LIKE A PRAYER - 1989

LIKE A PRAYER - 1989

1. Like A Prayer
2. Express Yourself*
3. Love Song**
4. Till Death Do Us Part
5. Promise To Try
6. Cherish
7. Dear Jessie
8. Oh Father
9. Keep It Together*
10. Spanish Eyes
11.Act Of Contrition**

Produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard
* Produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray
** Produced by Madonna and Prince

One of Madonna's very best albums, LIKE A PRAYER was released in March of 1989 oon the heels of the title song's video controversy and a wave of publicity about her reportedly absive marriage to Sean Penn. It sold over 11 million copies worldwide on the strength of its great singles and hugely positive reviews. Showcasing Madonna's songwriting skills like never before, LIKE A PRAYER contains some of her rawest and best vocals ever, and its themes of relationships (family, personal or otherwise) and religion are more complex than than ever before. A truly stunning acheivement, LIKE A PRAYER captures the heart, mind and soul of its listener in a way no other album has until RAY OF LIGHT.

Like A Prayer - The first single off the album of the same name went straight to #1 and stayed there for three weeks. More importantly, it made people sit up and take notice that Madonna was not just a disco tart (something her fans had known for years). Its story of a hugely romantic affair that reaches religious proportions. Its combination of dance hall funk and church choirs is unlike anything on the radio before or since. Among Madonna's most compelling five minutes, Like A Prayer is so beautifully arranged and sung that the listener can't help but join the choir. the classic video directed by Mary Lambert (Like A Virgin) was controversial for its story line: a woman witnesses a man being wrongfully arrested. She goes to church to pray for guidence where the power of prayer (symbolized by screwing a saint who comes to life!) gives her the strength to do what is right, despite the danger to herself. The burning crosses in the video angered back-up singer Nicki Harris and a whole lot of other people who didn't realize that the crosses weren't just some set piece, but were used to symbolize the racism in the song. Is it because of this controversy that the end of the video has a curtain call and the words "the end"? So we can all go "Oh, it was just a video, no reason to panic." I think its possible.

Express Yourself - #2? #2! Why didn't thsi song make it to #1? I will never understand! One of Madonna's strongest mucical statements, Express Yourself is one of the greatest dance songs ever. A great message, great delivery, a great opening ("Come on girls/Do you believe in love!") and a great video from the man who would come to direct her very best: David Fincher (Oh Father, Vogue, and Bad Girl. The video cost over $2 million to make, second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller at the time, and is a stunning Metropolis-inspired tale of a woman in control of the world who needs a man. One of the lowly workers, attracted to the cat that represents Madonna's character's sexuality (which is clearly spelled out when she crawls under a table to lick milk from a bowl) comes to her room and sweeps her into his arms. One of the most stunning shots is Madonna chained to a bed which (according to "POP-UP VIDEO") contains "real chains, real nudity". A masterpiece of a video.
Love Song - A battle of the sexes duet with Prince and one of Madonna's most distinctive songs, with its thick beats and its great final cry: "Don't try to tell me what your enemies taught you/I'm gone but I just want you to know/That this is not a love song that I want to sing".
Till Death Do Us Part - An apparent run through of Ciccone/Penn's failed marriage, this is one of Madonna's most powerful songs. To a fantic beat that underlines the situation, an abused wife enters a cycle: beating, apoligies, broken promises, threatening to leave and not being able to ("You're not in love with someone else/You don't even love yourself/But still I wish you'd ask me not to go"). If this song doesn't break your heart, you don't have one.
Promise To Try - A confused little girls ode to her dead mother, Promise To Try takes whatever heart you have left after Till Death Do Us Part. The aching in her vocals just floors you and you feel like you might bawl. What a great song!

Cherish - This super happy, popular third single (#2) from LIKE A PRAYER is a slight dedication to joy about a super-duper relationship! Not among her deepest works, but is sure was a popular change of pace after the last two tracks. Veteran photographer Herb Ritts (the TRUE BLUE cover)directed the cute black and white beach romp that is interupted by some hot mermen and an adorable mer-boy who's lost his way. (Ritt's later went on to direct Chris Issack's sexy black and white romp on the beach with a supermodel interupted by suggestive editing in the I Want To Fall In Love video.)

Dear Jessie - A whimsical lullaby that reached #5 in the UK, Dear Jessie's sweet innocence on the album is sequed with the loss of innocence dirge Oh Father. An animated video featuring a pink elephant was released abroad to go along with its non-US release.

Oh Father - It only charted at #20, ending Madonna's record setting string of top ten and top five hits, but artistically this song is a magnificent success. Collaberator Patrick Leonard feels this is he and Madonna's best work and the tale of a woman struggling to forgive her abusive father is stunning. David Fincher's video is equally stunning; filmed in lush black and white. A girl is left with her abusive father after her mother dies. She's shown as a young girl seeing her mother's corpse and sweetly (and kinda creepily) dancing on her mother's grave, and as an adult being abused by her lover (sean Penn?). This song was released in the UK in 1996 to promote SOMETHING TO REMEMBER where it reached #16.

Keep It Together - The importance of family is the theme to the final release off LIKE A PRAYER. It reached #8 and is a highly danceable track that has a great message, honestly delivered. Odd, considering Madonna's reportedly rocky relationships with some of her own siblings. It also served as the final encore to The Blond Ambition Tour.
Spanish Eyes - An angst-ridden ballad, lamenting the loss of a gang member contains some of Madonna's most aching vocals ever and its Latin feel adds effectively to the mood of longing and loss.
Act Of Contrition - A weird prayer - whose music comes from a back looping of Like A Prayer - creates a disorienting feel that perfectly matches the twist at the end where Madonna's prayers have been ignored and not entered into the computer.

Go Ahead To I'M BREATHLESS

Go Back To YOU CAN DANCE

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