Goodbye to innocence
Hello Tribe Readers In this new column, I’ll share with you my views and opinions about Madonna’s work and influence. Many of you may not agree with me : keep in mind that I’m only expressing myself (cause I got something to say about whatever). I don’t intend to state any ultimate judgement, but drag your attention and focus on unexplored aspects of Madonna.
For example : how does Madonna appear through her lyrics ? Is she polite ? Do we know her better ? Everybody thinks she is scandalous, outrageous
but she has nothing to do with Courtney Love
Her first single, «Everybody», was a funk/dance tune, with no deep meaning nor difficult words, but the whole lyrics were a nice invitation, either to a lover, either to the public, to come and join her in her sensual party world. Madonna, in her songs ( ! ), never forces someone do something they don’t want to. She always suggests, gives ideas, raises questions : «Je suis prête, vous êtes prêt aussi ?» (I am ready, are you ready too ?) in « Love Song », instead of « Come on let’s go, let’s get nuts », sung by Prince
« I’m gonna be your mistress tonight », she warns in the intro for « Erotica », instead of « Smack my bitch up » in Prodigy’s S&M hit
« I could be your sister, I could be your mother
I’d even be your brother » she tells to her partner Me’Shell, but in the end « I’d rather be your lover ». Do you know many people who speak so clearly their mind without crushing you under their will ? Even when she comes home with bad news, she sings « Papa, I know you’re going to be upset, cause I was always your little girl
». How could Papa Ciccone go mad after a daughter who defuses conflicts ? I could list the examples and make tons of comparisons for song themes and how Madonna’s skill is to make everything acceptable.
Love affairs are a very common topic in pop music. Happy and sad lovers tell their feelings, happy and sad. But even when the love has gone, Madonna remains a kind and respectful person. « Take a bow », « Frozen », and its consequence, « The power of goodbye » are very polite songs : a woman tells her man how mean and cold he is, and although he seems responsible for the failure, she is not angry. She says « goodbye », first of all because it’s only thing she can do, and secondly because she believes that it is a positive decision. On the contrary,« Bye Bye baby » was a declaration of hate but the curse word got blipped at the end of the song, and the main message was « Bye Bye », what the title underlines, and not an insult. Eamon made a hit on the same idea, but he spoke very badly to his ex and kept on moaning « Fuck it » !
Madonna‘s most sophisticated album lyrically, « Bedtime Story », revealed a mature and balanced personality : « Survival », « Inside of Me », « Human Nature » and « Love Tried to Welcome Me » explored personal weakness and the feeling of failure. She admitted she had gone too far, as an artist and as a person (but, of course, like every other songwriter, she would never acknowledge that), but remained the entertainer and the strong character she is, with « absolutely no regrets ». This album marked a change in Madonna’s words. After « Erotica », her stories had left the teenage tone. She even left over the song « Goodbye to Innoncence », which was replaced by « Fever » in the final tracklist. In a psychoanalytic point of view, it is quite obvious that Madonna was not ready to endorse « Say goodbye to anonimity, I have to say goodbye to privacy, but most of all, to innoncence. » in 1992. She sang « And just believe in what my lips have to say ( ) Fever, what a lovely way to burn» instead Moreover, the Evita experience, motherhood and spirituality brought new issues in her lyrics. « Drowned World / Substitute for Love » and, later, « American Life » explored again her own perception of stardom.
Over the years, poetic writing and symbolism have taken over statements and pop music conventional stories. I’ll tell you more about this next month. Stay tuned, come back. Push the button, don’t push the button.
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