As the music business continually tosses songs your way, a great song title is a necessity to seduce your ears for further exposure. “Like a virgin” is daring you to unfold the story behind the title. It’s a phrase that resonates with you emotionally, and as it does, it will get your brain aroused and imagination hostage for 3:38 minutes. These 3 words could mean so many different things, but what is the real meaning of this song, that is still such an enjoyable listen 33 years after its release?
In 1984 the perfect marriage arose between a song and an artist. To date, “Like a Virgin” is still one of the most defining songs in Madonna’s catalogue. Musically, it’s a dance-oriented number, with two hooks, a continuous drum beat and Madonna singing in a high register. It’s the unique combination of the sacrilegious persona ‘Madonna’ and the apparent innocence of the lyrics that made “Like a Virgin” her signature track. So is it about someone that jazzabelled around a bit until she found someone who made her feel shiny and new again? Or is it about a girl who’s experiencing something she’s never felt before, like when she had sex for the first time? The true meaning of the song has given fans food for thought for many years. It was most famously debated in the opening scene of 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, where would-be thief Mr. Brown (played by the film’s director Quentin Tarantino) contends that the song isn’t a love song so much as one about the size of a man’s anatomy. His accomplice, Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), objects; it’s a song about a fragile girl who has been hurt in the past, but now found love. When Madonna met Tarantino at a party in honour of the film, she gave him a copy of her new album Erotica, signed “To Quentin, it’s about love, not dick”. Of course, Madonna was right that it was a song about love, only it wasn’t her love story…
The first words of “Like a Virgin” were born in the head of 33-year-old Billy Steinberg as he drove his red pickup truck through his father’s dusty desert vineyard in the small town of Thermal, California. Steinberg was a literature major who had written poetry and lyrics but, after college, began working with his father. Nevertheless he spent his free time working hard on songs and making demos. In 1978 he put together the band Billy Thermal (referring to the location of his family’s farm). A few years later – in the aftermath of a failed deal with Planet Records – the band broke up. It was 1983 when Steinberg experienced an enlightening moment in which he felt relieved to have extricated himself from an turbulent relationship. He was left emotionally battered but
somehow made it throug and and he was very happy to be involved in a new relationship with a woman who made him feel so very special and renewed. Living and working on the vineyard, he always kept a notebook and pen by his side because he loved the process of writing lyrics before the music. The song was not written for Madonna or any female singer, Steinberg was inspired by his personal experiences. But he was aware of the potential it had as a song lyric. He thought “Like a Virgin” was a great title because he liked poetry and playing with words. Most of all he liked the idea of writing something that was cutting edge, exciting and bold. At this point Steinberg never even heard of a pop singer from Detroit named Madonna.
Steinberg wrote the song in collaboration with Tom Kelly, a musician he met at a party in 1981. That first meeting was the beginning of their journey as co-writers, with Steinberg as lyricist and Kelly as principal music writer. Kelly found out that having a title, a verse lyric and a chorus lyric written before he even started working on the music, was inspiring to him instead of it being limiting. It somehow helped him to find melodies and chords that were inspired by the words. Kelly had an amazing melodic gift and in many ways it shows that both their talents were compatible. That would be proven in future collaborations as they were a hitmaking machine with five number-one singles in the 1980s Billboard Top 100 chart: “Eternal Flame” by the Bangles, “So Emotional” by Whitney Houston, “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper, “Alone” by Heart and Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”.
After completing the demo, Steinberg and Kelly had no idea what to do with it. They sent the song to several contacts in the music business, but it was rejected mainly because of the title. Regardless of the catchiness, no one would sing a song called “Like a Virgin”. They knew it wasn’t going to be very easy to pitch the song. More than a year later – after a meeting with Warner Brothers’ record executive Michael Ostin – their bad luck turned as Ostin suggested it would be a perfect match for Madonna. When “Like a Virgin” eventually reached Madonna, it was love at first sound. She loved the song in its entirety: the melody, the lyric and style of music. “Like a Virgin” was very Motown influenced. Madonna coming from Detroit – the birthplace of Motown – felt appealed to the three-note pattern Steinberg and Kelly had borrowed from the Four Tops “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”. She was also into the subject “Like a Virgin” because it was ironic and provocative at the same time. Madonna liked the play on words, she thought they were clever but she also believed in the depth of the song. Many artists use metaphors for sex, but in this song sex is a metaphor for love. “Like a Virgin” became the choice title for her second album and the perfect song to release as it’s first single.
For her artistic breakthrough, Madonna called upon the disco icon Nile Rodgers who had several hits in the ‘70s with Chic, and had worked with Peter Gabriel, Al Jarreau, David Bowie, and Sister Sledge. Working with Madonna, both as a producer and guitarist, he used live musicians from his Chic albums instead of relying on her previously synthesised sound that was characteristic to Madonna’s first album. Despite this great success, Rodgers is better known among us by the monster hit “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk. With such a great team by her side, the question rises: did the song make Madonna or did Madonna make the song? It is clear that songwriters have a bigger contribution than the music industry likes to advertise, but they have to let go of their baby after the artist becomes their mouthpiece. It is still the artistic charisma that sells the song. It is the artist who gets custody!
Madonna’s debut album had positioned her as a dance singer. So despite the fact that the title and lyrics were risque, her record company didn’t mind having her release a song that might generate some controversy. Mary Lambert, who had directed most of Madonna’s earlier music videos, was enlisted to direct the official music video in Venice, Italy. In it, two different Madonna personas are presented; one is the real Madonna and the other represents the public’s perception of her. Lambert draws a striking contrast between the two; one, an emboldened, seductive woman dancing in a gondola as it sails the canals of Venice, and the other, a virginal ingénue in a white wedding dress. Lambert brought in a lion with the idea that Madonna’s love interest – wearing a lion’s mask, as per the local custom during the Carnival of Venice – would turn into the beast. Madonna felt that Venice symbolised so many things. She liked the tension between the city, her Italian heritage and the Catholic Church. She was Madonna, an Italian, singing “Like a Virgin”. This is probably one of the reasons why the video looks so much fun, because she loved the humour of it.
When Madonna was asked to sing at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, she chose to sing “Like a Virgin” even though the song and music video hadn’t been released yet. This would become the first airing of the song. Madonna, wearing a wedding dress and a belt buckle that said “Boy Toy,” sang a sultry version, ending with a simulated orgasm that left the audience astounded. Her live performance became one of the seminal moments in the history of MTV. “Like a Virgin” became a worldwide hit and created a new image for Madonna that set her apart from other singers. This great song ended up becoming a milestone for Steinberg, Kelly, Rodgers and Madonna. Thanks to each of their talents, many people were touched for the very first time.
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