MADONNA REACTION - Like A Prayer (Music Video)

[@benpogi4ever]

Madonna was WAY AHEAD of her time and always boldly spoke about and against prejudice, racism, and biases-- at a time when few (or NONE at all) artists would even dare to do so. She had several references to such subject matters in the music video which were superficially misunderstood by most religious platforms. 35 years later, she is more than redeemed-- she paved the way for people 9not just artists) to stand up for what they believe in.

[@anthonmessing3353]

Madonna is a master of adding layers of meanings to her music with the visuals.

[@benpogi4ever]

The black actor, Leon, plays two roles: An unjustly accused black man and as St. Martin de Porres, a patron saint of racial harmony.

[@mpourmpoulithra2011]

Queen of Pop 👑

[@zivo24]

A woman witnesses an act of evil and watches as an innocent man is falsely accused. The evil sees her and conveys through ljust a look that she should be in fear. She runs into a church seeking sanctuary and prays to a saint for guidance. She lies down on a pew and falls asleep and dreams of falling but is saved and lifted back up by an angel. She dreams of the saint coming to life, bestowing her with a kiss and then leaving the sanctuary of the church. She sees a knife that represents the weapon used to commit the act of evil she witnessed and when she touches it she comes away with stigmata, a symbol of both persecution and a savior. Her dream shifts into a phase of revelation and revelry. The burning crosses represent the intimidation that evil made her fear. She dances with her back to them as a show of empowerment. She is rejecting the fear. She wakes up and knows she must now be the savior for the falsely accused man and testify to his innocence and defeat evil. It’s not a coincidence that the same actor portrays the falsely accused man and the saint. It’s not a coincidence that the church and the jail are the same sets. The video was a collaboration between two incredibly creative women - Madonna and director Mary Lambert. It’s absolutely genius and gorgeous. The video caused Pepsi to pull the commercial she made for them after just one airing as well as the sponsorship of her upcoming tour. The pope himself condemned her. The song was a massive hit and the video is revered today, 35 years later. This was the first song and video she released from her fourth album which was the first album she made after negotiating more artistic control over her music. She literally risked her career for her artistic vision. She is and always was a bad ass boss.

[@NocturneSoul]

This song is basically a mystical poem. Mystical poetry was first written by Sufi poets such as Rumi, and later adopted by Christian priests and poets like Saint John of The Cross. Mystical poetry talks about religious ecstasy. It depicts the love for God as a passionate love, and even as a sensual love, where God is the "beloved" and the person is the "lover", those are the actual terms used in mystical poetry to talk about God. The love of a religious person for God is so strong and passionate that the person feels an urge, a burning desire of becoming one with God, and that union can only happen in "the dark hour" or "the midnight hour" which is when all physical senses are quiet. This song is inspired by the poem "The dark night of the soul" by Saint John of the Cross, and some elements in the video are representations from his poem "Burning flame of love".

[@ThefetchNZ]

Thankyou for this. I love learning new this. Time to research mystical poetry ❤

[@briandubois-gilbert8182]

Yeah, Madonna here portrayed in a dream like sequence of: beatific (religious) ecstasy and sexual ecstasy-both involved passion and fulfillment: one is spiritual, the other physical. She’s an artist that explores thought-provoking opposing themes and messaging in her songs, videos and live performances. Her work and advocacy using her artistic platform is to challenge norms, taboos, the establishment that often prejudice and marginalize segments of society. She believes in protest author, playwright James Baldwin’s quote…”the role of artists in society is to disturb the peace..”. For this, she has elicited backlash rooted in ignorance and bigotry. But for every detractor, she has also earned the admiration of millions of fans globally who appreciate her music, artistry and activism.

[@motttjames]

That’s one theory. Like a prayer is literally a simile so you have to ask yourself what is she comparing the act of prayer to? The answer is oral sex. I don’t think she is being particularly ambiguous about it. In the midnight hour i can feel your power… i’m down on my knees Im gonna take you there etc. She’s conflating religious and sexual ecstasy.

[@DaxtonKnight]

Can I ask you a question? By the way I'm a huge Madonna fan and I've known the meaning. I know what religious ecstacy is and what it means. Does it also mean becoming so religious and connected with a God as if you're in a trance and also sexual? Example someone getting high off of worshipping Jesus , having a statue of him or naked on the cross and falling in love at that moment feeling a sexual oneness. like in a trance of worship and in your mind and soul it turns to like a sacred sexual moment? Notice I said sacred , not lustful.

[@SeanWarren]

9:09 Yes, you are over thinking it.

[@ZakhadWOW]

I was living in Italy when this came out, and the Pope was railing against her.... but she got off the plane in Rome and said "Let he is without sin cast the first stone.".

[@DaxtonKnight]

Example to that would be all the sins the Popes have always done. One being always having little boys and it was normal for bishops to gatekeep what the Pope was doing. I know a lot about the Vatican and Popes so I do find it funny they had the nerve to do anything when Catholicism means "universal" and they worship Babylonian God's. They hide it with Catholicism but the Vatican is the closest to house of Satan there is .

[@itsakittyting]

The world was shocked when this first came out, my parents questioned me about it ( i was 14) and many people were mad AF saying it was disrespectful to the church but also because of the mixed race aspect of the video. They said it's about oral sex, i don't know, i just loved it back then, it was unlike anything else on the radio.She had a new look for every single song she put out.

[@ehuffnsd]

the song is about her mother. Madonna was named after her mother Madonna Louise "Donna" Fortin-Ciccone. she was the 3rd of six children and first daughter of Donna and her husband Silvo "Tony" Ciccone(she also has two younger half siblings). when Little Nonnie as she was called by family was 5 her mother at the age of 30 died from breast cancer. Being Catholic Donna's children offered prayers of intercession to their mother believing her to be a saint. Donna wrote letters to each of the people she believed her children would be at the age of 30 and Tony gave them as 30th birthday gifts. Madonna turned 30 august 1988 and began work on what became the Like A Prayer album in Sep and LAP was the first song written and recorded. Madonna has said she was blown away by how religious and joyful her mother was in her letter to her. in interviews from the era she mentioned how she remembered her mother sounding like an angel and she slept with a photo of her mother near her bed. The intro "life is a mystery everyone must stand alone ..." is her coming to terms that she'd out live her mother. hearing her name is like hearing her mother's name and prayers she offered as a child. all the verses like soundig like an angel, feeling the power around her, is her remembering and thinking of her mother. having lost her mother at 5 her mother was a mystery. the video is about institutional racism and her using the dreams of St Theresa of Avila as a basis. She sees a black man wrongly arrested and is threatened by the gang. she runs away and then sees a church and falls asleep in there while dreaming the statue of St Martin De Porres comee alive and then she sees God(the choir director) and they encourage her fight to racism(the dancing before the burning crosses) and then wakes up and goes and frees the wrongly accused black man. the intro guitar was by Prince. yes the same guy is playing St Martin and the guy arrested the live versions from The Blond Ambition World Tour, The Re-InVention Tour, The Sticky and Sweet Tour, The MDNA World Tour, The Rebel Heart World Tour, The Madame X Experience and The Celebration Tour are also amazing and all different

[@michaelhoadley6932]

I love that during the curtain call the girl who was attacked is sitting on the lap of the guy that stabbed her.

[@richardc8795]

Lyrics can be interpreted in many different ways. You’re just not paying attention to what’s happening in the video. This is about racism.

[@impopquiz]

Among a couple more.

[@Spideyweb300]

React to Madonna Hung Up next please!

[@KP-zi6jx]

I lived my prime in THE BEST era's of music...by here my 20's at Scorpio (massive gay bar) in Charlotte, NC...and just as 'Into The Groove' blew the roof off the place when it came out, 'Like A Prayer' had such a vibe, Madonna left it all on the dance floor again, everyone taken away into a different dimension throwin' down...different MADONNA, re-invented herself, and just as fuckin wonderful as any of her other club tracks of earlier era's.

[@todddepue681]

I wouldn't say you were overthinking at all. Madonna likes to write songs in a way that makes people ask questions. And the lyrics here definitely draw parallels between religious and romantic ecstasy. The video itself is not really about that. It's more pointedly about racism in America. The saint figure also plays the role of Good Samaritan, who was wrongly arrested when he tried to help the victim of the crime Madonna's character witnessed.

[@timfahey7127]

The director of this video (Mary Lambert) says she was comparing the persecution of jesus christ to racism. FYI👍👍👍👍

[@nataliaxo6239]

Love you Newfie!! So happy you're doing this song! I fell in love with you because we feel the same way about Shakira 😅❤

[@vegan.rex_8]

More Madonna please 🙏Do check out Power of goodbye (sequel to frozen), You'll see and True blue

[@mtgdragons7515]

Back in the 80s MTV days this video was so controversial with the burning crosses and a colored Saint kissing a white Madonna. If memory serves this was supposed to be part of a Pepsi commercial and the backlash was so big that even the Vatican and the Pope got involved! of course since then many other female singers and Madonna herself and done much more risque videos but she was always trying to push boundaries which is why she is still a legend and still active all these years later.

[@alidap2061]

Who cares what pope thinks😂😂

[@briandubois-gilbert8182]

Despite the controversy this video elicited, the bottom line in this narrative is: Madonna portrayed a frightened young woman who seeked sanctuary/prayed inside a church after witnessing a violent crime. She fell asleep, and in her dream she found inspiration from a Black saint, that gave her the courage to come forward as a witness to the crime that freed the wrongly accused man who resembled the Black saint. Madonna here was advocating for racial justice, racial harmony and mixed race relations. Of course religious and racist bigots condemned her for the imagery and messaging in this video.

[@charlesbarnes6912]

The song is amazing I can remember when I was a kid this was so controversial 🤘

[@belkyhernandez8281]

I'm an atheist but it strikes me that people cannot fathom she is talking about a relationship. She is talking about her relationship to GOD yet people miss that.

[@KrystalAnn0688]

I looove Leon ❤

[@maastohousu]

In video white guys robbed girl and cops arrested wrong man. Madonna saw man who was arrested was innocent. I think video is about doing right things and people not be racist. Love from Finland.

[@zanyzander]

"When you call my name (Madonna), it's like a little prayer" = Madonna the artist + Madonna the Virgin Mary. So when her lover says/cries out her name during sex, it sounds like he's praying to Mother Mary. A lot of her lyrics have multiple meanings.

[@Christian_Adonis1]

Madonna & the director, Mary Lambert, have both stated the song is about religious & sexual ecstasy, the video story is that a a white woman was murdered and a black man came to her aid and was unjustly arrested. Madonna goes to the church to find guidance and strength to come forward and tell the truth.Likely set in the south, hence the burning crosses, it was a very powerful project by Madonna. She signed a $5million commercial & Tour deal with Pepsi, her commercial was shown once then pulled along with her Pepsi deal, though she got to keep the $5mill. Apparently racist America wasn’t ready for a white female performer of her stature to stand up against racism and bigotry.Any lesser star would have ended their career during this time, but we know how that turned out.😊

[@therealdr.ripvhs]

The lyrics of the song dont necessarily match the video for this song. While the song could be interpreted either as a song to a lover, or to God, the video tells a story. Madonna’s character witnesses a murder, and the wrong man gets arrested. Madonna flees to the church, and stands in front of the statue of a black saint (said to be the patron saint of interracial relationships). She then drifts into a dream state, where the statue comes to life. As she flashes back to how the crime happened, it’s interspersed with images of burning crosses, signifying the racist elements of law enforcement against black people. She feels convicted, wakes from her dream, and gets the wrongly imprisoned man (who looks exactly like the saint) freed. As noted elsewhere, Madonna had a $5 million sponsorship from Pepsi, and they were going to sponsor her tour but then this video came out and everyone freaked the fuck out because of the religious and racial images, Pepsi was boycotted, and they dropped their sponsorship (although she kept the $5 million). Last year, Pepsi celebrated the anniversary of the fiasco by basically apologizing and saying she was right.

[@richardc8795]

Well done. At least he gets an explanation for this video. Dude has lost. 😆

[@therealdr.ripvhs]

@@richardc8795 to be fair, nobody in 1989 could figure it out either 😆

[@franklinloo-e7u]

Please react to Like a Virgin Blond Ambition Tour, greetings from Panama.

[@blueeyes4910]

A new version made especially for theA new version made especially for the film Deadpool has also been released film Deadpool has also been released

[@MrDemimonde]

The lyrics in the chorus could be a double entendre so you're not wrong about the sexual implication!

[@moonwynde1]

Try Isla Bonita…. Early great stuff!

[@richardc8795]

Live from the Girlie Show ♥️

[@davidtroupe2763]

Great KZbin... Gotta check out 'God Control' music video from Madonna album Madame X (it's about Gun Control)

[@rumbledumpthumpershaker6735]

Blame director Mary Lambert for making a video that didn't match the song. Of course Madonna didn't stop it. The video is about her witnessing the rape and murder of a woman and the wrong man arrested. She winds up praying to St. Martin de Porres about whether to come forward or not. The song has nothing to do with any of that. By the way this song was recently used in a very popular movie.

[@magickalempath]

Go back and rewatch the video, try to ignore the music. The black guy was falsely arrested for the murder of that girl that the 4 white guys did...and Madonna seeing it, didn't do anything. So I hear it as, I will be there like a prayer from here on out

[@cliffordputnam4197]

Your way off bass. But I love watching you! If you think 'I get down on my knees ' means something, you should watch 'soul Kiss' by Olivia Newton John ❤

[@Atomie-19]

Mm

[@Inked-Smash]

My way too young sexual awakening video and no regrets 😂 compared to what I’ve witnessed in videos the last 20 years. But queer awakening for sure!!

[@billreusing9149]

a kiss isn’t always making out 🤦🏻‍♂️ seems like you completely missed the reference to racism as a social issue that wasn’t really being addressed in the 1980’s

[@Telmaandl6]

Кино❤😊❤😊❤😊❤

[@jesusalejandromayenfonseca2578]

Finally react to Madonna. Please do more reaction of your videos, specially justify my love or erotica. 💙

[@michaeljennings-d8q]

Woah, way over your head i guess

[@ArmandoDimanche]

With Madonna, BOTH connotations can be true about her songs🤭🤭🤭😹😹😹

[@cristianhuertasilva8748]

The song compare the religious extasis and the sexual extasis.

[@DawnMorelli-r7f]

Idk, I have a feeling that you're looking at Madonna and making the rest up in your head, lol.

[@herobreaker9011]

Nope, he's right

[@bl00dygoodtimes_]

are you ever going to react to "taste" by sabrina carpenter?

[@ClaudiaVerónicaCiccone]

Hello !!! I liked your reaction!!! Please reacts to Madonna: The power of goodbye!!!

[@Blogodiseablog]

Don't think the song has any meaning related to the video. The video is about racism with some notes of sex and religion

[@victorcoutinho156]

How old are you ? 14 ?

[@michaeljennings-d8q]

Your reaction to this was really odd. It’s like you weren’t even watching it. It’s a pretty straight forward video. The song itself isn’t 100% connected to the video. Like most videos of its time

[@gxl5892]

She see's the black man being arrested for a crime he did commit. She falls asleep on the church pew and has this dream about her relationship with her spiritual being and her God about what she saw and what she should do about it, she does the right thing and goes to the police station and tells the police officer that he did do it and they release him. The lyrics completely support this story line.

[@moonwynde1]

Or maybe the Lip Sync Battle version with The Rock and Jimmy Fallon!

[@kakumei77]

You saw Deadpool

[@richninety]

Please can you react to your fellow Canadian Tate McRae’s new music video for her new track called It’s Ok I’m Ok dropping at 8pm ET today ❤ it’ll be the song of the moment

[@donnajean3202]

Blasphemy !!!

[@Christian_Adonis1]

Also, the guy arrested is not the same guy who plays the black saint. She’s having a dream sequence when she imagines herself with the convicted man,which I always understood the motive of the murder was, the other white woman was in a biracial relationship, and was the reason she was killed.