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Since her boundary-pushing trifecta of
videos for "Like A Prayer,"
"Justify My Love," and
"Erotica," Madonna has been
occasionally racy but never again raised
the same ire. However, controversy reared
its head once again with the video for
"What It Feels Like For A
Girl," which was banned by MTV and
VH1 in the US, while in some countries
and other stations, the video was
relegated only to the evening hours. The
clip, directed by new hubby Guy Ritchie,
has received all of this attention due to
its violent content.
In the video, Madonna is seen using a
stun gun on a man before stealing his
money, running into a car full of young
men, aiming a realistic-looking pistol
(which turns out to be a water-gun) at
some police offers, stealing a car and
setting a gas station on fire, hitting a
man on a hockey rink, and ultimately
crashing a car into a light-pole,
possibly as suicide. The video is also
set to a trance dance remix by Above
& Beyond, featuring only sparse vocal
samples from the song's chorus and
spoken-word intro. The end result is a
music video which much more closely
resembles a short film. Many fans are
surprised at the decision to ban the
video, since after viewing it there seems
to be no content that hasn't been seen on
prime-time TV a million times before.
Many fans also agree on another point --
the video is one of Madonna's best.
Unfortunately, the song did not perform
particularly well on the charts. Aided by
a staggered series of release dates for
the DVD single and maxi-single, it shot
up the charts rapidly hitting #23 in only
its third week. But the song stalled
immediately after that and was off the
charts in just ten weeks, making it one
of Madonna's shortest-charting singles.
Only "Nothing Really Matters,"
"Bedtime Story," "Love
Don't Live Here Anymore,"
"Rescue Me" and "American
Pie" had shorter runs. The single is
also the second-lowest selling of her
career, selling just over 100,000 copies
in the US (LDLHA holds the low record
with roughly 75,000 copies).
"What It Feels
Like For A Girl" is the only song on
"Music" untouched by either
Mirwais or William Orbit, as it was
produced by yet another "Guy"
in Madonna's life, Guy Sigsworth. Also,
the song was used in the summer of 2002
to promote the Fox/David E. Kelley
television drama "Girls Club."
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