Poor Is The Man Whose Pleasures Depend On The Permission Of Another

Back to 1990 today  and a Madonna single that still packs a punch all these years later- thirty six years later. 

Justify My Love was released to promote Madonna's first compilation, The Immaculate Collection. Co- written by Madonna with Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez, with Kravitz producing and contributing, it was slightly overshadowed by the video which has implied S&M, flashes of nipples (female), same- sex scenes (male and female), females in charge of and in control of sexuality, bedroom stuff- MTV predictably banned it. It was issued as a commercially available video single which added to its transgressive appeal, too steamy to be shown on the TV- buy it and watch it yourself at home. It's ahead of its time in what it portrays, certainly in terms of mainstream pop (I guess Frankie Goes To Hollywood and some others had been there before but Madonna was global in 1990) and much of what is portrayed in the video is commonplace now in pop music and popular culture. As a promotional tool, a music video and a slice of 1990, it's very, very cool indeed. 

The song is a banger, riding in on the drumbeat that defined 1990 (on this occasion a Public Enemy sample rather than the actual Funky Drummer, the drums from 1988 track Security Of The First World, sped up slightly to 132 bpm. Public Enemy threatened to sue due to its unauthorised use. Kravitz denied taking it from PE, saying it was one of those beats that was just lying around. Public Enemy took it from somewhere etc etc). The rhythm is everything, it drives it. It's joined by a deep and burbling bassline, synth chords/ drones and Kravitz on backing vocals. Madonna takes the lead, speaking breathily, unleashing her 'inner freak'...

'I wanna kiss you in Paris/ I wanna hold your hand in Rome/ I wanna run naked in a rainstorm/ Make love in a train... cross country'

She's clearly never travelled cross country in the UK. No matter how much inner freak you'd unleashed you'd think twice, thrice, before shagging in the grim, rarely cleaned toilets on the trans- Pennine service (though I do not doubt that it has happened). 

Justify My Love

It's about dominance and pleasure, sexual fantasy and pleasure in connection to permission. It sounds fantastic, the production and drums are superb- its the best thing Lenny Kravitz has been connected to, it's Madonna in absolute control, of her music, her image, her sound, her music. It could still cause a storm on a dancefloor. It's a jam. 

There were remixes including one, The Beast Within Mix, which saw Madonna accused of anti- Semitism. 'It's ridiculous', she replied, 'People can say I'm an exhibitionist but no- one can ever accuse me of being a racist'. Of the remixes the one that we'll go with is William Orbit's...

Justify My Love (Orbit 12" Mix)

Seven minutes, drawn out intro, different drumbeat, a new shuffly rhythm, typically swirly, trippy Orbit production, an organ stab and bursts of guitar. Lovely stuff that would eventually lead to William Orbit working with Madonna more closely and what would become 1998's Ray Of Light album.