I jest, of course, at least in part. I realise it doesn't mean as much to everyone as it does me. It really is probably the most important song ever to me, not because it's a lyrical masterpiece or speaks to me in any way like that. It's just an incredible song, first and foremost, one of the best ever. Secondly it is what made me a fan, which is something worthy of much praise in and of itself. Thirdly it came along at a difficult time in my life and even though as I say it has little lyrical substance I definitely think of it as being super important during that period of my life.

 

Also, Crazy For You is amazing, great to see it above the vastly overrated Into The Groove.

You weren't a fan before Hung Up?!!! :o

 

Oh and it is a great song, I really do think everything in the top 30ish is pretty much 10/10 stuff. Most of the songs above it just have an extra personal relevance for me, even if I know a fair few of them aren't actually as well made or as good a package...

I've been reading this all the way through but haven't commented yet.

 

So glad to see somebody else who adores Crazy For You, the badada's are just ahhhh. Your anectode with it is really sweet too :')

This countdown is a FUCKING CRIME!

You weren't a fan before Hung Up?!!! :o

 

Nope, I recall being AWARE of everything from Ray of Light onwards, but bar Die Another Day (as I was, and still am, a HUGE Bond fan) I didn't CARE much for her. I was too busy playing ABBA to death back in those days.

This countdown is a FUCKING CRIME!

:( :( :(

 

Hope something you actually like features soon :(

 

FIFTEEN

 

 

Intervention

 

Of all the tracks that will feature post Hung Up, I'm guessing this one will be the biggest WTF moment. Although hopefully someone else will love it as much as I do... I'm kinda looking at you maybe Regina? I've mentioned before that I'm quite the fan of acoustic-electro pop Madonna and this is one of her best examples for me, in fact I actually really quite like the sound of the American Life album as a whole even if it didn't do much for her. The album was released at the time that I finally removed girls from my life (well not totally but you get what I mean) and had decided to give it a go with Mr D* and it reminds me of our first trips out to places in the car as this was one of our staple soundtracks at the time... and Intervention is the song we took to the most, much like the last commentary I suspect my personal attachment to the track boosts it significantly here - I do also think it's a good song though, I particularly like the way that Mirwais employs the acoustic thing but makes it slightly different in every section of the song to really good effect... but it's the chorus that really does it for me, lyrically incredibly simple but it's directness manages to touch me in a way that many other Madge tracks just don't.

'Impressive Instant' and 'Paradise (Not for Me)' are easily two of the highlights from Music. I don't believe I've always liked them but that's certainly not the case now - with the former, I think I recently said I wasn't too fussed about it not being a single, but after hearing it now, I really think it would have worked.

 

I strongly aprove of the other songs. 'Secret' doesn't often get mentioned so I kind of feel it's generally not loved nor hated, but I adore its melody and vocals. :wub:

 

I agree with your point that 'Hung Up' takes a famous sample and somehow makes you forget it was a sample. Truly incredible song which I seriously cannot find any fault in at all. I never been bored of it, not once. Easily my favourite Madonna single of all time.

FOURTEEN

 

 

Oh Father

 

I used to love Dear Jessie as a kid and it was the main reason why I wanted the Like a Prayer album for christmas back in 1989 with it's fantastical tales and imagery perfectly suited for childhood dreams... and I remember being oh so disappointed as the strings chirped their way through the outro and it gradually merged into Oh Father on the album and the pink candyfloss fun turned into Madge's dark emotional misery. Gradually my need for candyfloss lessened and I became less bothered by the transition until eventually I found myself skipping Dear Jessie and heading straight for Oh Father. The track itself is very much in the vein of Live To Tell, the classic big strings and emotional lyrics ballad that she does so well and Oh Father is my favourite of all her tracks of this ilk. It's had two shots at getting itself into our collective consciousness, firstly on the Like a Prayer album and then secondly it was actually released as a single from the Something to Remember comp when I was reminded of just how much a liked it. The video is fairly transparent as to the track's meaning, it's all about her mother passing away and how her relationship with her father progressed (or rather didn't) afterwards.

Intervention is my all time favourite Madonna song :wub: such a lovely song.

Catching up ~

 

That trio of 'Secret' / 'Into the Groove' / 'Hung Up' is wonderful (and shows just how diverse her hits are). 'Secret' is lovely - the "my baby's got a secret" hook is haunting.

 

And then there's 'Oh Father' which makes me well up most times i listen to it. It's such a mature song and i'm sure deeply relatable to many.

Intervention is my all time favourite Madonna song :wub: such a lovely song.

Is it really? I honestly had no idea of that when I made my comment! :D

 

Catching up ~

 

That trio of 'Secret' / 'Into the Groove' / 'Hung Up' is wonderful (and shows just how diverse her hits are). 'Secret' is lovely - the "my baby's got a secret" hook is haunting.

 

And then there's 'Oh Father' which makes me well up most times i listen to it. It's such a mature song and i'm sure deeply relatable to many.

Secret is really under appreciated I think, people would love it if it had been released by TLC.

Is it really? I honestly had no idea of that when I made my comment! :D

Secret is really under appreciated I think, people would love it if it had been released by TLC.

 

I loved it from the moment I heard it :wub: American Life is a masterpiece too.

THIRTEEN

 

 

Express Yourself

 

We're sticking in the Like a Prayer era for the next one as Madge's ultimate fempower anthem bows out at #13, as much as I adore Born This Way, unfortunately it couldn't quite make it to the top 10. I like the video to this one, it sort of feels like a weird Dr Who episode where the evil queen enslaves all the menfolk on some planet and makes them work for her as she struts about at the top of the factory steps, it would be a ratings winner *.* This is still Madonna at her peak, the run of singles up to this point had been simply stunning, all so individual and memorable in their own right. An absolutely astonishing run of form really. I always thought this had reached #1 but it appears to have stalled at #5, behind a top two of Jason Donovan and Cliff Richard among others. Seriously?!!! Be ashamed UK, be ashamed. A song that won women the vote, gave them equal pay rights and empowered them to wear shoulder pad aided suits and we didn't deem it important enough to be a chart topper?!!!

TWELVE

 

 

Borderline

 

So it's taken it's time to appear but finally the sole representative from Madonna's debut album is upon us. I'm afraid I've always thought her very early singles were overrated by many... Holiday is kinda annoying while Lucky Star is the sole blot on the Immaculate Collection, Burning Up is better but I haven't known it for that long... which leaves this, Borderline, as the highlight of the era for me. It's very much of it's time but the early 80s synths are really quite endearing and it's really quite strong melodically, especially the bridge which is divine and the lovely da-da-da bits in the outro also. I was really pleased to see this make the top 10 Madonna singles in the results of the OCC poll recently as I'd always felt it was a touch overlooked but maybe people are starting to recognise how good it really is?

ELEVEN

 

 

Frozen

 

Just missing out on the top ten is Madonna's first great comeback single. The mid 90s had gone slightly awry by her very high standards, the sex era had damaged her brand before the ballad and Evita era had been relatively successful at reminding the public of her talent and bringing her some much needed critical acclaim to boot but it was hardly a long term survival approach... so there was a lot riding on the first single from her new album, Frozen, and boy did it deliver. She roped in William Orbit and between them they created mother earth Madonna, the bringer of classic Madonna themes over new trippy beats and mystic imagery. The video is definitely one of her best, it captures the essence of the song as a pagan styled black witch Madonna makes wispy heanor tattooed hand moves while her magic black dress swirls around her and occasionally transforms both itself and her into animals of a slightly mystic nature. Ooooooooo. But beneath the mysticism lies the real secret of the success of this era, it was a really clever choice of single that took the classic Madonna ballad format and turned it into something that sounded new and exciting, thus keeping the familiar reminders she'd been so desperate to convey prior to this whilst also translating them into a new sound that people could associate with her trend setting side. Extremely well done really and deservedly successful.

I've always regarded Frozen as my favourite from her but I feel that is evolving with all the new songs I'm discovering from her with each listen of a new single or album track. The production remains flawless and I think it'll always be my favourite from Ray of Light too. The moans are probably my favourite part just because they sound so enticing. Lovely write-up there!

I think that's one of the best things about Madonna, her discography is so varied that there's almost something to suit any type of mood you may be in. My favourites of hers constantly change, this is very different to the last list of hers I made and I suspect it would be different again next year too.

 

If I don't feature them, I'd be very intrigued to know what your other favourites are...

'Borderline' :wub: That instrumental is divine. The CLEAR highlight off 'Madonna'.

 

'Frozen' missing the top 10, what?

Bal, your Madonna taste is great - you seem to like all the highlights that I do! Have you ever done one of these previously that I could take a look at?