Behind the rebellious spirit, the classic hit of the "Queen of Pop" Madonna hides the desire for a beautiful and complete love.
In the fall of 1984, Madonna made music lovers around the world reel with the dance-pop melody of Like a Virgin. The song is a single taken from the album of the same name and is also her first single to reach number one on the Billboard chart.
The song not only changed Madonna's music career, making her a feminist icon for decades, but also created a profound social effect, paving the way for new concepts about the value of love.
The two co-writers of Like a Virgin, Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, could not have imagined the success and influence of the song upon its release. The lyrics are the voice of a young girl who wants to live fully and freely in love without being bound by any dogma.
You don't know how lost you are
Until I found you.
My heartbeat is still unfinished
I used to be like that, sad and hopeless
But you made me feel
You made me feel so fresh and radiant...
Click to hear Madonna perform the song "Like A Virgin"
Like a Virgin opens with the image of Madonna full of life, dancing on a gondola in Venice, Italy. She confided about being lost and alone in the past gently and calmly. It's hard to imagine how "sad and hopeless" that cheerful, loving girl used to be. It seems like love has breathed new life into her soul, making her "fresher and more radiant" than ever. That cheerful mood pushed away the feeling of loneliness that once plagued her soul.
..My fear seems to be fading away
I have preserved and given everything to you
Because love is eternal...
Love is a magical medicine that can heal wounds. If before, the girl was immersed in sadness, now she believes completely in the eternity of love. When fully sublimated emotionally, people no longer have to hide anything from each other: past mistakes, past injuries... because love is comfort, protection, and compassion. pine. That happiness makes Madonna sing about an almost absolute possession:
... You're amazing and you're mine
I will be yours forever
And you make me feel like there's nothing left to hide...
Click to hear Madonna perform the song "Like A Virgin"
The song's chorus is repeated over and over, making the listener feel a love at maturity. In the 1980s, few girls could boldly confess such raw statements. Madonna once shared: "At that time, I was definitely not a virgin, nor a good girl, but I was extremely interested in the song idea. It was insinuating, ironic, satirical, provocative." dynamic, cool. The idea that appears here is how can you be like a virgin? It's a topic that disturbs thinking and people will have to talk about it constantly."
At that time, while parents strongly opposed Like a Virgin because they thought the song promoted the easy lifestyle of teenagers, young people were crazy about Madonna. She is their guide to a world of free and complete love in which sex is the highest crystallization of love.
Like a Virgin does not simply address sexual issues and promotes the concept of free love. The song is a pilgrimage of love. That journey stretches from the time a woman is immersed in loneliness until she reaches the highest destination of love. It is the voice of an independent woman who lives her life to the fullest and is true to herself.
Madonna along with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera recreated the performance of "Like a Virgin", combined with the song "Hollywood" in 2003 on the Video Music Awards stage.
Before the song's single came out, Madonna blew up the 1984 MTV Video Music Award stage with her performance of Like a Virgin. She stood on a giant cake, wore a white wedding dress and performed sexy dance moves. Madonna creates on stage and in the song's MV the image of a bride who is sexy, intense, full of vitality and does not hesitate to express her everyday desires.
In 2003, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Madonna recreated this classic performance with a shocking "lip lock" (see video), but it seems that that was still not enough to overcome the impression that the "Queen of Pop " marked previously.
To date, Like a Virgin has sold nearly two million copies in the US market, and the album of the same name sold 21 million copies. After more than 30 years, Like a Virgin is still considered one of the best feminist songs of all time. Not simply a trend, Like a Virgin also conveys a message rich in humanity - Women are born to be loved.
