Regardless of whether you love or hate her, everyone has an opinion on Madonna. Say what you will about her, but this woman has got one thing that many performers today lack: Staying Power. Is she the best voice out there? No. Is she the best songwriter? No. Is she a successful business person? Absolutely. Madonna is constantly reinventing herself to give her image that brand new look and feel. It seems like each one of her CD's has a different sound to it. Like a Prayer is my favorite.

Some of Madonna's music can be described as "Bubble Gum" music, meaning that it has little meaning. Like a Prayer is almost certainly autobiographical and has the most feeling and emotion of all her other works to date. This CD proves Madonna is more complex than any of us know.

The Songs

Like a Prayer
How Madonna appears in this video is my favorite look for her. Longish black curly hair, skin tight dress and little black pumps. In this video she is saving a black man from certain injustice by being a witness to a crime he did not commit. He is portrayed as a Saint (maybe Jesus?) who comes to life and gives her a long kiss. I wonder if Madonna knew what kind of controversy she would stir up with this video? Pepsi found the video so reprehensible that they canceled her commercial contract. Guess what? She got to keep the money anyway. Tell me this woman is not a brilliant business person!

Express Yourself
Madonna has her platinum blonde look back, but now she dons on a business suit for this video. It's all about "Girl Power" to use a phrase from the Spice Girls (would Madonna cringe, or what)? In this songs she's giving us our orders to order our men around and to get what we want out of life. Not a bad message. I've read that she won't have any man lift her up at any concert because she doesn't like the message it sends. Tough gal, huh?

Love Song
I'll be honest, I skip this song every time I play this CD. I don't think that Madonna and Prince sound all that great together.

Till Death Do Us Part
This is a great song. This song was released after Madonna and Sean Penn's divorce, so it seems logical that she is writing about him. If you listen to some of the lyrics (You're not in love with someone else, you don't even love yourself, still I wish you'd ask me not to go) you wonder where the girl who wrote Express Yourself is! Seems as though even super strong femmes fatales have moments of weakness, just like the rest of us mere mortals!

Promise to Try
This song is all about her mother, who died at a young age of cancer when Madonna was only five years old. Promise to Try tells the story of a little girl who misses her mother terribly and feels lost and lonely without her. This mirrors Madonna's own life very closely, as she is still affected by her mother's untimely death even today.

Cherish
Madonna's cut her blonde hair down to nothing and donned those skin tight wet clothes for this video. It's lighthearted and catchy, and makes a great pop song. The video is great, done in black and white because Madonna thinks she looks best this way. The video is whimsical and features mermaids leaping around for your viewing enjoyment.

Dear Jessie
This is another cute and whimsical song that sounds like it's written for a child. It is actually one of my favorite songs, though it is considered a "b" side. It's very happy and lighthearted, but not much more than fluff. Sometimes rockers take themselves too seriously, though, and fluff is nice.

Oh Father
If you don't like fluff, this is the song for you. Talk about depressing! This song is about the relationship she had as a child with her father and how she feels now that she's grown. A very poignant line in the song reads "maybe someday when I look back I'll be able to say you didn't mean to be cruel. Somebody hurt you, too." It is really a beautiful, yet sad song.

Keep it Together
If you've ever seen Madonna's documentary, you'll know that family means the world to Madonna. It seems contradictory that she would have such feelings of hurt about her father in one song and in the very next extol the virtues of home. Think some more and it's not so strange...no one can hurt you except for those you love dearly.

Spanish Eyes
This song was written before Carlos Leon, Lourdes' father, was in the picture, but gives you the sense that Madonna has always been attracted to Latin men. She has said in interviews that she feels close to the Latin culture. This is evidenced later when she plays Evita Peron, and gives an award-winning performance.

Act of Contrition
I am not Catholic, but now I know one prayer...sort of. I would not have known that this was a prayer but for my Catholic roommate in college. It's a funky ending to a great album.

If you don't have this CD by Madonna in your collection, you really should give it a listen. It has the most heart of all her other albums, and gives you the idea that maybe she is a person with feelings just like you, after all.

Others to try: Immaculate Collection, True Blue & Like a Virgin



Recommended: Yes