Madonna was born in Michigan, August 16, 1958 (we have the same birthday!), but got her start by moving to NYC and performing in music, acting, and dancing. Once signing with a major label her career took her around the world; today the singer lives abroad with her family. Her discography is extensive and a song I have always enjoyed is "Vogue,"--'Strike a pose!' In recent years, the artist's political conscious and humanitarianism have come to light through her advocacy and charity work, but listening back to the lyrics in "Vogue," they are fun and meaningful. Madonna's inclusive attitude is represented in lines like "it makes no difference if you're black or white, a boy or a girl, (come on, come on), let your body move to the music, (hey hey hey), (come on come on)."
A few years ago, Madonna had a very memorable Super Bowl half time performance that I remember watching live, but as I was researching for this post, I found footage from the 1990 MTV music awards which I had never seen before, a great example of her MTV influence. In the film, Madonna performs one of my favorites, again, Vogue, on stage in a ballgown and powdered wig with pearls as if she is in the Victorian era while fanning herself but really capturing an expressive and fun rock feel. The MTV generation is known for being BOLD and that is a very fitting description for Madonna's work in the 80s and today. The queen of pop has maintained relevance in her reputation and is being featured in -Vogue Italy- this month to commemorate for sixtieth birthday.
I also love this song, "Vogue" along with it's catchy, fun, and meaningful lyrics. When reading for this section, I discovered that I lot of Madonna dance inspiration came from Michael Jackson himself! I found this to be very interesting when you state that thanks to Madonna people like Jackson and Bowie received more air time!
ReplyDeleteMadonna is such a good representative of 80s music. She really made waves and I think her music is timeless!
ReplyDeleteI love how you mentioned Madonna's inclusive nature but was curious if in your research you came across the origin of "Vogue"? As is the case in many other things we have learned about in class this idea Madonna made famous was appropriated. The term "Vouguing" came from the underground dance community, specifically African American dancers. Harlem Ballroom dancing originated in the 1960s and was a competitive space that was created for drag queens and other predominantly queer artists. Vouguing was what a dancer would do to get a judges attention by stylistically moving their bodies.
ReplyDeleteAlaina, the most information I could find about the song's origin is that was meant to represent escapism, but many critics suggest there are more discrete meanings, as you suggest as well.I would not be surprised myself! Thanks for the follow up question :)
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