And you can dance, for inspiration...
For most of us who had trouble coming to terms with ourselves, Madonna’s music is a source of deliverance. And for most of us who have lost ourselves, the ecstatic release of dancing to her tracks has always had us found - and resolved.
Music can be such a revelation... Dancing around, you feel the sweet sensation.
That night at Club Government (25, August 2007, Saturday) was a sweet and sentimental adventure in nostalgia. Grooving to her earlier tracks like "Material Girl," "Cherished," and "Open Your Heart", was a reintroduction to the Madonna that I grew up with. Club Government hit the spot as they played on to Madonna's glorious early club hits! And of course, we have DJ Bam to congratulate for truly understanding the all-too-enthusiastic Madonna fan.
Madonna's earlier work is an expression of irreverence (“Justify My Love”), self discovery (“Like A Virgin”) and respect (“Live to Tell”). It was all about her Music – and with it is the drama, the entertainment and the redemption from our own self-inflicted decadence.
Only when I'm dancing can I feel this free...
Over the years, we have witnessed a woman whose search for self and transcendence had major impact on dance floors all over the world. During the early 80's and 90's, we had Madonna as a pop icon, whose tracks spell nothing but disco supremacy! I remember loving her Blond Ambitions Tour and chanting to songs like "Vogue", "Justify My Love" and "Express Yourself" - murmuring it to myself like some therapeutic prayer. Until she found spirituality...
For the later part of her career, her Kabbalist influence found its way to a new style of music, best rendered in her Ray of Light CD (1998) – complex, complicated and introspective. We tried to strut hits like "Frozen," "The Power of Goodbye," and "Nothing Really Matters," but it was only "Ray of Light" that found its way to the DJ's booth. The rest was an exercise of experimentation.
The Madonna that I know and love has very close ties with dance culture – nothing challenging or trancendentally entrancing. In all honesty, the Madonna that I know is all about sex and disco, and not spirituality and disco. It was all about, "Express yourself, don't repress yourself" and human nature.
I missed her for a time, and there she went – putting on a cowgirl suit and embracing me once again with Music (2000). She went back to claim her rightful place on the dance floor and renewed her faith with the beat.
Get up on your feet, yeah step to the beat... Boy what will it be...
Her latest work Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) are exaltations of empowerment and dignity – and yes, an aphorism of pride for every gay man as well. With Hung Up, she stands her ground with the line "I'm hanging up on you," turns her back with Sorry and reinstate her sentiments with "I can take care of myself", and declares her independence with Jump with the lines "I can make it alone".
For all that time that I was at Club Government last Saturday (25 August 2007), it was a cherished walk back to a memory that reminded me of Madonna's search for self – and how we mirrored our lives with her music. And to witness a crowd move and vent out her lyrics in full unison meant the affirmation of her influence.
So that every time we lose ourselves, we ought to get a Madonna track on our CD player... And just get into the groove...
Check out my Top 5 Madonna Must have CD's at www.circuitasia.com
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