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More iconic: Like a Prayer or Vogue?


madonnasuperfan01

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I was a senior in HS when Like A Prayer came out and a freshman in college when Vogue came out. Vogue was far more of a cultural event at the time. I don't think the straights had quite figured out it was such a gay anthem. I remember walking by frat houses at USC where I went t college and hearing Vogue blasting out the windows. It was played at all the college parties.

I do think LAP has aged better with the public and it's seen as a more of a spiritual anthem today which is quite different from how it was viewed when it was first released.

This.

"Vogue" was a bigger hit by pretty much any quantitative standard -- radio play, sales -- and most qualitative standards, such as it's cultural impact at the time of its release. Since its release, though, the public's perception of it has not changed. They still see it as dance floor smash, fashion trend setter, and cultural phenomenon. I think that's a testament to it being iconic: It existed at such a level to capture the pop culture zeitgeist of 1990 perfectly -- and nearly a quarter-century later, we still see it as such.

"LAP," on the other hand, was many things at its release: Huge hit, critical darling, fusion of genres (pop, rock, gospel), sacrilege, etc. But the public's perception of it has changed over time -- and it's become arguably her most anthemic song over time. It's become her "Sweet Caroline" -- the song that entire stadiums sing along to gleefully or that bars of drunken people of all ages and classes and colors sing along to on the juke box.

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This.

"Vogue" was a bigger hit by pretty much any quantitative standard -- radio play, sales -- and most qualitative standards, such as it's cultural impact at the time of its release. Since its release, though, the public's perception of it has not changed. They still see it as dance floor smash, fashion trend setter, and cultural phenomenon. I think that's a testament to it being iconic: It existed at such a level to capture the pop culture zeitgeist of 1990 perfectly -- and nearly a quarter-century later, we still see it as such.

"LAP," on the other hand, was many things at its release: Huge hit, critical darling, fusion of genres (pop, rock, gospel), sacrilege, etc. But the public's perception of it has changed over time -- and it's become arguably her most anthemic song over time. It's become her "Sweet Caroline" -- the song that entire stadiums sing along to gleefully or that bars of drunken people of all ages and classes and colors sing along to on the juke box.

Actually LAP was the bigger seller in Europe than Vogue.

Vogue even stalled on German and French charts never reaching No.1.

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"Who's that Girl?" :lmao:

I can recall "WTG" being on the radio once in my entire life -- during the Reinvention Tour and a local station was playing her songs virtually nonstop to promote their pit ticket giveaways. A coworker at the time called it "That song where she sings in Spanish -- not 'La Isla Bonita,' the other one."

Like I said, Madge has manipulated iconic songs by not performing them..

WTG was HUGE back in the day..just watch "Ciao Italia" VHS.

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Actually LAP was the bigger seller in Europe than Vogue.

Vogue even stalled on German and French charts never reaching No.1.

I don't think sales have anything to do with the songs being iconic. Their legacy and how people react to them 20, 30, 100 years later is what makes them iconic. Both were huge successes and both covered different grounds. I think Vogue is visually more iconic, while LAP is like an anthem like some people already stated.

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I don't think sales have anything to do with the songs being iconic. Their legacy and how people react to them 20, 30, 100 years later is what makes them iconic. Both were huge successes and both covered different grounds. I think Vogue is visually more iconic, while LAP is like an anthem like some people already stated.

my response was for this:

""Vogue" was a bigger hit by pretty much any quantitative standard -- radio play, sales"

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I think is a very difficult question and I think it depends from the country and things like that.

I mean, for example most of my friends remember "Material girl" (and here it was more played on radio) than "Like a virgin" (that it's always forgotten unless you name it).

I have friends that like pop, rock, techno, punk, classical music and, for example, if you ask them there's only one song that they think is perfect and is "Frozen". My heavy metal friends hate Madonna (yeah, for them she's just a sexy girl with no brain) and they love "Frozen" anyway.

If you say "Vogue" everybody starts moving their arms and "Like a prayer" is "That's the one with the black saint and the burning crosses??? Yeah, I remember that I liked".

In my country (Spain) nobody remembers "Take a bow" for example, If you play the song some of them will know it but most of them won't. And, for example, "Secret" is known by most of them...

If I have to chose one I think that "Like a prayer" is a mix of the song and the impact of the video, but if you don't remember the video or you're talking just about the song I think "Vogue" is more known by the general public.

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Both songs are among Madonna's biggest and more influentials hits. But which one is the biggest overall? Which one made the bigger impact and is more loved by the general public and fellow musicians? I constantly got different answers when i ask people about it so i want to know what you guys think about it. Discuss!

i'm in doubt....biggest impact or more loved for me doesn't mean necessarily "iconic"...for me the most iconic is vogue without doubt....but i probably love LAP the more.....

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LAV probably would be her most iconic song out of the whole lot, no matter its lack of recurrent play compared to others today. It was a cultural landmark of a track, along with the wedding dress when performing it, etc. While she's had other iconic, CULTURALLY ENRICHING tracks, LAV's probably at the top.

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LAV probably would be her most iconic song out of the whole lot, no matter its lack of recurrent play compared to others today. It was a cultural landmark of a track, along with the wedding dress when performing it, etc. While she's had other iconic, CULTURALLY ENRICHING tracks, LAV's probably at the top.

I'm pretty sure it's in her Top 10 recurrent hits. I hear it more than I'd like to, to be honest. I hear "Material Girl" frequently as well. I wish you still had access to her recurrent playlist.

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Like A Virgin and MG have sort of transcended time and space and it doesn't really matter if they're ever played again. Like A Prayer and Vogue are next in line and I think Papa Don't Preach and Into The Groove are up there too.

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FYI, here's a list of the current Top 10 most popular Madonna songs on Spotify (with their total number of plays):

4 Minutes (9m)
Like a Prayer (7.9m)
Like a Virgin (4.3m)
Hung Up (5.6m)
Material Girl (4.2m)
Vogue (4.9.m)
Into the Groove (3.3m)
La Isla Bonita (4.3m)
Frozen (2.8m)
Papa Don't Preach (2.9m)

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FYI, here's a list of the current Top 10 most popular Madonna songs on Spotify (with their total number of plays):

4 Minutes (9m)

Like a Prayer (7.9m)

Like a Virgin (4.3m)

Hung Up (5.6m)

Material Girl (4.2m)

Vogue (4.9.m)

Into the Groove (3.3m)

La Isla Bonita (4.3m)

Frozen (2.8m)

Papa Don't Preach (2.9m)

I see 4 Minutes is PERCHED at the #1 spot & rightfully so; as I've said countless times, it's THE Madonna single if the 00's.

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^ It's perched on top because it's her most recent hit and benefits from JT's presence. Whether it's "the" Madonna single of the 00's is a whole other discussion.

Hung Up is the Madge song of the 00's (or Music).

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If you type Madonna into youtube Like A Prayer is the first suggestion, but the Vogue video has a lot more views.

LAP has only 400.000 views.

Piss poor.

MJ "Beat it" has 100 million views.

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