Madonna’s 100 Greatest Songs (Critics’ Picks)

“Hanky Panky” (I am Breathless, 1990)

Extra foolish than sultry, this enjoyably (and cartoonishly) amorous big-band swing music from the Dick Tracy companion album I’m Breathless finds Madonna melding Betty Boop and Bettie Web page as she sings about how there’s “nothing like a very good spanking” and her “backside hurts simply thinkin’ about it.” — JOE LYNCH

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“Rescue Me” (The Immaculate Assortment, 1990)

One in all two new songs on 1990’s Diamond-selling best hits set The Immaculate Assortment, “Rescue Me” finds Madonna flipping between full-throated gospel/soul vocals and a self-effacing spoken phrase part, all whereas tension-laden synths, a effervescent bass line and a heat home beat swirl like a baptismal rainstorm. – J.L.

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“One other Suitcase in One other Corridor” (Evita, 1996)

Arguably the strongest pop music from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ’70s rock opera Evita, “One other Suitcase in One other Corridor” was repositioned within the Alan Parker-directed ’90s movie model to be sung by Madonna’s title character, relatively than mistress of Juan Peron that she deposes. Good name: the fragile composition and high-register vocal make the beautiful breakup ballad a uncommon second of true fragility in Madonna’s catalog, a deal with to listen to her play the Dionne Warwick to the composers’ Bacharach/David. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

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“Spanish Eyes” (Like a Prayer, 1989) 

A ballad concerning the AIDS epidemic at a time when Madonna and lots of others have been dropping mates to the illness however few have been speaking about it publicly. Madonna doesn’t say its title in “Spanish Eyes,” both (retitled “Pray for Spanish Eyes” on some Like a Prayer pressings), however she doesn’t actually need to: the large ache and confusion of its brutal impression is felt all through her unusually strained vocal, notably on the refrain as she pleads, “What sort of life is that this?” — A.U.

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“Sooner or Later” (I am Breathless, 1990)

The ’40s jazz vocal standard-styled “Sooner or Later” supplied Madonna the sultry ballad worthy of her double entendre-spouting femme fatale character Breathless Mahoney in 1990’s Dick Tracy, a key part of her famed Blonde Ambition period. It ended up overshadowed in popular culture by her contemporaneous “Vogue,” nevertheless it landed some esteemed {hardware}, profitable author Steven Sondheim the award for greatest unique music on the 1991 Oscars. — A.U.

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“The Look of Love” (Who’s That Woman, 1987)

A Europe-only single from the soundtrack to Madonna’s Who’s That Woman?, “The Look of Love” was not impressed by the oft-recorded ’60s pop traditional of the identical title, however probably from a favourite second of Madonna’s between James Stewart and Grace Kelly within the Hitchcock thriller Rear Window, which she described as “probably the most pure look of affection and adoration.” The music’s aqueous manufacturing and mysterious melody give it an eerie high quality befitting that inspiration, considered one of Madonna’s most bewitching soundtrack compositions. — A.U.

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“Highlight” (You Can Dance, 1987)

The one new music on Madge’s 1987 remix comp You Can Dance, “Highlight” is a lyrically simplistic affair that’s elevated by a pounding opener, glowing keys and a charmingly earnest vocal that makes even the silliest sentiment (“Life is only a social gathering/ That’s all you should know”) sound like a viable philosophy for conquering the world. — J.L.

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“Mer Woman” (Ray of Mild, 1998)

Ray of Mild, Madonna’s most introspective album, closes with the unshakably haunting, minimalist “Mer Woman.” Lonely, looking synths part out and in whereas Madonna faces a life haunted by her mom’s demise and her personal mortality, in the end reaching no conclusion: “I ran and I ran / I’m nonetheless operating away.” — J.L.

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“Gambler” (Imaginative and prescient Quest, 1985)

One in all two songs carried out by Madonna within the 1985 teen wrestling drama Imaginative and prescient Quest — hey, appearances in middling popcorn flicks is a vital a part of pop stardom too — “Gambler” marks the unofficial finish of Madonna’s Like a Virgin period, her last jolt of gooey synth-pop earlier than shifting onto weightier fare in her True Blue period. It’s a blast, although it appears like she may’ve tossed it off within the dressing room ten minutes earlier. — A.U.

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“You may See” (One thing to Keep in mind, 1995)

A post-breakup missive assuring Madonna’s ex that she’ll be simply positive solo, “You’ll See” is much too seething and melodramatic for anybody to mistake it for Madge’s Gloria Gaynor second. Even when she belts “All on my own/ I don’t want anybody in any respect/ I do know I’ll survive” on the bridge, it principally appears like she’s making an attempt to persuade herself. Not a lot of an affirmation, nevertheless it nonetheless feels vividly actual, an sincere second of self-delusion from Madonna’s greatest period of ballads. — A.U.

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“Satan Would not Acknowledge You” (Onerous Sweet, 2008)

Timbaland and Justin Timberlake recreated a number of the magic they conjured with 2006’s “What Goes Round…Comes Round” for this Onerous Sweet deep minimize, which showers the in any other case upbeat album with shadowy piano riffs and background samples of an precise storm. Madonna’s acerbic lyrics high off this quasi-ballad, warning her ex-lover about his precarious footing: “I’ve been on that ledge earlier than/ You’ll be able to’t cover your self from me.” — BIANCA GRACIE

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“God Management” (Madame X, 2019)

With swirling, staccato strings and a leftfield spoken phrase part that tracks like a nursey rhyme, “God Management” discovered Madonna concentrating on America’s gun obsession within the type of an unbelievable gospel/disco mashup. Hailing from Madame X, which dropped the identical 12 months she turned 60, this uncommon odyssey introduced that Madonna was removed from completed on the subject of taking dangers and talking her thoughts. – J.L.

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“Stunning Stranger” (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, 1999) 

Evidently bored with making an attempt to foretell pop’s EDM-led future with their Ray of Mild collaboration, Madonna and producer William Orbit teamed up once more for this psych-colored ’60s flashback from the soundtrack to the Austin Powers sequel. Madonna’s nonetheless in too reflective a mindset to go full incense and peppermints with it, however she’s sport sufficient to fulfill Orbit’s woozy reverb-soaked groove with one of many nice smart-dumb lyrics of her profession: “If I’m sensible then I’ll run away/ However I’m not, so I assume I’ll keep.” — A.U.

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“Physique Store” (Insurgent Coronary heart, 2015)

It’s as playful as Madonna’s been in recent times, matching a breezy beat of understated thumps and twangs with a cars-as-sex lyrical metaphor that virtually mocks you for giving it any diploma of further thought. For those who’re not having as a lot enjoyable listening as she goes to work, you must in all probability be heading to a special storage anyway. — A.U.

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“Celebrity” (MDNA, 2012)

French DJ-producer Martin Solveig is throughout Madonna’s MDNA, however weirdly, the music that the majority clearly apes his earlier work is one he had nothing to do with: “Celebrity” is a blatant copycat of Solveig’s smash Dragonette collab “Good day,” nevertheless it additionally has one of many sweetest, most simple choruses of the entire MDNA set. Ooh la la certainly. — Nolan Feeney

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“Inflicting a Commotion” (Who’s That Woman, 1987)

It’s a testomony to Madonna’s large energy in 1987 that she may launch a music this light-weight from a critically drubbed movie (Who’s That Woman) and nonetheless take it to No. 2 on the Scorching 100. Notably, she left it off subsequent hits comps in favor of superior fare, however the arresting, thick AF bass line and the sugary willpower of her supply make this a delight, albeit a comparatively slight one. — J.L.

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“Over and Over” (Like a Virgin, 1984)

This one’s not from a soundtrack however perhaps ought to’ve been: The drive and peppiness of this pop fizzer appear custom-fitted for mid-’80s montages of teen ne’er-do-wells lastly beginning to make good on their promise. Oh properly: Madge clearly had such jams to spare in ’84, and “Over and Over” stays a pleasing shock buried deep in each her Diamond-selling Like a Virgin album and her ’87 You Can Dance remix assortment. — A.U.

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“Holy Water” (Insurgent Coronary heart, 2015)

Madonna referred to as upon Kanye West and Mike Dean to supply this downright nasty observe, which is a revved up model of her seductive Erotica-era bed room romps. This time round, she deep into her treasury of controversial Christian metaphors as she in contrast her, err, juices to holy water and threw in a self-referential “Vogue” pattern for good measure. Solely Madonna may make blasphemy style this good. — B.G.

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“Consider Me” (Madonna, 1983)

The concept anybody may neglect Madonna is nearly unfathomable, however on this minimize from her debut album, she’s urging her lover to maintain her in thoughts — or else she’ll discover somebody who will. The chorus may apply to the music itself, actually, for the reason that bouncy synth beat and catchy lyrics are begging to be performed on the radio or within the membership; alas, this one wasn’t destined to be a single. — KATIE ATKINSON

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“X-Static Course of” (American Life, 2003)

There’s a lot pretty ambiguity occurring in the one American Life observe the place Madonna goes full-on folkie. The primary line of the refrain might be learn as a lady turning to religion in a making an attempt time (“Jesus Christ, will you have a look at me?”) or a self-owning eye-roll from somebody all too conscious of her want for consideration (“Jesus Christ, will you look at me?”). And as she sings about looking for her true self in a relationship, she harmonizes with totally different units of lyrics, making for a clashing impact that may have you ever questioning which voice is the “actual” Madonna — an unsettling selection, however an efficient one. Has a mid-life disaster ever sounded so lovely? — N.F.

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“Survival” (Bedtime Tales, 1994)

The opening observe of Madonna’s 1994 album Bedtime Tales confirmed the artist was in for one more inventive switch-up, eschewing the plush home grooves and after-hours throb of Erotica for a special type of funk, nearer to the hip-hop-steeped R&B of Janet Jackson and TLC. That’s largely as a result of guitar stabs and clapping beats of the manufacturing — courtesy of the latter trio’s longtime collaborator Dallas Austin — but in addition resulting from Madonna’s ever-improving vocal assuredness, as completely understated (and self-aware) as ever as she insists: “Whether or not it’s heaven or hell/ I’m going to be dwelling to inform.” — A.U.

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“Do not Cry for Me Argentina” (Miami Combine) (Non-album single, 1997)

Whereas Madonna’s film and soundtrack model of Evita’s central ballad “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” adopted within the somber footsteps of the Andrew Lloyd Webber unique, the model labored to radio in 1997 — generally known as the “Miami Combine” — is a weirdly fulfilling menage à trois between Broadway, Latin and membership music, with a pounding beat and vigorous tango thrives buoying Madonna’s earnest supply. — J.L.

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“Ready” (Erotica, 1992)

Using a cool New Jack Swing beat from co-writer/co-producer Andre Betts, Madonna subverts the pleading, fragile verses of this mid-Erotica minimize with the addition of ominous whispering and a brassy kiss-off to her lover: “Subsequent time you need pussy/ Simply look within the mirror, child.” — J.L.

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“No person Is aware of Me” (Mount Sims Outdated College Remix) (Remixed & Revisited, 2003)

Madonna and author/producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï had loads of compelling concepts on American Life, nevertheless it took some exterior assist to excellent a couple of of them on the Remixed and Revisited EP. It’s not that the primary model of “No person Is aware of Me” was soulless: For a music about identification — altering it, obscuring it, destroying it, rebuilding it — it is sensible that Madonna’s voice can be processed and Auto-Tuned into oblivion. However Mount Sims’ video-game sound results solely intensify the expertise, and the additional keyboards add textures and melodies to the music that you just’ll miss while you return to the unique. — N.F.

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“Shanti/Ashtangi” (Ray of Mild, 1998)

For those who have been unconvinced of the sharp diploma of the left flip that Madonna’s 1998 album Ray of Mild would characterize, one hearken to “Shanti/Ashtangi” made clear that the LP meant enterprise: a four-and-a-half minute recital of a Hindu Sanskrit prayer over a psych-dub William Orbit beat of fluttering synths and zooming guitars. Amazingly, it was sonically and melodically coherent sufficient to not solely slot in on the album, however to truly perform as one thing of its centerpiece, with Madonna even taking part in a big chunk of it because the intro to her victory-lap efficiency of the set’s title observe on the ’98 VMAs. — A.U.

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“Pricey Jessie” (Like a Prayer, 1989)

A Beatles-esque psychedelic pop pastiche the place baroque strings and George Martin-styled trumpets rub elbows with “pink elephants and lemonade,” this uncharacteristically darling entry in her catalog was an ode to frequent collaborator Patrick Leonard’s daughter. — J.L.

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“Superb” (Music, 2000)

It’s a type of sonic sequel to “Stunning Stranger,” with Madonna and Orbit returning to the tremolo’d riffs, frazzled synths and soupy drums of that single, however including some trendy aptitude to the electro-rock manufacturing — and a bit extra blood-pumping urgency to Madonna’s vocal. It’s about one other infatuation with a beautiful thriller man, however this time the undertow proves each extra sinister and extra irresistible; by the point a blacked-out Madge rapturously insists “Oh, it’s wonderful!,” we kinda get it already. — A.U.

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“Rain” (Erotica, 1992)

Even on her most difficult albums, Madonna tended to throw a rope to informal followers with one simply understood, extremely accessible ballad. On the taboo-busting Erotica, that was “Rain,” a high 20 hit of completely polished R&B co-produced by Shep Pettibone. Constructed round considered one of pop music’s most timeless central lyrical pictures, it’s obtained a depth of manufacturing and vocal nuance that means Madonna’s spin on an awesome late-’80s Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis gradual jam. — A.U.

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“Insurgent Coronary heart” (Insurgent Coronary heart Deluxe Version, 2015)

It’s too dangerous Madonna relegated this Avicii collaboration for the deluxe version of Insurgent Coronary heart. On an album with no scarcity of call-backs and references to her storied profession, she wrote the right theme music for herself: “Insurgent Coronary heart” is a sentimental sing-along that appears again on her bumpy street to stardom, including some shrugged-off self-awareness (“I spent a while as a narcissist…making an attempt to be so provocative/ I mentioned, ‘Oh yeah, that was me’”) to maintain issues from getting too schmaltzy. — N.F.

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“White Warmth” (True Blue, 1986)

Replete with each a Clint Eastwood reference (“Make my day”) and audio snippets of James Cagney in raving madman mode from the 1949 gangster flick of the identical title, “White Warmth” is a rock-tinged dance-pop jam from True Blue‘s A-side that finds her warning/threatening a potential lover (“My love is harmful/ This can be a bust!”), which we will solely assume is how all of Madge’s relationships start. — J.L.

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“One thing to Keep in mind” (I am Breathless, 1990)

Simply probably the most resonant observe on I’m Breathless, “One thing to Keep in mind” is extra within the mildew of George Michael’s “Kissing a Idiot,” mixing pre-rock-era vocal-jazz influences with off-kilter modern manufacturing to present a very affecting ballad an unnerving out-of-time really feel. Impressed by Madonna’s poisonous marriage to actor Sean Penn, the lyrics are some of her best, and the music set the bar so excessive for the singer-songwriter’s ’90s ballads that it in the end ended up titling a 1995 compilation of her greatest. — A.U.

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“In This Life” (Erotica, 1992)

The emotional climax of Erotica is as devastating a ballad as Madonna ever launched. Like “Spanish Eyes” three years earlier, “In This Life” is an AIDS-inspired eulogy, however her grief has hardened into fury over the mindless demise of her mates and the entire public ignorance and lack of response to it as everybody waits “for this factor to go away.” With its menacing piano chords and mournful horns, the music’s a brutal subversion of the Beatles’ much more peaceable meditation on demise a technology earlier, and Madonna’s incredulous rage as she asks “Have you ever ever watched your greatest good friend die?/ Have you ever ever watched a grown man cry?” stays a gut-punch a quarter-century later. — A.U.

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“Runaway Lover” (Music, 2000)

One in all two collabs with Ray of Mild producer William Orbit on Madonna’s follow-up Music album, “Runaway Lover” opens with pulsating, unsure synths earlier than a relentless beat kicks in and swiftly snowballs. The lyrics could be confounding (“It doesn’t pay to present away what you lack/ And by no means get your a reimbursement” — huh?) however this high-octane observe reveals Veronica Electronica may rave when she felt prefer it. — J.L.

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“Love Profusion” (Headcleanr Remix) (Remixed & Revisited, 2003)

One other American Life minimize that obtained a superior overhaul by way of the Remixed & Revisited EP, “Love Profusion” in its unique type was half state-of-the-world protest music, half love music. However it feels a bit of flat compared to this supercharged, hard-rock-inspired take, which swaps out acoustic guitars and 808s for electrical guitars and hissing stay drums, upgrading Madonna’s complaints and questions concerning the nature of humanity right into a fierce, anxious battle cry. — N.F.

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“Fever” (Erotica, 1992)

What started as an unique Erotica composition entitled “Goodbye to Innocence” ultimately morphed into a canopy of the Peggy Lee-popularized pop normal “Fever”. However whereas most variations of this traditional smolder, Madonna will get distant and indifferent, delivering an icy membership banger that sounds much less like a torch music from yesteryear and extra like a soundtrack for nameless encounters that may make Ms. Lee blush. — J.L.

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“I Need You” with Huge Assault (Internal Metropolis Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye, 1995)

On the top of the trip-hop’s worldwide pull, U.Ok. collective Huge Assault have been connected with Madonna (by way of mutual producer Nellee Hooper) to contribute to a ’95 Gaye tribute compilation. The ensuing cowl collab was the right mixture of the previous’s grinding beats and plush strings with the latter’s mid-’90s cool, reflective sensuality, which Madonna was happy sufficient with to make use of because the opener to her One thing to Keep in mind compilation that 12 months. The 2 artists practically met again up three years later for what ultimately turned a signature hit for Huge Assault, “Teardrop” — the way it would possibly’ve sounded with Madonna as an alternative of Liz Fraser on vocals stays considered one of ’90s pop’s nice what-ifs. — A.U.

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“Oh Father” (Like a Prayer, 1989)

After a historic run of 16 consecutive high 5 singles, Madonna’s seemingly unstoppable profitable streak was lastly interrupted by “Oh Father,” an orchestral, melodramatic waltz concerning the singer-songwriter’s fraught relationship along with her dad. The music’s relative lack of chart success — it peaked at No. 20 — was unsurprising given the weighty material, however the single not solely set the tone for Madonna’s extra contemplative, downtempo decade to come back, it additionally supplied an early mannequin for the piano-led energy balladry of ’90s singer-songwriters like Tori Amos and Jewel. — A.U.

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“American Life” (American Life, 2003)

Melding glitchy techno with acoustic folks is a daring transfer for any pop star, notably for an album’s lead single. If that wasn’t sufficient, Madonna additionally throws in a full-on rap to her American Life title observe, the place she rhymes “latte” with “shot-ay.” It’s weird, ballsy and never totally a inventive homerun — and it left radio audiences chilly in 2003, barely peaking contained in the Scorching 100’s high 40. But it’s simply probably the most fascinating detours in pop-diva historical past, and when taken as kitsch, the rap is unusually magnetic. — J.L.

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“Who’s That Woman” (Who’s That Woman, 1987)

Attempt to quiz your pop fan mates to call Madonna’s 12 Scorching 100 No. 1s, and the one they’ll almost certainly clean on is “Who’s That Woman?,” successful single from the screwball comedy bust of the identical title. The flick’s soundtrack, that includes 4 new Madge songs, was clearly extra of a hit, and the title observe expanded on the Spanglish hook and Latin-flavored pop bounce of “La Isla Bonita” with a equally contagious refrain and glowing manufacturing from Madonna and Patrick Leonard. All artists needs to be so fortunate to have this because the least of their many No. 1s. — A.U.

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“The Energy of Good-Bye” (Ray of Mild, 1998)

So far as correct studio albums go, Ray of Mild is famously Madonna’s vocal showcase: For 1996’s movie-musical Evita, the singer underwent intensive vocal coaching, and she or he was reportedly so thrilled by what she achieved in her classes that she used to go away her mates voicemails of herself singing to indicate them what her physique may do. On Ray of Mild‘s fourth single, you possibly can hear that observe in motion with the ethereal trill she deploys on the finish of each line, lending an earth-goddess vibe to William Orbit’s sidewinding instrumentation. It’s a no-punches-pulled music about endings, nevertheless it seems like a starting. — N.F.

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“Bye Bye Child” (Erotica, 1992)

Combining the deep home and dissonant sounds of Erotica with a cheeky, filtered vocal that wouldn’t have sounded misplaced on the Dick Tracy companion LP I’m Breathless, “Bye Bye Child” was solely ever launched as a single exterior of North America, nevertheless it stays one of many oddball highlights on probably the most bold album in her catalog. — J.L.

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“True Blue” (True Blue, 1986)

An ebullient ode to then-boo Sean Penn, “True Blue” melds doo-wop harmonies with a quaint ‘80s beat. By all affordable measures, it needs to be disposable pop fluff; however in Madonna’s fingers, it’s an impossibly charming slice of pet love — albeit a naive one, one thing she herself later acknowledged, admitting in 2015: “I didn’t know what I used to be speaking about once I wrote it.”  — J.L.

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Britney Spears feat. Madonna, “Me Towards the Music” (Within the Zone, 2003)

One in all solely a handful of characteristic appearances Madonna has revamped her profession, “Me Towards the Music” stays a deeply bizarre collab between two of the largest pop stars of the final half-century. It’s an alternately aggressive, seductive and schizophrenic duet, with a frenetic vitality and muddled construction — to not point out probably the most Neptunes-like beat that Pharrell by no means truly touched. It made no sense as a lead single (in entrance of “Poisonous,” no much less!), nevertheless it stays an endlessly fascinating experiment 15 years later, a symbolic passing of the torch that left each fingers partially singed. — A.U.

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“Forbidden Love” (Bedtime Tales, 1994)

Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds left his fingerprints throughout “Forbidden Love,” from the romantic whispered vocals to the quiet storm-influenced manufacturing, making this Bedtime ballad considered one of Madonna’s most soulful tracks thus far. Its steamy vibe leaves you in a trance as Madonna entices you with lyrical charmers like “What’s unsuitable is why it feels so proper / I wish to really feel your candy caress.” Whew, it’s getting scorching in right here… — B.G.

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“Do not Cease” (Bedtime Tales, 1994)

This straightforward, breezy trifle from Bedtime Tales is all about maintaining issues movin’ and groovin’, so it is sensible that the observe is propelled by a cool, carefree bass line. The perpetually laid-back Slick Rick in all probability appreciates the kindred music’s “La Di Da Di” shout-out. — Ok.A.

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“Love Music” (Like a Prayer, 1989)

No have to test the liner notes: Prince’s musical fingerprints are throughout this one, from his sky-high falsetto to his funky guitar. “Love Music” is a jam, clearly, nevertheless it stays most notable for pairing two iconic artists and friends on the high of their respective video games, particularly at a time when A-list options have been far much less frequent than they’re immediately. — Ok.A.

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“What It Feels Like For a Woman” (Music, 2000)

Whereas the extreme “Above & Past Remix” higher fits its infamously violent music video, it’s the mid-paced album model of “What It Feels Like For a Woman” that endures. The one serves as a fragile but agency protest in opposition to the patriarchy, full with a spoken phrase section from Charlotte Gainsbourg (by way of the 1993 drama The Cement Backyard) and devastating societal critiques in her lyrics (“While you open up your mouth to talk, may you be a bit of weak?”). — J.L.

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“Beat Goes On” feat. Kanye West, (Onerous Sweet, 2008)

Madonna took us straight to the disco dance flooring with “Beat Goes On,” which requires feather boas, extravagant jewellery and a champagne flute in hand. The Neptunes’ manufacturing retains the euphoric excessive going with shimmering bells and handclaps, whereas Kanye West places on his best tux (“Simply flew in from Paris, voulez-vous?”) for considered one of his funkiest visitor verses. — B.G.

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“Sky Matches Heaven” (Ray of Mild, 1998)

One of the musically bold tracks of Madonna’s Nineteen Nineties, “Sky Matches Heaven” blends trance throb with drum n bass propulsion, ambient atmsopherics and even some gentle rock shredding for a strikingly buoyant soundscape. Madge’s Max Blagg-inspired lyrical meditations often border on the impenetrable, however the refrain lifts even larger than anticipated with an simply comprehended chorus that virtually registers as career-defining: “I feel I’ll observe my coronary heart/ It’s an excellent place to begin.” — A.U.

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“Cherish” (Like a Prayer, 1989)

Madonna’s last nice bubblegum pop music of the ’80s — and perhaps ever, since its innocence would show understandably laborious to recapture within the many years to come back. “Cherish” was a beach-ready replace to the Affiliation’s ’60s chart-topper that considered her love within the easiest phrases doable: “Romeo and Juliet, they by no means felt this fashion I guess.” Madonna’s mentioned that it was written “in a super-hyper-positive mind-set that I knew was not going to final,” and her willpower to not let that impending inevitability present up in a single synth-horn on “Cherish” made it so resilient to cynicism within the many years since. — A.U.

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“Residing for Love” (Insurgent Coronary heart, 2015)

Madonna just about set the gold normal for dance-pop anthems with gospel choirs when she first obtained down on her knees again to take us there in 1989, however the first single from Insurgent Coronary heart is a equally worthy entrant in that custom. If the additional voices becoming a member of in on the uplifting “I’m gonna keep on” hook doesn’t put some pep in your step, a thundering home beat courtesy of Diplo and Ariel Rechtshaid (with Alicia Keys on piano!) definitely will. — N.F.

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“I am going to Keep in mind” (With Honors, 1994)

An emotional lyrical rendering from Madonna — and a completely beautiful synthscape courtesy of her and co-producer Patrick Leonard — elevates what may’ve in any other case been a pat soundtrack single (from the absurd ’90s school dramedy With Honors) to considered one of her nice one-offs. Its No. 2 peak on the Scorching 100 after an underwhelming Erotica chart run may’ve portended an unlucky return to staid respectability for Madonna within the mid-’90s, however fortunately she was again to weird-ass electro-pop experimentation inside a few singles. — A.U.

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“Leap” (Confessions on a Dance Ground, 2005)

With a tension-filled synth opener that nods to Pet Store Boys’ “West Finish Ladies” and lyrics that harken again to her personal “Maintain It Collectively,” “Leap” is a propulsive, disco drum-indebted membership observe about resilience, self-sufficiency and the necessity to threat every little thing to realize something. Consider it because the closest factor to a Madonna Manifesto on wax. — J.L.

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“4 Minutes” feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland (Onerous Sweet, 2008)

From the beginning, Onerous Sweet was by no means going to be Madonna’s most unique album. There’s no cause she couldn’t workforce up with hip-hop heavyweights like Timbaland and Pharrell, however she’d must share their arsenal of spacey sounds with everybody else who’d hit the studio with them earlier than her. But it’s no massive shock that the presence of a titan like Madonna impressed her collaborators to step their video games up, and this marching-band-inspired stomper was definitely a minimize above every little thing else Timbo was cooking up by 2008. Madonna and co-star Justin Timberlake hold the apocalyptic speak gentle and enjoyable, however even she will be able to’t assist making an attempt to truly save the world by slipping some recommendation about how “the street to hell is paved with good intentions” into the second verse. — N.F.

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“Swim” (Ray of Mild, 1998)

In some unspecified time in the future in our lives, we’ve all been met with metaphorical waves crashing into our lives, representing classes designed to check our power. With “Swim,” Madonna was wading between a non secular awakening (resulting from a newfound curiosity in Kabbalah), adjusting to motherhood, and a very stunning tragedy: The singer-songwriter realized concerning the demise of her shut good friend and esteemed designer Gianni Versace whereas recording “Swim,” which provides it much more of a chilling really feel. — B.G.

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“Bodily Attraction” (Madonna, 1983)

Whereas detractors derided her “Minnie Mouse on helium” voice on songs like “Bodily Attraction” from her 1983 self-titled debut, the critics did not get what the membership youngsters and suburban mallrats instinctively understood — this ain’t meant to be a set of vocal tour de forces from a showy professional. With libidinous synths, hypnotic beats, ethereal vocals and a chirping vocal supply, “Bodily Attraction” is — just like the lyrics recommend — about turning your mind off for a second and giving your self over to absolute pleasure. — J.L.

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“Bedtime Story” (Junior’s Moist Dream Remix) (Non-Album, 1995)

Madonna’s collaboration with Icelandic alt-pop legend Björk was a weird selection for a 3rd single off 1994’s Bedtime Tales. Its calmly flickering beat and moaning synths have been pitched at a really radio-unfriendly midtempo minimalism, and Björk’s anti-lyric about eschewing phrases (rallied across the chorus “Let’s get unconscious, honey”) hardly rated as Madonna’s most rousing. The music’s core pulse held some attract, nevertheless, and longtime remixer Junior Vasquez drew it out along with his much more maximal Moist Dream Remix, which discovered the implicit hedonism within the music’s hook — and decided that it needn’t have to decide on between the bed room and the dance flooring in spite of everything. — A.U.

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“Loopy For You” (Imaginative and prescient Quest, 1985)

This dreamy-eyed single — written, in true ’80s style, for the Matthew Modine wrestling drama Imaginative and prescient Quest — marked a few firsts for Madonna: her first Grammy nomination (for greatest feminine pop vocal efficiency) and her first hit ballad. That sonic shift, excellent for younger followers determined for a gradual music to come back on so they might get nearer to their accomplice, foretold the flexibility to come back from the pop star. – Ok.A.

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“Until Demise Do Us Half” (Like a Prayer, 1989)

It’s laborious to think about anybody pulling off a musically upbeat dance-pop music a few crumbling marriage and home abuse, however Madonna had reached a degree of nuance and maturity on the Like a Prayer album that’s not often been equaled in trendy pop music. Her robotic rundown of the signs of a poisonous relationship towards the music’s shut is a harrowing, emotionally inverse precursor to her rapped checklist of Hollywood legends on “Vogue” only a 12 months later. — J.L.

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“The place’s the Social gathering” (True Blue, 1986)

A 12 months earlier than Debbie Gibson and Tiffany primarily set the gold normal for America-conquering mall-pop, Madonna buried the blueprint in the course of her True Blue album with “The place’s the Social gathering?” The then-27-year-old’s effervescent tribute to post-workweek revelry acknowledges a needed impending maturity — “Guess I’m one of many grown-ups/ Now I’ve to get the job completed,” she sighs within the second verse — however via sheer power of dance-pop will it ensures that the carefree good occasions will final for at the least another music. The important thing to the music is the little snarl that she packs into every “The place’s the social gathering??” demand, making it clear that there’ll be hell to pay for failure to disclose any pertinent information. — A.U.

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“Unhealthy Woman” (Erotica, 1992)

Whereas many of the songs on Erotica discover the specific and sometimes rewarding features of intercourse, “Unhealthy Woman” takes a special route, tackling the emotional penalties that may include the act. You’ll be able to virtually hear Madonna attempt to masks tears as her cracked voice tells the story of a lady who makes an attempt to search out love via tendless one-night stands and drunken late nights in town. It’s a pointy lesson that ache might be synonymous with ardour. — B.G.

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“She’s Not Me” (Onerous Sweet, 2008)

The tightest of Madonna’s collaborations with superproducers The Neptunes on her underrated Onerous Sweet album, “She’s Not Me” is a disco throwback with a lethal groove and a depraved humorousness, which even gives its personal 12-inch remix with an outro that dissolves into Auto-Tuned Twenty first-century clubbiness. The music’s strut (partly courtesy of The Revolution’s Wendy Melvoin on acoustic guitar) and winkingly paranoid lyric present all of the juice the music actually wanted, nevertheless it obtained an additional spark anyway when Madge performed it as a part of her mash-up of “Categorical Your self” and Girl Gaga’s “Born This Approach” on 2012’s MDNA tour — inspiring some educated hypothesis about who’d most not too long ago been freaking Madonna out by dressing like her and speaking like her. — A.U.

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“All people” (Madonna, 1983)

Madonna’s first-ever single set the tone for a lot of her catalog to come back, persuading club-goers to lose themselves to bop and kick-starting the theme of inclusivity that’s nonetheless central to her message immediately: There isn’t a separation of sophistication, gender, race, sexuality or some other label when all people is sweating it out collectively on the dance flooring. — Ok.A.

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“Spectacular Instantaneous” (Music, 2000)

Because the second observe on the Music album, “Spectacular Instantaneous” makes clear that Madonna and French electro producer Mirwais have been fearlessly bizarre whereas working in tandem within the early Twenty first century. On the growling electro-pop jam, the duo brew up a dizzying cauldron of effervescent techno and syncopated rhythms that resist conventional manufacturing tropes and depart you feeling dizzy, invigorated and entranced suddenly. — J.L.

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“Bitch I am Madonna” (Insurgent Coronary heart, 2015)

Insurgent Coronary heart tapped right into a secret weapon few of Madonna’s competitor-peers possess: longevity. What different celebrity may flex their icon standing and name-check themselves in a refrain and nonetheless have it really feel utterly earned? With its otherworldly and aggressive progressive manufacturing from Diplo and SOPHIE (is it speculated to sound like a canine barking at 3:30?), “Bitch I’m Madonna” is a bonkers soundtrack for the nights you are feeling just like the star of your personal home social gathering — and a reminder that there’s actually nobody else on the queen of pop’s degree. — N.F.

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“Secret” (Bedtime Story, 1994)

The lead single of Madonna’s Bedtime Tales period noticed her persevering with to pivot away from the R-rated membership excursions of Erotica right into a extra restrained R&B sound — however one that also felt layered and unmistakably grownup. “Secret” was accessible with out giving the entire sport away, constructing its refrain round haunting harmonies borrowed from Nirvana’s “One thing within the Approach” and a lyrical conceit that buries a smile beneath its thriller. It’s a music about intimacy disguised as a music about betrayal, and it confirmed that Madonna may rebound from the dangerous press of the Erotica period with out reverting to taking part in it protected. — A.U.

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“I Love New York” (Confessions on a Dance Ground, 2005)

It takes Ciccone cajones to rhyme “New York” with “dork,” but when there’s one factor clear about Confessions-era Madonna, it’s that she’s utterly previous giving a fuck. The pounding post-disco “I Love New York” is the uncommon ode to the Large Apple that drops the “Metropolis of Goals” sugarcoating and embraces NYC in all its soiled, loud and troublesome glory. It’s unattainable to think about some other pop queen getting away with a line like “New York just isn’t for little pussies who scream,” and that’s precisely why the world has been speaking about Madonna for 35 years and counting. — J.L.

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“Gown You Up” (Like a Virgin, 1984)

Definitely probably the most innocent-sounding music to nonetheless earn inclusion on Tipper Gore and the PMRC’s notorious 1985 “Filthy Fifteen” checklist of the present pop songs they discovered to be most objectionable, “Gown You Up” arguably borders on grownup content material with its repeated “throughout your physique” exhortations however stays PG at worst with its typically over-caffeinated exuberance. With a knockout refrain, infectious synth line and a few exceptionally positioned “Owww” backing vocals, the truth that “Gown You Up” was solely the fourth-best single to be pulled from Like a Virgin prompt what a power to be reckoned with Madonna would stay for the remainder of the millennium. — A.U.

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“Sorry” (Confessions on a Dance Ground, 2005)

Who else moreover Madonna has the facility to rework a scathing diss focused for an ex-lover into the most effective and most empowering dance hits of the ’00s? “Sorry,” co-produced by British digital mastermind Stuart Worth, begins off with calm, ballad-esque strings, however quickly the pounding drums and ‘80s-inspired synths kick issues into overdrive. Madonna made the music’s message simply accessible for followers world wide, uttering variations of “I’m sorry” and “Forgive me” in 9 totally different languages. — B.G.

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“Frozen” (Ray of Mild, 1998)

The primary single from Ray of Mild took the earlier album’s “Secret” to an much more sweeping place of emotional balladry, with drums that appeared and swelled unpredictably; cinematic strings worthy of earlier collaborator Björk; and synths that throbbed threateningly under the manufacturing’s icy floor. The lyrics once more involved intimacy, however this time they have been a plea to her accomplice to open up, with the refrain not content material with all of the secrets and techniques her child was maintaining. It one-upped the Bedtime Tales lead single in most areas, together with on the Scorching 100 — the place “Secret” peaked at No. 3, “Frozen” shortly sure to No. 2. — A.U.

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“Hollywood” (American Life, 2003)

No music higher married the experimental impulses of American Life along with her extra accessible pop sensibilities like this topsy-turvy electro-romp, which concurrently romanticized goals of Tinseltown stardom whereas additionally calling out their vacancy. (In fact a music concerning the phoniness of the leisure business would soundtrack her notorious stunt on the ’03 VMAs.) By as soon as once more messing along with her vocals by way of studio wizardry and pitch-shifting, she and Mirwais turned the music into the type of disorienting funhouse mirror she’s singing about. — N.F.

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“Angel” (Like a Virgin, 1984)

Overshadowed by album-mates “Like a Virgin” and “Materials Woman,” “Angel” is a sadly undervalued gem from her second album. As Madonna slips from lovestruck coo to sultry contralto, producer Nile Rodgers peppers in sprightly guitar and wry giggles from the star herself. The ineffably charming dance-pop lark additionally options a few of Madge’s cutest come-ons: “I can’t hear the site visitors dashing by/ Simply the pounding of my coronary heart and that’s why/ You have to be an angel.” — J.L.

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“Papa Do not Preach” (True Blue, 1986)

The lyrics to this True Blue Scorching 100-topper, after all, began a firestorm for the lightning-rod pop star when it got here out in 1986, with critics unfairly accusing her of glamorizing teen being pregnant and usually anti-Madonna conservatives praising what they noticed because the music’s pro-life message. However the true melodrama was within the music, with dramatic, staccato strings accompanying a driving dance beat that completely matched the urgency of the music’s pleading message. — Ok.A.

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“This Used to Be My Playground” (A League of Their Personal, 1992)

Regardless of its most well-known quote being about crying, you wouldn’t essentially consider 1992 baseball dramedy (and all-time what’s-on-TBS-today traditional) A League of Their Personal as a tearjerker — till you keep in mind “This Used to Be My Playground.” A decade and a half earlier than Don Draper rhapsodized about nostalgia being “ache from an outdated wound,” Madonna’s melodramatic League theme ably demonstrated the inherent knife-twisting in trying again, with a lifetime’s price of harm in every lyrical reminiscence: “As a result of life is brief/ And earlier than you recognize/ You’re feeling outdated/ And your coronary heart is breaking.” Robert Smith by no means wrote a music wherever close to this cruel; one way or the other it turned Madonna’s tenth No. 1 hit in August 1992. — A.U.

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“Open Your Coronary heart” (True Blue, 1986)

Few can sing about want deferred and sound so rattling exuberant whereas doing it, however Madonna gives a masterclass in the way it’s completed on the defiant “Open Your Coronary heart,” which explodes with a infectious vibrancy from the twinkling synths at first and carries via to the joyous, you-couldn’t-get-rid-of-me-if-you-wanted-to refrain. “Nothing can cease me from triumph,” she vowed on the 1987 No. 1 — and actually, nothing ever did. — J.L.

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“Give It 2 Me” (Onerous Sweet, 2008)

A half-decade earlier than “Blurred Strains,” The Neptunes granted Madonna a really related bass-and-cowbell shuffle for her best Onerous Sweet single. Madonna matches the relentless groove with lyrics of Terminator-like resilience and proficiency (“Don’t cease me now, don’t have to catch my breath/ I can go on and on and on”), because the synths round her simply get meaner and meaner. The music stiffed on the charts on the time, peaking at No. 57, however immediately it sounds impossibly profitable, like a flashback to an alternate-universe model of Madonna’s early profession the place she obtained along with Arthur Russell and made a a bunch of traditional weirdo club-slayers for the NY underground. — A.U.

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“Nothing Actually Issues” (Ray of Mild, 1998)

Listening to society’s richest and strongest individuals speak about how nothing actually issues and the way love is all you want might be laborious to view any manner however skeptically, however by the point she was nearing 40, Madonna had in all probability seen greater than most of us expertise in our complete lifetimes. On this fourth single from Ray of Mild, she retains the platitudes from sounding empty by taking her youthful self to activity: “Nothing actually mattered to me/ however making myself pleased….I lived so selfishly.” Dance music is usually a software for artists and listeners to construct their identities; right here, Madonna makes use of pulsing beats to shed her pores and skin. — N.F.

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“Get Collectively” (Confessions on a Dance Ground, 2005)

The epic beat (courtesy of Stuart Worth) on this Confessions spotlight remembers ’90s dance gems like Stardust’s “Music Sounds Higher With You” whereas concurrently establishing the mainstream EDM increase nonetheless to come back. Within the lyrics, in the meantime, Madonna returns to the theme of discovering frequent floor and/or love on the dance flooring, acknowledging that love at first sight is an “phantasm” however probably not caring if it’s actual or not, so long as each events consider it’s. — Ok.A.

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“Erotica” (Erotica, 1992)

Opening with vinyl static, a loin-tingling bassline and an eerie pattern of Kool and the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie,” “Erotica” arrived because the boldest, riskiest reinvention in a profession filled with them. An icy declaration (by way of alter ego Dita Parlo) that it was time to kick open the doorways on kinks and personal them with out disgrace made loads of prudes bristle in 1992. However years of dirrty followers have confirmed that not solely was Madonna fingering a chord that was already deep inside our collective unconscious, however few can do it higher than M on the subject of getting uncooked with out pandering or risking exploitation. — J.L.

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“Materials Woman” (Like a Virgin, 1984) 

One in all Madonna’s greatest early hits — and the one most despised by the singer herself. By no means thoughts that exuberant refrain that rolls via its vowels like a rollercoaster cresting earlier than a drop, or the call-and-response moments that make for a karaoke fanatic’s dream: Madonna stays unequivocal. “My least favourite music [of mine] is ‘Materials Woman,’” she wrote in 2015. “I by no means, ever wish to hear it once more!” For many years, she’s bristled on the concept of coming throughout as a vapid, riches-obsessed movie star due to the music’s twin perform as a media nickname. However in case you take the music not fairly so actually, you get a portrait of Madonna even she would in all probability agree is on-brand: A girl who is aware of what she needs and doesn’t tolerate bullshit on her path to getting it. — N.F.

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“Do not Inform Me” (Music, 2000)

Madonna has worn loads of hats in her profession, and for the Music period she actually determined to seize her greatest Stetson and develop into a full-blown cowgirl. “Don’t Inform Me,” the album’s second single, fused this new country-rock path with components of dance and trip-hop. A mixture of poetically off-center lyrics like “Inform the mattress to not lay/ Just like the open mouth of a grave,” a CD-skip stutter impact and that jangly guitar riff, “Inform Me” would’ve ended up a multitude for a lot of artists. However for Madonna, it landed her one more high 5 Scorching 100 hit. — B.G.

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“Borderline” (Madonna, 1983)

Written solely by late Miles Davis sideman Reggie Lucas, it’s straightforward to see how “Borderline” turned the nascent New York star’s first high ten hit on the Scorching 100 — it’s pure pop bliss about that timeless subject, dropping your cool over a crush. However whereas the observe would possibly’ve been successful for anybody, it’s Madonna’s vocal — an overwhelming combination of aching naivete and teasing vitality — that pushes “Borderline” into the rarefied realm of pop classics that proceed to sound contemporary and related to each passing technology. — J.L.

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“Stay to Inform” (True Blue, 1986) 

“Loopy for You” was a positive love music, however “Stay to Inform” is the primary actually nice Madonna ballad: a shellshocked emotional odyssey of disgrace, trauma and resilience, with the psychological complexity and sonic density of a Songs From the Large Chair single. The devastating fact on the core of “Stay to Inform” is rarely revealed, but in addition “by no means far behind,” the information leaving Madonna each empowered and paralyzed. However as charming because the lyrics are, the music’s most affecting second is its pre-bridge dissolve, the place solely the dramatic waves of synth stay, a second of seeming disaster (or revelation) earlier than a fragile Madonna gently reintroduces herself to the melody: “If I ran away… I’d by no means have the power to go very far.” — A.U.

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“Drowned World/Substitute for Love” (Ray of Mild, 1998)

For a pop star outlined by her ferocious confidence, “Drowned World/Substitute for Love” confirmed us that after conquering the world, Madonna nonetheless had doubts concerning the worth of fame, cash and every little thing she’d labored so relentless towards. However whereas the ambient desert soundscape conveys her inner vacancy, the message skips over self-pity and strikes immediately into self-examination, brilliantly setting the tone for Madonna’s most spiritually satisfying album — and probably the most emotionally clever landmark LPs in pop historical past. — J.L.

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“Fortunate Star” (Madonna, 1983)

This irresistible dance hit is a nightclub nursery rhyme, taking the kids’s poem “Star Mild, Star Vibrant” and flipping it into a horny Studio 54 come-on about heavenly our bodies. Madonna is credited as the only real songwriter on the observe, so she will get full credit score for benefiting from the rote simplicity of a nursery rhyme and turning it right into a radio-ready earworm, with a music video that created the primary of many iconic appears for the burgeoning celebrity. — Ok.A.

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“Categorical Your self” (Like a Prayer, 1989)

Madonna’s profession has been too mutli-faceted to scale back to a easy two-word message, however “Categorical Your self” would in all probability be a reasonably good begin: From her “Materials Woman” days to her Insurgent Coronary heart period, self-expression, and the necessity to determine what you need after which exit and get it, has at all times been paramount. Right here, the sentiment is backed by a five-star refrain and full-bodied dance-pop groove, unifying and satisfying sufficient to be worthy of its Sly & The Household Stone inspiration, in addition to a David Fincher-directed, peak-MTV music video that was a next-level manufacturing even for ’80s Madonna. Talking of that clip, while you’re grabbing “Categorical Your self” for social gathering playlists, be sure you move over the overcooked Like a Prayer model for the a lot tighter video edit, discovered on the Celebration compilation.  — A.U.

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“La Isla Bonita” (True Blue, 1986)

Greater than twenty years earlier than Madonna gave us a questionable “Spanish Lesson,” the then-rising icon experimented with Latin influences for the primary time with “La Isla Bonita.” One of many most romantic songs in her catalog, the True Blue single blended maracas, conga drums and Spanish guitar that instantly drifts you to the fictionalized paradise island. However the most effective a part of “La Isla Bonita” is Madonna’s mature, lush vocals, which have been a shocking departure from the “helium” register beforehand made well-known on “Like A Virgin” and “Fortunate Star.” — B.G.

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“Music” (Music, 2000)

Madonna’s solely No. 1 single of the Twenty first century is so easy, it virtually appears unexpectedly written: “Music! Makes the individuals! Come collectively….Yeah!” Yeah? That’s all? However the unfussy spirit works, if solely as a result of it’s not laborious to think about Madonna within the eye of the dance flooring, throwing right down to Mirwais’s glitchy disco, having an excessive amount of enjoyable to think about something deeper or extra advanced. The music video starring Sacha Baron Cohen as his Ali G. character might have ended up dated by now, however few Madonna singles have sound this contemporary virtually 20 years out. — N.F.

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“Justify My Love” (The Immaculate Assortment, 1990) 

Madonna’s famously banned video and ensuing Erotica/Intercourse period might have you ever remembering “Justify My Love” as extra pornographic than it truly is. In actuality, the dirtiest a part of the music is the drum loop, a smoked-out, bass-bombed James Brown-via-Public Enemy shuffle that means all type of nocturnal actions — expanded upon solely calmly by Madonna’s lyrics (taken from a poem by former Prince protege Ingrid Chavez), whose calls for emotional intimacy are extra provocative than any carnal fantasy described. However simply because it’s not explicitly NC-17 doesn’t imply the music’s eroticism isn’t nonetheless palpable and formidable — few moments in pop historical past are as sexually charged because the refrain, the place every little thing drops out however Madonna (“Wanting. Needing. WAITING.”) and that incessant drum loop, adorned solely by a ghostly concord on the music’s beguiling insistence: “For you.To justify my love.” — A.U.

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“Burning Up” (Madonna, 1983)

No early ‘80s pop album was full with out one music that threw a scorching rock riff into the synth-dance combine, and on her self-titled debut, that was the irrepressible “Burning Up.” Even this early in her profession, Madonna pulls off the deft trick of singing about submission with out sacrificing one iota of company. When she snarls “In contrast to the others I’ll do something — I’m not the identical, I’ve no disgrace, I’m on fireplace,” she sounds much less like a doormat and extra like a pioneer of feminine Large Dick Vitality in pop. — J.L.

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“Like a Virgin” (Like a Virgin, 1984)

Nice pop songs construct a chorus round a intelligent, immediately unforgettable lyric like “Like a virgin/ Touched for the very first time,” however all-time pop songs throw an ecstatic “HEY!” within the center simply to ensure. Such was the extent of experience on show when Madonna connected with writers Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg and producer Nile Rodgers for her first Scorching 100 No. 1, and one of many defining songs of the Nineteen Eighties. “Like a Virgin” has develop into such part of the pop vernacular that we take the million little issues it does brilliantly as a right, from the surprising chord modifications of its verses to its tantalizingly protracted outro (“Can’t you hear my coronary heart beat… For the very first time?“), offering an absolute masterclass in ’80s pop songcraft and making Madonna’s superstardom completely plain. — A.U.

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“Deeper and Deeper” (Erotica, 1992)

A stylistic diversion on the usually chilly Erotica album, “Deeper and Deeper” calls again to “Vogue” (each musically and by way of a direct late-song elevate) with its disco heat and propulsive home beat. However whereas “Vogue” was concerning the pleasure of launch, “Deeper and Deeper” is a dance anthem for many who haven’t but reached that degree of confidence. Oozing pent-up want after years of suppression, it builds to an inescapable climax (punctuated by Spanish guitar and castanets) drenched within the exhilarating hazard of taking these first few timid steps towards no matter freedoms you’ve been denying your self. — J.L.

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“Take a Bow” (Bedtime Tales, 1994)

Madonna was a large enough star within the ’90s that an album like Bedtime Tales may go multi-Platinum and spawn a seven-week Scorching 100 No. 1 and nonetheless be thought of one thing of a disappointment. That long-running chart-topper was “Take a Bow,” which type of supplied the fulcrum for Madonna’s pop decade: an R&B gradual jam accessible sufficient to crossover nearly in every single place, however wealthy and private sufficient to nonetheless really feel pressing. The lachrymose crawl of “Bow” virtually makes it an excessive amount of to deal with, however the tender vocal interaction between Madonna and co-writer/producer Babyface is as charming a tango because the one between bull and fighter within the VH1-conquering video. The music turned iconic sufficient that Rihanna may borrow its skeleton for her personal breakup ballad a decade later, while not having to make the callback any extra specific than its title. — A.U.

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“Vacation” (Madonna, 1983)

You possibly can test right into a resort in your personal city for a brief staycation, however wouldn’t it’s cheaper to only go to the membership as an alternative? Madonna preaches the facility of dance to flee from on a regular basis worries, borrowing the British variant of vacation for her first mainstream American hit and marking her maiden voyage to the Scorching 100 high 20. It turned out that considered one of her most carefree singles is what shortly made high 40 radio care about her, beginning a fixation that may final for a shocking 33 consecutive high 40 hits from there. — Ok.A.

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“Hung Up” (Confessions on a Dance Ground, 2005)

Years earlier than pop’s EDM increase, Madonna was already connecting the sounds of evening golf equipment previous with digital music’s future on 2005’s disco-inspired Confessions on a Dance Ground LP. Taking up supply materials as iconic as ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” was no straightforward activity — and never simply because Madonna needed to write a letter to the band’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, famously choosy about pattern utilization, asking for permission to make use of it. However Madonna (with assist from producer Stuart Worth and his galloping synths) made it her personal — so efficiently, the truth is, that when Cher unveiled her trendy cowl of “Gimme!” earlier this month, many on social media joked that she’d sampled “Hung Up.” — N.F.

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“Human Nature” (Bedtime Tales, 1994) 

Bedtime Tales was Madonna’s manner of profitable again naysayers following the Erotica backlash, however she nonetheless made it clear she wasn’t going to apologize for perceived previous transgressions. With the assistance of go-to ’90s producer Dave Corridor (Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey), “Human Nature” — the final of the album’s 4 singles — used saucy R&B and a searing pattern from rap group Essential Supply to gas its theme of liberation.

“Human Nature” drips with sarcasm as Madonna mockingly professes, “Oops, I didn’t know I couldn’t speak about intercourse” — an announcement brilliantly punctuated by the sound of slamming doorways. The music’s confrontational nature carried on via the video, the place Madonna is seen each tied up and rocking latex dominatrix gear, utilizing bondage as a metaphor for the constriction of her inventive and sexual freedom. The feminist message of “Human Nature” would later be carried on by girls who’ve proudly taken affect from the icon’s handbook, from Britney Spears (who carried out the music with Madonna in 2008) to Rihanna’s (who employed related imagery for “S&M”). — B.G.

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“Ray of Mild” (Ray of Mild, 1998)

It shouldn’t work, actually: Madonna adapting a 1971 folks tune and turning right into a raving adrenaline-fest that appears like what you’d in all probability hear in case you took a Hyperloop practice to the middle of the solar within the 12 months 3018. However simply go together with it — that’s Madonna does. Why precisely is she addressing a zephyr within the sky at evening? Is getting house from work a trigger for celebration or an admission of defeat? Who cares! There’s a cause Madonna doesn’t end her sentence half the time when she wails “And I fe-el…” The title observe of her 1998 LP is a pure jolt of feeling, no matter type that takes. — N.F.

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“Vogue” (I am Breathless, 1990)

Madonna at all times stored her ear to the underground, and in 1990 she married Harlem ball tradition (with assist from dancers/choreographers Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza and Luis Xtravaganza) to the comparatively nascent style of home music (with longtime ally Shep Pettibone co-writing and co-producing) to present the world “Vogue.” A Scorching 100 topper for 3 weeks in 1990, “Vogue” is quintessential Ciccone: The lyrics hit on her recurrent themes of escaping the pains of life that you recognize (life that you just knooooow) via dance flooring ecstasy and her adulation of Golden Period Hollywood glam (the black-and-white David Fincher-directed video is arguably her best visible second) — all whereas an endlessly listenable, unusually of-its-era-yet-timeless disco-house anthem performs. You would possibly strive to withstand, however as soon as it begins taking part in, you don’t have any selection however to let your physique drift. — J.L.

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“Like a Prayer” (Like a Prayer, 1989)

Spiritual iconography has been a key a part of Madonna’s picture since she wore a rosary dangling above her “Boy Toy” belt buckle on the 1984 VMAs. (Or, actually, since her title was first scribed on her start certificates.) She completely delivers on that borderline-blasphemous mix of popular culture and her Roman Catholic upbringing on the title observe of 1989’s Like a Prayer, equating like to a transcendent non secular awakening. One of many primary causes the lyrics work so properly is that she may very well be singing about a monogamous relationship, a strong sexual connection, a platonic cherished one, and even God him (or her) self — all of it comes again to love. In fact, the music’s full non secular expertise can be incomplete with out a completely deployed gospel choir, buzzing hushed harmonies over the verses and singing full-throated sermons to drive all of it house. Life could be a thriller, however the mastery of this music is irrefutable. — Ok.A.

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“Into the Groove” (Desperately In search of Susan, 1985)

“And you’ll dance/ For inspiration” 

Madonna was impressed to write down “Into the Groove” by a mix of her love for the dance flooring and an infatuation with a Latin boy from round her Decrease East Aspect condominium. “After I was writing it, I used to be sitting in a fourth-floor walk-up in Avenue B,” she recalled to Particulars in 1994, “and there was this beautiful Puerto Rican boy sitting throughout from me that I needed to exit on a date with, and I simply needed to get it over with.” In that very same interview, she reveals (a lot to the reporter’s horror) that “Into the Groove” is a music she’d relatively by no means carry out once more, calling it “dorky.” “You’ve by no means actually understood how good that music was, have you ever?” the interviewer asks, conscious that even when the artist has bored with the music through the years, nobody else has. Madonna shrugs. 

“Solely once I’m dancing can I really feel this free/ At evening, I lock the door the place nobody else can see”

She’s not unsuitable about “Into the Groove” being dorky. Regardless of having already set new requirements for boldness in pop music by the point of its launch by way of her 1985 big-screen debut Desperately In search of Susan, the music’s best lyric is conspicuously shy, with Madonna slinking again to her place to actually dance like no person’s watching. However that timid couplet — half of the best pre-chorus ever written — finally ends up being as empowering as something Madonna ever wrote. It’s a love letter to her tens of millions of followers who’ll by no means be stars wherever exterior of their bed room mirrors, a revelation that even the Queen of Pop nonetheless finds dancing on her personal to be life’s best, truest thrill. And anyway, she’s not planning on swaying solo eternally, going onto proclaim “I’m bored with dancing right here all on my own/ Tonight, I’m gonna dance with another person.” By the point of the bridge, it’s mission achieved: “Contact my physique, transfer in time/ Now I do know you’re mine.” 

“Music might be such a revelation/ Dancing round you are feeling the candy sensation” 

Madonna’s want to be rid of “Groove” belies the truth that it wasn’t speculated to be hers to start with — the music was initially written and recorded as a demo for Cheyne, a protege of her ex Mark Kamins, earlier than Madonna reclaimed it as her personal. Apologies to Cheyne, for whom the one may’ve been a career-maker, however “Groove” at all times needed to be a Madonna music: No different artist in pop historical past has understood as properly that the strains that separate music, dancing, intercourse and love into discrete entities are tenuous at greatest, and in “Into the Groove,” all 4 components are constantly smashing into one another, changing into nearly interchangeable over the music’s timeless synth shimmer and jack-hammering bass. Over time, she might have misplaced the love for “Groove,” however not for what it stands for, not for what a revelation music and dance and intercourse and love can nonetheless be after 60 years. That’s Madonna. And also you higher come on, ‘coz she’s nonetheless ready. — A.U.

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