Sire Records | Through the Shattered Lens

Jedadiah Leland wrote and very good review on the 1986 crime drama At Close Range (dir. by James Foley) that brought up some nostalgic memories growing up as a teenager during the 1980’s. Pretty much every teenage boy had a crush on Madonna when she first debut and the years following. I wasn’t immune to such a crush.

The latest “Song of the Day” is Live to Tell”, a song that Madonna co-wrote and co-produced with songwriter and film composer Patrick Leonard for At Close Range who also happened to star her-then husband Sean Penn. “Live to Tell” was a major departure for the pop-centric Madonna in that it was a bluesy, torch ballad that evoked feelings of regret and the scars of childhood tragedy.

Even Madonna’s look in the accompanying video shows her in a much more toned-down and mature image that brought to mind singers and actresses of the 1940’s and 50’s. Ironically, while the song itself was one of Madonna’s least controversial releases during her early years, her performance of the song during 2006’s Confessions Tour was seen as controversial by the Roman Catholic Church due to her hanging from a cross on stage.

Live to Tell

I have a tale to tell
Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well
I was not ready for the fall
Too blind to see the writing on the wall

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned till then it will burn inside of me

I know where beauty lives
I’ve seen it once
I know the warmth she gives
The light that you could never see
It shines inside you can’t take that from me…

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned till then it will burn inside of me…

The truth is never far behind
You’ve kept it hidden well
If I live to tell the secret I knew then
Will I ever have the chance again?

If I ran away
I’d never have the strength to go very far
How would they hear the beating of my heart…?
Will it grow cold?
(will it grow cold?)
The secret that I hide
Will I grow old?
How will they hear?
When will they learn?
How will they know…?

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned till then it will burn inside of me…

The truth is never far behind
You’ve kept it hidden well
If I live to tell the secret I knew then
Will I ever have the chance again…?
A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned till then it will burn inside of me…

“No more masquerade, you’re one lonely star”

Pushing the line of what constitutes old school for me would be when the 1990’s started to move into the mid-1990’s. I was still young enough to remember high school, but already a couple years from having graduated from it in 1994. One of the last few old school songs that made the cut for this list was the one song where I fully bought into Madonna as an artist and not just a great performer.

“Take A Bow” was a single off of her Bedtime Stories album and it couldn’t be more opposite from her previous work. For one thing, it was written by R&B producer extraordinaire Babyface.

The video for this song was a nice touch in using the bullring in Antequera, Spain as the set with Madonna channeling golden age glam. Definitely not the sort of look her fans have been used to for years before this album.

It works as a ballad and the video itself turned out to be a nice short film that help tell the story behind the lyrics.