Song #688: "Like a Prayer" by Madonna

Date: Apr 22, 1989
Weeks: 3

The last Madonna song I reviewed did little to prove why Madonna is such a great and enduring artist. This one, on the other hand, is from roughly the peak of her career. It's a great example of what makes her so wonderful, and it's probably my favorite Madonna song.

The overall orchestration of the music is what makes this song for me. From the top down, every piece of this song just fits. Madonna's voice is perfect for this song, and she gives it everything she has. Her voice is a little sloppy and desperate to keep up with the song's pace, but that creates a very emotional performance that's perfectly matched to both the lyrics and the music. The gospel choir eventually became a trope that got overused in pop music, but it was a fairly new idea at the time. And when you consider the generally religious tone of both the lyrics and the video, the gospel choir is a perfect fit. The song wouldn't be half the song it is without the choir, and the lead singer of that choir also gives a wonderfully big performance.

Continuing from the top down, there's an organ that also conveys the religious theme. There's also a guitar and drum line that kind of fade into the background of the mix. They don't stick out, but the effect they create is a driving pace that helps keep the song well on the pop/rock spectrum. At the very bottom of the track is a bass line. I can't tell if the bass is a fat guitar or a synthesizer, but either way, it's a very appealing bass line and I think it makes the song for me. There's a lot of music happening in that bass line, and I think it's what makes the song so unique.

As for the lyrics, I feel under-qualified to really analyze them. Clearly this is a song that is conflating Madonna's love of God with her love of a man. It does so in a manner that is poetic, and yet clear enough that I was able to easily interpret it. I know the video is controversial for expounding on the same theme, but I think the video does a great job of telling the same music as the lyrics, while also adding an additional story on top of that, about Madonna's character witnessing a murder and overcoming her fear of the actual murderers to tell the police they've arrested the wrong man. And the video tackles the issue of racism on top of all of that. There's a lot going on here. This song, and especially the video, should be all the proof anyone needs of why Madonna is one of the great pop music artists of all time.

My verdict: Like it. This is definitely one of those songs that works because the whole is more than the sum of its parts. I can break it down and explain why I think each part of it works, but ultimately it comes down to each part complementing every other part until the whole just works and creates something wonderful.