SCORE: 8.691 11 x 1 @fatyoshi 2015 PLACEMENT: DOWN 7 - 29 of 210 (8.603) HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 51 (@nikkysan @AshtrayHeart @funkyg @Vasilios @aux @Butterfly @dodoriazarbon @P'NutButter @eatyourself @Sprockrooster @rav4boy @2014 @Remyky22 @Cutlery @Suburbia @matthew. @gezza76 @GimmeWork @Mirwais Ahmadzaï @Phonetics Boy @Mjg0806 @Andy French @torontodj @theelusivechanteuse @Dreampopboy @FridayNight @Modeblock @scottdisick94 @Drew @unnameable @citoig @joeee @DinahLee @aaronhansome @SloMover @Bleu Noir @BEST FICTION @Michael17 @Crisp X @Epic Chocolat @Pop Life @clowezra @wintersleep @evilsin @KingBruno @Remorque @Digital Ghost @sexercise @Music Is Life @FrozenNight @Bangers&Bops) LOWEST SCORE: 4 x 1 (@Filippa) MY SCORE: 7.5/10 Madonna has spent her entire wielding her very self like a weapon. Every facet of her was sharpened and honed to attack anyone who opposed it. I don't think this was something exclusive to her either; in general, the generation of girls who came up with her were... caustic, and closed, and defensive about and to one another. You only need to watch those YouTube videos of Janet and Whitney and Mariah and Cher being shady about Madonna literally decades ago to understand. And let's be clear: I seriously doubt Janet and Mariah and Cher have any ill will towards Madonna these days. One of the last testimonials we have of Whitney is her getting her life to Madonna's Super Bowl set in a hotel bar. People have been pitting women against one another for all of time, because the easiest way to eradicate something as a threat is to turn it on itself. So on they went; supplying us GIFs and memes we would use for eternity. So, after an entire career of her identity being used to cut like a knife, we arrive at "What It Feels Like A Girl", which is... an oddly soft, candid, informative breakdown about gender stereotypes, gender inequality, and how generally... being a girl is fucking hard. It's also a subject I am entirely ill equipped to speak on... and I don't really think I want to, either. If the female voters in the thread would like to maybe speak on this song in terms of why it works (or why it doesn't), I open the floor to you. My role as a host to Madonna's discography has limits, and... I feel like talking about the burdens of womanhood and even femininity as a whole is part of that. It's y'all's story to tell. The song has actually never been performed live on tour by Madonna, at least traditionally, but is surely sorely due an outing on the next tour. The first time it appeared was on the Drowned World, where it acted as a shockingly effective commentary on how violence towards women is... sexualised, and fetishised. It's a remarkable interlude that makes the most of its appearance on an economical setlist. The song was actually performed by Madonna during the promo tour for Music, where... she did two dates, one in New York and one in London, and bizarrely heartwarmingly dedicated the song to "all the pop bitches out there" and later "to every girl who did it" and when you consider the amount of pop girls there are now to worship VS how many there were twenty, thirty years ago, you can't help but tip your glass to. The video, using the Above & Beyond Remix and directed by Guy Ritchie, is also a marvellous ode to female rage. I wonder if he even realises. All of the above is below, as per. Enjoy!
Excellent elimination! To be honest, I thought it would last even longer. I rated the album version of "What It Feels Like for a Girl", and comparing it to the majority of that album, it felt painfully bland and I was really disappointed, despite being perfectly pleasant. The melody doesn't really click with me, either. It's my joint lowest remaining score with a 6 and now I'm only down to one of that score.
Sonically, this song is what it feels like to have a refreshing shower. It just sounds so cool and rejuvenating.
Great, great 11 pick @fatyoshi ! This is my favorite out of the three Music singles. It's certainly due partially to the effective Cement Garden dialogue at the beginning, but the subdued production (that reminds me of Björk's "microbeat" approach while writing Vespertine) paired with M's smooth delivery and evocative images in the lyrics to support the theme, I love it all. I also hold a soft spot for it due to the absolutely random version in Spanish that doesn't sound excessively butchered! Poor Spanish Lesson, I'm Going Bananas, etc
People rave on about the video mix but the album version is it for me. This song is timeless. Why the fuck is Jump still here and outlasting all these important songs?
In all seriousness, when this song was released as a single, it felt so different to everything else in the charts, (Linkin Park, Sumantha Mumba, Emma Bunton, etc, so much variety) but yet, fitted in so well. One of my personal favourites by Madonna, the production is lush and liquid-like, when she kicks in with the pre-chorus my heart melts, and that video and remix... a moment.
I gave 'What It Feels Like For A Girl' a 9. I love the little synth chirrups under the chorus. My favourite lyrics are 'Hurt that's not supposed to show, And tears that fall when no one knows. When you're trying hard to be your best, Could you be a little less?' They spoke to me a lot as a teenager. Ray Of Light songs make up a fifth of the Top 35. Legend.
I am decidedly not a girl, but this song speaks to me on such a deep level just the same as someone who grew up closeted and Catholic, and has been dealing with and unpacking the neuroses that come with that for at least a decade. It is tremendously difficult to navigate this world when you feel like nobody understands or cares to understand you, particularly if you have to shrink yourself down or feel the pressure to "be a little less" just to get by as an "other", and while I can't speak on its efficacy re: the experience of being female, as a queer person I've always found immense comfort in What It Feels Like For A Girl. And as a song, it's absolutely beautiful. The warm guitar that holds the entire piece down and sounds like a rolling green pasture, one of Madonna's most sincere vocal performances, extremely evocative lyrics, and some of Guy Sigsworth's best overall production...I adore it and always have.
I hope this means that "Justify My Love" is leaving next, ideally followed by "Rain" and "Don't Tell Me", so I will no longer have any sub-7 scores.
The way I wanted to make a "What It Feels Like For A Somewhat Girl" joke somewhere in my post and couldn't figure out how to incorporate it dljasfklj
Two 6.5's and a 6, respectively. The former isn't my thing, but I never got the overwhelming love for the other two. Sorry.mp3
