Many fans latched
on to "Nothing Fails" as a
standout track on "American
Life" when the album was first
released. In fact, many felt it should
have been the first single rather than
the title track -- in retrospect, this
would have perhaps been a much wiser
move. This love ballad, which harkens
back to the choir on her mega-hit
"Like A Prayer," would have
likely had a better shot connecting with
a large audience than "American
Life" did. Ultimately "Nothing
Fails" was released as the third
single from "American Life."
However, following in the footsteps of
two poorly received singles, overshadowed
by "Me Against the Music," and
without a music video to help it,
"Nothing Fails" ironically did
just the opposite and once again Madonna
missed the Hot 100.
The song marks another
collaboration with Guy Sigsworth, who
co-wrote "What It Feels Like For A
Girl" and Britney Spears's
"Everytime." The song was also
a major breakthrough for co-writer Jem
Griffiths, better known just as Jem, who
released her debut album in 2003.
Madonna proved just
how weak the US singles market is when
she became the first artist to debut at
#1 on the sales chart and yet miss the
Hot 100. An additional interesting note
to this achievement is that both
"Nothing Fails" and "Me
Against the Music" were released the
same week in the US -- and despite
receiving far less airplay, "Nothing
Fails" outsold the Britney duet in
its first week out.
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