Oh Father

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"Oh Father"
Single by Madonna
from the album Like a Prayer
B-side(s)	"Spanish Eyes" (1989 release) "Why's It So Hard" (live) (1995 release)
Released	October 24, 1989 (Worldwide) December 1989 (Japan) December 25, 1995 (UK re-issue)
Format	CD, 7", Cassette
Genre	Pop
Length	4:59
Label	Sire Records Warner Bros. Records WEA International
Writer(s)	Madonna, Patrick Leonard
Producer(s)	Madonna, Patrick Leonard
Chart positions
#12 (Japan) #16 (United Kingdom) #20 (U.S.) #26 (France)
Madonna singles chronology
"Cherish" (1989)	"Oh Father" (1989)	"Dear Jessie" (1989)
Like a Prayer track listing
"Dear Jessie" (7)	"Oh Father" (8)	"Keep It Together" (9)
Something to Remember track listing
"Rain" (12)	"Oh Father" (13)	"I Want You (orchestral)" (14)

"Oh Father" is a pop song written by American singer Madonna and Patrick Leonard for Madonna's fourth album Like a Prayer (1989). The song was produced by Madonna and Leonard and received a positive reception from music critics. It was released as the fourth single in the fall of 1989 (see 1989 in music) and became Madonna's first single since 1984 not to go top ten in the United States, stalling at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom until 1995, when it appeared on Something to Remember, a ballads compilation.

[edit] Music video

Madonna as a character who is coming to terms with the abuse she has suffered at the hands of her father, in the black and white music video for her single "Oh Father" (1989).

"Oh Father" was accompanied by a black and white music video directed by David Fincher and filmed in the fall of 1989. In the video Madonna plays a character who is coming to terms with the abuse she has suffered at the hands of her father. Also included is a scene where Madonna's character is slapped by her lover, suggesting that abused children sometimes fall into abusive relationships as adults. "Oh Father", intentionally or not, lends credence to reports that Sean Penn was violent with Madonna during their marriage.^{[citation needed]} The video draws cinematic inspiration from Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane.^{[citation needed]}

A scene in which the lips of Madonna's character's dead mother are sewn together was asked to be cut out of the video by MTV, but Madonna refused to cut anything out and MTV eventually gave up, allowing Madonna to keep the scene in the video.

The music video has been honoured by Rolling Stone as one of the "The 100 Top Music Videos", placed at number sixty-six. It is commercially available on Madonna's The Immaculate Collection (1990) DVD/VHS companion.

[edit] Chart performance

"Oh Father" was released in the United States on October 24, 1989. The song became Madonna's first single since "Holiday" in 1983 not to go top ten in the United States, stalling at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100. The song first appeared in the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100 single chart during the week of November 25, 1989, but it ended Madonna's streak of consecutive top ten hits.

Outside the U.S. the song also failed to reach the top ten. It reached number twelve in Japan and number twenty-six in France. It is Madonna's lowest charting single in Australia, where it only reached number fifty-nine, breaking a run of twenty consecutive top forty singles.

"Oh Father" was not released as a single in the United Kingdom until December 25, 1995, when it appeared on Something to Remember. Released in the UK only, the song peaked at number sixteen on the UK singles chart.

[edit] Charts

[edit] Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Oh Father". It was Madonna's last released on 7" vinyl in the U.S. with a picture sleeve. All other 7"es afterwards came in plain white die-cut sleeves. The picture sleeve release of "Oh Father" was extremely limited and therefore it is almost impossible to find a copy today.

UK CD single

1. "Oh Father"
2. "Live to Tell" (live edit from Ciao Italia)
3. "Why's It So Hard" (live from The Girlie Show)

3" CD single

1. "Oh Father"
2. "[Pray for] Spanish Eyes"

U.S. cassette single

1. "Oh Father"
2. "[Pray for] Spanish Eyes"

UK cassette single

1. "Oh Father"
2. "Live to Tell" (live edit from Ciao Italia)

[edit] References

• Billboard.com. link. Last accessed on March 6, 2006. - U.S. chart positions.
• MoCaW: Madonna on Charts around the World. link. Last accessed on March 6, 2006. - Worldwide chart positions and certifications.
• EIL.com. link. Last accessed on March 6, 2006. - Formats and track listings.