It Feels Like Home
In honor of Madonna's birthday, I wanted to share my favorite songs of hers - a top ten list.
10) “Dress You Up” In the height of her “Boy Toy” phase, Madonna shows off her 80’s fashion flare, dancing and performing in this concert footage video for her final single from Like a Virgin. This was the first time that a Madonna song really stuck with me. I enjoyed "Borderline" and "Like a Virgin," however this was her first pop song from her collection that aged well and is still a great song today.
9) “Causing a Commotion” I remember being 14 and dancing around in my room to this song when it first came out in the late summer of 1987. I got a radio that previous Christmas including the big bulky headset earphones who pads surrounded your ears, and I would listen to the radio when going asleep. Even in twilight dream like state before passing out completely, I would perk up when I heard the song and jump out of bed and dance. Of course, this was much to my parents’ chagrin, since they wanted me asleep.
8) “Oh Father” This song is a troubling and moving ballad about personal lose and deep sadness that always haunted me. Then add to that David Fincher’s brilliant video with the images of the mother’s lips sown up, the perils spilling on the floors and a little girl’s shadow being cast from an adult Madonna.
7) “Fever” The only cover on my list, “Fever” was an inspired add to Erotica’s song list. While in the final stages of production for a different unreleased song, Madonna suddenly started singing the lyrics to "Fever" over the top of it. She liked the way it sounded so much that she recorded it and the rest is history.
6) "Amazing" I follow up the only cover on my list with the only unreleased song on this list. The song from Music was one of the first songs leaked on the web as well as Warner Bros. wanted "Amazing" as the fourth single, but Madonna felt the catchiness and sound of "Amazing" was too similar to "Beautiful Stranger" and she thwarted Warner Bros. attempt to release it. I like the hypnotic sound of the song and its lyrics talking about a giddy infatuation. “It’s amazing what a boy can do, I cannot help myself.”
5) "Nothing Fails" This powerful love song with a gospel element harkens to one of Madonna’s most influential album, Like a Prayer. This song was not a released as a single from American Life. However it was treated as an EP in Australia and therefore made it onto the ARIA, Australian Recording Industry Association, charts as a dance album. The song is an infectious love song that crescendos into a redeeming chorus that makes the non-religious want to pray.
4) "Miles Away" Perhaps this song is the other side of the "Nothing Fails" coins. When distance seems to improve the relationship, you are miles away from each other when you’re standing right there. The song has all the hallmarks of Justin Timberlake’s production with vocal percussion in the intro that brings the listener into a melancholy song that touches on the pain and heartache of losing your love in downtempo electronic style.
The Troika of Madonna: These three songs are tied as my favorite Madonna song of all time. Since I can’t rank them, I will order them in reverse order of their release.
(tied) 1) "Don't Tell Me" Madonna’s brother-in-law, Joe Henry, was prodded by his wife, Melanie Ciccone, to send the demo for his song “Stop” to Madonna because Melanie thought that her sister would like the song. Madonna enthusiastically worked on the song with Mirwais to create the string and progressive electronic dance music song that inspired the cowboy-themed video. Upon hearing Madonna’s version of the song, Joe was rather shocked that not one word of the lyrics was altered.
(tied) 1)"Ray of Light" This song is Madonna’s defining moment. After working on Evita and being slammed for Dita-personaed Erotica and the hodge podge of collaborators on Bedtime Stories, Madonna created her second extremely personal and biographical studio album. Based on Curtiss Maldoon’s "Sepheryn,” “Ray of Light” heralded Madonna’s first significant Grammy and still works to get me out on the dance floor.
(tied) 1)"Like a Prayer" This eponymous single from Madonna’s first extremely personal and biographical studio album establishes Madonna as the icon for the 90’s and beyond. Mixing religion fervor and sexual themes, she creates audio ecstasy for the listener that is mirrored in her controversial video. The like "Nothing Fails," "Like a Prayer" embraces the crescendo of a triumphant chorus to punctuate the joyful rapture of being redeemed by love when you only but ask.
"Ray of Light" and "Like a Prayer" both touch on the idea of “feeling like home.” The sensation of knowing that everything is alright is one of mankind’s most important spiritual needs. I don’t think it’s any accident that these two songs and their album have had the impact on Madonna and popular culture that they have. Whether or not they started out as original song or others’ lyrics, the songs have become to express an individual’s journey from being incomplete to whole. When someone is fortunate enough to feel that inner peace that they are complete and at one with their standing in life, the relief is amazing.
As an honorable mention, I wanted to add along the version of "Like a Prayer" from the Sticky and Sweet Tour. It is a little more broody that the original, containing elements of "Feels Like Home" by Meck. This sample darkens the tone of the ecstasy and underscores the inward and sometimes turbulent trek of getting to where "it feels like home."
Happy Birthday, Madonna. Thank you for your music.
10) “Dress You Up” In the height of her “Boy Toy” phase, Madonna shows off her 80’s fashion flare, dancing and performing in this concert footage video for her final single from Like a Virgin. This was the first time that a Madonna song really stuck with me. I enjoyed "Borderline" and "Like a Virgin," however this was her first pop song from her collection that aged well and is still a great song today.
9) “Causing a Commotion” I remember being 14 and dancing around in my room to this song when it first came out in the late summer of 1987. I got a radio that previous Christmas including the big bulky headset earphones who pads surrounded your ears, and I would listen to the radio when going asleep. Even in twilight dream like state before passing out completely, I would perk up when I heard the song and jump out of bed and dance. Of course, this was much to my parents’ chagrin, since they wanted me asleep.
8) “Oh Father” This song is a troubling and moving ballad about personal lose and deep sadness that always haunted me. Then add to that David Fincher’s brilliant video with the images of the mother’s lips sown up, the perils spilling on the floors and a little girl’s shadow being cast from an adult Madonna.
7) “Fever” The only cover on my list, “Fever” was an inspired add to Erotica’s song list. While in the final stages of production for a different unreleased song, Madonna suddenly started singing the lyrics to "Fever" over the top of it. She liked the way it sounded so much that she recorded it and the rest is history.
6) "Amazing" I follow up the only cover on my list with the only unreleased song on this list. The song from Music was one of the first songs leaked on the web as well as Warner Bros. wanted "Amazing" as the fourth single, but Madonna felt the catchiness and sound of "Amazing" was too similar to "Beautiful Stranger" and she thwarted Warner Bros. attempt to release it. I like the hypnotic sound of the song and its lyrics talking about a giddy infatuation. “It’s amazing what a boy can do, I cannot help myself.”
5) "Nothing Fails" This powerful love song with a gospel element harkens to one of Madonna’s most influential album, Like a Prayer. This song was not a released as a single from American Life. However it was treated as an EP in Australia and therefore made it onto the ARIA, Australian Recording Industry Association, charts as a dance album. The song is an infectious love song that crescendos into a redeeming chorus that makes the non-religious want to pray.
4) "Miles Away" Perhaps this song is the other side of the "Nothing Fails" coins. When distance seems to improve the relationship, you are miles away from each other when you’re standing right there. The song has all the hallmarks of Justin Timberlake’s production with vocal percussion in the intro that brings the listener into a melancholy song that touches on the pain and heartache of losing your love in downtempo electronic style.
The Troika of Madonna: These three songs are tied as my favorite Madonna song of all time. Since I can’t rank them, I will order them in reverse order of their release.
(tied) 1) "Don't Tell Me" Madonna’s brother-in-law, Joe Henry, was prodded by his wife, Melanie Ciccone, to send the demo for his song “Stop” to Madonna because Melanie thought that her sister would like the song. Madonna enthusiastically worked on the song with Mirwais to create the string and progressive electronic dance music song that inspired the cowboy-themed video. Upon hearing Madonna’s version of the song, Joe was rather shocked that not one word of the lyrics was altered.
(tied) 1)"Ray of Light" This song is Madonna’s defining moment. After working on Evita and being slammed for Dita-personaed Erotica and the hodge podge of collaborators on Bedtime Stories, Madonna created her second extremely personal and biographical studio album. Based on Curtiss Maldoon’s "Sepheryn,” “Ray of Light” heralded Madonna’s first significant Grammy and still works to get me out on the dance floor.
(tied) 1)"Like a Prayer" This eponymous single from Madonna’s first extremely personal and biographical studio album establishes Madonna as the icon for the 90’s and beyond. Mixing religion fervor and sexual themes, she creates audio ecstasy for the listener that is mirrored in her controversial video. The like "Nothing Fails," "Like a Prayer" embraces the crescendo of a triumphant chorus to punctuate the joyful rapture of being redeemed by love when you only but ask.
"Ray of Light" and "Like a Prayer" both touch on the idea of “feeling like home.” The sensation of knowing that everything is alright is one of mankind’s most important spiritual needs. I don’t think it’s any accident that these two songs and their album have had the impact on Madonna and popular culture that they have. Whether or not they started out as original song or others’ lyrics, the songs have become to express an individual’s journey from being incomplete to whole. When someone is fortunate enough to feel that inner peace that they are complete and at one with their standing in life, the relief is amazing.
As an honorable mention, I wanted to add along the version of "Like a Prayer" from the Sticky and Sweet Tour. It is a little more broody that the original, containing elements of "Feels Like Home" by Meck. This sample darkens the tone of the ecstasy and underscores the inward and sometimes turbulent trek of getting to where "it feels like home."
Happy Birthday, Madonna. Thank you for your music.
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