This is my love letter to all the queer musicians out there, making art and kicking ass. If there's an artist you think I should know about, please let me know, I love new music! (I also reblog/post on general queer and trans stuff, as well as some more personal things, hope that's all right).
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
One of my favorite Madonna videos from back in the day, and a song that showcases that desperate energy I found so appealing in her early vocal performances, even as she sounds so strained in the choruses, it’s a wonder she didn’t lose her voice all together! I think Papa Don’t Preach is also a pretty good example of energy/feeling trumping intonation problems and vocal weakness in moments. In fact, I have always been so enchanted by her lower register (as in the opening of the song) that I don’t think I ever noticed how weak it sounds!
While I now have some questions about Papa Don’t Preach’s message on abortion and teen pregnancy, and some major critiques about Madonna’s (ongoing) tokenization/fetishization of working class people and people of color (which this video is an early specimen of!), as a little girl I was most STRUCK (awe-struck, even) by:
- THE ORCHESTRAL MELODRAMA!
- Madonna’s tough, sexy, bleached, short, greasy hair!
- The fact that I, JUST LIKE MADONNA, call my bear-like father PAPA!
- The idea that maybe Danny Aiello would give me a hard-earned hug if I got pregnant
- The iconic NYC photography
- Just how desperately she seems to want everything to be ok, despite the quasi-gritty backdrop.
Sigh.
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