Information about the artist: Madonna
Brief Bio:
Madonna born in 1958 "is an American recording artist, actress, and entrepreneur". She has been active within the industry since 1979. Madonna "followed it with a series of albums in which she found immense popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV...Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time by the Guinness World Records...Considered to be one of the '25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century' by Time for being an influential figure in contemporary music, Madonna is known for continuously reinventing both her music and image, and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry".
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Madonna Like a Prayer album Source: Album Cover Art "Express Yourself" from the Like a Prayer album |
"Express Yourself" song/video info:
Released: May 9, 1989
Written and Produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray
Recognition: The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in 1989
Video: Directed by David Fincher
Video Premiere: May 17, 1989
Video Recognition:
- Ranked #1 of Slant Magazine's "100 Greatest Music Videos"
- Ranked #10 Rolling Stone's "The Top 100 Music Videos"
- Ranked #10 MTV's "Greatest Videos Ever Made"
-Ranked #3 MuchMusic's "Top 100 Videos of The Century"
Video Analysis:
Even from the first few seconds of the music video it is clear to the viewer that, as noted the inspiration came from the 1927 film Metropolis.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
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| Source: Most Expensive World Metropolis Movie Poster |
A trailer for Metropolis
However, the setting could represent any classic industrialized dystopian society where humanity and feelings may not be recognized or acknowledged. Also, in Metropolis classes are separated between the planners and the workers.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" Mother "Madonna" Goose |
After a few scenes of an industrialized looking city we see Madonna on top of an angry looking goose and she shouts:
"Come on girls! Do you believe in love? 'Cause I got something to say about it! And it goes something like this:"
Madonna saying that preamble to her song seems like a prologue to a story. Also, with her on top of a goose, it reminded me of the classic Mother Goose Nursery rhymes that served sometimes to teach children lessons through the stories. Perhaps Madonna feels she is another form of Mother Goose for adult females, and her goal is to teach them about love. Further, with the thought of Madonna being a modernized Mother Goose character, her name also has religious meaning as Madonna, Virgin Mother of Christ. So, perhaps that was considered in this choice of the goose.
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| Source: askSam Mother Goose |
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| Source: "Express Yourself" A worker |
Don't go for second best baby
Put your love to the testYou know, you know, you've got toMake him express how he feelsAnd maybe then you'll know your love is real Source: elyrics.net
So, judging from Madonna's chorus for "Express Yourself", it is pretty obvious that this song is about women not settling for men that do not demonstrate their love to you. Madonna encourages women to test their man's love for them in order for him to show that it is real. Just from the chorus Madonna conveys the message in this song that women need to make active and conscious choices regarding the men they date and not to settle for one who does not meet what you expect. This relates to most feminist ideologies that men and women should be seen as equals, and therefore have equal decision making within the dating process. Madonna most likely chose to focus on women's decision making and thinking within relationships because women are typically seen as more silent if they are unhappy in a relationship or let the man control it. Thus, Madonna serves the role as story-teller to teach women to have control over the direction and choices of their relationships.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
We see Madonna overlooking the city from above. This shows that she has a position of control and in relation to Metropolis she could be the created by a planner.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
We can also see that Madonna is holding a cat, which is generally seen more as a feminine animal, especially compared to a dog. Also, a cat is sometimes called a pussy, which is a slang term for a woman that is normally derogative. However, with the symbolism of the cat, Madonna adds the empowering element that the "pussy" has control. The cat metaphor makes sense within the context of the music video.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
The lyrics further explain why Madonna seems to be in a position of power:
You don't need diamond rings
Or eighteen karat gold
Fancy cars that go very fast
You know they never last, no, no
What you need is a big strong hand
To lift you to your higher ground
Make you feel like a queen on a throne
Make him love you till you can't come down
(You'll never come down) Source: elyrics.net
Her lyrics fit the overall message to women that they should expect more out of men and relationships. Madonna seems to hold a place of power and appears to be a queen of the society she lives in.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" The workers |
As she is singing that section men appear to be below her tower overlooking the city. Having them seem below her and hard at work makes sense with the lyrics literally and symbolically. In the literal sense the men are her slaves or subjects as she is their queen. However, I don't believe that is Madonna's applicable message with this video. I think that having then men work hard below her symbolizes how Madonna causes the men to put in effort in order to be with her, and that the men below her are her possible men to date. The men are the workers in relation to Metropolis and may not be able to display the love that Madonna craves. The men below her are competing against one another for her attention to show her who is the strongest. The strongest hand can be taken in physical strength as the video shows and possibly mental and emotional strength in order to impress Madonna. The actions of the men shows that they are trying to show their love for her.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
The chorus plays again but this time it seems to be broad casted throughout the factory over the loud speaker.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" The Planner |
An older male who seems to hold a position of authority over the younger worker males looks up with almost a look of displeasure, perhaps as though Madonna's message should not be heard by the workers.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
One worker looks up at the speaker in wonder signifying that maybe he has never heard Madonna's voice before, was not supposed to hear her message or did not know that she existed. The older male noticed the reaction of the younger male to Madonna's message over the speaker. Because this younger male broke from his work to listen to Madonna may signify his importance in the video.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
Then we see Madonna dressed in a very feminine lingerie looking outfit.
The lyrics during this section are:
Long stem roses are the way to your heartBut he needs to start with your headSatin sheets are very romanticWhat happens when you're not in bedYou deserve the best in lifeSo if the time isn't right then move onSecond best is never enoughYou'll do much better baby on your own(Baby on your own) Source: elyrics.net
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
During this section Madonna is dancing sensually behind different screens that makes her appear to be naked. The cuts between her dancing and the younger male seemingly fantasizing about her. These lyrics also can be seen empowering for women, especially since when she is singing them she is dancing very sensually. Therefore, the overall message of this verse is that you can give me nice things but we will not have sex until you acknowledged my intelligence, and if you are not good enough then I will move on. So really this message to women shows that sticking around with a man who seems second best to you isn't worth it and these lyrics can be taken as words of encouragement to have the bravery to leave him even if you might be alone. These seem to be very positive lyrics to women who might feel oppressed by the man they are with, and could lack the confidence to leave him. While a song cannot automatically change a person's life most of the time, however this song could gradually help a woman gain confidence within herself to make smart decisions upon her life.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
After it appears that the young man is fantasizing about Madonna, she appears in the factory dancing in a suit. This gesture could symbolize how she is equal to a man by wearing a suit but still maintains her feminity because she shows off her bra during the dance. On the other hand, it could be mocking the older men who may actually be in power, and by her wearing a suit shows that they are less important than they seem. Other artists such as Cyndi Lauper wore suits in their music videos, and it could represent establishing an equality with men by wearing a typically male outfit.
Also the chorus is sung during the suit dance:
Don't go for second best baby
Put your love to the test
You know, you know, you've got to
Make him express how he feels
And maybe then you'll know your love is real
Put your love to the test
You know, you know, you've got to
Make him express how he feels
And maybe then you'll know your love is real
Express yourself
(You've got to make him)
Express himself
Hey, hey, hey, hey
So if you want it right now, make him show you how
Express what he's got, oh baby ready or not
Source: elyrics.net
(You've got to make him)
Express himself
Hey, hey, hey, hey
So if you want it right now, make him show you how
Express what he's got, oh baby ready or not
Source: elyrics.net
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
The young man saw her dance in the factory and watched her intently.
Then we see the older man who is in a suit. He appears to be able to control a chamber of live musicians with a remote control.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" The Planner |
After the scene of the suited man controlling the musicians we see Madonna heavily chained, especially by the neck in bed. One can believe that perhaps the suited man possesses the control, even over Madonna and her message of expressing oneself can even be sung to herself.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
Madonna has said in regards to "Express Yourself" that, "The ultimate thing behind the song is that if you don't express yourself, if you don't say what you want, then you're not going to get it. And in effect you are chained down by your inability to say what you feel or go after what you want." Therefore, when Madonna is chained it may show her inability to be with the person she want to be with.
During the chained up scene Madonna sings:
And when you're gone he might regret it
Think about the love he once had
Try to carry on, but he just won't get it
He'll be back on his knees
Think about the love he once had
Try to carry on, but he just won't get it
He'll be back on his knees
Perhaps the suited man is Madonna's past lover and she is trying to escape him. While she was in the green dress overlooking the city this could have actually been her in captivity, and that is why he seemed surprised to hear her voice over the speaker. Then when she essentially expressed herself while wearing her suit, she demonstrated to the others how one can break free of the oppression. However, she had yet to really go after what she wants and so she is still chained. She also may be chained, if she had been created by the suited man. Then he would feel he had ownership over her.
Madonna appears to be acting like a cat while crawling under the table. She even takes a lick out of a cat bowl. Perhaps in doing this she is trying to get what she wants.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
As Madonna is crawling under the table like a cat. The scene is shown briefly through a clear globe held up by 3 men statues. We see this as she sings:
"To lift you to your higher ground". This signifies that the men are her support system.
I also thought that it reminded me of the M.C. Escher painting.
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| Source: New Optical Illusions |
This could provide the idea that her power is actually an illusion and is trying to assert herself through her cat-like behavior. Or the whole societal structure is an illusion because the planner may believe he holds all the power, especially over Madonna, but the one with the heart has the most power.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
While Madonna is acting like a cat, we see the main young male petting her cat. This can lead one to believe that she lost her cat. We later see him returning the cat to her. The young man's gesturing of returning her cat and possibly risking his life to do so, could be an example of a man expressing his love for her.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
We can see that he wears a chain around his neck but it is broken from any longer connecting chain. This can show show he expressed and freed himself of oppression because he went after what he wanted.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
While one young male is on a quest to return Madonna's cat, the other young men are fighting in the factory. This could be how the other men decide to express themselves as they realize others are doing the same, such as the cat returner.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
The suited man seems to recognize that he has lost control of the factory and that Madonna may be with another man.
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| Source: "Express Yourself" |
Madonna must have appreciated the young man returning her cat because she ends up very intimate with him. A scene where the couple are together the lyrics "express yourself, so you can respect yourself" are sung. This holds a great importance to the song and overall message to women during the beginning stages of the sex scene. Madonna portrays the message that women (or men) need to be clear on what he or she wants when faced with intimate situations that could lead to sex, so that by the end of it he or she can maintain their self respect. And with self respect, he or she can have self confidence to express his or her further, and it will hopefully become a positive cycle. Also, during this scene neither person is completely dominant with their movements together. The mutual fooling around together expresses equality between them.
Lyrics during the ending sections:
Express yourself
(You've got to make him)
Express himself
Hey, hey, hey, hey
So if you want it right now, make him show you how
Express what he's got, oh baby ready or not
Express yourself
(You've got to make him)
So you can respect yourself
Hey, hey
So if you want it right now, then make him show you how
Express what he's got, oh baby ready or not source: elyrics.net
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| Source: "Express Yourself" The ending scene with Madonna's eyes over the city may show that she had control all along. |
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| Source: "Express Yourself" The moral of the story. |
This quote by Madonna, has reference to Metropolis because the workers are the hands and the planners are the minds. Madonna portrayed a dystopian society because there were very few mediators between the hands and minds. In order to achieve having a heart, one has to express themselves and tell or show what they want to others.
"Express Yourself" is a demonstration of Liberal Feminism.
"Liberal feminism asserts the equality of men and women through political and legal reform. It is an individualistic form of feminism and theory, which focuses on women’s ability to show and maintain their equality through their own actions and choices. Liberal feminism looks at the personal interactions of men and women as the starting ground from which to transform society into a more gender-equitable place."
"Express Yourself" is a demonstration of Liberal Feminism.
"Liberal feminism asserts the equality of men and women through political and legal reform. It is an individualistic form of feminism and theory, which focuses on women’s ability to show and maintain their equality through their own actions and choices. Liberal feminism looks at the personal interactions of men and women as the starting ground from which to transform society into a more gender-equitable place."
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