I’m glad I was around for the beginning of Madonna‘s career to this point. She truly is a chameleon of looks and sound. She broke ground for today’s women singers and performers. She was inspired by the past and made it her own at times. Of course she has her flaws and us gays are notorious for being hard on her but the reason being is we feel she is ours in a sense. She was one of the few celebrities even talking about AIDS at a time when it wasn’t cool to mention (her and Elizabeth Taylor). She spoke of homosexuality as something to be celebrated, not mocked or ridiculed. Madonna is truly one of the icons of my generation and we watched her grow and evolve as her artistic heart and mind changed with the times. She was ahead of the curve throughout most of her career. She always seemed to know what to tap into as far as talent in producers and fellow songwriters each year to decade. She truly is a star, a celebrity, a performer and an icon. I will always love her no matter how “out there” she gets at times and I say fly that freak flag girl. If it’s one thing you have taught us, it’s to be who you need to be at any moment in your life. Here are my favorite Madonna songs in no particular order (this will be an ongoing project). I will also include some of my favorite remixes from club going days that truly take me back to a time of freedom and fun in my life. Thank you for all the memories and good times Madonna.
Let’s start off slow.
“Frozen“
Haunting and alluring, this is a very unique song that only Madonna could make a hit in my opinion. The video was hypnotic and truly wonderful. It is from one of my favorite Madonna albums Ray of Light which was released in 1998.
Let’s go with a major hit next!
Madonna and controversy go hand in hand even to this day and “Like A Prayer” was no exception! This song was huge on so many levels. It had religion, burning crosses, it had a choir, it had Madonna kissing a black saint, it had Madonna with auburn hair! As a Madonna fan, I loved every minute of it. She made a Pepsi commercial with this song but it ended up being pulled because of the burning crosses being offensive. But she still got paid cause bitch, she’s Madonna and she always gets her coin! This is Madonna at her best.
Madonna takes some time to be reflective:
“Drowned World/Substitute For Love“
If you ever wondered what it’s like to be Madonna famous, this is the song to listen to and learn from. This song was created after she gave birth to her first child, Lourdes and reflects on how her children are way more important to her than fame and money. If you know Madonna’s back story and the loss of her own mother, you would realize the sincerity in this particular song. Now will Madonna give up fame? No, too late for that. She is in the history books. Will she give up her fortune? Of course not, she is too smart a business person to just blow through her money and pretend she isn’t rich. But can she reflect on what fame has done to her and how it has shaped her. Of course. We can all reflect on how money, power and perhaps the seeking of fame shapes our own lives perhaps if you happen to be in the entertainment field. Also there is a kick ass remix (BT & Sasha’s Bucklodge Ashram Remix) of this song I will always love and play when I need to be reflective and dance at the same time!
Madonna rocks it out on this remix:
“Love Profusion (Headcleanr Rock Mix)“
This is one of my favorite mixes of a Madonna song. One cause I’m a rock fan so it has that rock edge to it that is rare in a Madonna song (although this period of time she was experimenting with rock a bit more and when she started her own record company, she signed Candlebox which is one of my favorite rock bands from the nineties). I love that this song lets us inside Madonna a bit, somewhat apologetically, on how to deal with the likes of her personality at the time.