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I have come to love the album version of...this much-maligned song


Crystal Coffin

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Guest bluejean

I do like this song. It's not really catchy though or an obvious hit. I think after the brilliance of Ray of Light and Music it just stood out as being abit forgettable to the general public. I think too, the sarcasm and the message of the song was lost on a mainstream audience. But what she was saying was actually brilliant. All these people willing to do anything for 15 minutes of fame, Paris Hilton, reality TV "stars," etc, Madonna was saying to them "I've done all that and more and it's not all its cracked up to be." Of course alot of people interpreted that as a celebrity whining about how hard being famous is.

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Guest Not4Pussies

I do like this song. It's not really catchy though or an obvious hit. I think after the brilliance of Ray of Light and Music it just stood out as being abit forgettable to the general public. I think too, the sarcasm and the message of the song was lost on a mainstream audience. But what she was saying was actually brilliant. All these people willing to do anything for 15 minutes of fame, Paris Hilton, reality TV "stars," etc, Madonna was saying to them "I've done all that and more and it's not all its cracked up to be." Of course alot of people interpreted that as a celebrity whining about how hard being famous is.

Yes! That's how I got the song when it came out too. It was the beginning of all these stupid girls becoming famous for no reason. Paris Hilton was very popular then.

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I do like this song. It's not really catchy though or an obvious hit. I think after the brilliance of Ray of Light and Music it just stood out as being abit forgettable to the general public. I think too, the sarcasm and the message of the song was lost on a mainstream audience. But what she was saying was actually brilliant. All these people willing to do anything for 15 minutes of fame, Paris Hilton, reality TV "stars," etc, Madonna was saying to them "I've done all that and more and it's not all its cracked up to be." Of course alot of people interpreted that as a celebrity whining about how hard being famous is.

The thing is, she kind of already came to that conclusion by the late eighties which you can see in TOD. I think she was just really fed up of the awful culture (or lack of it) in the mainstream at the time. Every song was about how much money people had or stupid shit like that. Just generally an awful period for music.

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Listened to this song religiously after it was released, but had no idea until years later that some fans did not like this song. It's also so fucked up that neither the original or the second video she made for the song were on the Celebration DVD.

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I loved American Life with a passion when it came out, but it was really hard for me to enjoy it because of all the negativity surrounding it. I'm older now and I don't give a fuck what others think.

I know exactly how you felt. It was the same for me.

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Like EVERYTHING Madonna has done in the past that was HATED at the time it was released....it will be appreciated 10 years later.

Give Me All Your Luvin will be LUVVVVVVVED

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I've always liked this song. The rap is cheesy but I don't listen to it much anyway since the remixes don't usually include it. The album version I never listen to. In fact I don't listen to any album versions from AL

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Guest bluejean

The thing is, she kind of already came to that conclusion by the late eighties which you can see in TOD. I think she was just really fed up of the awful culture (or lack of it) in the mainstream at the time. Every song was about how much money people had or stupid shit like that. Just generally an awful period for music.

While I agree she came to that conclusion much earlier on in her mind I really think Madonna was still very much attached to fame up until the late 90's after she'd had her first child. Regardless of what was coming out of her mouth she was a bonafide fame/attention whore in the early 90's and I'm sure she'd agree. Truth or Dare shows a woman quite obsessed with stardom. And I'm not saying there was anything wrong with that, it's part of her journey but she certainly had to mature beyond that at some stage or she would never have been particularly happy I don't think.

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Guest bluejean

Like EVERYTHING Madonna has done in the past that was HATED at the time it was released....it will be appreciated 10 years later.

Give Me All Your Luvin will be LUVVVVVVVED

Well we are up to 10 years since AL and most people seem to still hate it :lol:

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I really don't understand the hate for not only the song and the album also, plus it seems RIT doesn't get much love..but I do wonder if the tour was a tad too rushed as some sort of damage control.

Back to Al, I love the album, the song and the video. AL video getting banned, followed by Hollywood video where they were accused of doing a gags stealing Guy Bourdin shit, it kinda was the end of videos for that album, but I think they are both great.

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While I agree she came to that conclusion much earlier on in her mind I really think Madonna was still very much attached to fame up until the late 90's after she'd had her first child. Regardless of what was coming out of her mouth she was a bonafide fame/attention whore in the early 90's and I'm sure she'd agree. Truth or Dare shows a woman quite obsessed with stardom. And I'm not saying there was anything wrong with that, it's part of her journey but she certainly had to mature beyond that at some stage or she would never have been particularly happy I don't think.

I disagree. I think it was the time she was becoming dissillusioned with the fame. Yeah, she was still very much involved and her ego was probably at its biggest. Still, she was definitely figuring out who she was/soul searching. I think she was more self involved and very determined and likes the thought that she could do/have what she wanted. However, if you listen to what she is saying in truth or do she is showing a longing for more and she says 'Who haven't I met?' and 'People always talk about how fame changes you but...' etcetera. It was all there.

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Guest bluejean

I don't think Reinvention was necessarily rushed, there was just a lot of pandering to casual audience goers going on there which was going against the grain for Madonna. I always believed she was talked into it. Especially with the last section.

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Guest bluejean

One thing is for sure, American Life was definitely not rushed. She put a lot of time and care into that album. I wouldn't be surprised if she one day randomly refers to it as one of her favourites.

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Guest bluejean

I disagree. I think it was the time she was becoming dissillusioned with the fame. Yeah, she was still very much involved and her ego was probably at its biggest. Still, she was definitely figuring out who she was/soul searching. I think she was more self involved and very determined and likes the thought that she could do/have what she wanted. However, if you listen to what she is saying in truth or do she is showing a longing for more and she says 'Who haven't I met?' and 'People always talk about how fame changes you but...' etcetera. It was all there.

Well the point I was making is that she was expressing dissatisfaction and disillusionment with it all but her actions weren't really reflecting someone who had let go of that shallow world. If we think about it Madonna was always soul searching even pre fame. She was searching to fill a void with her ambitions and when fame/glory/attention didn't fill that void she began looking deeper inside. Which was essentially the process of realising the external world can't fulfill her and discovering real fulfillment comes from within.

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Well the point I was making is that she was expressing dissatisfaction and disillusionment with it all but her actions weren't really reflecting someone who had let go of that shallow world. If we think about it Madonna was always soul searching even pre fame. She was searching to fill a void with her ambitions and when fame/glory/attention didn't fill that void she began looking deeper inside. Which was essentially the process of realising the external world can't fulfill her and discovering real fulfillment comes from within.

Exactly. What I'm saying is that AL wasn't the realisation of that for her. It was the REACTION of other people's LACK OF REALISATION or LACK OF PEOPLE TRYING TO FIND MORE IN LIFE.

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Guest bluejean

Oh I know. I agree. I think Ray of Light (the album) was when she started to actually find real fulfillment elsewhere. But I agree, she was definitely aware that fame and success was not fulfilling quite early on. She was still chasing it though and hungry for more.

While Drowned World served as her own moment of realization as I said earlier AL was definitely more about other people. It was Madonna sharing her wisdom. "Look at me, I'm living proof there's more to life and fame, success, power, wealth etc doesn't make you happy." She really was a living example of that. It's not surprising people didn't get it because a large percentage of society is caught up in that world and can't separate from it, nor do they want to.

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The only problem is that it's much easier to do it from her perspective...

Yep, that's very true. Having said that it was her desire for something deeper that gave her everything she has today. She has a really powerful soul. She's magical and a total intellectual. I love that somebody like her exists today.

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Guest Not4Pussies

One thing is for sure, American Life was definitely not rushed. She put a lot of time and care into that album. I wouldn't be surprised if she one day randomly refers to it as one of her favourites.

She already has

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