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Category Archives: Madonna

A Celebration Postponed

Finally emerging into the spotlight since her hospital stay a number of days ago, Madonna made her social media comeback announcing that her Celebration Tour would begin in Europe this October, with the North American leg being rescheduled for next year. If it means she is getting healthy and stronger, I’m fine with this news. I was beginning to worry because when things are that shrouded in silence and mystery, it usually portends something worse than anything the public is immediately told. 

In the meantime, this recent post outlined my Top Twenty Madonna timelines. Of course twenty is too few, so here are a few more entries worthy of another look. 

Come join the party with this ‘Celebration‘, which chronicles a summer moment in Boston.

Nothing Fails‘ in the 100th Madonna Timeline entry. 

My favorite thing in the world: ‘Words‘.

The art of dressing up is one I learned early, following the cues of ‘Dress You Up‘.

There was that time Madonna took us to ‘Medellin‘.

I Don’t Search, I Find‘ and when Madonna is involved, getting there is most of the fun. 

With a striking video directed by David Fincher, ‘Bad Girl‘ was a song set to a cinematic thrill.

Everything feels so strange, I’m ready to take this chance, I need to dance… ‘I’m Addicted‘.

Best of recovery wishes to Madonna, and gratitude for always giving us ‘Something to Remember’

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A Popular Song for Summer

I’ve seen the devil
Down Sunset
In every place
In every face…

Leave it to Madonna to continue the summer song vibe with this record-breaking return to the charts, along with The Weeknd and Playboi Carti. It’s easy and breezy and ideal for the summer season, the sort of song that percolates gently, easing into a sunny morning. Do I care about the lyrics? About as much as I care to be popular. This is just about the groove, the vibe, the languid shuffling movement that feels like slow-motion swimming, the only way to get away from the heat right there on the surface. 

Tell me, do you see her? She’s livin’ her life
Even if she acts like she don’t want the limelight 
But if you knew her, she lives a lie
She calls the paparazzi, then she acts surprised
Oh-oh-oh-oh, I know what she needs 
She just want the fame, I know what sh? fiends 
Give her a littl? taste, runnin’ back to me
Put it in her veins, pray her soul to keep, 
Ooh-ooh, every night (Every night)
She prays to the sky
Flashin’ lights is all she ever wants to see

A summer vibe then – the summer of ’23 – too soon to tell what it will become, too early to feel how it will end. Pass the iced tea. Let’s have tomato sandwiches for lunch, the kind that turn the mayonnaise pink, the pretty mess dripping down our fingers. Even the bees are welcome to a taste

The heat is high. The canopy does little to shield us from that. A hyacinth bean twirls its dark purple vines around a trellis, a clump of nasturtiums shading its base. Summer winds around itself now, heat building on heat, and a line of sweat drips down my chest, tickling and causing me to look down to make sure it’s not a bug. A salt lick for the horse inside of all of us. 

Beggin’ on her knees to be popular
That’s her dream, to be popular (Hey)
Kill anyone to be popular (Hm)
Sell her soul to be popular (Popular)

Just to be popular (Uh-huh)
Everybody scream ’cause she popular (Hey)
She mainstream ’cause she popular
Never be free ’cause she popular

Summer shade in a song, summer secrets held too long. Lounging by the pool, sunglasses hiding where my gaze might fall, I know the seductive pull of the sunny season. It’s California and Florida balled up and thrown into a sea of flames. It’s light and water and dancing across the surface. It’s sitting as still as possible to remain as cool as possible as if that were remotely possible. The conundrum of summer – like the queasiness of Sunday night – is impenetrable and impossible. That’s why we had Sunday tea dances, why we braved the bridges to bear down on Provincetown, why we pinned our hopes and dreams on that one perfect swimsuit that would bring all the boys to the yard. Summer was the infuriating and tantalizing tease that the most diabolical devil couldn’t conjure even at his cruelest turn. 

I know that you see me, time’s gone by 
Spent my whole life runnin’ from your flashin’ lights
Try to own it, but I’m alright 
You can’t take my soul without a fuckin’ fight

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Top Twenty Madonna Timelines

You may have heard that this is the 20th year of ALANILAGAN.com, and as such I’m going to start culling a few ‘Top Twenty’ lists from the archives in celebration of such a milestone. (Who knows if I might make to another?) We’ll begin with one that is close to my musical heart: the Top Twenty Madonna Timelines. (These are not in any strict order, as it’s too difficult to rank that, they are just twenty notable timelines.)

The Madonna Timeline has been a regular installment here wherein I dissect a specific Madonna song (chosen randomly by the ‘Shuffle’ feature) and go into whatever memories or background I have of the song, when it was released, and/or what it has come to mean to me over the years. For a long time, I could date my life based on what Madonna era was happening, but failing memory and lack of indelible career moments have largely left that in the past. Here’s a reminder of some of my favorites.

1. Drowned World/Substitute for Love ~ This is my favorite Madonna song (with the caveat that such a preposterous proclamation is always subject to change – but this one has stayed at the top of my list since it came out in 1998, and as much as I adore her I don’t see Madonna topping this one anytime sooner or later). The opening track of her best album to date (the miraculous ‘Ray of Light’) this song ushered in one of the greatest Madonna eras ever. It was once again about the music, and this music came with layered nuance, lyrical poignance, and introspective grace. It was an emotional reckoning, highlighted by this compelling track, which seduces the listener with a calm and languid beginning then ruminates on the price of love and fame and the search for something more before culminating in one of the most powerful bridges she has ever written.

2. Vogue ~ Madonna has always been about fun and glamour, and nowhere is that more evident than in her classic anthem ‘Vogue’. From the opening command of ‘Strike a pose!’ to the quasi-rap litany of Hollywood royalty, this is Madonna at the crux of fabulous and campy in an ode and an invitation to the gay balls of the late 80’s. It also inspired a major timeline sprinkled with Oscar Wilde quotes and gay memories galore.

3. Like A Prayer ~ The rarefied upper-echelon of Madonna’s catalog contains many iconic moments and the crowning jewel of her musical oeuvre has to be ‘Like A Prayer’. For substance, style, and transformative musical transcendence, this remains Madonna’s most majestic move, and it has endured for decades with good reason.

4. Erotica ~ Sex and sin and seduction, oh my! A turning point in Madonna’s career formed a valuable and necessary life-lesson for me, laying the groundwork for my own creative expression. 

5. Turn Up the Radio ~ Losing oneself in a pop song is one of Madonna’s most enduring hat-tricks, and a large reason why some of us have never been able to quit her. ‘Turn Up the Radio’ starts off as a stellar slice of escapist pop music, until you realize by the bridge she is desperately doing all that she can to simply survive (“We gotta have fun, if that’s all that we do”).

6. Rain ~ Forging the heart of the gorgeously-icy ‘Erotica’ album, ‘Rain’ was part of a pivotal moment in my life – and may have actually saved it

7. Rebel Heart ~ At this stage in her career and life, Madonna has nothing left to prove, but an air of defiance imbues the title track of the under-appreciated-if-chaotic ‘Rebel Heart’ album. It’s a bit of a look-back and reassessment of “all the things I did just to be seen” while refusing to be anything other than the rebel she has always embodied.

8. Crazy For You ~ One of my very first crushes forms the narrative portion of this Madonna Timeline, and for that reason it holds a special place in my heart.

9. Secret ~ The Madonna song that will forever be linked with the memory of the first man I ever kissed, ‘Secret’ is heartbreaking on a personal level, and healing in the same way.

10. You Must Love Me ~ Though I was semi-stalking a young man at the time this song came out, ‘You Must Love Me’ eventually became the command that came true, as the object of my affection way back then ended up becoming a lifelong friend.

11. Music ~ When it comes to fun, nobody does a better bop than Madonna. From ‘Holiday’ to ‘Spotlight’ to her millennium-opener ‘Music’, she knows how to craft a catchy and infectious tune. Coupled with the first few months of dating Andy, this song informs one of the happiest times in my life.

12. Express Yourself ~  Another moment in Madonna history is also one of the most self-empowering songs ever written, and this take-charge anthem is a potent blast of pop perfection (cue the horny horn break).

13. Ray of Light ~ Exploding out of the spring and summer of 1998, the lead track to Madonna’s greatest album ‘Ray of Light’ is a roaring revelation of celebratory abandon and realization – the zenith of Madonna’s dance-pop evolution, even if she had no hand in actually writing the song. The timeline is always a fun memory, as it brings me back to a night in Boston when, fueled by a cocktail of something called ‘Liquid Cocaine’, I sped through Copley Square on roller-blades with a long black cloak flowing in my wake.

14. Messiah ~ Despite her ‘Something to Remember’ collection, Madonna has never truly been appreciated for her ballads, which is criminal, as they form the compelling contrast and anchors of so many of her albums. This selection from the somewhat-messy ‘Rebel Heart’ opus echoes other brilliant balladry such as ‘Falling Free’, ‘Promise to Try’, ‘I’ll Remember’ and ‘I Want You’.

15. True Blue – An ode to old-fashioned romance and sweet, hopeful innocence, this frothy confection of ear candy goes down easy and rekindles a simpler time in life.

16. Live to Tell ~ The best songs of Madonna transcend the limitations of pop music, allowing multiple readings and layers of interpretation. ‘Live to Tell’ hints at secrets and betrayals, survival and destruction, and is one of Madonna’s most serious and powerful ballads.

17. Secret Garden ~ Closing out the sexual kaleidoscope of ‘Erotica’, this glorious glimpse of a metaphorical musical garden found flowering and fruition and little to nothing to do with fucking. A precursor to cocky clickbait.

18. You’ll See ~ Turning romantic tragedy to independent triumph, ‘You’ll See’ was pegged as the ‘I Will Survive’ of its day, and it came at a time when my own romantic adventures were just beginning.

19. Survival – Opening her deceptively-soft-focused ‘Bedtime Stories’ album (one of the most unexpectedly-pivotal albums in her career, lowering expectations as it repositioned her as an artist who would endure rather than burn-out in a blaze of glory) this track and timeline found both Madonna and myself in a fascinating state of flux.

20. Material Girl ~ Where it all began for me.

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A Vulgar Jockstrap Post

If you’re on the hunty hunt for a banging and blessedly-brief Pride anthem, look no further than our reigning pop royalty pairing of Madonna and Sam Smith in their new collaboration ‘Vulgar’. This is arguably Madonna’s best release since some of the cuts on her 2015 ‘Rebel Heart’ album, and comes at a time when we need new Madonna music after the lackluster reception of 2019’s ‘Madame X’. It’s not even a full song, or what most of us would consider a full pop song (“Don’t need a chorus!”), but it is just enough – a tantalizing tease from two of the most brilliantly provocative and controversial artists who continually refuse to be cowered by the haters. 

Speak, bitch, and say our fucking names…

Look like I’m dressed to kill, love how I make me feel
All black in stripper heels, mood like Madonna
Rich like I’m in the Louvre, got nothin’ left to prove
You know you’re beautiful when they call you vulgar
I do what I wanna, I go when I gotta
I’m sexy, I’m free and I feel…
VULGAR

When the world attacks and criticizes, when you begin to doubt and wonder at your worth or value, and when they call you names like Vulgar, it’s sometimes wise to quietly assess and consider what they’re really saying. It’s easy to retreat in order to regroup, to hide and hunker down out of sight and out of mind. It might also make sense to go away for a bit, slinking into the shadows when the heat gets to be too much. That’s certainly my initial instinct when faced with adversity or disagreement

And then I remember who I really am, and all the things I’ve already been through to get here. The things I’ve done to myself will never be surpassed by what someone else might say about or do to me, and there is defiance and freedom and pride in that. This song embodies that fighting spirit, exemplified by two pop stars who have been through the public ringer. 

“They didn’t always get the life they wanted, but they knew how to dream… And maybe that’s the true definition of an eccentric – someone who can’t be slain by what lesser people might say.” ~ Andrew O’Hagan

Let’s get into the groove, you know just what to do
Boy, get down on your knees ’cause I am Madonna
If you fuck with Sam tonight, you’re fucking with me
So watch what you say or I’ll split your banana
We do what we wanna, we say what we gotta
We’re sexy and free and we feel…
VULGAR

My tea is strong, and though I may recklessly spill it from time to time, it’s always authentic. Far too often we try to be the person we think the world wants us to be, without indulging in who we genuinely are. The older I get, the less time I have for that sort of pretend, and there is something very liberating about that. People will believe what they want to believe about you, so maintaining a strong sense of self is one of the universal challenges we all face. Sam Smith and Madonna know that better than most, and I’m taking inspiration from this banger.

Vulgar is beautiful, filthy, and gorgeous
Vulgar will make you dance, don’t need a chorus
Say we’re ridiculous, we’ll just go harder
Mad and meticulous, Sam and Madonna
Speak, bitch, and say our fucking names
Speak, bitch, and say our fucking names
Speak, bitch, and say our fucking names

It makes me want to slip on a bejeweled jockstrap and dance my ass off…

Do you know how to spell my name?

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S & M

The simple but powerful teasers of Madonna’s new collaboration with Sam Smith feel almost too epic to deliver something that could possibly rise to the level of heated anticipation of a song called ‘Vulgar’ so I’m doing my best to tamp down my feverish expectations and hopes. A full-out banger of a dance duet would be simply divine, but I fear this may not be that. Regardless, the Madonna fan world is so hungry for something new musically that we will all likely line-up to celebrate whatever this is going to be. (Just please don’t tell me it’s a ‘Human Nature’ remix or mash-up with ‘Unholy’ – things have been derivative enough of late.)

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Like A Virgin All Over Again

Originally intended to convey a certain freshness or wonder at the world, Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin’ has endured over the decades thanks to its multiple levels of meaning and widely-varied incarnations. My favorite rendition remains her entrancing and then-scandalous performance of the song during her Blonde Ambition Tour, in which she introduced the world to cone-bras on male dancers, and simulated self-pleasure on a velvet-topped scarlet bed. With Middle Eastern musical accents and a slow-burn take on her classic #1 hit, the ‘Like A Virgin‘ of 1990 was a wild reimagining that went far beyond a ‘freshness’ and into decidedly sultry territory – Madonna finally giving in and culminating in the sexual gratification that everyone (wrongfully) assumed the song was about from the beginning. 

For me, this version embodies the glamorous and glorious spring of 1991, when ‘Truth or Dare’ was about to take the world by summer storm, kicked off by Madonna’s scene-stealing underwear show at the top of the stairs at the Cannes Film Festival. It was a legendary Madonna moment, and sowed the seeds of an era of sexy self-reflection that would later find full flowering in her ‘Erotica’/’Sex/ project. Back then, it seemed slightly salacious, but today it feels like a quaint little ripple compared to the tsunamis to come. And so ‘Like A Virgin’ was about a certain innocence after all, a fresh look at a fresh season starting all over again. 

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The Madonna Timeline: Song #171 – ‘Physical Attraction’

{Note: The Madonna Timeline is an ongoing feature, where I put the iPod on shuffle and write a little anecdote on whatever was going on in my life when that Madonna song was released and/or came to prominence in my mind.}

You say that you need my loveAnd you’re wanting my body, I don’t mindBaby all I’ve got is timeAnd I’m waiting to make you mine
You say you wanna stay the nightBut you’ll leave me tomorrow, I don’t careAll of your moves are rightWe can take it anywhere…

I have absolutely no recollection of this song from when it came out. It was early days for Madonna, before I was even aware of myself, much less the latest pop star about to take the world by storm. We were both in our infancies then. Of course I become aware of it later on, but by then other songs and career moves held my attention, and this one never took on classic status in my eyes. That’s ok – not every single Madonna song is destined for epic effect, and others seem to have embraced this one from the get-go so it doesn’t lack for fans. I’m just not one of them. 

Maybe we were meant to be togetherEven though we never met beforeWe got to move before the sun is risingAnd you’ll be walking slowly out the doorOut the door
Physical attraction (physical attraction)It’s a chemical reaction, oohIt’s a physical attractionIt’s a chemical reaction, yeah
Song #171 – ‘Physical Attraction’

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Season of the Prayer

This is ‘Like A Prayer’ season

Lent.

Religion.

Catholicism. 

Getting down on my knees and taking you there. 

All of these informed the days of Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ album, and in that incense and patchouli-scented period of time, a classic pop moment was born. At the age of thirteen I was just awakening to the world around me, and my place in it. Such a heady time needed a dramatic soundtrack, and ‘Like A Prayer’ was it

Through the ensuing years, the album has matured and endured, growing more resonant with the passing of time, ageless with its themes of family, love, empowerment, spirituality, and self-discovery. With Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, Madonna crafted one of the finest pop albums of the 1980’s, topping off the decade that she ruled and setting up the pinnacle of her pop culture reign. ‘Like A Prayer’ was the first time the world began to understand her legacy and place in musical history. 

Sometimes, though, that albatross of the past, and all the controversies that would come, weighed heavily on the heart and mind. It’s been over three decades since ‘Like A Prayer’ was released, and trying to encapsulate an understanding or summary of such a stretch is a daunting endeavor. Sometimes I just want to put on the music and let it take me there…

Life is a mystery

Everyone must stand alone…

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American ‘Ray’ Day

March 3, 1998 was when Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ album was released in the United States, so while we’ve already celebrated its universal birth here, this quick post honors her American fans, who had to wait just a few days longer to hear all of Ray’s brilliance. It was more than worth the anticipation, as ‘Ray of Light’ remains Madonna’s best album to date

There were works that came before and after which came close to perfection – ‘Confessions on a Dancefloor‘, ‘Erotica‘, and ‘Like A Prayer‘ are all solid entries in the Madonna canon – but ROL was a masterpiece form start to finish. Even her best albums have at least one clunker, while ROL has none. And so we hit play on the wondrously-whirling title track, which exuberantly reminds of all those moments when we feel like we just got home:

The ‘Ray of Light’ album taught me many things, and continues to do so. First and foremost was the idea of being present and living in the moment. For far too much of my life I’ve focused on planning and plotting and what was going to happen next. That makes for a well-organized existence, but zaps a lot of spontaneous enjoyment and fun out of each day, even if it was designed and planned to be enjoyable and fun. Some things in life cannot be planned, and if you’re a Virgo that’s always a little disappointing. Learning to appreciate the present moment was a key stepping stone on my road to becoming a little happier. The totality of the ROL album helped me to see that.

Twenty-five years have passed since this Madonna moment played out, and the work has stood the test of time. Its themes are universal and its lessons are continuously resonant. For all of its racing tracks, there is a Zen-like calm to its trajectory that makes ‘Ray of Light’ more like a musical meditation than a mere collection of songs. That journey is a trip worth making again and again. 

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The Madonna Timeline: Song #170 – ‘Come Alive’ – Summer 2019

It’s been more than one hot minute since our last Madonna Timeline entry, and the shuffle has brought us to a happier, sunnier time: the summer of 2019, and what has shaken out as my favorite track from Madonna’s latest album ‘Madame X’. While lead single ‘Medellin’ held its own subtle magic and conjured its own giddy memories, the song that embodied the best of the ‘Madame X’ experience was ‘Come Alive’. 

I’m in the sky where I oughta be at, I’ve been watching you
Rocket ship takin’ off in that, now I’m onto you
Mouth closed, I don’t want your opinion, who you talkin’ to?
Stand out, no, I don’t wanna blend in, why you want me to?

Only with hindsight can we see how quaintly the world turned in the months before a deadly worldwide pandemic hit. That summer of 2019 in many ways feels like a last summer of innocence and carefree joy, which is strange, because at the time I don’t think that’s what most of us felt. Most of my tension and worry is bound in dwelling and ruminating about that which may or may not happen, and that depletes a lot of joy in what might otherwise be a wonderful time. Again, it’s something that only hindsight can truly teach, and since then I’ve been working on inhabiting the moment, and concerning myself only with what I can directly and currently control. The rest is not worth worrying about, for the most part, and that’s what this song has come to mean to me now. 

They say be all I can be
And all I want is peace, peace, peace, peace, peace, peace
See the world, haven’t seen it all
I wanna see its, see its, see its, see its, see its dreams

That said, it’s nice to revisit a pre-pandemic world, and I’m all for a trip down the section of memory lane that correlates with a summer season. Back in 2019, we were sitting on the patio by the pool and listening to ‘Madame X’ – a Madonna album that heralded the arrival of summer, not unlike the magical moment when ‘True Blue’ embodied its own summer a number of decades ago. Madonna and summer have a way of going together that just feels right – and pop songs somehow hit more intensely in the sunny season. ‘Come Alive’ should have been one of those summer hits – alas, Madonna was way ahead of the game, and more concerned with edgier fare like ‘Dark Ballet‘ and ‘God Control‘ than this piece of pop music perfection. She seemed to sense something in the air. 

Come alive, come alive
Come alive, come alive
Dream’s real, it’s alive
Come alive, come on

This song is all hope and exuberance and possibility – the very marks of what summer usually embodies, in its sun, its wonder, and its way of waking up the world to its own brilliance. Yet there is more at work here, in the drive and defiance that is a mark of all that Madonna herself has come to embody. A steely strength and determination pervades the message of ‘Come Alive’, a throwback to Madonna’s perennial message to ‘Express Yourself’ and a reminder that forty years into her historical career, Madonna still has to fight. 

I can’t react how you thought I’d react, I would never for you
Front line, I won’t stand in the back, ’cause you want me to
Mouth closed, I don’t want your opinion, who you talkin’ to?
Stand out, no, I don’t wanna blend in, why you want me to?

Summer is tumultuous that way – from the calmest and clearest of sunny days, storms and darkness can appear and suddenly descend on our happiest moments. In the continuing aftermath of COVID, summers feel less jubilant than they once did, as so much else does, but there is still a way to find that joy, even if it revisiting a summer that came before. Memories can bring happiness into the present moment. 

They say be all I can be
And all I want is peace, peace, peace, peace, peace, peace
See the world, haven’t seen it all
I wanna see its, see its, see its, see its, see its dreams

And so I return in my mind to that 2019 summer, when ‘Come Alive’ and ‘Crave‘ and ‘Crazy’ formed the only Vitamin C we needed. The world felt more carefree and innocent then, and perhaps it was – but it had its own issues, and were we to return to a more innocent time, we would also be returning to a more ignorant time. With knowledge comes heartbreak and hope, and a little thrill at still being alive.

Come alive, come alive
Come alive, come alive
Dream’s real, it’s alive
Come alive, come on
Come alive, come alive
Come alive, come alive
Come alive, come alive…

SONG #170: ‘Come Alive’ – Summer 2019

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Madonna’s Silver Anniversary of ‘Light’

The night was dark and breezy, but not too unbearably frigid considering it was only the third day of March. A midnight album release was something for which only one woman could convince me to postpone my bedtime, and there was something special in the air that compelled me forward. Before the instantaneous nature of the internet took off, entertainment news was still being whispered mostly on television and in print, and I got most of my info from the bible of ‘Entertainment Weekly’ or the purple section of USA Today. Still, word had trickled through about Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ album, and on its opening release day (night) in America, I stood in a line snaking around the Tower Records that once stood on Newbury Street in Boston. 

Her voice was booming thunderously on the sound system, and as we slowly advanced around the perimeter of the store, the title track came on and I understood that we were experiencing one of the greatest Madonna moments of all time. ‘Ray of Light’ turns 25 this year, and it still stands as her best album to date. While it’s incredibly risky to put a cap and definitive label on anything Madonna-related (she remains a transfixing and newsworthy woman, about to embark on her much-anticipated ‘Celebration Tour’ honoring four decades of music) it looks likely that ‘Ray of Light’ will remain her best album for a while. Its string of singles alone is legendary.

Lead track ‘Frozen’ had taken the world by mystical storm earlier that winter, an electronic ballad that heralded Madonna’s return to the pop throne she had helped craft in the 80’s, while pushing forward the boundaries of what pop music was, and what it might encompass. ‘Frozen’ was unlike anything Madonna had ever sung before, even if heartache and hope were mainstays of all her best music. 

Title track ‘Ray of Light’ could barely be held back as it raced out as the second single. Pounding through the summer of 1998, it sounded a clarion call for pop glory throughout the world and is still one of Madonna’s most beloved bops. That primal squeal of joy at its conclusion is pure heaven. 

The ballads are what ‘Ray of Light’ may be most rightly renowned for – including third single ‘The Power of Goodbye’ which absolutely nails the pop song as a cathartic experience. For all her provocative wizardry, Madonna has been one of my favorite artists because of her knack for making heartache and healing resonant through music. Saying goodbye to someone and surviving is a universal undertaking; Madonna sets it to evocative music here, as she does on the entire ‘Ray of Light’ album, and the results are breathtaking. 

The final official single in the United States was ‘Nothing Really Matters‘, a song that initially paled in comparison to the rest of the album, but has since advanced in my appreciation. At the time, it felt like a throwback to the earlier Madonna, a little light on message and meaning compared to something like the stunning album closer ‘Mer Girl’ but I’ve come to enjoy its pop magic in the ensuing years. Besides, Madonna is as much about celebration as she is about rumination – probably a bit more-so than the ‘Ray of Light’ album might lead one to believe. 

While the album is celebrating its 25th anniversary, it’s worth noting that ‘Ray of Light’ came out about fifteen years after Madonna’s debut. That’s the mark of an artist who is far more than the one-hit… well, now fifty-hit, wonder that many wrote her off to be all those years ago. It’s the mark of an artist in constant evolution, one who is unafraid to try new things and move forward to discover new visions. Most of all, it’s the mark of an artist who has defied the notions of what pop music can be, and what our pop stars can accomplish, and ‘Ray of Light’ remains her most potent and enduring testament to that power. 

TRACK LISTING:

  1. Drowned World: Substitute for Love
  2. Swim
  3. Ray of Light
  4. Candy Perfume Girl
  5. Skin
  6. Nothing Really Matters
  7. Sky Fits Heaven 
  8. Shanti/Ashtangi
  9. Frozen
  10. The Power of Goodbye
  11. To Have and Not To Hold
  12. Little Star
  13. Mer Girl

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The Madonna Bracket: Round 1

Here’s a fun new twist that brings Madonna back into the sports arena, a place she last visited in 2012’s epic Super Bowl performance. It’s a basic bracket (or so I think – to be completely honest there’s a good chance I don’t even know what a bracket is) which will go through some of her songs to see which picks my Twitter polls advance. This will be a decidedly unscientific and high subjective process, because this is my blog. If you want to do it perfectly, or differently, start your own website. 

For this first round, we are hitting up some of her earliest hits, with four challenges that are pitting classics against classics. Here is how it’s shaking out:

    

Those turned out in mostly expected ways (though ‘Like A Virgin‘ getting knocked out this early in the proceedings may cause some consternation). The next round went like this:

That one surprised me a bit – I thought ‘Holiday’ stood a better chance – it’s been performed on many more tours than ‘Borderline’ and has always struck me as a classic song. Maybe the voters on my Titter account are of the age where they remember that brilliant Mary Lambert-directed video (the original release of ‘Holiday’ had no video at all, which is appalling, but I digress…) On to other appalling items, and bigger surprises, as ‘Borderline’ was pitted against my beloved ‘Material Girl’ and made for a heartbreaking final round. 

Not to hate on ‘Borderline’, I just happen to like ‘Material Girl’ better, and it’s provided Madonna with an indelible nickname that has lasted four decades. And so it will be that ‘Borderline’ will advance to the semi-finals. The next bracket will be from the ‘True Blue’ period… so stay tuned… 

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Don’t F&ck with Madonna on My Time

Words from the Queen:

“It was an honor for me to present Kim Petras and Sam Smith at the Grammys. I wanted to give away the final award which was album of the year, but I thought it was more important that I introduce the first transgender woman to perform at the Grammys – a history making moment!! And she won a Grammy too! Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech thanking artists like Sam and Kim for their fearlessness, many people chose to only talk about close-up photos of me taken with a long lens camera who would distort anyone’s face by a press photographer!!
Once again I am caught in the vortex of ageism and misogyny that pervades the world we live in.
A world that refuses to celebrate women who have hit 45 and feel the need to punish them if they remain strong, willing, hardworking, and adventurous.
I’ve never apologized for any creative choices I’ve made or the way I dress or look and I won’t start. I’ve been degraded by the media since the beginning of my career, but I understand that it’s all a test and I’m happy to be pioneering in that field too so that all the women behind me have an easier future.
As Beyonce would say you won’t break my soul
I’m looking forward to many more years of subversive behaviors, pushing boundaries, facing the patriarchy and most of all, enjoying my life.
Bow down my bitches!” ~ Madonna

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The Enlightenment of Madonna

A scorching new photo-shoot/video-project from Madonna, featured in an overseas version of ‘Vanity Fair’ and their ‘Icon Issue’, is forming my new inspiration for this flailing winter. Check out the video excerpts below, which use selections like ‘Justify My Love‘, ‘Like A Prayer‘, ‘Isaac‘, and ‘The Power of Good-bye‘ – all of which work splendidly in this religiously-rich romp through iconic images. They make an instant match with Madonna, a woman once perfectly-described as Our Lady of Perpetual Provocation

This looks like a promising entry to ‘The Celebration Tour’ era – a way of reminding everyone of Madonna’s iconic stature and enduring power (as if the ticket prices and sales weren’t enough) while leading into what might be an absolutely bonkers live show if she pulls it off right. If history is any indication, we have no reason to doubt her now. At every crossroads in her career, Madonna has managed to find salvation on the stage (witness the glory of ‘The Girlie Show’ following the ‘Sex’ firestorm, or ‘The Reinvention Tour’ after the ‘American Life‘ brouhaha). 

What ‘The Celebration Tour’ may usher in is anyone’s guess – though if it’s anything like her brief Pride set this past summer, it will be bawdy, colorful, and aptly named. In other words, classic iconic Madonna, served up with an attitude and absolutely no regrets. (Check out my dream set-list for the new tour here, and come join the party!)

 

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A Madonna Celebration Four Decades in the Making

When Madonna canceled her Boston dates on her last tour, I was crestfallen, but not heartbroken. I’d seen her multiple times prior to that, so it wasn’t the end of the world. It did, however, mark the start of a litany of canceled shows that followed in the arrival of the COVID pandemic, and left a foul taste in the mouth, even as my bank account got replenished in unexpected refunds. 

Now Madonna has announced a new tour – The Celebration Tour – billed as a greatest hits concert culled from the past forty years of her history-making/shaking career. At first I balked at the price of tickets, then I balked at the emotional investment in the event that things get canceled or called off, and finally I balked at my hesitation: this is Madonna. Singing her hits. For what might be the very last time. 

When my friend LeeMichael (no stranger to momentous theatrical events) told me he got tickets in the pre-sale and would be happy to go with me, I talked it over with Andy and accepted (Andy being thrilled not to deal with the stressful ticket-procurement process or the attached price tag). So come August I will hopefully be attending Madonna’s Celebration Tour. In anticipation of that, and in the spirit of such things, here is my dream set-list, as every proper fan is currently formulating one in their head. It’s a little ambitious, but Madonna on tour is Madonna at her most ambitious. (And do click on the links for the Madonna Timeline entries that have been written so far.)

 

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