Best Madonna song

[CAREBEAR LUVVA]

I'd like to nominate this from the Dick Tracy soundtrack. There's about half a dozen winners on the album, but He's A Man seems to capture something extra special I reckon.

Might as well throw Ray of Light into the conversation as well. I'm not entirely sure if it's just nostalgia, because it was released around the time when I first moved out of my parents' house and started going out doing grown-up things, but fucking hell. It's a tune and a half.

 

[SuperBacon]

35 minutes ago, John Matrix said:

Absolutely no contest as far as I’m concerned though it shows the range when there’s so many posts and so little duplication.  But for me it’s got to be this little number…

 

Mad how a song this good was just whacked on a soundtrack to a fairly small film.

[air_raid]

Many things I agree with in this thread. Like A Prayer is my favourite, and one of my favourite Madge facts is that the guitar intro at the start of that version is Prince playing. The Immaculate Collection is one of my top five start-to-finish CDs ever and it’s remarkable she had such a belting hits album without True Blue or Who’s That Girl. I think You’ll See is a forgotten classic, Ray Of Light (album) was superb but it kind of fell off a cliff after that. I think Madonna is the Simpsons of pop for me ; the classic output is real Mt Rushmore stuff for the genre but by now the mediocre years outnumber the good.

[Jazzy G]

Like A Prayer is probably my favourite of hers. The Mirwais produced Music is good, but that's probably because of the French Touch connections.

It's definitely not her version of American Pie, anyway. 

I also remember Mark & Lard used to get into trouble by pausing Don't Tell Me during one of the little silences during the intro and setting the Radio 1 emergency broadcast system off. It never failed to be funny though. 

Also I don't think the video for Human Nature would have made it onto the TV nowadays. 

Edited August 6, 2024 by Jazzy G

[TibBo]

Slightly off topic (correct answer is Open Your Heart), but the only time I have seen Madonna was at Live Earth. Here is her set list:

Hey You
Ray of Light
La Isla Bonita
Hung Up

considering her back catalogue and everyone else doing a short greatest-hits set, that is dire

[SuperBacon]

44 minutes ago, TibBo said:

Ray of Light
La Isla Bonita
Hung Up

Stop your bloody whinging!

[SaitoRyo]

Always been partial to the title track of the (excellent) True Blue. 

 

[Bellenda Carlisle]

21 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

But there’s something about this song that makes me feel like I’m walking through a daydream that makes me smile every time.

 

I was gonna post this, I have the vinyl on my wall. I've loved that song since I was a kid, it makes me feel nostalgic which works nicely with its dreamy whimsical style.

My other faves are cherish and true blue so i guess i like the cutesy stuff most but am generally a big fan.

[Vamp]

As dreadful as Die Another Day is, I do kinda enjoy it. I'm not entirely sure why. I also quite like the titles it plays over, which is also not a popular opinion. 

It might just be the flamenco stomping at the start actually. 

 

Edit:

Not nominating it for her best song though!

Edited August 6, 2024 by Vamp

[Vamp]

Since my admission has killed the thread...

Can I nominate Don't Cry For Me Argentina? She's pretty perfectly cast in that film and had training to improve her voice for it. 

[SuperBacon]

3 minutes ago, Vamp said:

Since my admission has killed the thread...

Can I nominate Don't Cry For Me Argentina? She's pretty perfectly cast in that film and had training to improve her voice for it. 

I don't mind her as an actress at all to be honest.

Evita, A League Of Their Own, Desperately Seeking Susan are all good to great films and she's good in all of them.

[The Gaffer]

It's a toss up between La Isla and Like a Prayer. Glad to see the guitar intro of Like a Prayer get a mention. There's a few radio edits around without it, fuck that noise. 

The 'Ah-ah, ahh-ah' backing harmonies in La Isla are amongst the most melancholy moments in pop. 

Dunno what the verdict is on Beautiful Stranger but I think it's a grand bit of millennium era bubblegum pap. 

Always wanted to hear Ray of Light with better production. I think some hardcore fans think she invented fucking trance with it or something but it always sounds really muddy. Great tune that could be heard better. 

[poetofthedeed]

It's impossible to overlook like a prayer, just gold standard, AAA, top tier pop, the song, the video, the intro, the black hair and off the shoulder slip..........

Personally, it's open your heart, I just smile when I hear that song.

[LaGoosh]

11 hours ago, The Gaffer said:

Dunno what the verdict is on Beautiful Stranger but I think it's a grand bit of millennium era bubblegum pap. 

I absolutely love it. It's a banger.

It's especially nostalgic for me as the summer it was a big hit I went on a lovely family holiday to Majorca and it was being played everywhere constantly so always takes me back to it.

[Weezenal]

On 8/6/2024 at 9:05 AM, TibBo said:

Slightly off topic (correct answer is Open Your Heart), but the only time I have seen Madonna was at Live Earth. Here is her set list:

Hey You
Ray of Light
La Isla Bonita
Hung Up

considering her back catalogue and everyone else doing a short greatest-hits set, that is dire

I was there too. What an odd event, still not sure what it was about. I think it was Foo Fighters on before Madonna.