Oh Father - Madonna | FIRST TIME VIEWING REACTION

This is my reaction to the music video for "Oh Father" by Madonna.
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American pop icon Madonna released "Oh Father" as the fourth single from her acclaimed 1989 album Like A Prayer. The emotionally charged ballad, written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Original video: • Madonna - Oh Father [O...
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#madonna #ohfather #reaction #1989 #madonnareaction #80smusic

[@myfriendisaac]

“Haunting, ethereal, & poignant!” You nailed it perfectly 🖤💐🎬

[@bentoth6377]

Hands down a masterpiece

[@AceM-Reacts]

💯

[@steven-yu3tu]

Great interpretation. The funeral scene with her mothers lips sewn shut is an actual memory that Madonna has spoken of on a few occasions. Masterpiece and work of art are two perfect adjectives. Very few pop singers bring this level of artistry to their music, videos and tours. Madonna is leagues ahead of her peers in this genre and category.

[@AceM-Reacts]

💯 Agreed. With its dark tone and unsettling moments, the video is so genuine and cleverly shot that it becomes art.

[@ernestgutierrez6428]

Work of art is so accurate. It’s mature, emotive, provocative, beautifully shot, symbolic, and autobiographical. Thank you Ace. It does tug at the heart strings, which is partly what art does. The death of her mother at age 6 certainly altered her trajectory in life, fueling her constant need for self reliance and perfectionism. Thanks again

[@Matuteilcapo]

As you said, a masterpiece. David Fincher and her created some of her best. She was her muse and collaborator. It always makes me feel emotional... Powerful video indeed.

[@AceM-Reacts]

I totally agree. Very powerful. Elaborate on many levels and simple on others.

[@rowanmayfair9249]

I love the difference between the first and second "I never felt so good about myself". The first was her lying to herself. The second was the healed version of herself.

[@salonglosswoodstock5773]

Madonna also depicts the image of her mother's sewn lips on the cover of her Madame X album where she styled as a likeness of her mother and the words Madsme X are sewn through her lips.

[@AceM-Reacts]

Interesting. I just googled that album cover to see it for myself. It definitely looks inspired.

[@salonglosswoodstock5773]

@AceM-Reacts I just saw this on Wikipedia regarding the album cover- In an interview with iHeartRadio's The Box, Madonna disclosed that she is representing her mother on the cover, Madonna Fortin, as the picture depicts what she looked like, and it meant a lot to her.[34] Madonna's mother's lips were sewn shut when she died, which was previously depicted in the music video for "Oh Father" (1989)

[@gozzywozzy485]

Oh Father is top tier Madonna. Like a fine wine the song and video just get better and better with repeated plays. #chefskiss great review!

[@AceM-Reacts]

Agreed. The song itself is a bit abstract in arrangement, so it takes some getting used to, but the more I heard it, the more I liked it, and the video clinched it.

[@Lemarcus03]

Most of the videos from Like a Prayer were very well done with Great Artistry & Symbolism (IMHO) 🙏

[@AceM-Reacts]

Agreed. The Like A Prayer era has produced masterclass videos. So far the only one that's questionable is Dear Jessie, and even that had some peaks.

[@blueeyes4910]

Hello, the scene of the closed lips It is an indelible scene in Madonna's memories, so much so that on the cover of her 2019 album Madam X she was photographed with a look inspired by her mother and with an inscription on her lips that seem to sew her

[@gregorygniotczynski8868]

A+++++++++++++++++ You most eloquently critiqued one of Madonna's best videos!

[@AceM-Reacts]

Thank you so much, I appreciate your saying that!

[@marcdany1]

Just as you say, a masterpiece! and Madonna has some masterpiece videos but this is one of the best ones, if not the best...

[@AceM-Reacts]

💯

[@Yestequesecree]

Dude, that was on point. Great reaction for sure.

[@fabianafran927]

As you wisely said it is a true masterpiece, your analysis is always on point! Madonna made history this May 04th. 2024 here in Brazil in Rio de Janeiro with her last show of the Celebration tour, at the Copacabana beach, with an audience of 2 million people. It was amazing!

[@AceM-Reacts]

*** Woot, woot *** 40 years and still killing it!

[@deborahjohnson8735]

This is my favorite song and video by Madonna. I relate to it personally. I've watched many reactions to the song and yours hit the nail on the head and was the best that I've seen. The song and video are both masterpieces and I feel like they were both overlooked, especially with the very powerful subject matter.

[@romek257]

i love yours reaction

[@AceM-Reacts]

Thanks a lot for saying that and for watching!

[@claudeghanimeh1728]

GREAT REACTION AND INTERPRETATION ❤ THANK U❤

[@MrLouis2865]

Yes agree🎉

[@charlesr63]

Your analysis is spot on 👏👏 including her embattled marriage to Sean Penn - Madonna has remarked the song is about her father and “other men in her life”

[@AceM-Reacts]

Thanks! I think it was a clever move to throw that marriage tidbit in there. Rather than making it all about her childhood.

[@enricovankeeken1624]

*david fincher*

[@leslapins7617]

Great reaction and interpretation!

[@AceM-Reacts]

Thank you! I appreciate your watching and commenting!

[@blueeyes4910]

this video is in my top 3

[@EthansTarot]

You’re one of the best Madonna reactors! You always make me ponder things I’ve never thought of before as well. Keep up the great content ✨

[@AceM-Reacts]

Thank you so much. I very much appreciate your kind words and hope you continue to enjoy these reactions!

[@segarcia65]

Thank you. I loved your breakdown of the video. Every point you made; I totally agree with. This truly is one of my favorite songs and videos of Madonna's. World class.

[@jasonsilva2647]

MTV executives asked Madonna to cut the scene of her mother's sewn lips but she refused.

[@AceM-Reacts]

I'm glad she didn't. As unsettling as it was, it's a very powerful image.

[@mrmagassi]

While this amazing song is about her sometimes strained relationship with her father after her mother's death; the video (directed by David Fincher) is about (and I am quoting Madonna) "how you marry your father" -- in this case Sean Penn. In the video, the Madonna character has married an absuive man who drinks (and he mirrors her father). It's a true pop masterpiece!

[@alessandronogueira652]

I don't know if this video was her best at that point. Express Yourself was released months before and has such impact. I was searching now your reaction about this video and it was the seventh result on the list (and you just post it). How YT classified that if yours were more recent post? I really don't understand.

[@AceM-Reacts]

Agreed. Express Yourself is definitely on the same level, even if it has a different kind of impact. Honestly, I have no idea how KZbin decides the search results and ranking. I'm just grateful that the video is searchable.

[@DeanTailor]

Oh Father’s really about loss and betrayal, by her father and then father figures, including her then husband Sean Penn. Madonna has issues with men, which go far too deep for me to get into here, but she doesn’t allow for the traditional male/ female divide and you’ll notice that through her work and life, she’s always the masculine, or dominant one, even when embodying a feminine role. It’s not just putting on a suit in Express Yourself, it goes way back to the beginning when she was starting out. Though her influences/ role models were people like Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, she didn’t want to be them or model herself on them. Instead, she looked to Elvis and Michael Jackson, taking his manager (DeMann), keyboardist (Leonard), and drummer (Moffett) and this was deliberate on her part. Even when she does other influencer’s songs, she doesn’t do The Supremes or Joni Mitchell, she does Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, or The Temptations. It’s always men, with the notable exceptions of "La Vie en Rose" and now "I Will Survive". This is a woman who’d decided long ago not to rely on men as men had let her down, the ultimate being God, who took her mother away, and then her father, who committed the ultimate betrayal and married another woman, and it wasn’t just any woman. With 6 young kids to mind and a full time job, Silvio hired a succession of housekeepers, all of whom were dispatched by the Ciccone children, until Joan Gustafson showed up. They didn’t like her either, but she was pregnant (it was someone else’s) and she went away, had the baby, and then re-appeared and Silvio announced that he was going to marry her. Remember, Madonna was 8 by this point and had had 3 years of being the eldest daughter and “protector” and this really affected Madonna, because now her father was being “taken away from her” and in a way that’s true, because his allegiance was now to Joan with whom he went on to have two children and insisted that ALL the children call her “Mom” which was a kicker for Madonna who was old enough to actually remember her mother. Anyway, that’s a long way of saying that Madonna is both the masculine and the feminine, as she doesn’t want to cede that masculine energy or trait to a man, who will always hurt or betray her in some way. So that’s what Oh Father is about. It’s also about as she got older, she started to realize that her father was coping the best he could and I think she wasn’t ready to have the relationship that she has with him now, and certainly not with Joan (with whom she’s much closer now) until well into the marriage with Guy Ritchie, which taught Madonna a lot about blended families and bringing children into them (she already and Lola and then had Rocco with Guy) and so she sort of “got” what that would have been like from the other side. The song itself was recorded in the studio with live musicians, with Madonna singing a guide vocal. She came out of the booth, gave everyone notes of what to do and when to do it, and they ran the tape again and that's the take. Incidentally, those weird long guitar sounds were overdubbed by Chester Kamen (brother of Levis model Nick Kamen who recorded "Each Time You Break My Heart", written by Madonna and Stephen Bray for her "True Blue" sessions but not used). As I said on your "Dear Jessie" reaction, this song deliberately follows on the "Like A Prayer" album and while the "Dear Jessie" video has a colorful, fun, childhood innocence about it, "Oh Father" is the sombre black and white reminder that a harsh reality was literally around the corner for Madonna.

[@AceM-Reacts]

Wow! That's some insight. I noticed the 'masculine' tone in her personality. I saw it as her having an alpha female personality with a naturally commanding presence. Also notice that she never played the all-American girl-next-door female pop star mode; something many of her peers have to some extent. However, losing her mother at a young age undoubtedly shaped some of that assertiveness. Her father sounds like he was very old school and expected complete obedience. Madonna may have naturally resisted this and it likely influenced her early life, and general perspective. I still find the connection between "Dear Jessie" and "Oh Father" to be a fascinating contrast of light and dark working together.

[@DeanTailor]

@@AceM-Reacts Her father was old school and was a strict disciplinarian. With eight kids, I suppose you’d have to be. It was “go to school, do you chores, help with dinner, do your homework, watch the little kids” and so on. There was no such thing as “free time” or “fun” in Madonna’s growing up, but that work ethic that he instilled in her made her the person she is today. “Work hard and earn what you want” was the mentality, and nobody can say she hasn’t done that. Nobody handed her a career, nobody told her what to do. Hers was a different blueprint, certainly as far as women were concerned, as up to that point, most female artists were part of a band or nurtured and promoted by someone else. She didn’t want that. I suppose the closest pre-cursor to her success was Diana Ross leaving Motown in 1981 and signing a £20m deal with RCA which was record breaking at the time (beaten a year later by the Rolling Stones), allowing Ross, now free from the Motown shackles, to take charge of her career. If she could do it, Madonna could bypass that whole “join group, become star, leave group, become megastar” route. If you listen to the next song on “Like A Prayer, “Keep it Together”, that deals with her early days and that rebellious need to get out of her small town and hit the “big time”. She sings “I’m tired of sharing all the hand-me-downs/ To get attention I must always be the clown/ I wanna be different, I wanna be on my own/ But Daddy said listen, you will always have a home”. Of course, the irony is once she quit college and left for NYC, she was very much on her own and refused to go home, even when things weren’t working out because she didn’t want to go back a “failure” and be met with the “told you so”. She was working on a biopic telling that story of her arriving in NYC and all the things that happened before she “made it” and it was going to end with “Blond Ambition” (deliberately no “e” on Blond as traditionally “Blonde” would be feminine), but then she sort of shelved that and went on this Celebration “greatest hits” tour, which has probably done more for her than a film would have. So many people are now looking at her work and career, especially younger people who never had any idea about what she’s done for all artists coming after her.

[@sirex02]

What would have Madonna become if her mother didn't die during the cold snowy holiday season in December??? Maybe a bored dance teacher in suburban Detroit? The eldest daughter and one of eight children. She wanted more from life. Guess she succeeded.