| Lyrics: Like a Prayer |
Performed by: H2O; Mad'House; Madhouse; Madonna; Rufio; The Rondelles
Written by: Patrick Raymond Leonard; Madonna
Credits: Leonard, Patrick Raymond (Songwriter); Madonna (Songwriter); EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC. (Publisher); JOHNNY YUMA MUSIC (Publisher); ORANGEJELLO MUSIC (Publisher); WB MUSIC CORP. (Publisher); WEBO GIRL MUSIC (Publisher)
| Wikipedia: Like a Prayer (song) |
| "Like a Prayer" | |||||||||||
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| Single by Madonna | |||||||||||
| from the album Like a Prayer | |||||||||||
| B-side | "Act of Contrition" | ||||||||||
| Released | February 28, 1989 (US, Europe) March 6, 1989 (UK) March 16, 1989 (Japan) |
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| Format | Cassette, CD, 7", 12" | ||||||||||
| Recorded | 1988 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Pop, Rock, Gospel | ||||||||||
| Length | 5:40 (Album Version) 5:50 (Immaculate Collection Remix) 5:07 (7" Version) |
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| Label | Sire, Warner Bros. | ||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Madonna, Patrick Leonard | ||||||||||
| Producer | Madonna, Patrick Leonard | ||||||||||
| Certification | (see Certifications) | ||||||||||
| Madonna singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"Like a Prayer" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 4th studio album, Like a Prayer. It was released on February 28, 1989 by Sire Records. A power pop song by Madonna, it notably features a gospel choir. In Japan and Australia, a mini-album titled Remixed Prayers was also released, which included remixes of the title track and also "Express Yourself". It later appeared remixed on the 1990 compilation album The Immaculate Collection. It also appears on the 2009 compilation album Celebration.
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"Like a Prayer" became one of Madonna's highest-selling singles in her career, selling over five million copies worldwide at the time of its release. [1][2][3]
The single version of "Like a Prayer" (7" remix) is slightly different from the album version in some extra background production, including a shorter and heavier guitar intro, louder bass, string arrangements in the verses and electric guitar at the song's climax. In addition, the album version features bass guitar played by Randy Jackson, the 7" version has a much more complex part created and played by Guy Pratt, doubled by an analogue Minimoog bass synthesizer. Several of the versions of "Like a Prayer", excluding that on the album, were included on Remixed Prayers.
"Like a Prayer" was also remixed as a dance song by Shep Pettibone for Madonna's 1990 compilation album The Immaculate Collection. The remix became almost as popular as the original version, though is often not as highly regarded by critics and fans alike.
In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time by Q-Magazine. "Like a Prayer" was allocated the Number 1 spot. The song was ranked #300 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Since the songs release it has become regared, in some circles, as one of the best pop songs ever created.
The cover artwork for the 7" single featured Madonna in a praying pose. The 12" artwork featured a painting by Madonna's brother Christopher of a classic (Catholic) naked Madonna wearing a halo and draped in a vine of thorns with a single blossoming flower. Of special note on this painted version of the cover - it features the letters MLVC (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone) with a prominently "fallen" letter P near the heart of the Madonna, indicating Madonna's recent divorce and distancing from husband Sean Penn. The UK and Germany also released a 2nd 12" in a mustard yellow colour version of the original 12" sleeve featuring three remixes including the Churchapella Mix. The 7" single features a unique version of the famous black & white photo (also found on the back cover of the album of the same same.) This 7" cover version has a "hand tinted" colour wash applied which gives the artwork a dream-like quality. The same photograph in monochrome was used in shops in poster format to promote both the album and the single. Of special note, it is extremely rare for a 12" copy of a single to bear significantly if not altogether different artwork from its 7" counterpart. The original 3" CD single of the song was released with the original 7" artwork and is now quite rare and collectable. The two 5" reissue CDs of the song from the mid 90s feature the original 12" artwork plus an additional version with different mixes which has the background of the artwork altered to a mustard yellow color. The 12" Limited Edition Picture Disc of the release features a photograph of Madonna wearing jeans with a purple sheer blouse; she has straight dark hair and is posed in the throes of uninhibited dance. The reverse features a faded purple tinged photo of the original 7" with an overwritten tracklist. A maxi "Cassingle" was also issued featuring original "praying pose" artwork.
"Like a Prayer" was a massive hit worldwide. In the U.S. the song went straight to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in spring 1989 and also topped the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales charts. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It was released in the UK on 6 March 1989 and entered the UK Singles Chart straight at #2 before climbing to #1 and remaining there for three weeks until Easter Sunday (26 March). It also reached number one in countries such as Australia, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and many others. "Like a Prayer" was Madonna's fifth number one single on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart, reaching the top on March 25, 1989, and staying at number one for 12 weeks.[4]
The highly controversial music video for the song was directed by Mary Lambert, who also directed "Borderline", "Like a Virgin", "Material Girl" and "La Isla Bonita". It was shot at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California and Madonna's scenes with burning crosses were filmed on San Pedro Hills in San Pedro, California. The video features actor Leon Robinson and premiered on MTV on March 3, 1989, and later went on to win the Viewer's Choice Award at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards.
It attracted criticism for its subplot of Madonna making love to Saint Martin de Porres - which some perceived as being a black version of Christ[5] -, its use of Catholic iconography, including a scene where Madonna developed stigmata, and cross burning. The video topped MTV's countdown of "100 Videos That Broke The Rules" in 2005, and for the 25th anniversary of MTV (August 1, 2006), viewers voted the video as the "Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time". In addition, the video was ranked #20 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 100 Top Music Videos" and #2 on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos. On November 27, 2007 Fuse named "Like a Prayer" as one of its ten "Videos That Rocked The World".[6]
Madonna was paid $5 million by Pepsi-Cola to appear in a commercial that would predominantly feature the world premiere of "Like a Prayer". The commercial, titled "Make a Wish", was filmed at Culver Studios in Culver City, California in late January 1989 and was directed by Joe Pytka. Depicting Madonna drinking Pepsi and watching a home video of her eighth birthday[7], the tone that the commercial sought to convey sharply contrasted with the official music video for the song. When Pepsi executives saw the completed video, they quickly yanked the advertisement after only two airings in an attempt to dissociate themselves from the controversy Madonna had created. (The two-minute commercial was shown just once on March 2, 1989 during The Cosby Show, and, in the UK, after much publicity, on March 2 during a commercial break on ITV 12 minutes into The Bill.)
Though her contract with Pepsi called for three future commercials, Madonna got to keep her five-million-dollar endorsement fee, without fulfilling her contractual obligations. When Madonna won the Viewer's Choice Award for "Like a Prayer" video at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 1989, in her acceptance speech she thanked Pepsi-Cola "for causing so much controversy!".
During an MTV interview with Kurt Loder entitled "Breakfast with Madonna" in 1990, Loder asked Madonna about the "brouhaha" surrounding her own video for the song and Pepsi's reaction to it. Madonna said, "[Pepsi's spokespeople] said they just didn't like it."
In 1990, Madonna performed a dance mix of "Like a Prayer" during her Blond Ambition Tour, the live performance for "Like a Prayer" was made with the musical arrangements of the song's 12" Dance Version and the 12" Club Version. After not having performed it for years, she seemed to have re-discovered the power of the track[citation needed] , including it in the set of short promo performances for 2003 album American Life. It was also included in the 2004 Re-Invention Tour, with a back drop film made by PJ Lopez. This video has never been commercially released but now can be watched full at PJ Lopez official website: http://www.pjlopez.com . Madonna sung the same version of the song during her three song set on Live 8 in 2005. A heavy dance version of the song, mixed with fragments of the dance track "Feels Like Home" by Meck, features in her 2008-2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour.
| Chart (1989) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Belgian Flemmish VRT Top 30 | 1 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 2 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 Singles | 1 |
| Finnish Singles Chart[8] | 12 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart | 2 |
| German Singles Chart | 2 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Italian FIMI Singles Chart | 1 |
| Japanese Oricon Weekly Singles Chart[9] | 30 |
| Japanese Oricon International Singles | 1 |
| Norwegian VG-lista Singles Chart | 1 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 1 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 20 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 | 1 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Finnish Singles Chart | 12[10] |
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia | 2x Platinum |
| France | Silver |
| Germany | Gold |
| Sweden | Platinum |
| UK | Gold (513,231) |
| USA | Platinum |
The song was redone as a hi-NRG/eurodance song in 2002 by a group called Mad'House and included on their album Absolutely Mad.[11] The Mad'House version reached #1 in Germany in 2002, which the original narrowly failed to manage.
| Chart (2002) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | 17 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Belgian Flemmish Ultratop 50 | 2 |
| Belgian Wallonie Ultratop 40 | 3 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 18 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 1 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart | 5 |
| German Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Romanian Singles Chart[12] | 5 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 18 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| Preceded by "Too Many Broken Hearts" by Jason Donovan |
Irish Singles Chart number-one single March 16, 1989 – March 23, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Paradise City" by Guns 'N' Roses |
| UK Singles Chart number-one single March 25, 1989 – April 8, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles |
|
| Preceded by "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul |
Norwegian VG-lista Singles Chart number-one single March 25, 1989 – April 22, 1989 |
Succeeded by "The Look" by Roxette |
| Preceded by "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" by Marc Almond and Gene Pitney |
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single March 25, 1989 – June 10, 1989 |
|
| Preceded by "Turn It Into Love" by Kylie Minogue |
Japanese Oricon Weekly International Singles Chart March 27, 1989 – May 1, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Ellie My Love" by Ray Charles |
| Preceded by "I Only Wanna Be with You" by Samantha Fox |
Belgian Flemmish VRT Top 30 number-one single April 1, 1989 – May 6, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles |
| Preceded by "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" by Marc Almond & Gene Pitney |
Swiss Singles Chart number-one single April 1, 1989 – April 23, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Looking for Freedom" by David Hasselhoff |
| Preceded by "Did I Tell You?" by Jerry Williams |
Swedish Singles Chart number-one single April 5, 1989 – May 24, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles |
| Preceded by "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals |
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single April 7, 1989 – April 14, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Wild Thing" by Tone Lōc |
| Preceded by "This Is Acid (A New Dance Craze)" by Maurice |
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single February 15, 1989 – February 24, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Buffalo Stance" by Neneh Cherry |
| Preceded by "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals |
Australia ARIA Singles Chart number-one single (first run) April 17, 1989 |
Succeeded by "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single April 22, 1989 – May 6, 1989 |
Succeeded by "I'll Be There for You" by Bon Jovi |
|
| Preceded by "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals |
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 number-one single April 22, 1989 – May 6, 1989 |
Succeeded by "I'll Be There for You" by Bon Jovi |
| Preceded by N/A |
Canadian RPM Singles Chart number-one single May 1, 1989 – May 29, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Forever Your Girl" by Paula Abdul |
| Preceded by "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals |
Australia ARIA Singles Chart number-one single (second run) May 15, 1989 – May 29, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Now You're in Heaven" by Julian Lennon |
| Preceded by "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira |
Dutch Top 40 number-one single April 13, 2002 – April 20, 2002 |
Succeeded by "Trackin'" by Billy Crawford |
| Preceded by "Nessaja" by Scooter |
German Singles Chart number-one single April 26, 2002 |
Succeeded by "Nessaja" by Scooter |
| Preceded by "Engel" by Ben featuring Gim |
Austrian number-one single May 5, 2002 – May 19, 2002 |
Succeeded by "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Ronan Keating |
| Preceded by "Underneath Your Clothes" by Shakira |
Irish Singles Chart number-one single August 24, 2002 |
Succeeded by "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)" by Atomic Kitten |
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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