This is, I think, Madonna’s attempt at an endeavour like George Michael's similarly religiously named Faith, namely an attempt to prove that she’s more than just a pop artist. It’s here that she also courts controversy (which seems so tame with hindsight) by mixing religious and sexual imagery in her videos and stage shows. Religious conservative types are just so boringly easy to agitate it’s not even fun.
That said, the lyrics of the songs are not especially controversial even when they touch on matters of faith, probably the biggest single from this – Like A Prayer – for example, which is an assured sophisticated track blending gospel with pop-funk. On the other hand, Oh Father is a simply-arranged piano-led ballad that touches on abuse, and could be in equal parts about an abusive parent as it could be about losing faith. This is, I’m sure, entirely deliberate if the “father” is an abusive parent or an abusive God - “You’ll never hurt me, I got away from you”.
Parent-child relationships are touched on from a different angle in Dear Jessie, which sounds a bit like an XTC track with its slightly music-box sense evolving into a waltz; it’s a love song to a child that speaks of wonder and protection. Songwriter Patrick Leonard wrote it for his daughter, Madonna had not yet, I think, become a parent herself.
Express Yourself is one of the most traditional pop numbers, opening with the exhortation “C’mon girls!”, somewhere between Cindi Lauper and a Kylie track written by Stock, Aitken & Waterman. It does, however, carry lyrics of female empowerment under the horn stings. Elsewhere Madonna flexes her vocal chops a little, with a fairly soulful duet with Prince on Love Song (which for a track featuring two Eighties pop icons has remained oddly obscure). On Spanish Eyes she has a touch of bluesy grit to her voice.
I came away from Faith surprised by how much I liked it and a new respect for George Michael. This one, I think, didn’t radically make me a big Madonna fan. It’s okay, I have nothing against pop, but it doesn’t always float my boat very high.
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