I disagree with sand completely on the "Madonna writing her own lyrics" issue. There are just too many song credits, and many of her songs have a clear point-of-view that reference her own life.
It's just not true that she could've had all the song lyric credits going back to True Blue and only contribute one or two lines. That's not so.
I do think that her songs and looks are original, and she also does a good job referencing looks and people from the past, such as Jean Seberg (Papa Don't Preach), Marlene Dietrich (Like a Virgin redo on one of her later tours) , and Marilyn Monroe (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes). She also reworks her songs for her various tours. They rarely sound exactly like each other or like the album track. For just one example, there's Like A Virgin, which has been sung on her tours as a Motown number and an homage to Dietrich's "Falling in Love Again" from the movie The Blue Angel.
I dislike the idea that one must write his or her own music to be considered great. Frank Sinatra rarely or never wrote the songs he sang, and he's among the greatest of all time.
Actually, in the very beginning Madonna didn't even want to be a pop artist. She wanted to go in more of a punk-type direction, so it's ironic that she gained her success with pop tunes that she may not have liked so much. There were some demo songs where she sounded more like Chrissy Hynde.
It's funny how singers sometimes hate the songs that gave them fame. I think Madonna has turned "Material Girl" ironic, Frank Sinatra didn't like to perform "Strangers in the Night," etc.
I dislike the idea that one must write his or her own music to be considered great. Frank Sinatra rarely or never wrote the songs he sang, and he's among the greatest of all time.
Actually, in the very beginning Madonna didn't even want to be a pop artist. She wanted to go in more of a punk-type direction, so it's ironic that she gained her success with pop tunes that she may not have liked so much. There were some demo songs where she sounded more like Chrissy Hynde.
It's funny how singers sometimes hate the songs that gave them fame. I think Madonna has turned "Material Girl" ironic, Frank Sinatra didn't like to perform "Strangers in the Night," etc.
I think what stems that argument is what they're great at. My mere opinion is that she's a great performer, NOT artist, no matter how pointy she makes her boobs. Same with Sinatra. Great performer. Not artist. Just my opinion tho, because I imagine the term Artist has various definitions to different people.
I think she's a victim of her own success. 30 years ago when Madonna first hit, everyone was pearl clutching because she looked like a whore and sang about bastard babies. Fast forward ten years, and we're all used to the whores and bastard babies, so she goes anti-religion. Fast forward ten years and we're all used to the pope-sucks rhetoric from celebrities, so she goes dominatrix sex in your face it's not porn it's art. No we're all sexed out. So what's left. She's the one who led these "movements". She defined them and shocked us with them. But we're all shocked out and now all we want is a good song. Something she's been significantly less consistent about.
Jebus, you make me feel old. I saw her on her Virgin tour. DAMN! That was practically 30 years ago. I , frankly, can't believe she's managed to stay somewhat relevant for even this long.
I'm clutching my old school pearls that anyone could think Madonna is anything less than amazing. Even if you don't like her, there's no doubt she's legendary. And part of her fame is having hits and misses. I was in 8th grade when she first came on the scene and way back then they predicted she'd be over, wasn't popular anymore, and here she is 27 years later and still pretty damn relevant.
I'm clutching my old school pearls that anyone could think Madonna is anything less than amazing. Even if you don't like her, there's no doubt she's legendary. And part of her fame is having hits and misses. I was in 8th grade when she first came on the scene and way back then they predicted she'd be over, wasn't popular anymore, and here she is 27 years later and still pretty damn relevant.
Legendary? No. Excalibur is legendary. Barney Stinson is legendary. Madonna is no Barney Stinson, lemme tell ya.