Herfaceremains
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Posts posted by Herfaceremains
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“I’m not saying that. Im saying this world where people are governed and dominated by the illusion of celebrity and luck; governed, dominated and enslaved to social media; governed and dominated by people who oppress and discriminate against others...I refuse to be a part of that world. This song was inspired by Joan of Arc and her story. It’s like a crossroads: Madame X and JOA come together. I speak her words and her language. I say “I’m not afraid of dying for what I believe in”. And that’s exactly how I feel.”
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1 minute ago, robster said:
No, just the pieces I could find
This was all I could find, so please do translate if you could. VERY much appreciated! 
Cool! On it!
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@robster Are you translating it all? great, and thanks if so. Just let me know so I’m not double-dipping.
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On Dark Ballet, you sing “your world is full of pain”. Are you no longer part of our world?
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Mirwais co-produced six (?) songs on this album with you. How was it getting back together?
We never lost touch. It was great to work together again.
see Robster’s post for rest of answer to question.
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On killers who are partying you sing “I’ll be Israel if Israel is imprisoned, I’ll be Islam if Islam is attacked”. How should we understand this? That you want to be aligned with minorities?
What Mirwais and I wanted to say with song is that we don’t see the world as fragmented, but as united. And I’m a part of that world. I’m an aspect of the Universe’s soul. I don’t define myself by categories and labels. But society loves labels and to separate people. Poor people, gay people, Africans. Because it makes us feel safe. What I’m saying in this song is that I’ll be each of the boxes you try to put me in. I’ll put myself on the frontline. I’ll take the hits; the heat...because I’m a citizen of the world and my soul is connected to everyone else’s. Also I’m responsible for everyone and I must take care of them. If someone else suffers, then I suffer. To me a song is an act and a declaration of solidarity.
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She’s fearful, but optimistic. She hopes she’s channeled her anger into joyful music that inspires people to take action. Because that’s what we have to do with our anger. You can’t change the world with fury. And yes, this is in some ways a continuation of american life
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Madonna gave them a half hour under the watchful eye of Kelly Bush. She stated she knows the album is a risk for her, and wants to defend it. She’s cautious and quick to correct context and redirect questions in order to avoid creating unnecessary controversy..
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I can’t read the scans properly as they are poor quality images, but the first page recaps her role as a gay icon, pioneer and AIDS advocate. There is a strangely dismissive revisionism of her success over the last fifteen years, essentially branding albums flops that weren’t (COADF - but maybe it was a flop in France...I don’t know) and complaining that she used mainstream producers and followed trends on recent albums.
After years of sending interview requests that went unanswered, she finally agreed, meeting at a Marylebone hotel...she showed up three hours late and refused to discuss anything other than the album, but she’s Madonna so you do what you’re told essentially!
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“This time I mean to be subversive.”
At 60, Madonna is back with Madame X, the riskiest and most political album of her career. With this album, she has decided to shake up pop music once again. We met with her in London.
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The responses at this point really seem like mass hysteria. This is not going to cancel or negate Madonna’s career, her legacy, Madame X the album, or Madame X the tour . Many people didn’t like Madonna before, and they won’t like her after. As I wrote in a previous version of this thread, her publicist explained back in 1985 that they knew very well that people loved to hate Madonna, and she has been riding that wave and thriving ever since. If you don’t like what she’s doing, that’s entirely understandable. You are entitled to your own tastes and opinions. Personally, I have tried to express a full range of positive perspectives on this unfortunate moment in Madonna history, but I think there’s an attachment to the negativity and hysteria because some people feel that how Madonna is perceived by the general public is somehow a reflection on them individually...Madonna being validated or discredited by public opinion and critics really shouldn’t affect your own enjoyment of her. Especially when we know that people will spew their negativity via social media platforms in any way they can, and at every opportunity! Silly sub par vocal coaches trying to get some attention and the tub of lard moronic chauvinistic pigs like Pieds Morgan are a dime a dozen. Madonna is not. She is unique. I hope we can all get back to being excited in the coming days about Madame X coming out in June! It’s been a real bummer to feel what we have felt collectively, but it would be amazing if we could focus on the future, no pun intended.
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2 hours ago, vertigokane said:
The extreme negative reaction seems to stem from something far deeper than some off pitch vocals — I’ve never seen a pop performance generate such swift and polarizing emotion. Madonna struck a nerve here, and I think it the crummy vocals are just what the (public) detractors are grasping onto as the reason for their disdain—I think folks are reviling it because she turned the “formulaic pop performance” that folks were expecting on it’s head—there was a subversive darkness to it that caught me off guard, and I imagine even more so if you were expecting a joyful, frothy performance. To me it came across as more of a modern art performance centered around creating a mood and aura rather than centered around the music. LAP was used as a tool for the whole. This was pure Madonna vision on display. Watching it live, it took my breath away, and I found it to actually be genius, and I still do. She clearly didn’t want to do a SuperBowl style performance—she knows how better than anyone. She was intentional in her vision, and the fact that it’s so polarizing publicly actually shows she did something that was pushing the envelope in a new way (because who in their right mind gets that upset over some pitchy vocals...?) It’s almost as if the general public refuses to let her be subversive like this because she’s a “pop star”, and she’s breaking some unsaid rule. Also, the fact she did this at Eurovision, where the contrast couldn’t be greater between the mood of the evening and her performance shows her intentionality.
Forgive me if I missed it, but I haven’t seen anyone put forth the possibility that the reason for the intensity and duration of the vitriol online is that Madonna’s message of unity went directly against current American-Israeli policy dictated by Trump and Netanyahu, and the majority of insane right wing agenda talking points are driven by think tanks, trolls and bots as propaganda across the internet. Madonna really has no shortage of detractors and enemies. I wouldn’t expect this to get better, which is even more of a reason for her to continue doing what she is now focused on doing...however, a little more focus on her vocal prowess would really make her message more effective. She had a major platform and her vision required that she deliver a flawless performance because:
1. She is Madonna, and she is more scrutinized than any other living artist or entertainer.
2. Her message was contentiously provocative in ways that are mind-bogglingly complex. The Israeli-Palestinian dilemma has outlasted centuries of geo-political revolution. It’s easy to see why it was a gamble to allude to it in allegory, notably in the Shakespearean Dark Ballet interlude.
3. The platform was apolitical. There is resentment for the sheer audacity of Madonna’s deceptive approach to the opportunity offered to her to present her work. I don’t endorse this sentiment...You book Madonna, you get more than you bargained for.
She delivered a high-caliber performance, but it was flawed and potentially alienating to the audience. She knew exactly what she would get for this. I don’t think the vocal revisionism was a smart move, but in a year’s time, no one will care that the vocals were tampered with in post-production.
Madonna is no victim. She is brave, audacious and calculating.
I commend her focused artistry. I never doubt her resilience. I hope other fans can agree.
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11 minutes ago, boy skeffington said:
Yes all they did was bring up the mix/vocals from the performance so they are more easily heard. It’s the same vocals just elevated. Bravo performance.
They used Melodyne to pitch correct about half the notes in LAP. It’s kind of obvious, but I think everyone is so accustomed to the synthetic sound the software produces that no one bats an eyelid anymore. It probably would have been better to have just used the pitch correction tool to begin with.
Regardless of its authenticity and revisionism, the VEVO upload definitely allows the viewer to enjoy the performance in all its visual glory without the distraction of a poor vocal. The stage direction is monumental. She’s an amazing entertainer and the performance is quintessential contemporary Madonna.
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There’s a deeply psychological aspect to our collective response as Madonna fans! We anticipate that if she isn’t perfect, idiot talking heads like Piers Morgan get served a silver platter of fodder for their nonsensical hatred! We dread this type of public response because we want to feel validated by the masses in our celebration of her creativity, her impact and her history. I think Madonna herself is aware of this, but she has to create somewhat of a bubble around her for self-protection...she can’t be exposed to that type of public vitriol constantly! She’d go live permanently in a gilded cage!
I enjoy the debate we are able to have about her performance on here because we are all (mostly) coming from a place of love and admiration for her, but I deeply resent the laziness of the media figures (they do not get to be called journalists under any circumstance) who have been poised to find any public discourse that indicts Madonna as failing at being an influential creative force. These morons will always take the opportunity to capitalize on any form of collective disdain and exploit the deceptive and insidious power of Twitter, a universe that I suspect is hugely underpopulated for the influence it seems to have as a source for journalism in this incredibly flaccid chapter in humankind.
So in the spirit of celebration, I would like to help in reminding anyone who felt disappointed last night that Madonna is the only quintessential megastar breathing today. Her cultural influence will ebb and flow, as is the case for all popular artists and entertainers from Mozart to Marilyn to Mike Tyson. The ups and downs are also what make a legend more thrilling! Her cultural impact spans four decades so far, and that’s just while she is alive, which hopefully she will be for a long time to come! She will be posthumously vindicated on every level. She is the ultimate icon, and she is immediately associated by the general public with a time in history that everyone is increasingly attached to...because it felt more hopeful and innocent. She continues to use her enormous platform to do whatever she wants, and that is not only why she is so admirable, but also why she is so reviled! I believe the much missed Liz Rosenberg was quoted way back in 1985 as clearly understanding that Madonna’s appeal would forever be based off the notion that people love to hate her! Sorry! I wish I had the exact quote. If anyone does, please share it!
One flat vocal is definitely not going to kill a new Madonna era for her fans, nor will it kill her career! Piers Morgan is the worst type of Brit...a mysogynistic pig, who has been gleefully predicting Madonna’s demise since 1993 because she ignored him once and his fragile toxic micropenis of an ego was devastated. Whatever!
We can be objective about Madonna on this forum, but it is private. In the outside world, let’s take the negativity as a call to arms! Fuck the haters in the press and GP! WE LOVE MADONNA, and ALWAYS will.
The Madame X era is an amazing one already, and it will take a hell of a lot more than a slightly deflated experience of Eurovision, something you couldn’t have paid me to watch until yesterday, to put even a dent in this iconic chapter!
We have sooooooo much to look forward to! I cannot wait for the album and everything else she has to give that we are still unaware of!
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6 hours ago, Mensch said:
I thought they cut to the light design to avoid showing that shot of the church upside down
its to like the Super Bowl all over again (when they tried panning our and blurring the show of MIA’s middle finger but missed it) lmfao
Thanks @Peter and @Mensch for the clarification!
@Mensch That’s what I thought! It definitely read like censorship, but I hadn’t picked up on what they were cutting away from.
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Having rewatched it, I’ll focus first on the positive: most people haven’t seen the Gregorian chant atmospheric Like A Prayer as it was perfectly performed at the Met Gala. Therefore, the Eurovision vocal debate isn’t probably the main focus of anyone watching this performance...The visuals remain stunning and impactful. The backdrop video looks fantastic! An indictment of religious patriarchy from what I could see. The interlude had a Puck-like Midsummer Night’s Dream vibe to it. Perfect for the setting; playful and political. There was real dramatic flair to Future and the self-sacrificial ending was possibly dark as fuck. Was it a leap of faith or a statement of doom? And what was that pyramid shot before the wake up screen? Did they cut away from the stage for a reason? I didn’t get it. Seemed disjointed. Maybe there was something we weren’t allowed to see prior to the final message?
I definitely realized upon revisiting the performance that my initial assessment was purely focused vocally as a result of that godawful rehearsal clip leaked earlier...I came to the performance with scrutinizing ears and expectations of doom! That’s my own fault. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard Madonna sing live on television and clenched all orifices with mixed emotions. I own that. #sorrynotsorry
That said, it doesn’t negate the fact that her vocals on LAP unfortunately missed the mark several times. You can deny it all you like, but some of those notes were living in a parallel universe. I get that not everyone is as discerning, but I love Madonna’s studio voice when she is relaxed and feels free to emote while hitting the actual intended notes. This performance of LAP was much too consistently off for my taste. That’s my only gripe! Otherwise, as always, Viva Madonna!
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1 minute ago, wherelifebegins said:
This made me genuinely sad. I can appreciate the feeling though.
Noooo!!! Don’t be sad! Madonna is amazing! She just had an off night. Again...it’s an opinion, and I am still watching this shitfest like I care who wins! I haven’t had the chance to rewatch, and I’m sure I’ll see greatness I missed out on.
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We all love Madonna and we want her to succeed. It’s tough to criticize her objectively, and I want to always celebrate her accomplishments. However, let’s be honest. This didn’t live up to the hype, and her performance was mediocre at best. She looked great, but her costume swallowed her up. Her vocal performance was unfortunate considering she was appearing as a headliner at a vocal competition. I think Madonna is finding her place with her new identity. She’s 60, and clearly he priorities as a performer have shifted. But there’s some fine tuning to focus on in my humble opinion because this wasn’t a good precursor to a theater tour. I’m disappointed, and I’m kind of weirded out by my own feelings. I need a glass of wine, and I’ll watch it a few times to pick up on the subtleties I probably missed live.
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There’s a difference between expressing an informed opinion, and contemplating the unknown negatively. Therein lies the problem. On a Madonna forum, there should be universal enthusiasm for new performances, new music and new output of any sort before any of it has been experienced. Otherwise it’s a waste of time and space, and it just challenges other people’s optimism and excitement. Once this performance has been seen and heard, opinions will surely fly freely, and there will be some form of debate that at times will get personalized. Until then, I think the requests to stay in the happy zone are not unreasonable.
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I believe it could be for several reasons if she is indeed performing:
1. security
2. So that the rollout of her album isn’t mired in editorials and bad press quoting Roger Waters and anyone else calling for boycotts of Israel before she’s had the chance to perform what will most probably be a message of peace and unity, and an indictment of those wishing to punish an entire culture for the actions of a government.
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Woah. Her voice is DEEP!
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I’m in total agreement regarding the rollout strategy. I think she and her team are very aware of what they are doing. It’s difficult to create a moment in this disposable culture, let alone the momentum to have a longer term worldwide impact, and what she has already managed to do with these first three more commercially palatable releases is create buzz...a great deal of buzz by anyone’s standards, but there’s actually a sense that people are reawakening to Madonna. I didn’t think that would happen with all the vitriol and knee jerk dismissal she’s been the recipient of for a good part of this decade. It’s uncanny how astute she is after several years of floundering in the chaos of the ever-evolving music industry. For the first time in almost fifteen years Madonna is truly redefining the game again. And she’s hardly even gotten started yet! The promo rollout is just beginning. Once the album drops, we are going to get to digest what is possibly shaping up to be Madonna’s magnum opus. I have a feeling we are in for a very rich and layered treat...
I don’t think this is a political album in the sense of it being an indictment of specific American or Western governments and public figures. I think it is broadly political in the sociological sense that the violence, the volatility, the lack of transparency and the confusion of our world have so radically reshaped the human experience both intellectually and metaphysically at such a rapid pace in our current era...as a mother, as a person of privilege, and as an activist, Madonna has found new ways to express herself through the concept of Madame X. It’s a brilliant move that opens up a multiverse of artistic explorations both visually and sonically, and it gives her the dramatic flair of a character to convey her message more poetically. There is the sense that Madonna has redefined the way she sees herself and her legacy, and she has rediscovered her passion for creative performance outside of the requirements of commercial viability. That’s very exciting to me!
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What’s with the endless complaining? It’s maddening, and just sounds like repressive personal frustration. Did you like Lucky Star? Did you disown Madonna when there was no video for Angel? Did you hate the True Blue video, which was made as an afterthought? I’m sure I’ll get trashed for expressing disdain, but seriously...she cannot please everyone constantly. Look for the good rather than emphasizing hypothetical hot air. It’s damaging. The negativity of some of her fans has contributed to tarnishing every Madonna era since Hard Candy.
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2 minutes ago, Crystal Coffin said:
I can't read them they are too tiny...
Click on the images and zoom in.
New Madonna interview: Têtu Magazine - France
in ARCHIVE - The MADAME X Forum
Posted · Edited by Herfaceremains
A year ago when Guy O posted a photo to commemorate the 20th anniversary of ROL, you answered “remember when I used to be able to (...you all know the quote).” Did you get to feel like you were a visionary once again this time?