Jump to content

“Dark Ballet” thread


Recommended Posts

3 minutes ago, Danmacevents said:

She does in my version X 

it was a  headphone problem lol it's all fixed now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was right.  I immediately loved this, like an 11 out of 10.  There is a lot to absorb to take in the different sections, so I’ll be listening a couple more times but not overdoing it before next Friday.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Shane said:

I was right.  I immediately loved this, like an 11 out of 10.  There is a lot to absorb to take in the different sections, so I’ll be listening a couple more times but not overdoing it before next Friday.

 

👍

I had a feeling you'd LOVE it!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Kurt420 said:

👍

I had a feeling you'd LOVE it!!

Years ago, a friend of mine who was listening to Little Star live on Oprah, said that she loves all the different sections of the song.  I liked that comment, and as the years have passed, I appreciate this aspect of Madonna’s songs all the more.  The verses, bridges, choruses, pre-choruses, intros and outros that form perfect songs.

With Dark Ballet, it’s almost like different movements taking you on a journey.  I love how she sings “it’s a beautiful life” at the end to reference the beginning and make it feel like we have completed a journey.

Also I love the way her voice sounds so clear and youthful in the spoken word section of Dark Ballet and most of Crave, then sounds more raspy and pointed on the opening section of Dark Ballet and her verse in Future.  Madame X is a vocal chameleon!  Which has always been one of Madonna’s greatest skills.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Dark Ballet, the song and the video! It's strange, dark but wonderful.

what a surprise that is accompanied by a fantastic video!.

it is clear that Madonna is once not worried about having a commercial success, millions of récords sold, numbers one on the charts.

Madonna makes it clear that with this album she is not looking for commercial success, she is expressing herself as an artist. There really is not a definite single, she wanted to show us her work little by little.

I can not be more proud of her, for being different, for Kept fighting, for not giving up despite the adversities, no matter how much they want to destroy you, you are unique.

I hope one day you will receive that recognition that you have always been denied from the beginning.

I can not wait to hear the rest of Madame x

thanks Madonna

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, cravingmadonna said:

Thank you!! 

Steven Klein wouldn't be able to direct such a cinematic video. He's not bad, but sometimes his work is too plastic, imo. Emmanuel Adjei did a great job. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, side_streets said:

Steven Klein wouldn't be able to direct such a cinematic video. He's not bad, but sometimes his work is too plastic, imo. Emmanuel Adjei did a great job. 

Completely agree, it would have been just as beautiful but nowhere near as deep. XX 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you imagine Britney, Janet, Kylie, Pink,  or Katy doing anything like Dark Ballet?  No.  There is a reason that many fans of Kate Bush and Bjork and PJ Harvey love Madonna. Madonna is an artist of the highest order.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Danmacevents said:

Completely agree, it would have been just as beautiful but nowhere near as deep. XX 

Sound mixing is also amazing. The wind, the fire, ominous whooshing are very Lynchian. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember that RS review of LAP, where it said “this is as close to art as pop music gets”? I think she’s gotten even closer with this track, especially combined with the amazing video. Using the story and fate of Joan of Arc to describe the fucked up state of today’s world, the discrimination, hatred, bigotry and closed mindedness is just brilliant.  Releasing something so bold, weird, dark and unusual is a big fuck you to the world of those that claim she’s not relevant or creative be anymore. Who else but Madonna would dare this, so far into her career? Nobody. The haters need to take several seats and re-evaluate their contempt for her. She’s the Queen. Period. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Shane said:

Can you imagine Britney, Janet, Kylie, Pink,  or Katy doing anything like Dark Ballet?  No.  There is a reason that many fans of Kate Bush and Bjork and PJ Harvey love Madonna. Madonna is an artist of the highest order.

Hahaha.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just read that Dark Ballet have 2 parts because The Nutcracker have also 2 parts: one that is labeled as Traditional, and the other one labeled as "Magical" or "Fantasy". When The Nutcracker came out it was criticized for having two differents and disruptives "worlds".

Madonna is a genius.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Nikki said:

I like the concept, but I do wish the video was more of a story instead of already seeing what's gonna happen in the beginning with the flashes and repetitions.. I miss the old way of storytelling in videos. imagine American life already with flashes of the granate and bush the first few secs.. I think it loses its impact.. but I realise that's the style of videos now.. 

Everyone knows what happened to Joan of Arc and that she was burned alive, so what different would it make to not see it in flashes at the start? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, headonfire said:

Everyone knows what happened to Joan of Arc and that she was burned alive, so what different would it make to not see it in flashes at the start? 

lol I know right? It's like avoiding spoilers before watching Titanic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm completely in awe of this song and video. The song is so different, weird, and sonically experimental, nothing like anything ever produced. If someone ever says that Madonna is chasing trends, just play them Dark Ballet, because this song is IT, and shows the genius and creative force of this woman almost 40 years into her career.

As I listen to the song, I got all these different emotions running through me, like an emotional journey of sorts.

As for the video, it is absolutely stunning. The story, cinematography, light, colours, everything produces this unique feel that just complements the song. For me, one of the most significant things in the video is also the placing of Joan of Arc's quote and the start and Mikki's at the end, which produces this poetic parallel between the pain and suffering experienced by Joan of Arc in the 15th century because she was seen as 'Other', the same way that a black queer HIV+ man is seen as 'Other' in the 21st century. To make this happen, Madonna takes a step back in her own video, to place at the centre someone who represents those who are most ostracised in our society -- a person of colour, a queer person, an HIV+ person!

THIS IS ART. ART WITH MEANING. ART WHICH PUSHES BOUNDARIES. ART THAT PUSHES FOR CHANGE. AND MADONNA IS ALL OF IT! MADONNA IS ART.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, Shane said:

Years ago, a friend of mine who was listening to Little Star live on Oprah, said that she loves all the different sections of the song.  I liked that comment, and as the years have passed, I appreciate this aspect of Madonna’s songs all the more.  The verses, bridges, choruses, pre-choruses, intros and outros that form perfect songs.

With Dark Ballet, it’s almost like different movements taking you on a journey.  I love how she sings “it’s a beautiful life” at the end to reference the beginning and make it feel like we have completed a journey.

Also I love the way her voice sounds so clear and youthful in the spoken word section of Dark Ballet and most of Crave, then sounds more raspy and pointed on the opening section of Dark Ballet and her verse in Future.  Madame X is a vocal chameleon!  Which has always been one of Madonna’s greatest skills.

Wonderful post!! Right on Shane!!!

Love the interpretation of "it's a beautiful life" lyric at the end and think you're definitely on to something there.

Madame X is indeed a vocal chameleon! She's always been a master of that in my opinion though. It really shows with these songs though. Her vocal delivery fits or even totally sets the mood all in completely different ways for each of the released tracks so far. Even with only hearing 5 songs so far, we've gotten so much vocal variety!! 

One more week and I think our minds are going to be completely blown. I just don't think we're ready for it.....even if we think we are!! Taking in Madame X as a whole, is going to take all of this to another level. It's interesting how each song released seems to reveal pieces of a puzzle.....a puzzle that's getting easier to see the full image of as we hear/see more and as the release date draws near.

My excitement for this is at a peak at this point!! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, headonfire said:

For me, one of the most significant things in the video is also the placing of Joan of Arc's quote and the start and Mikki's at the end, which produces this poetic parallel between the pain and suffering experienced by Joan of Arc in the 15th century because she was seen as 'Other', the same way that a black queer HIV+ man is seen as 'Other' in the 21st century. To make this happen, Madonna takes a step back in her own video, to place at the centre someone who represents those who are most ostracised in our society -- a person of colour, a queer person, an HIV+ person!

THIS IS ART. ART WITH MEANING. ART WHICH PUSHES BOUNDARIES. ART THAT PUSHES FOR CHANGE. AND MADONNA IS ALL OF IT! MADONNA IS ART.

YES!!! Perfectly stated!!!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, headonfire said:

Everyone knows what happened to Joan of Arc and that she was burned alive, so what different would it make to not see it in flashes at the start? 

 

25 minutes ago, Jairo said:

lol I know right? It's like avoiding spoilers before watching Titanic.

that’s not what I meant, and hopefully you got that

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Amelia aka Neutrocks

I still can't believe how moving the video is and how it just puts the song in more context.  I have to repeat what I said earlier when I first saw the video.  For those who do not like it and wish Madonna was in it more, should consider this is a bold move on her part not to include herself as the focal character.  This is something she really hasn't done before.  I think that makes me respect her even more because she could have easily taken on the Joan of Arc character herself, but instead she changed up the narrative, using a black gay man with HIV.  I know some people are still not going to get it.  Though, it's great to see Madonna thinking outside the box still and not just producing only infectious pop chart chasing songs.  She is a true visionary.  We've known this, but this just proves she's still willing to take chances and produce controversial videos that make people think.  

My only wish is that the video had more views than it has nearly 12 hours in.  I was really hoping to see a million views by now.  People need to see this!    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Single Review: Madonna – Dark Ballet

michielvmusic michielvmusic

madonna-madame-x-standard-edition-real5659774271246459917.jpeg

Madonna drops last promo single before album release
Madame X is almost here! Madonna is dropping her new album on the 14th of June (one week from now!) and she gives us the last promo single to make the wait a bit more fun! She has given us almost half the album already by now! She returned with first single ‘Medellín’, dropped the tracks ‘I Rise’ and ‘Crave’ with Swae Lee and then performed ‘Future’ on the Eurovision stage. New track ‘Dark Ballet’ almost feels more like an interlude than a pop song.

 

The track starts out with Madonna’s heavily autotuned vocals over piano. After the first chorus (if you could call it that), a slow beat kicks in. Then around the second chorus, the track suddenly turns into ‘Dance of the Reed Pipes’ from Tchaikovksy’s The Nut Cracker. So there’s the ballet! The track ends with a spoken word verse, which she performed during her much talked about Eurovision performance as well. Madonna could not have come up with a less radiofriendly track as next promo single, but the choice for ‘Dark Ballet’ makes much more sense after watching the video.

Madonna announced that the song and video are inspired by Joan of Arc: “She fought the English and she won, still the French were not happy. Still they judged her. They said she was a man, they said she was a lesbian, they said she was a witch, and, in the end, they burned her at the stake, and she feared nothing. I admire that”, she wrote in a statement. In the impressive video directed by Emmanuel Adjei we see rapper Mykki Blanco take on the role of Joan. Madonna only appears briefly behind a black veil. Blanco is seen mouthing some words to the song being locked up, while dancing in a circle of religious men (the video somewhat resembles her iconic ‘Like A Prayer’ visuals with loads of catholic imagery) and is eventually burned at the stake. For Madonna not to take centre stage, but to tell the strong message of the song through a queer person of colour is a powerful decision. These are easily her best visuals in years!

https://abitofpopmusic.com/2019/06/06/single-review-madonna-dark-ballet/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like that she is not the main character in the video because if she were, people would be saying that she's a white, straight, rich woman that doesn't represent the black, gays or HIV communities or whatever. I mean, Madonna does represent those social groups because she has always raised awareness about their issues but you know, putting someone that actually has lived through all of that will shut their mouths.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Shane said:

Can you imagine Britney, Janet, Kylie, Pink,  or Katy doing anything like Dark Ballet?  No.  There is a reason that many fans of Kate Bush and Bjork and PJ Harvey love Madonna. Madonna is an artist of the highest order.

This!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so one year and one month after we discover what was that verse presented to us to give a taste of what she was creating that time

she has all this and much more on his mind (and her collaborators) for more than a year

her intelligence and vision humilliates and inspires me

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...