that.

But, really, that's about it. 1999, Sign of the Times, Little Red Corvette, Purple Rain etc they always left me cold. I did try. I bought his two most famous albums and a greatest hits. I knew I was missing something. Prince wasn't just popular while being someone a music snob could look down on, he was universally revered by musicians and hipsters, funk fans and rock fans. I had to be missing something.

I could see he was stunningly talented, I could see he was a star, I could see he could write a pop song with a hook, but I just didn't like those songs. I couldn't see why people said he wrote great lyrics. All those acclaimed line - "Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life" "Dig, if you will, the picture ..." "a big disease with a small name" ..."I was dreaming while I wrote this, forgive me if it goes too fast ...", to me they were naff, meaningless, portentous, show-offy. Sorry.

It was probably, I suppose, the voice more than the songs. I like Nothing Compares 2 U and Manic Monday, though not that much. Again, it's the way lots of people feel about Bob Dylan.

But I was never moved by a Prince song. Never, never felt they were soul songs. I never wanted to sit and mope listening to Prince, never wanted to think, never wanted to work, to write, to run or to dance. I could take bathetic pleasure in comparing him to small-scale artists whose songs I prefer. Prince, he's ok, but he's no Bluetones, he's ok but he's no Brendan Benson, he's ok but he's no Chaka Demus and Pliers.

I'm already being meaner-spirited than I intended to be. It's just, there's no-anti Prince movement. Everyone seems to love him. Surely I'm not the only one who just doesn't think those songs set off and take flight like you hope they will? Am I really the one who's only seeing the crescent? (He's ok, but he's no Waterboys ...)