:430 Theinstrumental musical materialofthechoruscontinues,withvocal 2:44–3:00 Chorus 2:28–2:44 Instrumentalbridge,layeredoverwith 1:52–2:08 Chorus 1:35–1:52 Verse2 1:00–1:35 Chorus 0:43–1:00 ga409c09.qxd 1/8/20078:49AMPage341 :033 Furthervocalimprovisationsovermusicofthechorus,now usingvocal 3:00–3:35 Verse3(halfaslong aspreviousverses) 2:08–2:28 Sabino, andsingerMadonnaLouiseCiccone. Musical Style Notes (1984) Like a Virgin Sire, from the LP Label: Steinberg and Tom Kelly Music / Lyrics by Billy Artist: “Like a Virgin” Musical “Road Map” blocks of1980sdancemusic. the wayinwhichelementsofdifferentAfricanAmericangenres—R&B,soul,Motown,and,later,disco—combinedtocreatebuil and compareitwiththebeginningofFourTops’1965hit“SugarPieHoneyBunch”).“LikeaVirgin”isparticularlygoodi the structure,harmony,andrhythmof“LikeaVirgin”arereminiscentnumberMotownhits(listenagaintobeginning chorus, whichisalso8barslong.Thismusicalstructure,whilefoundfrequentlyindisco,alotofMotownso hear 8bars(measures)ofmusicandlyrics,followedbyanotherthatfeaturethesamebutwithdifferentc ture ofdiscoisalsoevidentintheinstrumentation,heavyonsynthandkeyboards.Theverses“LikeaVirgin”havetwo-pa The introductionto“LikeaVirgin,”withitscompellingbass-synthpattern,establishesdancebeatimmediately.prevai IIG OMNSLYRICS Verse1 Synthesizedbassandkeyboardintroduction 0:07–0:43 COMMENTS 0:00–0:07 TIMINGS The playerson“LikeaVirgin”arebassistBernardEdwards,guitaristNileRodgers,drummerTonyThompson,synth/keyboardistRo (Track fadestoending.) syllables aswellslightlychangedlyrics improvisations, usingthewordsofchorus syllables “wo-ho” cessful artistsofthelastthreedecades,Madonnahassoldover300millionrecordsinternationally. controversy aboutitssexualcontent,andithelpedcatapulthertoworldwidefame.Oneofthemostsuc- Billboard chartsforsixweeksin1984).The“LikeaVirgin”videowasalsoextremelysuccessful,despite and evenMotown,punctuatedwiththemelismatic“wooo-hooos”ofagospelsinger. sical genres.Thebeatisstraightoutofdisco,andthesongstructuresaresoul, of heruniquemystique.Musically,however,thisItalian-American’srootsareinAfricanAmericanmu- troversial useofreligiousiconography,andchameleon-likechangesinpersonaeareallpart dance. Herintensepersonalstyleandcharisma,ultra-sexualimage,pioneeringfashionsense,con- F rom herdiscobeginningstomostrecentwork,Madonna’smusichasalwaysbeenallabout melismatic “Like aVirgin”wasMadonna’sfirstnumberonesingle(andremainedatonthe vocal partonthe Like avirgin. Like avirgin.hey! Like avirgin.hey! Gonna giveyouallmylove,boy Like avirgin. touched fortheveryfirsttime. I’ll beyours’tiltheendoftime. touched fortheveryfirsttime. My fearisfadin’fast. touched fortheveryfirsttime Somehow Imadeitthrough. for theveryfirsttime. Can’t youhearmyheartbeat oh-ho . oooo hooo,likeavirgin. You’re sofine,andyou’remine

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