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Worship: Easy Ride


CMoody

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The lush, swelling orchestra, the sparse strumming of the acoustic guitar, the stuttered electronic beat, the rise, the fall, the build and decent, the beautiful lyrics and flow. For me, this was the perfect end to American Life, whereas one would have expected a more simplistic all-acoustic track to close out the electro-folk record, Madonna instead lulls her listener with cinematic orchestration and the lyrical declaration that for all her sacrifice, pain and loss along the road to the (sometimes hollow) American Dream, she now knows what is truly important and it was all worth it. Seemingly at peace with her mortal existence in the universe, she defiantly declares that she wouldn't have it any other way than to have traveled the road less worn, with nothing but her very own blood and sweat on her fingertips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vIzT31qX3g

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Definitely one of my favorites from this album. The strings, production and vocals are all beautiful. I do have a minor problem with some of the lyrics ("Feel the sun on my children's face" and "It's a lonely place, that's what I want," both which make no sense and aren't out there enough to be intentionally abstract), but that's a minor qualm really.

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Madonna and orchestras are magic together. It is my dream that she does a very cinematic-orchestrated type project in the future. An album full of Frozens, I Want Yous, Easy Rides, Power of Goodbyes.....heaven.

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I do have a minor problem with some of the lyrics ("Feel the sun on my children's face" and "It's a lonely place, that's what I want," both which make no sense and aren't out there enough to be intentionally abstract), but that's a minor qualm really.

Hmmm...the lyrics always seemed contemplative to me and I always seemed to understand what she was saying here:

I want to know everything

Maybe someday I will

What I want is to find my place

Breathe the air and feel the sun on my children's face

That's what I want

Mind you, she was 44 at the time and I always took this verse as a desire to understand her role in life as she ages. These lines seem to indicate a desire for the simple satisfaction of enjoying a moment in the sun with her kids, breathing the free air. I know that sounds corny when I say it like that, but M pulls it off more poetically.

I want to let go of all disappointment that's waiting for me

What I want is to live forever

Not defined by time and space

It's a lonely place

That's what I want

Here, I felt like she was describing what it feels like to exist in a universe where time and space limit you. Your life and physical form are in a state of constant decay. So when she said, "Not defined by time and space, it's a lonely place" I got the impression that she feels cut off from people and the world because her body, the arrangement of her atoms in this confining dimension limit her. And she desires to go beyond that place to somewhere that she feels connected.

Ultimately, when she says "round and round just like a circle, I can see a clearer picture", I understand it as going through the repeating cycles of life and hopefully understanding more the older you get. Seeing life for what it really is based on your experiences, every time you circle around the "landing strip of life", you notice something new.

Just my thoughts.

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Hmmm...the lyrics always seemed contemplative to me and I always seemed to understand what she was saying here:

I want to know everything

Maybe someday I will

What I want is to find my place

Breathe the air and feel the sun on my children's face

That's what I want

Mind you, she was 44 at the time and I always took this verse as a desire to understand her role in life as she ages. These lines seem to indicate a desire for the simple satisfaction of enjoying a moment in the sun with her kids, breathing the free air. I know that sounds corny when I say it like that, but M pulls it off more poetically.

I want to let go of all disappointment that's waiting for me

What I want is to live forever

Not defined by time and space

It's a lonely place

That's what I want

Here, I felt like she was describing what it feels like to exist in a universe where time and space limit you. Your life and physical form are in a state of constant decay. So when she said, "Not defined by time and space, it's a lonely place" I got the impression that she feels cut off from people and the world because her body, the arrangement of her atoms in this confining dimension limit her. And she desires to go beyond that place to somewhere that she feels connected.

Ultimately, when she says "round and round just like a circle, I can see a clearer picture", I understand it as going through the repeating cycles of life and hopefully understanding more the older you get. Seeing life for what it really is based on your experiences, every time you circle around the "landing strip of life", you notice something new.

Just my thoughts.

I don't believe Madonna herself could have explained this more clearly. So beautifully detailed and thought out, and completely on point to what I believe the song means and represents. It is certainly one of her very most personal songs.

Thank you for analyzing and sharing Nightshade, I really think you describe this hidden gem to perfection.

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Hmmm...the lyrics always seemed contemplative to me and I always seemed to understand what she was saying here:

I want to know everything

Maybe someday I will

What I want is to find my place

Breathe the air and feel the sun on my children's face

That's what I want

Mind you, she was 44 at the time and I always took this verse as a desire to understand her role in life as she ages. These lines seem to indicate a desire for the simple satisfaction of enjoying a moment in the sun with her kids, breathing the free air. I know that sounds corny when I say it like that, but M pulls it off more poetically.

I want to let go of all disappointment that's waiting for me

What I want is to live forever

Not defined by time and space

It's a lonely place

That's what I want

Here, I felt like she was describing what it feels like to exist in a universe where time and space limit you. Your life and physical form are in a state of constant decay. So when she said, "Not defined by time and space, it's a lonely place" I got the impression that she feels cut off from people and the world because her body, the arrangement of her atoms in this confining dimension limit her. And she desires to go beyond that place to somewhere that she feels connected.

Ultimately, when she says "round and round just like a circle, I can see a clearer picture", I understand it as going through the repeating cycles of life and hopefully understanding more the older you get. Seeing life for what it really is based on your experiences, every time you circle around the "landing strip of life", you notice something new.

Just my thoughts.

great gem of a song and great lyrics...

liked this post!!!

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I don't mean to sound rude but I thought that the lyrics were perfectly direct and obvious. I didn't think they needed decoding.

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One of my AL favourites :inlove:

Would love to hear the original, acoustic demo recorded with Monte...

Until then, here's an acoustic live performance by Monte, starts about 7 minutes in:

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Hmmm...the lyrics always seemed contemplative to me and I always seemed to understand what she was saying here:

I want to know everything

Maybe someday I will

What I want is to find my place

Breathe the air and feel the sun on my children's face

That's what I want

Mind you, she was 44 at the time and I always took this verse as a desire to understand her role in life as she ages. These lines seem to indicate a desire for the simple satisfaction of enjoying a moment in the sun with her kids, breathing the free air. I know that sounds corny when I say it like that, but M pulls it off more poetically.

I want to let go of all disappointment that's waiting for me

What I want is to live forever

Not defined by time and space

It's a lonely place

That's what I want

Here, I felt like she was describing what it feels like to exist in a universe where time and space limit you. Your life and physical form are in a state of constant decay. So when she said, "Not defined by time and space, it's a lonely place" I got the impression that she feels cut off from people and the world because her body, the arrangement of her atoms in this confining dimension limit her. And she desires to go beyond that place to somewhere that she feels connected.

Ultimately, when she says "round and round just like a circle, I can see a clearer picture", I understand it as going through the repeating cycles of life and hopefully understanding more the older you get. Seeing life for what it really is based on your experiences, every time you circle around the "landing strip of life", you notice something new.

Just my thoughts.

You nailed it!! Great insight of the song!

This is probably my fav song from AL, and definitely one of my all time favorite! I particularly love the first two lines "I want the good life, but i don't want an easy ride", it sums up what pretty much everyone knows: that the most important or valuable things are those for which you have to work hard so you can then truly appreciate them.

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I really do love what she does with her voice on this song. It starts out really raw and vulnerable and then by the end she's doing classic deep-voiced Madonna. None of the nasal/whine shit.

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