'00s Madonna Singles

Can we include remixes as part of our voting strategy or is this strictly single edits? Because it would bump up "Sorry" and probably make me choose "What It Feels Like For A Girl"

voted Music - nonsense lyrics, Madonna being Madonna, about as cutting edge as she got for the whole decade.

I have no memory of anything after "Sorry" other than "4 Minutes" (good) and "Give It 2 Me" (oh FUCK NO)

i'm sure all these songs have a billion remixes each and i have no idea how to reflect that in the poll options so i mean, vote however you want but it's just gonna have the main song title there next to your vote

xxp to myself - also it feels pretty effortless on Madge's part - unlike the forcedness of the 'Confessions' stuff

gotta be hung up

"hung up" is top decade material shit

song is still so huge xpost

yes

I'm just saying, the single edit is boring but I LOVE LOVE LOVE this mix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYwgG2oyUbA&ob=av2n

"hung up" might be my favorite madonna song period

i distinctly remember the first time i heard "american life". i was record shopping at Tower Records at Shinjuku Flags and it came on... by the time it got to the "rap" i was literally crawling under bins in embarrassment for poor madge. rarely has her music evoked such an intense emotion out of me, so that's my vote.

Get Together. Easily in my top 10 Madonna tracks. Is it me or does it have faux-vinyl hiss and crackle even on the CD / MP3 version? I've never been able to work out if it's deliberate but sure sounds like it, especially around the 3.00-3.10 mark. I bet it's a conceptual lol on Mr Price's part in reference to the whole 'disco vibe' they were going for.

"die another day" is my favourite post-erotica madonna single full stop.

I'M GONNA DESTROY MY EGO
I'M GONNA CLOSE
MY BODY
NOW

UH

also, strings like knives being sharpened.

i actually really like "american life", even most of the rap, apart from that one line in it which is seriously one of the worst lyrics ever penned

"nothing fails" is probably the most underrated here: it's really quite lovely.

the soy latte/double shot-tay line is one of my most favorite absurd lyrics ever

also yoga and pilates/checkin out the hotties

apart from that one line in it which is seriously one of the worst lyrics ever penned

POLL?

I’m drinkin’ a soy latte, I get a double shoté
It goes right through my body and you know I’m
satisfied
I drive my mini Cooper and I’m feeling super-duper
Yo’, they tell I’m a trooper and you know I’m
satisfied
I do yoga and Pilates and the room is full of hotties
So I’m checkin’ out the bodies and you know I’m
satisfied
I’m diggin’ on the isotopes, this metaphysics s*** is
dope
And if all this can give me hope you know I’m
satisfied
I got a lawyer and a manager, an agent and a chef
Three nannies, an assistant and a driver and a jet
A trainer and a butler and a bodyguard or five
A gardener and a stylist, do you think I’m satisfied
I’d like to express my extreme point of view
I’m not a Christian and I’m not a Jew
I’m just livin’ out the American dream
And I just realized that nothin’ is what it seems

lex, are you sure you're not counting that whole verse as one line?

"hung up" is top decade material shit

― truly blunted rhyme fiend (J0rdan S.)

Yeah – top ten Madonna for me. Not once did it cross my mind that she was being "desperate" by resorting to a mash-up or sampling.

Hung Up
Sorry
Get Together
Jump

Her best singles sequence since Erotica?

it's the last four lines really, before that it's just absurd and hilarious as dan says, then it suddenly becomes so stupid that i still flinch every time

xps

I got a lawyer and a manager, an agent and a chef
Three nannies, an assistant and a driver and a jet
A trainer and a butler and a bodyguard or five
A gardener and a stylist, do you think I’m satisfied

this is kind of great IMO, not because it's especially poetic or shattering but because she is going on and on about all the shit she has, which is basically shit that 80% of people who end up with fucktons of money end up with, and how it is leaving her cold and empty

of course she then goes straight back into silly mode with the next two lines but those 4 lines and her delivery really work for me

xp: ha Lex/Dan mind-meld (although I think the last two lines are at least an attempt to sum up what's going on in the rap, ie "um I may be ungrateful and all but this 'American Dream' you sold me seems to be made of gold-plated lemons")

yeah the "extreme point of view" couplet sucks because it's NOT AN EXTREME POINT OF VIEW and the last two lines suck because after everything that's preceded them, madonna apparently needs to didactically SPELL. EVERYTHING. OUT. FOR. US. in the most unbearably pompous tone.

well to be fair the rest of the rap is also in an unbearably pompous tone, it's just mitigated because what she's saying is hilarious

in terms of videos - out of this lot it's got to be "die another day" again, just every moment and detail is amazing. as tom ewing has said, it's like madonna watched the bond films for inspiration and thought "hmm these are ok but they'd be better if they were about ME". hence bond being relegated to literally one second of screen time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOf4MyY032c

I’m not a Christian and I’m not a Jew

This is the worst part of the rap, and like one of the worst rhymes EVER. What the fuck does it even mean?

Plus, she was born a Catholic, and Christianity IS a massive part of who she is (the name for a start, the religious themes that run through a work) and she's now part of the Jewish spiritual sect of Kabbalah (or so she claims), with the spiritual name Esther (LOL). So she's BOTH part Christian and Jew, so why's she saying that she isn't?!?!

ha I was watching that video earlier and briefly reconsidered my WIFLFAG support

xp: I think that is exactly why she said it...? She's basically rejecting the labels thrown on top of her and explicitly stating that she's building up her own spiritual code by shamelessly magpie-ing what she likes from her upbringing and from Kabbalah, which while not EXTREME in the slightest also isn't recognized by most as being "mainstream".

Plus I hate the whole jaded by fame thing she's done from Ray of Light onwards. Shut up Madonna, you're the most fame-hungry, power-hungry woman pretty much ever, and that's what's made you so amazing, so why pretend you're removed from that now. It's not an endearing trait in the slightest.

xp: that actually makes a lot of sense. still comes across badly though.

well yes, it's a terrible lyric

COTDF is where she finally learned how to use her post-singing lessons voice.

Plus I hate the whole jaded by fame thing she's done from Ray of Light onwards. Shut up Madonna, you're the most fame-hungry, power-hungry woman pretty much ever, and that's what's made you so amazing, so why pretend you're removed from that now. It's not an endearing trait in the slightest.

― prolego, Thursday, October 21, 2010 4:31 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^^

I'd probably rank "Hung Up", "Get Together" and "Die Another Day" about equally at the top.

"Die Another Day" is excellent fun to write about of course, but the other two catch up on dancefloor largesse.

hung up over don't tell me and sorry.

also i'll take: i'll remember->secret->take a bow->bedtime story over the cotdf singles sequence.

^^^ thought of that sequence, but I'm lukewarm on "Secret."

oh man, "Secret" is like her most underrated single

love 'secret', i'm lukewarm on 'fever' and almost wrote that sequence would compete w/ the first four erotica singles but then remembered that two of those first four are fucking 'deeper and deeper' and 'bad girl', which are top five madonna for me.

most underrated madonna singles are the one's that didn't get videos, were still huge hits, but get no comp love - 'angel', 'keep it together'

only madonna single i can think of i'd actually call overrated is 'la isla bonita'. maybe 'music' (at the time at least).

balls, we're so in sync here it's a shame I hate your screenname.

i like very much "sorry"

Love "Secret", though a lot of that comes from being 11 or 12 when the single came out and being blown away by the seeming sophistication of the music/vocals/video clip. It might not have seemed so startling if I'd been a little older.

Best run of singles from an album is hard: the Erotica run has some of my favourite Madonna tracks ever but the Bedtime Stories run feels like such a perfect encapsulation of Madonna's different qualities. The two albums after that are not well-represented by their singles I reckon (from memory my favourite track on Music was the decidedly unadventurous "Runaway Lover", her final collabo with William Orbit).

I thought I liked it until I relistened to BS a few days ago and noticed the album version faffs around a bit, especially the second verse. Also: I prefer subsequent songs with the mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm hook (e.g. "Swim")

^^^ crazy talk (re "Swim")

Also "Secret" brought the lols for school kids w/r/t penises lying in your own hands, so extra points for that.

I like "Swim" but no way is it better than "Secret"

secret is always classic. the whole thing.

secret also brought the lols that one time i played it at a 6th grade birthday party and all the boys laughed at me. but i've told this story before and now i'm going to stop telling it.

have i told the story of how i almost got suspended from school because of "secret"? surely i must have, somewhere on ilx.

I said upthread that she finally learned how to use the post-coaching vocals on the Dance Floor.

her lower register yanked at my heart more convincingly in the old days ("Into the Groove," "Live To Tell," "Deeper and Deeper").

"don't tell me" was very popular. while the fact that it got to #4 on the hot 100 was mostly due to sales, i also heard it on the radio reasonably often and saw the video on mtv (in the mornings obv) VERY often.

by the way i would just like to say that "4 minutes" was pretty bad.

― teledyldonix, Friday, October 22, 2010 12:32 PM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"Don't Tell Me"'s success was pre-iTunes and not nearly as sales driven as her later hits -- as da croupier's wiki c&p upthread noted, it was her last top 10 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, which means it got played on the radio way more than "Hung Up" or "4 Minutes"

her lower register yanked at my heart more convincingly in the old days ("Into the Groove," "Live To Tell," "Deeper and Deeper").

Yes, her voice just doesn't have the same sort of effect anymore -- to me it seems a lot colder.

Yeah. I live in Clear Channel central and can remember that "Hung Up" got NO airplay: I think I heard it once. There was even a Billboard article published in 2006 trying to put to rest the rumors that radio stations were enforcing no-Madonna rules. After all, "Hung Up" was a massive worldwide hit and merely a middling one here, and "Sorry" was almost as big.

meanwhile "Hung Up" was played like 24/7 on our Clear Channel affiliate and I don't think I heard "Sorry" once

on bedtime stories she'd finally reached a great mature voice, and for the first time ever she actually sounded quite sexy. it's such a shame she had to fuck it up.

The more I listen to these songs, the harder a choice it becomes. Because things like "Love Profusion" - which I had totally dismissed at the time - seem to take on a more resonant quality on repeated listens. I'm going to have to give American Life another listen.

"Don't Tell Me"'s success was pre-iTunes and not nearly as sales driven as her later hits -- as da croupier's wiki c&p upthread noted, it was her last top 10 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, which means it got played on the radio way more than "Hung Up" or "4 Minutes"

ok yeah that's true, i'm just saying its peak week on the hot 100 was before its peak week in airplay (because of the release of the physical single), though you are right that it was ultimately popular in both respects. in any case, yes, popular single.

and yeah, "hung up" peaked at #1 in sales but only got to number 7 on the hot 100, but sales on itunes were not nearly as massive as they became in the next two years... the charts were still somewhat transitioning from the 2003-04 phase when chart position was almost completely determined by airplay. so it's not like it got NO airplay or something.

and i mean, yeah, "4 minutes" wouldn't have gotten anywhere near the top 3 without its sales, but i still heard it on the radio way more than i ever wanted to.

idk what point i am making here but talking about chartz is fun

as another example of a #1 sales single in 2005 that DIDN'T make top 10 because it ACTUALLY wasn't being played very much at all, see jessica simpson's "these boots are made for walkin'"

I heard "4 Minutes" a lot more often – and for months, really – than "Hung Up," definitely.

yeah actually "don't tell me"'s airplay barely lagged behind its sales so nvm about all that.

I had never heard "Miles Away" before

i'll take that me against the music britney song instead

"In The Closet" >>>>>>>>>>> "Me Against The Music".

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I suppose I better get around to deciding.

I tell you, I'm coming round to appreciate American Life a lot more as an album.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Go 'Hung Up'!

One helluva top seven.

I hope I remembered to vote, dammit. But yeah, I'm pretty content with that result.

even though I had to have glanced at it in the discography to type it in as a poll option, I currently have no idea what "Get Together" is or if I've ever heard it, so i'm kinda surprised at its 7 votes. was it a US single or a Euro only thing?

In the United States, the song failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but reached a peak of number eighty-four on the Pop 100 chart.[17] Its low chart performance in America was attributed to limited radio airplay. A petition was signed by about 3,300 fans at petitiononline.com. Known as the "End the Madonna U.S. Radio Boycott", it was addressed to Clear Channel Communications CEO Mark P. Mays. Message boards at Entertainment Weekly and VH1 were filled with everything from support for Madonna to conspiracy theories about why she was not played on radio.[18] The song was a success on Billboard's dance charts, topping the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts.[17] It reached a peak of eighteen on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart.[19]

In Canada, the song debuted and peaked at four on the Canadian Singles Chart.[20] In Spain, the song debuted at the top of the chart in the issue dated June 25, 2006 and was on the top for one week.[21] In Australia, "Get Together" debuted at number thirteen which became its final peak.[22] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at seven in the issue dated July 23, 2006.[23] In mainland Europe, the song reached the top ten of the Finnish and Italian charts and the top forty in countries like Austria, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.[24][25]

I'd never heard it before either but it's kind of great (and is making me reconsider my knee-jerk decision to ignore all post American Life Madonna albums):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSDjPyG1O3U&ob=av2e

Borrows more than a little from the Deep Dish-EBTG collaboration too.

borrows more than a little from this classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06fvMtgIWaE

wow Clear Channel using strongarm tactics...

I doubt it's a conspiracy, but it's weird how Madonna's albums post-Music suddenly generate just one hit. Well, maybe not so weird: why waste payola on an old lady?

well, 2: "Die Another Day" and "4 Minutes"

Well, that's what I mean: those were the only top tens from their respective albums.

oh sorry, I thought you meant 1 hit after Music, not 1 hit per album

also lol @ me forgetting "Hung Up"

I doubt it's a conspiracy, but it's weird how Madonna's albums post-Music suddenly generate just one hit.

esp. since Get Together seemed to hit the charts pretty hard around the rest of the world...of course it seems to have fallen off pretty drastically thereafter in each case

well, look at the stats for "Hung Up," which is a monster of a worldwide hit while a middling one here (even by Maddie's standards):

The song was successful worldwide, peaking at the charts of more than forty-five countries and earning a 2007 place in the Guinness Book of World Records, as the song topping the charts in most countries.[27] In the United States, "Hung Up" debuted at twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated November 5, 2005. It became her highest opening position since "Ray of Light" entered the chart at five in 1998. The same week the song entered the Hot Digital Songs chart at number six and became the highest debuting single of the week on the Pop 100 Airplay, where it debuted at thirty-eight.[28] On the issue dated December 7, 2005, the song entered the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 at seven, which became its peak, jumping from position fourteen of the previous week. The song became the chart's greatest digital gainer for that week and claimed the top position on the Hot Digital Songs chart.[29] It also tied Madonna with Elvis Presley for thirty-six top ten hits,[30] which was subsequently broken by Madonna's 2008 song "4 Minutes", which peaked at three on the Hot 100. The song debuted at numbers twenty-five and ten on the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts respectively ultimately reaching the top of both charts.[31][32][33] The song also reached a peak of seven on the Pop 100 chart.[31] On August 18, 2008, the single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling at least a million copies in paid digital downloads.[34] As of April 2010, the song has sold 1,200,000 digital units in the United States.[35]

Madonna too old for the Miley Cyrus crowd? she's gotten too 'European'? (Hung Up did go against the grain of most American radio...)

ok, looking at the "Get Together" video, yeah, i did see this screensaver on VH1 a few times, although damn if I'd ever recognize the tune. the Confessions stuff all sounds way too polite and on-the-nose to me, like she was doing what she thought people wanted her to while the Music/American Life period at least felt like for better or worse she was following some kind of muse.

and then working with Timbaland and the Neptunes 5-6 years after every other pop star, that was just sad

oh yeah definitely somewhere along the line, Madonna-the-mogul took over the making of the records--"who's the hottest producers out right now? get them!"--rather than any sort of artist with anything to say...

BLimey, even Bob Dylan had run out of things to say by this point...

in defence of Stuart Price she'd worked with him gradually for half a decade on the previous 2 concert world tours before he produced her album. he was her musical director and keyboardist so it wasn't just a case of grabbing the hottest guy on the block or whatever. also i think her having him as musical director as far back as the trun of the decade before the electro revival kicked in showed remarkable foresight. *now* he's the go-to producer guy for the pop world, working with Kylie, Take That and whoever but back then he was way under the radar.

BLimey, even Bob Dylan had run out of things to say by this point...

Madonna sings the Great American Songbook

Madonna IS the Great American Songbook

Rod Stewart sings "Burning Up" and "Take a Bow."

'get together' sounds hella euro tbh

i mean i like it but

but?

"Hung Up" is nice in a lot of ways, but the sample source is just too obvious. Otherwise some very nice songs on that album though, and it sounds fantastic.

um i just heard love profusion

....

"Hung Up" is nice in a lot of ways, but the sample source is just too obvious. Otherwise some very nice songs on that album though, and it sounds fantastic.

― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Wednesday, November 24, 2010 10:03 AM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'd never heard "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" before "Hung Up" came out, but now that i have i kinda feel like why would anyone choose to listen to the Madonna song when they could listen to the Abba one instead

ABBA's song is batshit-crazy in the best sense (those hysterical vocals) but as a dancefloor thumper I'll take "Hung Up."

If framed vis a vis "Gimme X 3" really the only point to "Hung Up" is the production, but that's a pretty big point IMO.