Music Monday #24: Ray of Light by Madonna

'Confessions On A Dance Floor' was the first Madonna album that I included in this list and if it wasn't blatantly obvious from the post I wrote this is the other album I have chosen to include.  'Ray Of Light' was released in 1998 and once again fits a theme, influenced by Electronic Dance Music [EDM] Ray of Light is my second favourite album by Madonna.  This album sees Madonna collaborate with William Orbit who is something of a legend and a veteran in the EDM scene.  This album is a close second to Confessions failing to pip it to the post because there are a few tracks I don't care for, but as laid out in my first post this series is about focusing on the things I like.

My favourite track on the album is 'Power Of Goodbye' which might not come as a surprise by now if you've been following these posts in series.  The lyrics to this song resonated with me, in particular "Freedom comes when you learn to let go, Creation comes when you learn to say no" which is something that has stayed with me throughout my life.  Released in 1998 I was about to turn 10 at the time and simply liked the song and it's melody, it wouldn't be until many years later when the meaning of the lyrics would start to sink in, learning to say goodbye to certain people is something we eventually learn in life - at least hopefully we do - and gain a sense of empowerment when we do.  There are some relationships that can't be salvaged, some things can't be reconciled, some people will never change, in those moments you have to recognise that the only choice you have is to say goodbye and move on, and that only comes when you recognise just how much power that word holds, the finality, and the liberty if you say it and mean it.

The title track of the album I also like, along with 'Nothing Really Matters', 'Frozen', and 'sky Fits Heaven' the other tracks serve as more mellow productions that I turn to more when I want to unwind and feel nothing rather than try to process my emotions.  I don't have the same emotional attachment to this album as I do for Confessions mainly because Madonna's music catalogue isn't something I explored in depth until I was a little older, I feel that is a reflection of the layers that exist to what she creates.  In much the same way that there is an initial experience in the music Celine Dion creates that gives way with age to undertones and themes that you only really become aware of after you experience them first hand. 

Madonna for me represents perseverance more than anything else.  Her career spans from the tail end of the 1970s before I was ever born or even thought of, she has been a constant, someone who is present throughout my entire life.  I can measure my life in Madonna albums which is a bizarre thing to think.  Few artists have the staying power to achieve success and maintain a career over that length of time.  She was able to take the world as it was, see it, judge it, and act upon that judgement, without inspiring hatred from the religious right I was brought up with this as the definition of a prophet.  I'm not claiming divinity for Madonna let me make that clear, instead what I am asserting here is that she was able throughout her career to observe, process, and produce, she evolved in her music style and in her art form as the world evolved, people often think of her as a leader or part of the vanguard and whilst there is merit in that judgement, I have always conceptualised Madonna as a mirror, a reflection of the state of the world.

Madonna's hits from the 80s give me an insight into life in that time, I was born in 1988 and never got to experience that decade for myself.  Her hits from the 90s I didn't grow to appreciate until I was older because most of it was a reflection of a wider world to which I was not yet exposed.  Her hits from the 00s reflect the state of the world at the time and it being the first time period I was fully cognizant of that was the period of her musical styling I connected with the strongest.  Her musical styling then evolved in the 10s and began to reflect the state of a changing world that I personally felt disconnected from, a world that especially in the second half of the decade I didn't want to be a part of, but this is reflected in her music and the divergence, I still followed her out of interest because she provides insight.

Madonna's career evolved and adapted with the world, it was that adaptation that I admired but she wasn't afraid to call out bullshit throughout her career, to me nowhere is that more apparent than in the release of 'American Life' an album I would have included in this list but had to be dropped for the sake of brevity.  There's one artist who will feature on this list 4 times by the end and even that I had my reservations about but ultimately felt justified in the decision in order to give the widest range I could without being biased.  I will say from American Life, the title track, as well as 'Love Profusion', 'Nothing Fails', and 'Die Another Day' serve as particular favourites that get an honourable mention here.

Madonna has featured throughout pop culture, the mainstay of some peoples' disdain, the brunt of jokes, the demon of the press, the embodiment of inequity, and the Queen of self-indulgence as she has been portrayed, but for some of us she has represented hope, rebellion, resistance, disruption, strength, determination, and perseverance.  Whatever you see when you see her, whatever way you choose to interpret her career I still maintain she is a mirror, if you don't like what you see it's probably because she's reflecting something you see in the world that you feel guilty about.  American Life exemplified that, with the backlash over the original music video  for the title track, those that were disturbed by it were disturbed by the state of the world it reflected but rather than direct their anger at the thing that was reflected they tried to smash the mirror in anger.  I still maintain she should not have given in to pressure and should have run the original video, but I understand why that decision was made, and the original video eventually aired anyway and we all saw it because you can deny reality all you want it will eventually catch up with you.

Madonna won't feature again on this list but I would like to give another honourably mention to 'Rebel Heart' for its title track, as well as 'Devil Pray', and 'Illuminati' from the same album as they reflected the direction the world went in the 2010s in the end and my dissatisfaction with the idea of being dragged along with it.