Prayer
Added 2021-09-25 19:35:20 +0000 UTCLife is a mystery
Everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home
Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me, you are a mystery
Just like a dream, you are not what you seem
Just like a prayer, no choice your voice can take me there
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there
It's like a dream to me
– lyrics by Madonna (1989)
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This highly controversial song was a turning point for Madonna. She wrote it in just three hours.
She hadn’t recorded any music for a year. Her two big budget films, “Shanghai Surprise” and “Who’s That Girl” had flopped badly. Her acting in Broadway production “Speed the Plow” was panned by critics. Her marriage to Sean Penn was falling apart.
As a Catholic, she found herself being criticized by the Church for being too sexual.
The Catholic church has always promoted the idea of being a nun as falling in love with God, as having God as the only male figure in your life. Madonna took this idea and ran with it. She used a gospel choir for the back ground of this song, and added liturgical words to the track.
Kneeling before God, is part of daily prayer for nuns, but many in the Church objected strenuously to this song because they felt Madonna had slyly give double meaning to the words.
This song catapulted Madonna back into the spotlight. It was at the top of Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and the top song in most European countries that year.
