Her Madgesty is celebrating her 60th birthday this month so we’re dedicating August to the Queen of Pop. We will be picking our A to Z of Madonna singles each day this month as well as asking you to vote for your favourite Madonna album.
Today is brought to you by the letter A.
A is for American Life. It was the lead single from Madonna’s 9th studio album of the same name and caused quite a stir, as Madonna often does. We’re not just talking about anti-American dream sentiment of the song and the controversial video but Madonna’s rapping skills! ‘I’m drinking a soy latte, I get a double shotte’ leads the rapped middle 8 before she lists all her staff. Madonna has always known how to make people react and we think she had her tongue firmly planted in her cheek here, but not without a serious message.
Single facts
- Released in April 2003, American Life entered and peaked at no.2 on the UK singles chart
- It spent just one week inside the UK top 10
- It was co-written by Madonna and Mirwais. Madonna has recently posted on social media that she’s back in the studio with the writer/producer
- Two videos were shot for the song with a more controversial video which had a fashion runway show highlighting the atrocities of war, but this was held back due to the political climate. The video you see above was used in its place.
Other notable A’s in Madonna’s massive repertoire of singles include her cover of Don McLean’s American Pie, early hit Angel and Another Suitcase in Another Hall from the Evita movie soundtrack.
Did we pick the right song for the letter A? What shall we pick for B tomorrow? Tell us on our social media channels @entfocusmusic
See our other choices (updated daily) in our Madonna A to Z of singles.
