Analyzing American Life by Madonna - Essay Example

Due: Introduction "American Life" Do I have to change my   Will it get me far?  Should I lose some weight?  Am I gonna be a star? I tried to be a boy,  I tried to be a girl  I tried to be a mess,  I tried to be the best  I guess I did it wrong,  Thats why I wrote this song  This type of modern life - Is it for me?  This type of modern life - Is it for free? So, I went into a bar looking for sympathy  A little company - I tried to find a friend  Its more easily said its always been the same  This type of modern life -Is not for me?  This type of modern life -Is not for free?  American life  I live the american dream  You are the best thing Ive seen,  You are not just a dream I tried to stay ahead, I tried to stay on top  I tried to play the part, But somehow I forgot  Just what I did it for  And why I wanted more  This type of modern life - Is it for me?  This type of modern life - Is it for free? Do I have to change my name?  Will it get me far?  Should I lose some weight?  Am I gonna be a star?  American life  I live the american dream  You are the best thing Ive seen,  You are not just a dream I tried to be a boy, I tried to be a girl  I tried to be a mess, I tried to be the best  I tried to find a friend,  I tried to stay ahead  I tried to stay on top... Fuck it...  Do I have to change my name?  Will it get me far?  Should I lose some weight?  Am I gonna be a star? Im drinking a Soy latte  I get a double shot  It goes right through my body  And you know  Im satisfied, I drive my mini cooper  And Im feeling super-dooper  Yo they tell Im a trooper  And you know Im satisfied  I do yoga and pilates  And the room is full of hotties  So Im checking out the bodies  And you know Im satisfied  Im digging on the isotopes  This metaphysics shit is dope  And if all this can give me hope  You know Im satisfied  I got a lawyer and a manager  An agent and a chef  Three nannies, an assistant  And a driver and a jet  A trainer and a butler  And a bodyguard or five  A gardener and a stylist  Do you think Im satisfied? Id like to express my extreme point of view  Im not Christian and Im not a Jew  Im just living out the American dream  And I just realized that nothing Is what it seems  Do I have to change my name  Am I gonna be a star  Do I have to change my name  Am I gonna be a star?  Do I have to change my name (American Life). I have chosen this song because of its content, which has been both controversial and a topic of interest for people, since the time of its release. Moreover, the song has a catchy tune and with a unique music video, which catches your attention; even though it was never a commercial success, it is one of my favorite songs. American Life is a track written by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzai; the main theme of the lyrics criticizes the American life and Madonna also questions her role in this life, which she views as being selfish and materialistic. After three minutes into the song, Madonna raps about the things she loves; in an interview, she was questioned about how she named things like mini-cooper, and that she has a trainer, a chef, an agent, a lawyer, a manager and a butler. Madonna stated that the rap sequence was spontaneous, as she named everything in this list that she had and valued. There are many questions in this song; Madonna questions about everything like if she wants to live the American life, does she has to be a star, lose weight or change her name and these questions are interesting because they represent how shallow people can be and how they are all about the outer beauty of a person. The personification factor here is how she is describing about the American life; she is using things like being a star, changing names, having fancy cars, chefs and a personal trainer, elements of American life. She then uses metaphors like she was digging into the isotopes, but metaphysics is like dope. More precisely, she is comparing the American Dream with the American life, and according to her, the American Dream, doesn’t seem like a dream, in fact it is very much real. Some people who heard this song, interpret it as a patriotic sentiment, however, some interpret it as a cold statement. Even before the song was released, there were rumors about it in the media, because of the soldier uniforms, which Madonna, and the other girls in this video ware. It was like a fashion show; however, the rumors were also about how she wanted to speak about the president and the war on Iraq. Controversies arose, even when the song wasn’t even released. This time, the song became famous not because of nudity or sex, it became famous due to its political content. To defend her song, Madonna stated that she is lucky to be an American, because it gives her the right to express herself freely, in her work. She stated that she is not against the president, neither is she against the war in Iraq, she is simply in favor of peace. She wrote this song to show how she felt about the American culture, values and illusions, which Americans believe to be the American dream, and is the perfect life. At one point, Madonna even said that she would block the release of her music video, because the public might misinterpret the meaning of it. However, the common interpretation of the song was that Madonna had attacked the culture of America, its politics, foreign policy and the image of the American dream. In my opinion, the song represents all the elements of an American dream, which Madonna is living. For example, she has a private instructor to manage her health, she has a chef who cooks her food, she has a mini cooper, which in her perspective is the perfect car, she does yoga and Pilates, because she can afford the sessions, she has a lawyer to fight her legal battles, an assistant and a manager to keep her career life in order, a butler to keep her house in shape, a body guard to protect her from a stalker, a gardener who takes care of her house and a stylist, who keeps her hair in check (Mangrove). However, even if Madonna has all the luxuries, she implies that she isn’t internally satisfied, and questions whether the American life is for her or not. Another thing which I loved about the songs was its unique video; the video opens with Madonna wearing a military uniform and many other supermodels accompanying her. The scene shows the women in a fashion show, where there are images of American military and third world countries; the American military is dropping bombs on them and it makes one wonder, if with respect to the time when this video was released, Madonna’s reference was Iraq. As the video goes on, Madonna starts singing and in her background, there are bombs and missiles dropping and causing explosions. When the models leave the stage, children occupy the stage, wearing Middle Eastern dresses and looking very sober, while on the other hand the bombs are exploding in the background. Then Madonna drives the mini cooper, the start of how she is living the American life. The American life song has a very nice tune to it and since I am a fan of rap, I loved the way she showed her feelings about the lives Americans are leading, how they are so involved in their comfort zone, that they don’t notice the things happening around them. There are people in America who are busy making money, meeting friends and setting up their own life. Madonna’s song addresses all those people, telling them the things which are present outside their bubble. Madonna attacks an impersonator of George Bush, with a grenade, who, when catches the grenade, it turns into a cigar. She has blatantly attacked the president, implying that she doesn’t like the president waging war against other countries, for oil, and killing innocent people. Even though she is telling about all the comforts she has in life, she is silently attacking herself, telling people that even though she has all the comforts in life, there is a world out there, where innocent people are dying because of America’s foreign policy. The thing which I admired the most about these lyrics is how a star attacks her lavishing lifestyle, greed and gluttony because it is extremely rare for an artist to do something like that (Mangrove). Even though this song was said to destroy her career, many people applauded the brave way she pointed the flaws amongst the American society; she lived in London for some time, and it would have been easier for her to exclude her own lifestyle from the song and just point fingers at the American citizens, but she chose the difficult way. The video of the song was banned in America, and a conspiracy theory emerged stating that the government was behind the whole thing. People believed that the government didn’t want one of their pop icons to speak against their actions, and when these pop icons influenced the minds of young people around the world. However, Madonna denied this theory; Slant magazine rewarded the video, by calling it one of the best videos of the decade. To sum it up, the song has a nice ring to it, because the words rhyme with each other and Madonna has quite a melodious voice. The song was famous for years, but it is still my favorite and watching it with the video, makes you want to sing with Madonna. Music is not just a source of entertainment; it is a way to encourage people to look around them and see what is becoming of their lives. Madonna’s song is a brave attempt on her side, to explain how she feels about the current political situation of America, her feelings about the war, about the foreign affairs policy of America, about how American life seems to be so perfect but actually isn’t because the country is at war with other underdeveloped countries. All in all, it is a great, melodious song, with a meaningful content. Work Cited American Life. Maddona, 2003. NY: Westlake Recording Studios. Audio. Freenewspos. American Life. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. Mangrove, Theodore. Madonna Attacks The American Life, Sort Of. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. Read More