Like a Prayer (song)

"Like a Prayer" is a song by American recording artist Madonna, from her fourth studio album of the same name. It was released on March 21, 1989, by Sire Records, as the first single from the album. The song also appears on the greatest hits compilation albums, The Immaculate Collection (1990) and Celebration (2009). Written and produced in collaboration with Patrick Leonard, "Like a Prayer" emphasized a more artistic and personal approach to songwriting for Madonna, much like the rest of the album. She wanted a more mature and restrained song, as she understood that she needed to cater to her grown-up audience, along with her new fans. According to her, "Like a Prayer" was about a passionate young girl in love with God, whose importance makes Him the only male figure in her life. While writing the song, Madonna had an idea of introducing liturgical words in the lyrics, but changing the context in which they were added, so that they have dual meaning. She wanted to have surface meanings which would forge sexuality and religion with fluent pop lyrics that would sound easy on the ear.

Musically "Like a Prayer" is a pop rock song which incorporates gospel themes. The song sounds like a religious themed composition, but contained underlying sexual themed music. This was achieved by addition of a gospel choir, whose voice heightened the song's spiritual nature, while rock guitar sounds kept it dark and mysterious. The choir was conducted by Andraé Crouch, with Bruce Gaitsch and Leonard among other main musicians. The lyrics of the song were inspired by Madonna's own Catholic upbringing, and was metaphor for sexual intercourse, containing ambiguous innuendo referring to fellatio and orgasm. "Like a Prayer" received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised Madonna's skilled songwriting and improved vocals. It became her seventh number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in United States, while reaching the top of the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom, among others, and the top-five of the rest of the musical markets.

"Like a Prayer" is more memorable for its accompanying music video which led to a huge uproar after its release. Directed by Mary Lambert, the video featured Madonna as a woman who witnessed a murder and fled to church for safety. The clip incorporated Catholic symbols such as stigmata and burning crosses, and a dream about making love to a saint. Critically appreciated, the Vatican condemned the music video after its release, while family and religious groups protested its broadcast. The song was featured in a television advertisement for soft drink manufacturer Pepsi, which was later removed from broadcast, following the protests surrounding the music video, and the boycott of Pepsi products. Madonna's contract with Pepsi was subsequently canceled, though she was allowed to retain her initial fee. "Like a Prayer" is listed as one of the most notable and important videos of all-time, topping a number of video countdowns and critic lists.

The song has been featured on three of Madonna's concert tours, most recently on the Sticky & Sweet Tour in 2008–09, and was also performed at charity events such as Live 8 and Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief. "Like a Prayer" has been covered by a number of artists, including Mad'House, whose version was a commercial success, peaking the charts in Austria, Germany and Ireland. It was also featured on American television show Glee, in an episode themed around Madonna. "Like a Prayer" is noted for its profound effect on society, due to the mayhem surrounding the music video, and the different interpretations of its content, which has led to many discussions among music and film scholars. Alongside its respective album, "Like a Prayer" has been marked as a turning point in Madonna's career, as she began to be viewed as an efficient businesswoman, someone who knew how to sell a concept.

The year 1988 had been a quiet one for Madonna, on the recording front. Following the lack of success for her film Who's That Girl (1987), she went into theatre, acting in a Broadway production called Speed-the-Plow.^[1] However, the experience caused her much frustration and anger, because once again the reviews were not favorable. Her marriage to actor Sean Penn went from one disaster to the next. Eventually she decided that the relationship was irretrievable.^[1] This culminated in her filing for divorce in January 1989.^[1] Madonna had also turned thirty, the same age her mother was when she died. Coupled with the recent divorce, and her personal battles with her religious values, this caused great personal turmoil for her.^[1] As she commented in the June 1989 issue of Rolling Stone:

Once you're a Catholic, you're always a Catholic—in terms of your feeling of guilt or remorse and whether you've sinned or note. Sometimes I'm racked with guilt when I needn't be, and that, to me is left over from my Catholic upbringing. Because in Catholicism you are a born sinner and you're a sinner all your life. No matter how you try to get away from it, the sin is within you all the time. It was this fear that haunted me,; it taunted and pained me every moment. My music was probably the only distraction I had.^[2]

But she understood that as she was growing up so was her audience. It was time for her to move away from the teen appeal to fresh audiences, and the longevity of the album market.^[3] Always the instinctive woman that she was, Madonna wanted her new sound to be calculative and an indication of what was in vogue, and the need for change.^[3] Hence when Madonna started to think about her musical direction, she had certain matters on her mind, including her troubled relationship with her ex-husband, her family, her lost mother and even in her God.^[4] She started to think about lyrical ideas for the title track of the album on topics that, until then, were personal mediation never to be shared with her public so openly and pointedly.^[4] Thoughtfully, she sifted through her personal journals and diaries, and began considering her options. "What was it I wanted to say?" she recalled. "I wanted the album and the song to speak to things on my mind. It was a complex time in my life."^[4]

As Madonna considered her alternatives, producers Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray individually began to tinker with various instrumental tracks and musical ideas to present to her for consideration.^[4] Both producers wanted to bring their own special style to the project, and the first step they took was by developing a completely different music for the title track. Eventually, Madonna felt that the music presented by Leonard to her was more interesting, and she started to work on the title track with him.^[4] Together they wrote and produced the track, while naming it "Like a Prayer"; it became the first developed song for the Like a Prayer album.^[5] Once Madonna got the idea of how to interpose the music that Leonard developed with her thoughts, it took her just three hours to write it.^[5] She described "Like a Prayer" as the song of a passionate young girl "so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life."^[6]

Author Lucy O'Brien wrote in her book Madonna: Like an Icon about Madonna's further explanation for the inspiration of the song. "Catholics believe in transubstantiation", Madonna added. "That the wine and wafer don't just symbolize the Body of Christ, they are the Body of Christ. During the Mass, they become the one thing. It isn't a ritual, those objects have transformative power. And every word in prayer has its precise meaning. Hence 'Like a Prayer', hearing or seeing any of those objects take me to a different place. The place where I am happy. I am free."^[7] While writing the song, Madonna had an idea of introducing liturgical words in the lyrics, but changing the context in which they were added, so that they have dual meaning.^[8] She wanted to have surface meanings which would forge sexuality and religion with fluent pop lyrics that would sound easy on the ear.^[8] But underlying that would be a different meaning, which could actually provoke reaction from the listeners. But Leonard was not so sure about combining religion influenced material with sexuality in any way.^[8] In author J. Randy Taraborrelli's book, Madonna: An Intimate Biography, he noted of one such incident when Madonna was writing the first verse for "Like a Prayer". The lyrics went like "When you call my name, It's like a little Prayer, I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there."^[9] When Leonard heard those lyrics, he completely understood that the dual meaning of the lines referred to someone performing a fellatio. He was aghast and asked Madonna, "In no way I'm working on those lines, no nothing doing, they need to go. Are you crazy?" Madonna replied testily, "If you don't wanna work, then go. I'm not changing anything."^[9]

In Fred Bronson's Billboard Book of Number One Singles, Leonard noted that "Once she [Madonna] came up with 'Like a Prayer', we decided that we'll do this with a church organ and we'll add a choir to it. That might be Andraé Crouch's choir, but we'll decide that later. I thought that the recording would be simple. It wasn't something that should take weeks; this is something that should take hours."^[5] Madonna and Leonard met with Crouch and told them what they had in mind about adding his choir as one of the background vocals. Crouch got his choir together and explained to them what they needed to do in terms of recording.^[5] "He knows what he's going to to and he knows what he needs to tell them", said Leonard. "But I know that he's making it up as we go along. He's listened to the ['Like a Prayer'] demo in his car and he's thought about what his part is in it... and it's very inspired."^[5] However, things did not go as Leonard had planned. Madonna, who was already depressed, was continuously breaking down in the studio, where the song was supposed to be recorded.^[10] Leonard recalled that Madonna was in a tense mood, and on top of that, she and Leonard had a big fight in the studio, regarding the production of the bridge of the song.^[10]

As Madonna recuperated from the fight, Leonard hired guitarist Bruce Gaitsch and bass drum player Guy Pratt, as musicians for the recording. Pratt had in turn hired some additional drummers who were supposed to reach Los Angeles at the Jonny Yuma studios for first day of recording.^[10] However, the person pulled out at the last minute, which irritated Madonna greatly, and she started shouting at Leonard saying "If this fucking guy can't get a fucking drummer to turn up, then he isn't fucking playing on my record."^[10] Pratt requested Leonard to somehow convince Madonna so that he was not fired. Leonard asked him to tell her a joke that would make her laugh and he did so. As recording started for "Like a Prayer", Pratt realized that Madonna would not forgive him so easily; she continued taunting him, by calling him at late nights for his opinion, and urgently asking him to come to the recording studio, only to dismiss him.^[10] In the meantime, Leonard hired more British players like Chester Kamens, David Williams and Dann Huff. He commented that the choice was deliberate since he was a fan of British rock, and wanted that kind of attitude and quirkiness of the players in "Like a Prayer" as well as the other songs of the album.^[11] During recording, Madonna had a clear knowledge of what different musical instruments were capable of and how to articulate and achieve the sounds that she had on her mind.^[11]

Pratt recalled that while the middle chorus of the song was being recorded, Madonna continued her singing and once finished, she notified others of the changes that needed to be done. She wanted drummer Jonathan Moffet to "do less of the high-hat in the middle eight, and more of a fill towards the end. Guy, I want duck eggs [semibreves] on the end, and Chester, bring in your guitar on the second verse."^[11] The production team ran through her instructions once more, and did one take with vocals and one with the string arrangements and that was it. Gaitsch, who was impressed with Madonna's decisiveness, heard her telling Leonard, "'That's as good as it's gonna get.' He raised an eyebrow and she said, 'I'm serious, its done.'"^[11] During the mixing of the song, Leonard decided that the bongos and the Latin Percussion would sound really mismatched, if Crouch's choir was to be used. Hence he decided to remove them.^[5] Crouch and his choir were invited to add the background vocals. Since Crouch was the leader of the Los Angeles Church of God choir, he researched the lyrics of the song, as he wanted to "find out what the intention of the song might be. We're very particular in choosing what we work with, and we liked what we heard."^[11]

"Like a Prayer"

A 30 second sample of "Like a Prayer", with Madonna's voice opening the first verse of the song. It ends with the sound of the choir coming in, as Madonna starts singing the bridge.

---

Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Like a Prayer" begins with the sound of heavy rock guitar which is suddenly cut off after a few seconds, and replaced by the choir and the sound of an organ.^[12] Madonna sings the opening lines, "Life is a mystery, Everyone must stand alone, I hear you call my name, And it feels like home", followed by light sound of the percussion. Then the drums start with a clattering rhythm, as Madonna sings the first verse. After sometime, the percussion is pulled out again as the choir replaces it; the percussion comes back again during the chorus.^[12] At this point the guitars start flickering from left to right, accompanied by a bubbling sequenced bassline. Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna commented that "Like a Prayer" was the most complex track that Madonna had ever attempted.^[13] According to him, the complexity builds up more after the second chorus, when the choir fully supports Madonna's vocals and she re-utters the opening lines, but this time accompanied by crunching synths and drum beats.^[13] As she sings the lines "Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there, Just like, I'm used to me, You're a mystery", an R&B influenced voice backs her up along with the choir. The song ends with a final repetition of the chorus and the singing of the choir gradually fading out.^[13]

Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli noted in his book Madonna: An Intimate Biography that the lyrics of the song is "a series of button-pushing anomalies."^[9] With Madonna's inclusion of double entendres in the lyrics, "Like a Prayer" actually became a reference to both the spiritual/religious and the carnal. Taraborrelli felt that the song sounded religious, but there was an undertone of sexual tension.^[9] This was achieved by the gospel choir, whose voice heightened the song's spiritual nature, while the rock guitar sounds kept it dark and mysterious.^[9] O'Brien described as how the song's lyrics describe Madonna receiving a vocation from God. "Madonna is unashamedly her mother's daughter—kneeling alone in private devotion, contemplating God's mystery. She sings of being chosen, of having a calling."^[10] Rooksby noted that the album version featured bass guitar played by Randy Jackson, while the 7" version has a much more complex intro by Pratt, doubled by an analogue Minimoog bass synthesizer. "Like a Prayer" was also remixed as a dance song by Shep Pettibone for Madonna's 1990 compilation album The Immaculate Collection.^[13] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing Co. Inc, "Like a Prayer" is set in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute.^[14] It is composed in the key of D minor with Madonna's vocals ranging from the lower octave of A₃ to the two-lined higher note of F₅.^[14] "Like a Prayer" follows a basic sequence of Dm–C–D–Gm–D as its chord progression in the opening chorus, and Dm–C–E–C₇–B♭–F–A during the verses.^[14]

Madonna chose to work with photographer Herb Ritts for the Like a Prayer album cover. Initially the photos from the session she had with Ritts, was to be used for the album cover and the "Like a Prayer" single cover.^[15] She wore a mauve chiffon midriff top with a crucifix in the middle and blue jeans with a beaded hippie belts.^[15] The idea was not to show Madonna's face, with the picture cropped around her navel. The image that was supposed to be used for the single cover was a blurry shot of Madonna, blowing smoke on her own face, while holding a cigarette in her left hand. However, once she started shooting for the music video, Madonna felt that one of the still shots taken of her in a field was extremely beautiful and decided to make it the cover art.^[15] Another artwork developed was for the 12-inch single, and featured a painting by Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone. He painted a classic (Catholic) Madonna, wearing a halo and draped in vine of thorns with a single blossoming flower.^[15] It features the letters MLVC indicating the singer's real name Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, with a prominently "fallen" letter P near the heart of the Madonna, indicating Madonna's recent divorce from then-husband Sean Penn. Madonna, initially skeptic about the painting due to the media mayhem the video had caused, did not want to use it. However, once Ciccone presented her with a packaged version 12-inch single, where the painting was included along with the scent of patchouli, she was impressed.^[15]

"Like a Prayer" received mostly positive reviews from critics. Taraborrelli commented that the song "deserved every bit of the curiosity it generated. While being devilishly danceable, the song also shows Madonna's uncanny ability to inspire strong, conflicting emotions during the course of a single song, leaving the listener scratching his head for answers—and craving for more."^[16] Stephen Holden from The New York Times while writing about Madonna's re-invention of her image, observed how Madonna's sound had changed from the "simple blaring dance-pop to the somewhat sweeter post-Motown valentines of 'True Blue' to the rich, fully rounded pop of 'Like a Prayer'.^[17] O'Brien felt that the most remarkable aspect of "Like a Prayer" was Madonna's usage of liturgical words. "There is the surface meaning, forging sexuality with pop lyrics that sound so sweet. But underlying that is a rigorous mediation on prayer. In shorter words, 'Like a Prayer really takes you there", she concluded.^[11] This view was shared by biographer Mary Cross, who wrote in her biography of Madonna that "the song is a mix of the sacred and the profane. There-in lies Madonna's triumph with 'Like a Prayer'. It still sounds catchy and danceable."^[18]

Michael Campbell, author of Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes On, felt that "the melody of 'Like a Prayer' flows in gently undulating phases that sounds really soothing to the ear." He went on to compare this rhythm of the song to singer Steve Winwood's 1986 single "Higher Love".^[19] Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, felt that "Like a Prayer" was "musically the most complex track that she [Madonna] had ever recorded."^[13] Australian rock music journalist Toby Creswell wrote in his book 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them that "'Like a Prayer' is a beautifully crafted devotional song in the guise of perfect pop. God is the drum machine here."^[20] Scholar Georges Claude Guilbert, author of Madonna as Postmodern Myth: How One Star's Self-Construction Rewrites Sex, Gender, Hollywood and the American Dream, noted that there was a polysemy in "Like a Prayer" as in it was clear that "the woman who sings is addressing either God, or her lover, and in doing so Madonna achieves the gold-card of attaining her own divinity. Whenever someone calls her name, it alludes to the song."^[21]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic called the song "haunting" and felt that it displayed a commanding sense of Madonna's songcraft.^[22] Gavin Edwards from Rolling Stone felt that the title track, which he called "glorious", was a wrestling match between the Sacred and the Profane. He added that "In a career [like Madonna's] full of transgressive moments, 'Like a Prayer' is the most transgressive—and the most irresistible."^[23] Jim Farber from Entertainment Weekly commented that the "gospel-infused title track demonstrates that her writing and performing had been raised to heavenly new heights."^[24] In a review for The Immaculate Collection compilation album, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the song "has a lighter, frothier texture that adds poignancy to its vaguely spiritual lyrics."^[25] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine was impressed with the track, saying "'Like a Prayer' climbs to heights like no other pop song before it—or after. Like most of the songs on the album, the track's glossy production gives way to a power beyond studio sonics, and if 'Like a Prayer's 'church-like' reverence feels like a religious experience, it's no mere coincidence."^[26]

In the United States, after its release, "Like a Prayer" debuted at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[27] and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated April 22, 1989.^[28][29] It was present on the top for three weeks, before being replaced by the Bon Jovi song "I'll Be There for You".^{[30][31][32][33]} It also topped the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart^[34] and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart^[35] and at number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart.^[36] "Like a Prayer" was the twenty-fifth best-selling song of 1989 in the Us, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in May 1989, for shipment of a million copies of the single across United States.^[37][38] According to Nielsen SoundScan, it has also sold 443,000 digital downloads as of April 2010, becoming Madonna's best-selling digital track before SoundScan started calculating downloads in 2005.^[27] In Canada, the song reached the top of the RPM Singles Chart in its ninth week.^[39] It was present on the chart for 16 weeks and was the top-selling Canadian single for 1989.^[40][41]

In Australia, "Like a Prayer" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number three on March 19, 1989.^[42] The next week it reached the top of the chart, and stayed there for another four weeks.^[43][44] It was present for a total of 22 weeks on the chart, and was certified two-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 140,000 copies of the single.^[45] "Like a Prayer" was also the top-selling Australian single of 1989.^[46] In New Zealand, the song had a similar run like Australia, by debuting at number three on the RIANZ Singles Chart, and reaching number one the next week. It was present for a total of 13 weeks on the chart.^[47] "Like a Prayer" became Madonna's seventh number one single in Japan, and occupied the top position of the Oricon Singles chart for almost two months.^[48]

"Like a Prayer" was released in the United Kingdom on March 6, 1989, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number two, before moving to number one the next week, remaining there for three weeks.^[49][50] Madonna became the artist with the most number-one singles of the 1980s, with a total of six chart-toppers.^[51] "Like a Prayer" became the tenth best-selling song of 1989, in the UK, with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certifying the song gold, for shipment of 400,000 copies of the single.^[52][53] According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 550,000 copies there.^[54] In France, the song reached number two on the singles chart, and was certified silver by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of 200,000 copies of the single. It went on to sell 478,000 copies there.^[55] "Like a Prayer" also reached number one in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.^{[56][57][58][59]} It was Madonna's fifth number one single on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart, reaching the top on March 25, 1989, and staying at number one for 12 weeks.^[60] After the Glee episode "The Power of Madonna" was broadcast, "Like a Prayer" again entered the chart at position 47, on May 15, 2010.^[36] The song went on to sell over five million copies worldwide.^[61]

The music video for "Like a Prayer" was directed by Mary Lambert, who had previously directed the music videos for Madonna's songs like "Borderline", "Like a Virgin", "Material Girl" and "La Isla Bonita". It was shot at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California and at San Pedro Hills in San Pedro, California.^[62] Madonna had planned the video to be more provocative than anything she had done before, because according to her "she was always on the lookout to better herself."^[62] Since she had already tackled the issue of teenage pregnancy in her music video for "Papa Don't Preach", she decided to tackle racism by having the "Like a Prayer" music video depict a mixed-race couple being shot by the Ku Klux Klan. However, upon further thought and in keeping with the song's religious connotations, she decided on another provocative theme.^[62] When Madonna had recorded the song, she would play it over and over again, and tried to see what kind of visual sense or fantasy it evoked in her.^[5] She kept imagining the plot as:

[T]his story of a girl who was madly in love with a black man, set in South, with this forbidden interracial love affair. And the guy she's in love with sings in a choir. So she's obsessed with him and goes to the church all the time. And then it turned into a bigger story, which was about racism and bigotry... Then Mary Lambert got involved, and she came up with a story that incorporated more of the religious symbolism I originally wrote into the song.^[5]

Lambert had a different visual aspect of the song from Madonna's. She felt that the song was more about ecstasy, especially a sexual one, and how it related to religious ecstasy.^[62] Together they listened to the song a number of times and came to the conclusion that the religious ecstasy part should be included. Madonna then felt that she would like to portray making love on the altar in the video.^[62] Lambert also decided to include a sub-plot about Madonna witnessing a homicide, which would be the trigger factor in the ecstacy part of the plot.^[5] Actor Leon Robinson was hired to play the role of a saint, the role being inspired by Martin de Porres, the patron saint of mixed-race people and all those seeking interracial harmony.^[62] He said "It was my first experience with a video and I'm glad I had a chance to make it with two people I like the most—Mary Lambert and Madonna."^[63]

The video was shot over four days, with an extra day allotted for re-shooting some of the scenes. Originally Lambert and the other personnel had decided that a statue of Leon would be better, so they took casts of Leon's face, hand and feet and made the statue.^[63] The plan was that he would only perform in the live scenes and the statue would be used just as a decoration. However, after they started putting the video together, they discovered that the statue did not look like Leon, hence he was called back to re-shoot the scenes with the statue, personally.^[63] The challenge was to ensure that the statue looked like Leon while not looking alive—particularly when it wept. It required special make-up and Leon had to stand motionless during extended periods of shooting and the retakes.^[63] Leon recalled that standing like a statue was indeed tough since "first of all, I didn't realize how hard it is on the back to stand absolutely tall and straight and not move. Secondly, as a performer you have this nervous energy—and my requirements here were total antithesis of that."^[63]

The video begins by showing a girl on the street, played by Madonna, witnessing an assault on a young woman. Afraid to get involved because she might get hurt, she is frozen in fear.^[64] A black man walking down the street also sees the incident and decides to help the woman. But just then, the police arrive and arrest him. As they take him away, she looks up and sees one of the gang members who had assaulted the girl. He gives her a threatening look and departs.^[64] The girl runs, not knowing where to go until she sees a church. She goes in and sees a saint in a cage who looks very much like the black man on the street. As the song starts, the girl utters a prayer in front of the saint in order to help her make the right decision. The saint seems to be crying, but the girl is not sure about her judgement and is still in fear.^[64]

She lies down on a pew and falls into a dream, in which she begins to tumble in space with no one to break her fall. Suddenly she is caught by a woman who tosses her back up and tells her to do the right thing.^[64] Still dreaming, she returns to the saint who becomes the man arrested by the police. He lands a kiss on the girl's forehead, and leaves the church as she picks up a knife and cuts her hands, blood beginning to flow out. The scene shifts to the girl dancing wildly in front of burning crosses, while singing the song.^[64]

In the meantime a choir sings around her in the church and the girl reaches an orgasmic crescendo of sexual fulfillment intertwined with her love of God. She ultimately understands that nothing is going to happen to her if she does what she believes is right. The girl wakes up and goes to the jail, telling the police that the black man is innocent; the police releases him and he is freed. The video ends with a final shot of the girl dancing in front of the burning crosses, and then everybody involved in the storyline takes a bow, as the curtains come down on the set.^[64]

In January 1989, while "Like a Prayer" music video was still being filmed, Pepsi-Cola announced that they had signed Madonna to a $5 million deal to use her and "Like a Prayer" in a television commercial for them.^[65] The agreement also called for Pepsi to financially sponsor Madonna's next world tour.^[66] At that time, the deal was perceived as something conceivably great for both parties. Madonna would use the commercial to launch the "Like a Prayer" single globally before its actual release—the first time something like this was being done in the music industry—thereby creating international promotion for the single and the album to come.^[65] Pepsi, on the other hand, would have their product associated with Madonna, who was already being billed as the world's biggest female pop star by the media at that time.^[65] Pepsi advertising head Alan Pottasch said: "the global media buy and unprecedented debut of this long awaited single will put Pepsi first and foremost in consumer's minds. Showcasing our products alongside world-class celebrities in creative ads has always been a big part of our strategy."^[67] However, problem started during the shooting of the commercial, when Madonna refused to put the Pepsi brand name in it, and also baulked at dancing in it. She convinced the Pepsi executives that she would not hold a can of their product in her hand. "As it is, the music will be playing in the background, and the can of Pepsi is positioned very subliminally. The camera pans by it, so it's not a hard-sell commercial."^[65] Pepsi went out with their promotional campaign on February 22, 1989, when the company ran an expensive television commercial during the global telecast of the 31st Grammy Awards, denoting the arrival of the actual commercial.^[62][68] A week later, the real ad was premiered at The Cosby Show.^[69]

Titled "Make a Wish", the two minute commercial's theme was to portray Madonna taking a special trip back in time to revisit her childhood memories.^[67] It started with Madonna watching a video of her childhood birthday party. As she reminisces, she finds herself interchanging places with her childhood self. The young Madonna roams aimlessly around the grown-up Madonna's room, while the latter dances with her childhood friend's on the street and inside a bar. Later she visits her school, and dances among her classmates as the young Madonna sips Pepsi and looks at a poster of her grown-up self. The commercial continues with Madonna dancing inside a church, surrounded by a choir and her little self discovering the doll, that she used to play with, in the grown-up Madonna's place. As both of their lives are interchanged again, the grown-up Madonna looks towards the TV and says, "Go ahead, make a wish". Both the Madonnas raise their glass of Pepsi towards each other, and the young Madonna blows the candles on her birthday cake.^[67] An estimated 250 million people around the world saw the commercial, which was directed by Joe Pytka. Pepsi-Cola Company spokesman Todd MacKenzie said that the ad was planned to be aired simultaneously in Europe, Asia, Australia, as well as North America. "Just about every TV set on the planet will have that commercial on", he added.^[67] A 30-second edited version of the ad was planned for playing during the summer months.^[67] Bob Garfield from the Advertising Age observed that from "Turkey to El Salvador to anytown USA, around 500 million eyes [were] glued to the screen.^[70] Leslie Savan from The Village Voice noted that the ad qualified as a "hymn to the global capabilities of the age of electronic reproductions; it celebrates the pan-cultural ambitions of both soda pop and pop star."^[71]

The day after the Pepsi commercial was premiered, Madonna released the actual music video for "Like a Prayer" on MTV. As Taraborrelli pointed out, "Madonna danced with such abundance in the video, as if she knew that she was about to cause a commotion, and couldn't wait to see how it would unfold."^[72] She shocked Pepsi executives as well as the media—who were divided on their opinion—with the video. MTV deemed it as "Madonna's most controversial video".^[73] Phil Kloer from Record-Journal felt that whether or not one condemns the video as racist, "It's condemnable on the face of it because it exploits a symbol of evil [the burning crosses of the Ku Klax Klan] in order to sell records."^[73] Jamie Portman from The Daily Schenectady Gazette noted that "the video is vulnerable to charges of being blatantly provocative in its calculated blending of sex and religion."^[63] David Rosenthal from The Spokesman-Review compared the video with the novels of author Hermann Hesse. Resenthal explained, "I didn't understand [Hesse] in freshman year, and I don't think I can understand [Madonna] now. The difference is you can dance to Madonna.... [The video] is visually striking and about as catchy a pop tune as you will ever want to hear."^[74] Edna Gunderson from USA Today did not understand the media mayhem behind the video. She pointed out that "Madonna is a good girl in the video. She saves someone. What is the big deal behind it?"^[75] Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Chris Willman complimented the video for its portrayal of a love song, rather than blasphemy. He was more interested in the stigmata presented in the video.^[76]

Religious groups around the world started protesting against the video, which they deemed was blasphemous use of Christian imagery.^[77] They called for the national boycott of Pepsi and PepsiCo's subsidiaries, including their fast food chains Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.^[77] Pepsi had initially decided to continue airing their commercial, however they were taken aback by the protests.^[78] While their executives tried to explain the differences between their advertising methods and Madonna's artistic opinions in the video, the Pope himself got invested in the matter, calling for the ban of any appearance by Madonna in Italy. Protests from a small Catholic organization in Italy prompted Italian state television network RAI and Madonna's Italian record company, WEA, not to air the video in Italy. Liz Rosenberg, spokeswoman for Warner Bros. Records in the United States, said that was not the case and that the video had been shown to Italian broadcasters who found no reason not to air it. According to Rosenberg, the clip would begin airing in Italy within two weeks.^[79] In the meantime, Pepsi, nervous that the idea they had counted on to generate millions was about to make the company lose a bigger amount, finally caved in to international pressure.^[77] They cancelled the advertising campaign about two days since its release. Pepsi also bowed out of financing Madonna's upcoming tour to promote Like a Prayer. According to Taraborrelli, so eager was Pepsi to extricate themselves from the venture, they even allowed Madonna to keep the $ five million she had been advanced.^[77][80]

"Like a Prayer" is listed as one of the most notable and important videos of all-time, topping a number of video countdowns and critic lists. It topped MTV's countdown of "100 Videos That Broke The Rules" in 2005, and for the 25th anniversary of MTV, viewers voted the video as the "Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time".^[81][82] In addition, the video was ranked at number 20 on Rolling Stone's "The 100 Top Music Videos" and at number two on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos.^[83][84] On November 27, 2007, Fuse TV named "Like a Prayer" as one of its ten "Videos That Rocked The World".^[85] At the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, "Like a Prayer" was nominated in the Viewer's Choice and Video of the Year categories, winning the former.^[86] Ironically, the award show was sponsored by Pepsi in 1989, and when Madonna came onstage to receive the award she added: "I guess this means you really like me... I would really like to thank Pepsi for causing so much controversy."^[72]

Scholars and academics have offered many possible readings of the music video; critics are similarly divided, not so much about the content of the video as their interpretations of it. Allen Metz, one of the authors of The Madonna Companion: Two Decades of Commentary felt that the puns, reversals, and the circularity of the video, combined with the lyrics were dizzying.^[64] They noted that when Madonna enters the church at the beginning of the video, the line "I hear you call my name, And it feels like.... Home" is played. Benson explained that one of the major themes that came out in this portion of the video is Madonna's continued fascination with Spanish culture right from her early videos.^[64] The women of the Spanish East Harlem in New York call their Church as la casa di momma (Momma's House). In that respect, Madonna alludes herself to be one from the Harlem, but also refers to her own name as the divine returning to the Church. Benson described it as "Madonna being both the mother and child, both the divine intervener and earthly supplicant."^[64] Nicholas B. Dirks, author of Culture/power/history: a reader in contemporary social theory explained how Madonna falling into a dream is the utmost important point of the narrative as it signified that "Madonna is really not putting herself in place of the redeemer, but imagining her self as one."^[87]

Santiago Fouz-Hernández wrote in his book Madonna's Drowned Worlds how the Black woman who catches Madonna when she is falling through heaven in her dream, is a symbol for the divinity. She helps Madonna throughout the video to come to the correct decision. Fouz-Hernández also noted how the similarity between Madonna and this divine woman in terms of dress, hair etc. indicated that it was actually Madonna's inner divinity which was rescuing her.^[88] Here again, the video helped cement Madonna as a divine being.^[88] After the Black saint comes to life and departs the church, Madonna picks up his dropped dagger and accidentally cut her hands. Scholar Robert McQueen Grant explained the action as a stigmata, that marked Madonna as having an important role to play in the narrative of redemption.^[89] Stigmata being a sign of contact with God, Grant believed that it portrayed a reciprocity between the worshiper and the divine.^[89] During the second chorus, as the crime scene is showed in detail, an identification is established between Madonna and the victim too. Freya Jarman-Ivens, coauthor with Fouz-Hernández, noted that the woman cries out for help when Madonna sings the line "When you call my name, It's like a little prayer". However, Madonna does nothing about it, portraying a failure of divinity to actually heal or save.^[88] According to her, the look between the gang member and Madonna also sets up a complicity and a parallel of "White men rape/kill women, white men blame it on Black men; Women are raped/killed for being on the streets at night, Black men are nevertheless thrown in jail."^[88]

As Madonna sings the intermediate verse amidst a field of burning crosses, she evokes the murder scene of three civil workers portrayed in the 1988 American crime drama film Mississippi Burning.^[90] Metz added that along with this scene, when Madonna dances with the choir in the altar of the church, a young Black boy in a choir gown comes and dances with Madonna. This scene referred to the only person who had protested against the Ku Klax Klan murders in Mississippi Burning, a Black man. Metz believed it was symbolic of how his protest was now transferred in Madonna.^[90] The choir brings Madonna inside the church which is followed by an erotic scene between the saint and her. Benson explained that the scene "is leading the viewer to a single conclusion through its numerous cut-scenes of burning crosses, shocked face of Madonna, bleeding eye of the icon etc that Black men have been martyred for kissing white women or even wanting them."^[90] Grant believes this is where the racial equality message of the video comes across as the most poignant thing.^[89] On the contrary, when the curtain falls and the scene shifts to a smiling Madonna among the burning crosses, professor Maury Dean feels that another explanation is inevitable. Madonna here portrays a successful heroine and thus the whole video is in reality about female empowerment.^[91]

The first live performance of "Like a Prayer" was at the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, included in the second part of the set list after "Like a Virgin".^[92] After the simulated portrayal of orgasm during "Like a Virgin" got over, Madonna suddenly crieed out "God", in an interrogative tone of voice, as everything became silent. Then she started singing "Like a Prayer", having donned a dress that looked like a cross between a Mediterranean widow's attire and slightly evocative clergyman's robes.^[92] The bed, which was present during the previous performance, was replaced by hundreds of burning church candles. At the beginning of the song Madonna wore a black scarf over her head, and knelt down in front of the stage, as the backup singers cried the words "Oh my God" several times.^[92] Madonna eventually removed the scarf to display a huge crucifix hanging from her neck, and then rose and sang the full song, while her dancers gyrated around her. The performance ended with Madonna praying to God along with the dancers.^[92] Two different performances were taped and released on video, the Blond Ambition – Japan Tour 90, taped in Yokohama, Japan, on April 27, 1990,^[93] and the Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90, taped in Nice, France, on August 5, 1990.^[94]

In 2003, Madonna released her ninth studio album, American Life. While doing a set of short promotional performances for the album, Madonna included "Like a Prayer" with the choir portion of the song being replaced by guitar sounds.^[95] "Like a Prayer" was included in the set list of the Re-Invention World Tour of 2004. The performance began with Madonna shouting: "Let's get this party started", as circular shaped images appeared on the backdrop.^[96] The song was given a gospel treatment^[97] with members of the audience asked to sing-along with her, filling in the part of the choir. Backup vocalist Siedah Garrett sang the vocals during the intermediate verses with the backdrops displaying a series of Hebrew letters, indicating the 72 names of God.^[98] Jim Farber from New York complimented Madonna's vocal performance during the song.^[99] The live performance was included on the 2006 live album of the tour, titled I'm Going to Tell You a Secret, released on June 6, 2006.^[100] Madonna sang the same version of the song during her three song set on the Live 8 benefit concert at Hyde Park, London in July 2005. She chose to wear white colored clothes for the event, and was backed by a similar dressed band and a choir.^[101] Madonna performed "Like a Prayer" along side Birhan Woldu, an Ethiopian woman who, as a malnourished toddler, had appeared in some of the footage of the 1984–85 famine in Ethiopia. Her life was saved partly through donations from Live Aid viewers.^[102] Roger Friedman from Fox News Channel complimented her performance, describing her voice as "rich, supple and perfect".^[103] Conversely, Chicago Tribune's Jill Lawless found her delivery to be uninspiring and "cathartic".^[104]

A dance version of the song, mixed with fragments of the dance track "Feels Like Home" by Meck, featured in the 2008–09 Sticky & Sweet Tour as part of the rave segment. Madonna's line "feels like home" was replaced by the same line by Meck. In the rave segment, Madonna appeared wearing breastplate, and a short wig.^[105] Madonna danced energetically around the whole stage as backup singer Nicki Richards provided vocals during the intermediate solo. The screens displayed a message of equality of religions, as symbols and texts from different scriptures flashed by, including messages from the Bible, Qur'an, Torah and Talmud.^[106] The performance ended with the line "We all come from the Light and to it shall we return", as a circular screen covered Madonna to give way to the next song, "Ray of Light".^[107] Helen Brown from The Daily Telegraph declared the performance as one of the highlights of the tour,^[108] while Joey Guerra from Houston Chronicle compared the sequences of Madonna rising on a platform with that of a superhero.^[109] The performance was included both in the CD and DVD of the live release of the tour, titled Sticky & Sweet Tour, filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina from December 4–7, 2008.^[107] On January 22, 2010, Madonna performed an acoustic version of the song live during the Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief telethon, broadcast worldwide. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times commented: "For 20 years, that song has been the symbol of one of the most tumultuous and controversial periods in Madonna’s life. But for five minutes tonight, it was pure, put in service of something bigger than the singer."^[110]

One of the first cover versions of the song was done by folk singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding, for his 1989 extended play, God Made Me Do It: The Christmas EP.^[111] The 1999 compilation album, Virgin Voices: A Tribute To Madonna, Vol. 1, included a cover of "Like a Prayer" by singer Loleatta Holloway.^[112] An uptempo eurodance remix was made by DJ group Sound Assassins for the remix album, Dancemania Speed 2, released in Japan in March 1999.^[113] A cover by electro-industrial band Bigod 20 was included on the 2000 compilation album, Virgin Voices: A Tribute To Madonna, Vol. 2.^[114] Pop-punk band Rufio's version was included in the 2002 compilation, Punk Goes Pop.^[115] The song was redone as a hi-NRG/eurodance song in 2002 by a group called Mad'House, and was included in their album, Absolutely Mad. It was released as a single and was a commercial success, reaching the top of the charts in Austria, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, the top ten in Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia regions), France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and the top twenty in Denmark and Sweden. On the European Hot 100 Singles chart of Billboard, it reached a peak of two.^[116] A folk music cover of the song by Lavender Diamond was included on the 2007 Madonna tribute compilation, Through the Wilderness, with an accompanying music video made by Peter Glantz.^[117]

"Like a Prayer" was featured in an episode of American television series, Glee, called "The Power of Madonna". It was sung at the end of the episode by the fictional show choir New Directions, performed by the Glee cast members. The song was released as a digital downloadable single to the iTunes Store, and was also included on the soundtrack EP, Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna.^[118] The song reached number 28 in Australia, number 27 in Canada, number two in Ireland, and number 16 in the United Kingdom.^[119] In the United States, the song debuted at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, while entering the Hot Digital Songs chart at number ten, with sales of 87,000 copies.^[120] DJs Meck and Dino did a mash up of his 2007 single "Feels Like Home" with "Like a Prayer", and released it as "Feels Like a Prayer". The song reached the top ten of the charts in Belgium (Flanders region) and Netherlands, while peaking at number 15 in Belgium (Walloon region). In the United States, "Feels Like a Prayer" debuted at number 36 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and reached a peak of number six, after seven weeks.^[121] American musician Tori Amos covered the song at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, while on her Original Sinsuality Tour. The recording of the performance was included on her live box set, The Original Bootlegs (2005).^[122]

"Like a Prayer" is considered as one of Madonna's best songs and one of the greatest songs ever by both critics and fans.^[19] It was ranked sixth on Blender magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born",^[124] while Rolling Stone included it in their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", at number 300.^[125] In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their "Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time", by Q magazine. "Like a Prayer" was allocated the number one spot on the list.^[126] In 2008, a poll of more than 1,200 Madonna fans, conducted by MSN Entertainment, named "Like a Prayer" as her best song of all time.^[127]

As Campbell noted, the popularity and the media mayhem surrounding the song and the music video helped introduce a very important factor in celebrity world, the reception of free publicity. "Like a Prayer"'s impact was more evident on the parent studio album, which shot to the top of the charts once it was released in April 1989.^[19] The music video also served as an evidence of the emergence of the video commodity as a different entity from the song that spawned it, and from other expressive forms that merge song, image and movement.^[19] As author Judith Marcus pointed out in her book Surviving the Twentieth Century, Madonna used the church to make her point on victimization. The main impact of the video lies in the fact that Madonna emerged from the role of a victim by "empowering" herself. She asserted that the video metaphorically "attacked" the Church's demand for female compliance, indicted the Church's precept of a dichotomy between body and spirit, and at the same time assailed the Church's denial of female spirituality. Marcus concluded by saying, "like it or not, 'Like a Prayer' is a hope for the many deprived, destitute and victimized women around the globe. They can find strength in its message"^[128] Campbell noted that the video does not follow any definite narrative, although there is a plethora of images in it. He found sequences where Madonna does not sing the song, but her voice is heard, as most interesting since it pointed out the rapid evolution of the music video medium and Madonna's own work,^[19] which had moved beyond a simple capture of a live performance, as was the case for the music video of her first single, "Everybody" (1983); at that point in her career, such videos were already a distant memory.^[19]

Like the video, the main impact of the song was merging disparate and seemingly contradictory musical features in it. Campbell found that the simple melody offered an easy point of entry for the listener, with the striking contrasts in sound, rhythm and texture appealing to different target audiences.^[19] The usage of choir and organ in the song was an unprecedented blend of pop music with religious music, which paved the way for gospel music to be more mainstream than it was before.^[19] In 1999, the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance held a seminar on the different implications and metaphors present in the song; the seminar was headed by noted professors like Martin Katz, George Shirley and Michael Daugherty.^[129] The main topic discussed was the fact that there can be different metaphorical meanings of the song, as the word "like" can be taken in separate contexts. Shirley added that although when one thinks of "Like a Prayer", they would in evidently think of its visual aspects, but the lyrics are far more important as they reinforce the postmodern nature of the video.^[129] The ambiguity of the word "like" blurs distinctions between a human lover and God, evident strongly in the line "Like a child, you whisper softly to me".^[129] This was further explained by Katz, who found it ironic that the video enhanced the ambiguity by directing the audience strongly towards the religious subtexts, while the music remained unambiguous. He added, "the music of 'Like a Prayer' is probably a mitigating one, blunting and softening the harder edges, the more challenging content of the lyrics and the video."^[129] Theologian Andrew Greeley situated "Like a Prayer" with the tradition of erotic mystical discourse, and likened the music to the hymns present in the Hebrew religious textbook, Song of Songs. Greeley, although focusing more on the video, acknowledged the fact that sexual passion may be revelatory, and complimented Madonna for glorifying ideologies of female subjectivity and womanhood in the song.^[130]

Taraborrelli commented that "in the end, the events surrounding 'Like a Prayer' only served to enhance Madonna's reputation as a shrewd businesswoman, someone who knows how to sell a concept."^[72] Before Madonna's deal with Pepsi, pop stars in general were not given enough freedom to cultivate their own artistic freedom by sponsors, who only wanted their own products to be promoted. Madonna, however, said from the very first day that she would be doing the commercial in her very own way, which Pepsi had to accept.^[72] While she said that it was never her intention that Pepsi be the fall guy in the fiasco surrounding the video, Madonna stayed true to herself. Although the commercial intended to promote Pepsi the soft drink, she did not bother to hold even a can of the product, leading Taraborrelli to comment that "Madonna the pop star was going to do it her way, no matter what Madonna the businesswoman had agreed to do."^[72] She maintained all along that the Pepsi ad and the music video were two different commodities and she was right to stand her ground. Taraborrelli noted that after "Like a Prayer", the recruitment of pop stars and athletes to sell soft drinks became commonplace. However, none of them generated the level of excitement on par with Pepsi's failed deal with Madonna.^[72]

Credits adapted from Like a Prayer album liner notes.^[137]