It’s been a while since we’ve had a Madonna Timeline and I’m just about to do the iPod shuffle to find the next entry, but before that let’s take a look back at some of her fall entries. Perhaps some of the most striking and memorable were the songs that came from her fall promotional push for ‘Evita‘ in 1996. ‘You Must Love Me‘ and ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina‘ are two classic timelines that have come to personify that autumn at Brandeis for me, for better or worse. ‘Buenos Aires‘ and ‘Rainbow High’ were slightly lighter fare, while ‘Another Suitcase in Another Hall‘ brought us to the precipice of winter.
Going back a bit further, her ‘Bedtime Stories‘ album, released in early November of 1994, was her most fall-like album to date. It began with a sweet ‘Secret’ and was all about ‘Survival‘, though she waited until winter before deciding to ‘Take A Bow‘. That fall release set the precedent for 1995’s ‘Something to Remember‘ ballad collection. Two of the new songs from that somber beauty were ‘I Want You‘ and ‘You’ll See‘ – which are some of her most powerful and under-rated gems, and aligned with very distinct memories (not all of which have aged well – I was young and dumb!)
Speaking of youth, ‘Pray for Spanish Eyes‘ was my childhood memory of trying to find God or grace or something to keep me alive to the next day. I must have succeeded in some form as I ended up living to ‘Die Another Day‘. Both songs remind me of the somber season, when we start putting the land to bed for the long sleep of winter. The raking of leaves, the snaking of chimney smoke into a gray sky, and the hint of ghosts at the edge of a forest – all these ravaged the mind on the verge of Halloween, when masks are sanctioned for fun or protection. Falling like acorns or the last petals of a late-season rose – the tender sweetness of an unexpected delight. One final send-off of beauty, and all the while Madonna forged a fall soundtrack.
It wasn’t a good sign that I met an ex-boyfriend at the time she was about to release ‘The Power of Goodbye‘ from her glorious ‘Ray of Light’ opus. The video was an aqua and turquoise-tinted wonder, with shades of Joan Crawford’s ‘Humoresque’ – moody as all fuck, emotionally as rocky as its featured shores. That’s fall, though, isn’t it?
I’ll close this Madonna post out with ‘Masterpiece‘, from 2012’s uneven but still brilliant ‘MDNA‘ album. Coming as it did very late in the fall months (well before the album was released), we were just entering the high holiday season as it straddled the end of fall and the precipice of winter. The perfect sparkling gem for that special time of the year. We approach it now.
