By the time
"Love Profusion" was released,
the "American Life" project was
pretty much a lost cause -- indeed, many
fans wondered why WB was bothering to
release "Love Profusion." The
single first came out as the A-side of a
double-single with "Nothing
Fails" in the UK, where it became
Madonna's first single to miss the UK top
ten since "One More Chance"
peaked at #11 in 1996. In the US, WB
didn't even bother to attempt to get
radio play for the song after the dismal
reception to the previous "American
Life" singles. Nonetheless,
"Love Profusion" became
Madonna's sixth straight single
(including "Me Against the
Music" and all five singles from
"American Life") to make the
top 5 on the sales chart in the US.
Although this remarkable feat deserves a
big footnote considering the incredibly
weak state of the American singles
market, Madonna has only managed five top
5 sales hits from one album once before,
with the mega-successful singles from
"True Blue."
Madonna also filmed a
video for the single with French director
Luc Besson ("The Fifth
Element," "Nikita"). The
video was based on an Estee Lauder ad
that Besson had directed which featured a
model walking along the ocean with giant
flowers and fairies floating about her.
Madonna stuck pretty close to the ad in
her video, only adding some scenes in a
city at night. Although the prospect of a
video based on a cosmetics ad sounded
sketchy at first, ultimately many fans
regard this video as the best from
"American Life" due to its
colorful and upbeat nature.
Despite floundering
on the pop charts, "Love
Profusion" became a sizable club
hit. Both LP and "Nothing
Fails" spent 15 weeks on the Club
Play chart -- the longest stays she has
had on the chart in 20 years (only
"Bedtime Story" outlasted them
with a 16-week run -- the singles from
her first album also charted for
lengthier stays, however the chart was 80
positions as opposed to today's 50
position chart).
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