I guess y'all Hard Candy stans are gonna need to give this long distance thing a go, because it's outta here. 63 SCORE: 8.239 2015 PLACEMENT: UP 6 - 69 of 210 (7.725) HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 21 (@nikkysan @aux @dodoriazarbon @eatyourself @djmakemewet @Dangerous Maknae @JMRGBY @Babyface @Jonathan27 @torontodj @dancingwithmyself @BreatheBox @Daniel_O @Drew @Sideout @joeee @Remorque @Digital Ghost @ufint @nametag @sexercise) LOWEST SCORE: 4 x 1 (@2014) MY SCORE: 8/10 So Hard Candy came out in April 2008, by the end of the year, Madonna and Guy Ritchie were divorced, with a settlement being reached in December 2008. It's... hard to not imagine the writing was most likely on the wall during the album's sessions. Listening to "Miles Away" now with all that in mind, along with some of MDNA's more stinging cuts, makes for some interesting thoughts. Although the song ends with a positive note (that distance has made everyone involved cherish.mp3 each other more), the overall vibe is far more melancholy. I think we've all been there at the dissolution of a relationship; where the windows of good times start to stay open for shorter and shorter amounts; the caveats required for things to be enjoyable mount up and up, and then of course, the revelation that all your best moments of late have been when the other person is nowhere to be seen, and that maybe you would both be happier with that distance being permanent. A tale as old as time, but we keeping telling it anyway. I'm not all that surprised that "Miles Away" has vaulted up to be Hard Candy's winner in the rate this time around, and I think if y'all took a wee second to think about it, you wouldn't be that surprised too. Like, not only is it just an all-round solid song but take a moment and think about what was happening around the time I was asking you to score it. In the last few months we've all had to sacrifice a lot of parts of our lives that we previously took for granted, and it's probably made our perception of them a little... rosier than it was before the pandemic hit. Absence makes the heart grow fonder is real, girls. I've been missing the dumbest, most menial of shit. I've even been missing people I don't like. So whether you're aware of it or not, I dew imagine asking you to score this April-June 2020 might have caused a subconscious +1 to a few ballots here and there. But that's just my two cents. This is a great Madonna song regardless. On an album that can sometimes a feel a little strange in terms of how botched some of the ideas get, this is one that feels executed perfectly. That campfire sing-a-long production adds an extra layer of intimacy to a song all about how the lack of it can bring clarity, while I feel it also has some of Madonna's best 00s lyrics ("Too much of no sound; uncomfortable silence can be so loud." is one of her best moments and I will happily fight anyone who disagrees.) in a decade where she... had a few clunkers. It's just... a very well made wistful love song that hits even harder knowing what she went through a few months after it came out, and harder still after everything we've gone through in the last few months. "Miles Away" was the third single from Hard Candy, but Madonna was deep into the tour at that point, so the sole bit of promotion it got was a compilation video of candid tour footage and her singing it on said tour, complete with stock footage of time lapse highways and sunsets and planes to generally denote travel. It was therefore, obviously, performed during the Sticky & Sweet Tour, but it hasn't surfaced since then. Enjoy both video and performance, although if you watch one, you've pretty much watched the other. Additional kii of her dedicating the song to Buenos Aires in the live performance when it's all about loving someone more when... you're nowhere near them nn. Hard Candy OUT.
Lucky Star Borderline Burning Up Holiday Like A Virgin Dress You Up Papa Don't Preach Open Your Heart Live To Tell La Isla Bonita Like A Prayer Express Yourself Till Death Do Us Part Cherish Oh Father Vogue Erotica Deeper And Deeper Bad Girl Thief Of Hearts Rain Secret Human Nature Bedtime Story Take A Bow Drowned World/Substitute For Love Swim Ray Of Light Skin Nothing Really Matters Sky Fits Heaven Frozen The Power Of Goodbye To Have And Not To Hold Music Impressive Instant Don't Tell Me What It Feels Like For A Girl Paradise (Not For Me) American Life Hollywood Nothing Fails Intervention X-Static Process Die Another Day Easy Ride Hung Up Get Together Sorry Future Lovers Forbidden Love Jump Isaac Ghosttown Medellín (Feat. Maluma) God Control Crave (Feat. Swae Lee) Into The Groove Crazy For You Justify My Love Rescue Me Beautiful Stranger
Miles Away has really aged like fine wine (much of the album has, which I don’t think anyone expected). Yeah I think Hard Candy generally did pretty decently and appropriately, with the right stuff hanging on longest, but never overstaying it’s welcome. Give It 2 Me could have stayed but yeah. It’s cool.
MDNA already covered in multple layers of dust. Hard Candy booted off way before top 50. Rebel Heart hanging on with a single song - despite having the hugest amount of tracks by far Madame X basically hanging on for recency bias - perhaps (?). The comeback corner came in hard and basically aren't enjoying Madonna anymore since she popped her pussy on a disco floor. And yes - before anyone comes: A top 100 in this rate is not even able to compare with other discographies.
Once again a lovely, thoughtful send off to an album @RJF . There's a touching symmetry between Miles Away and Love Spent being the last surviving tracks from each album that I appreciate.
I love Gone and Miles Away, but looking at the list of remaining songs I'm fine with them leaving now even if I have slightly lower scores.
Poor Gone. It’s such a lovely closer, and the lyrics resonate with me a lot. (Although anyone saying Easy Ride should have gone first is lying to themselves and everyone around them, and I’ll pray for you. x)
Surprised more of you aren't calling for Jump to vacate considering some of the comments I've read over the years. It's actually my lowest score left aside from the 3 or 4 '80s singles I prefer less than others.
Looking at the Wikipedia page and surprised to see Miles Away enjoyed a lot of success for a tour single (it was a top 10 in nine countries!). Aside from being an eternal supermarket hit in Lisbon, of course.
