By: Faith Jeannette
From the 80’s up to now, Madonna has been a strong and powerful female artist that has dominated pop music with her unique vocals and influence on many other artists such as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Beyoncé. Undoubtedly, Madonna is one of the most successful pop artists of all time. Madonna’s performance style and dancing, unique music videos, eroticism, and brand image all contribute to her success as an artist. Although not the strongest singer there is, her music and influential contributions are huge. She has been known as the “highest-selling female artist by Guinness World Records” as well as the “most successful single artist in Billboard chart’s history” (“About Madonna Vocal Ability”).
"Like a Virgin” was Madonna’s biggest hit. This song, during the 80’s, served as a controversy for the risqué and explicit subject, although the actual meaning of the song isn’t as risqué as the title leads to. “Like a Virgin” describes the feeling of finding a new love, and it feels like being a virgin again. Another interpretation is that “Madonna wanted women to feel empowered by this song and realize how powerful of a gender females are” through the lyrics (“Madonna in Pop Culture”). This is a common idea throughout Madonna’s hits. The lyrics of this song were actually written by two men (Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly), one of whom had written the “like a virgin” lyric inspired from his breakup. Starting through the 70s/80s, technology had started taking a noticeable characteristic in music. This is clearly seen in this song as the song starts off with a keyboard synth sound and other digital sounds. Madonna’s high pitched and “little girl” singing give off a sweet and innocent sound but as seen in her music video she is very free and expressive in her movements and dancing. Something else that stands out in her music video are the symbols used to represent ideas in the song such as the lion which represents Venice and the wedding dress which represents purity to promiscuity (“Madonna in Pop Culture”).
Another big hit from Madonna’s album is “Material Girl”. Influences from dance music, disco, and pop can be heard in this song very remarkably. The song starts off with several synth and digital sounds creating an upbeat and danceable vibe. There is also a vocoder used in the song giving the male singer a robotic sound. Madonna’s girly voice sticks out in the song and captures the irony of the lyrics. Similar to her profound song “Like a Virgin”, Madonna provides a bold statement in the song “Material Girl”. Often misinterpreted as playing a gold digger, the name “Material Girl” stuck with Madonna for quite some time. However, this song actually plays a role of irony, as Madonna is only pretending to be this material girl that men want, when in reality she’s just a regular girl who likes simple things as is seen in the end of the music video (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/madonna/material-girl). It is not uncommon for songs to be misinterpreted when incorporating profound ideas.
Taking a turn from the first two songs, Madonna’s song “Angel” takes a slow ballad form and shows off a different vocal range where she is singing lower and more maturely. Nevertheless, her sweet tone and pop sound is still present. In this song, Madonna expresses her feelings for this person where “Other faces seem like nothing next to you” and that they must be an angel because this person is the person of her dreams. This song takes the form of a strophic and whereas her vocals are very upfront in the other two songs, her vocals are more in the same area or less up front with the instrumental.
Another form of a slow ballad and sentimental song from this album is “Shoo-Bee-Doo.” Unlike the other songs in this album, the accompaniment is a slow and rock piano sound similar to Elton John’s piano compositions. In this song, Madonna expresses her feelings of sadness and wonder through her mesmerizing vocals. Madonna calls out to this person asking them to give her a chance. The pain and emotion are vivid through her vocals throughout the whole song. Often seen in a ballad, the song tells of a story, except that the story doesn’t have an ending in this song. The listener is left to wonder who this mysterious person is and what happens to this awe- struck couple.
Heavy drums with an 8th note hi-hat pattern, a bright thick snare, a syncopated electric bass line, vivid and metaphorical lyrics of love, and a non-stop groove are all the qualities to a disco/dance song which are all the more present in “Dress you up”. Madonna leaves it all on the floor with her high energy and dance moves in her music video of a live performance.
If any song can make you get up its “Over and over.” Madonna repeats in the chorus “I’ll get up again over and over.” The fast-paced beat and drive of the kick drum bring this song to life and of course Madonna’s edgy vocals and echo from her reverb make the song push to the top!
Similar to several of Blondie’s songs, the song “Pretender” utilizes a drum pad and a low synth pattern as the bass. Madonna calls out a man who pretends to give his love to women but only uses his manipulation to get what he wants. It’s not rare to see women after Madonna to discuss men using manipulation and smooth-talk to hurt women and make women believe in something good in their music such as Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain” and “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera. Madonna isn’t afraid to speak the truth!
Madonna shows off her vocals and power in the song “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore.” Madonna’s dark vocals are accompanied by an intense string part and a bass part that seems to be crawling under your skin. Madonna sings out to the void “You abandoned me. Love don’t live here anymore” while holding out the word anymore emphasizing the meaning. Unlike in her other songs from this album, Madonna almost growls and shouts out when singing this lyric, making the feeling more permanent and memorable. At the end of the song she gasps in a shocked manner leaving a state of despair.
Madonna has had one of the most successful careers as a pop artist and is still making music today. Her most recent album is Madame X released in 2019. Madonna continues having an influence in character, looks, and musical craft in artists today.
Sources https://www.becomesingers.com/singer-success/about-madonna-vocal-ability https://www.songwriteruniverse.com/virgin.htm https://madonnainpopculture.weebly.com/like-a-virgin.html https://www.songfacts.com/facts/madonna/material-girl
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