Like a Prayer (song)

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"Like a Prayer"
Single by Madonna
from the album Like a Prayer
B-side(s)	"Act of Contrition"
Released	February 28, 1989 (North America, Europe) March 6, 1989 (UK) March 16, 1989 (Japan)
Format	Casette, CD, 7", 12"
Recorded	1988
Genre	Pop
Length	5:39
Label	Sire Records Warner Bros. Records WEA International
Writer(s)	Madonna Patrick Leonard
Producer(s)	Madonna Patrick Leonard
Certification	Platinum (US) Gold (Germany, Switzerland, UK) Silver (France)
Chart positions
#1 (Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, UK, US) #2 (Austria, France, Germany)
Madonna singles chronology
"Spotlight" (1988)	"Like a Prayer" (1989)	"Express Yourself" (1989)
Like a Prayer track listing
	"Like a Prayer (1)	"Express Yourself" (2)
The Immaculate Collection track listing
"La Isla Bonita" (11)	"Like a Prayer" (12)	"Express Yourself" (13)

This article is about the 1989 single by Madonna. For other uses, see Like a Prayer (disambiguation).

"Like a Prayer" is a song by Madonna, and was the first single to be released from her album of the same name. A power pop/rock song written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, it notably featured a gospel choir, arranged by Andrae Crouch.

Contents 1 Song information 2 Artwork 3 Music video 4 Pepsi commercial 5 Official Remixes/Versions 6 Charts (alphabetical order) 7 Certifications 8 See also

[edit] Song information

The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989. It was released in the UK on 6th March and entered the UK Singles Chart straight at #2 before climbing to #1 and remaining there for three weeks until Easter Sunday. It also won the MTV Video Music Award - Viewer's Choice and in her acceptance speech, Madonna thanked Pepsi 'for creating controversy' (see below). The song was ranked #300 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

The single version of "Like a Prayer" (7" remix) is slightly different from the album version in some extra background production, including a shorther and heavier guitar intro, louder bass, string arrangements in the verses and electric guitar at the song's climax. In addition, the album version features bass guitar played by Randy Jackson, while the 7" version uses a bass synthesizer. Both versions feature electric guitar riffs by Prince.

"Like a Prayer" was also remixed as a dance song by Shep Pettibone for Madonna's 1990 compilation album The Immaculate Collection. The remix became almost as popular as the original album version, but is often not as highly regarded by critics and fans.

Several of the versions of "Like a Prayer", excluding that on the album, were included on Remixed Prayers.

Madonna has performed this song in two of her worldwide tours : the Blond Ambition Tour of 1990, and The Re-Invention Tour of 2004. Most recently, she performed this song in front of a worldwide audience at the Live 8 concert, backed by the London Community Gospel Choir.

The song has been covered and remixed by various artists worldwide, such as Blue, H2O, Mad'House and John Wesley Harding. "Like a Prayer" was also covered by pop-punk band Rufio for the compilation Punk Goes Pop. The Mad'House version reached #1 in Germany in 2002, which the original narrowly failed to manage. Singer Tori Amos has also covered the song several times in concert. This has since been further remixed by Italian House DJ Gigi D'Agostino on his 2005 album Disco Tanz.

Madonna has used the melody from part of the chorus in one of her newer songs off of her album Confessions on a Dance Floor called "Push".

[edit] Artwork

The cover artwork for the 7" single featured Madonna in a praying pose. The 12" artwork featured a painting by Madonna's brother Christopher of a classic (Catholic) naked Madonna wearing a halo and draped in a vine of thorns with a single blossoming flower. Of special note on this painted version of the cover - it features the letters MLVC (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone) with a prominently "fallen" letter P near the heart of the Madonna, indicating Madonna's recent divorce and distancing from husband Sean Penn. The 7" single features a unique version of the famous black & white photo (also found on the back cover of the album of the same same.) This 7" cover version has a "hand tinted" colour wash applied which gives the artwork a dream-like quality. The same photograph in monochrome was used in shops in poster format to promote both the album and the single. Of special note, it is extemely rare for a 12" copy of a single to bear significantly if not altogether different artwork from its 7" counterpart. The original 3" CD single of the song was released with the original 7" artwork and is now quite rare and collectable. The two 5" reissue CDs of the song from the mid 90s feature the original 12" artwork plus an additional version with different mixes which has the background of the artwork altered to a mustard yellow color. The 12" Limited Edition Picture Disc of the release featured a photograph of Madonna wearing jeans with a purple sheer blouse, she has straight dark hair and is posed in the throes of uninhibited dance. The reverse features a faded purple tinged photo of the original 7" with an overwritten tracklist. A maxi "Cassingle" was also issued featuring original "praying pose" artwork.

[edit] Music video

The highly controversial music video for the song was directed by Mary Lambert, who also directed "Borderline", "Like a Virgin", "Material Girl" and "La Isla Bonita". The video depicted a black man who comes to the aid of a white woman being murdered by white men and he is falsely arrested for the crime. Madonna, playing the role of a girl who has witnessed the crime, after going to pray to a local church, decides to testify in his favor and secures his release.

It attracted criticism for its subplot of Madonna making love to Saint Martin de Porres, its use of Catholic iconography, including a scene where Madonna develops stigmata, and cross burning imagery, but also garnered praise for its interpretation on discrimination, rape, and faith. The video topped MTV's countdown of 100 Videos That Broke The Rules in 2005, and for the 25th anniversary of MTV (August 1, 2006), viewers voted the video as the Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time.

[edit] Pepsi commercial

Pepsi paid Madonna $5 million to appear in a commercial that would predominantly feature "Like a Prayer". Depicting Madonna drinking Pepsi and watching a home video of her eighth birthday, the tone that the commercial sought to convey sharply contrasted with the official music video for the song. When Pepsi executives saw the completed video, they quickly yanked the advertisement after only two airings in an attempt to dissociate themselves from the controversy Madonna had created. (The two-minute commercial was shown just once on March 2, during The Cosby Show, and, in the U.K, after much publicity, on March 2 during a commercial break on ITV 12 minutes into The Bill.)

Though her contract with Pepsi called for three future commercials, Madonna got to keep her five-million-dollar endorsement fee, without fulfilling her contractual obligations.

During an MTV interview with Kurt Loder entitled "Breakfast with Madonna" in 1990, Loder asked Madonna about the "brou-haha" surrounding her own video for the song and Pepsi's reaction to it. Madonna said, "[Pepsi's spokespeople] said they just didn't like it."

[edit] Official Remixes/Versions

• Album Version 5:40
• Q Sound Version (Shep Pettibone - Goh Hotoda remix for Immaculate Collection) 5:51
• 12" Dance Mix 7:56
• 12" Extended Remix 7:26
• 12" Club Version (also included on iTunes' Like a Prayer reissue in place of, and titled, "Act of Contrition") 6:38
• 7" Remix Edit 5:45
• 7" Intro Edit w/ Fade 4:59
• 7" Dance Edit 5:25
• 7" Version (US 3" CD Single) 5:19
• 7" Version With Fade 5:07
• Album Version With Fade (Released only on Japanese 45 and the Japanese Singles Box Set) 5:10
• Instra Dub 6:01
• Bass Dub 5:31
• Dub Beats 4:39
• Churchapella 6:09

[edit] Charts (alphabetical order)

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Australia ARIA Top 50 Singles	1
Austrian Single Chart (Austria Top 40)	2
Canada	1
Eurochart Hot 100	1
France	2
Germany (Media Control)	2
Japan (ChartJapan)	1
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Switzerland	1
UK Singles Chart	1
USA Billboard Hot 100	1
USA Billboard Adult Contemporary	3
USA Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play Chart	1
USA Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	1
USA Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	20

[edit] Certifications

Country	Certification
Australia	2x Platinum
France	Silver
Germany	Gold
UK	Gold
USA	Platinum

Preceded by "Too Many Broken Hearts" by Jason Donovan	UK number one single March 26, 1989	Succeeded by "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles
Preceded by "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals	Billboard Hot 100 number one single April 22, 1989- May 6, 1989	Succeeded by "I'll Be There for You" by Bon Jovi
Preceded by "Underneath Your Clothes" by Shakira	Irish Singles Chart number-one single (Mad'House version) August 24, 2002	Succeeded by "The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)" by Atomic Kitten

[edit] See also

• Hot 100 number-one hits of 1989 (USA)
• Hot 100 number-one hits of 1989 (Europe)