Get fired up like a smoking gun!
VEVO has just premiered the lyric video for the radio version of “Girl Gone Wild,” the second single off of Madonna‘s upcoming twelfth studio album MDNA, due out on March 26.
Check out the full song below! Review to come when I regain consciousness…
EDIT: Okay, well, that happened. And…I love it!
Yes, yes, yes…there are negatives, of course. I hear them loud and clear! In fact, I had to steer clear of social media for a while to mull this one over for myself.
Vocally, she does sound a bit disengaged from the song–even possibly bored in places! And given that Benny Benassi was the one responsible for crafting something as untouchable as “Brave” off of Kelis‘ 2010 Flesh Tone (and even the defining remix of Madonna’s own “Celebration”!), I’m admittedly a bit shocked at the…hmm, sort-of flatness of the production?
And no, this isn’t the stuff of lyrical genius either: There’s some tiny glimmers of Godney (808’s and In The Zone!), plus some nods to classic Madge (“Erotica,” “Burning Up”), but ultimately, this is mostly an unadventurous ‘all up in da club’ moment. (Then again, “Into The Groove” wasn’t exactly highbrow…)
But that’s about where the issues end for me: Given that this is Madonna, there’s always going to be an impossible amount of hype and anticipation and expectation built around the music. As my friend Keith Caulfield from Billboard rightly pointed out in a spot-on assessment on Twitter, “Because she is MADONNA, everything she does is examined with a microscope. She is the biggest pop star alive….whatever she does is hyper-criticized. If it’s good, it’s not “good enough.” If it’s so-so, it’s a disaster.”
Back in 2008, I slammed Hard Candy as a desperate attempt for relevancy when I first heard the record (as I think a lot of fans did as well.) Now, I find myself revisiting quite often–most of the cuts, like “Dance 2Night” and “Heartbeat,” are actually phenomenal pop records. For some reason (the internet!11!!1!), it’s just too easy to all pounce at once.
While we’re on the subject, I’m so tired of seeing these holier-than-thou arguments about what our pop stars should be singing about. She’s 53, and she’s singing about dancing! And possibly even sex! (Oops, I didn’t know she couldn’t talk about sex!) Oh, so what? Fuck off, seriously–or should we just pray you never want to get some past the age of 50?
I find the dismissal of Madonna as an old woman incredibly insulting. It’s ageist and sexist, as I’ve tried to defend throughout this entire campaign so far: She challenged the expectations of what a woman should be as a pop artist 30 years ago, and she’s challenging the expectations of what a woman should be as an older pop artist now. You may not like it, you may not be comfortable with it…but that’s who she is, take it or leave it.
Also, it’s Madonna–you should know by now that the woman’s going to stay stubborn.
At the end of the day, this song is still fun, to me at least–like a brighter mash-up of “Celebration” and Confessions On A Dance Floor‘s “Sorry”. There’s hooks for days, the beat’s a-bangin’ (yes, I get it, it’s not the most ‘revolutionary’), and there’s no way I’m going to go to bed tonight without hearing “Hey-ey-ey, ey-ey-ey” echoing in my head until I pass out.
Oh, and that spoken word “Act of Contrition” introduction on the album version of the song? That’s a nod to a track on her 1989 album Like A Prayer for those unaware, and it’s utterly genius.
I enjoy “Girl Gone Wild.” Like, a lot. In fact, the more I listen, the more I absolutely L-U-V the song. Besides, it’s going to sound MAJOR in the clubs.
Is this all a cop-out? An excuse? Am I being basic? Or perfectly Kat Delusional? Potentially. I’m a diehard fan, so it’s impossible for me to look at this one too objectively, folks. But as it turns out, I’ve simply run out of fucks in my inventory to give out regarding my own biases. We all have them, after all…
Frankly, I’d rather just shut up and dance.
MDNA will be released on March 26. (iTunes)