Материальная девушка: История песни Мадонны

1984 single by Madonna

"Material Girl" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her second studio album, Like a Virgin (1984). It was released on January 23, 1985, by the Sire label as the second single from Like a Virgin. It also appears slightly remixed on the 1990 greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection, in its original form on the 2009 greatest hits compilation, Celebration and Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones (2022). The song was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans, while Nile Rodgers produced the track. Madonna explained that the concept of the song was indicative of her life at that time, and she liked it because she felt it was provocative. "Material Girl" consists of synth arrangements with a robotic sounding voice chant repeating the hook, "living in a material world". The lyrics identify with materialism, with Madonna asking for a rich and affluent life, and only wanting to date men who can offer her this. Contemporary critics have frequently identified "Material Girl" along with "Like a Virgin" as the songs that established Madonna as an icon. "Material Girl" was a commercial success, reaching the top five in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Japan and United Kingdom. It reached the number two position on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, becoming her third top five single there. The single's release was accompanied by a music video directed by Mary Lambert. The video pays homage to Marilyn Monroe's performance of the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, with the mimicked scenes interspersed with scenes of a Hollywood director trying to win the heart of an actress, played by Madonna herself. Discovering that, contrary to her song, the young woman is not impressed by money and expensive gifts, he pretends to be penniless and succeeds in taking her out on a date. Madonna has performed the song in five of her world tours; most of her performances of the song on tour are mimicries of the song's music video. "Material Girl" has been covered by a number of artists, including Britney Spears and Hilary and Haylie Duff. It also became a viral hit on TikTok. Madonna has often remarked that she regrets recording "Material Girl" as its title became a nickname for her in the mainstream media. The song has been labeled an empowering influence for women, and was the subject of debates.

"Material Girl" was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans, while Nile Rodgers produced the track. In 1986, Madonna told Company magazine, that although she did not write or create the song, the lyrical meaning and concept did apply to her situation at that point of time. She elaborated, "I'm very career oriented. You are attracted to people who are ambitious that way, too, like in the song 'Material Girl'. You are attracted to men who have material things because that's what pays the rents and buys you furs. That's the security. That lasts longer than emotions."

"Material Girl" consists of synth arrangements, with a strong backbeat supporting it. A robotic sounding male voice, sung by Frank Simms, repeats the hook "Living in a material world". According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes. com by Alfred Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a tempo of 120 beats per minute. It is set in the key of C major, with Madonna's voice spanning from the tonal nodes of C4 to C5. The song has a basic chord progression of F–G–Em–Am F G C in the chorus, while the verses are based on the C mixolydian mode, giving a hip, swing like mood. The bassline in the song with the post disco origins is reminiscent of the Jacksons' "Can You Feel It", which appeared on their 1980 album Triumph. Furthermore, the strophes remind of the refrain from the hit "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" (1982). The lyrics explain that Madonna is a "material girl" who will not accept men who cannot provide her with luxuries. as the second single from Like a Virgin, "Material Girl" received mixed reviews from music critics. Author Rikky Rooksby, in his book The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, compared the song with those of Cyndi Lauper because of Madonna's shrill voice in the song. He added that the song was a "pungent satire on the Reagan/Thatcher young guns go for it era. Which just goes to show that pop music and irony don't mix." Debby Miller from Rolling Stone, felt that the song portrayed Madonna as a more practical girl than previous female singers. Dave Karger from Entertainment Weekly, while reviewing the album in 1995, felt that the song came off a bit repetitious and immature when compared to the present context. Jim Farber from the same publication felt that the song provided then critics a way to criticize Madonna's work. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine commented that Madonna had "defined a generation with hits like 'Material Girl'." Alfred Soto from Stylus Magazine compared the song with "Everything She Wants" by Wham!. Michael Paoletta from Billboard commented that the song sustained a "fevered dance rock momentum." Nancy Erlick from Billboard said that "singer and team conquer once more with their irresistible assembly of new and used pop hooks." Cashbox said that the song is "a playful follow up to 'Like A Virgin which "still emphasizes a danceable backbeat, but has a sense of humor and Madonna doesn't sound quite as squeaky as on past cuts." In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all time for a special issue of Q magazine dedicated to Madonna. "Material Girl" was allocated the 15th spot on the list.

"Material Girl" was performed by Madonna on five of her world tours. She ended the Virgin Tour (1985) with a self parodying performance of the song. She wore a white tube top and a tight white skirt and carried a bunch of notes in her left hand. At the end of the performance she asked the audience "Do you really think I'm a material girl? I'm not Take it [Throwing fake money] I don't need money I need love." As she began to strip off more clothes, she was apprehended and marched offstage by an extra posing as her father. In Detroit, her father Tony himself did the honors. In the Who's That Girl World Tour of 1987, Madonna performed it as a medley with "Dress You Up" and "Like a Virgin". She wore an elaborate costume, inspired by Dame Edna Everage. It consisted of a hat strewn with fake fruits, flowers and feathers, jeweled batwing spectacles with heavy, black frames, a ruffled skirt, a bodice covered with objects like watches and dolls and fishnets. Author Carol Clrek stated that the dress was more "ludicrous for Madonna, than humorous." Two different performances of the song on this tour can be found on the videos: Who's That Girl: Live in Japan, filmed in Tokyo, Japan, on June 22, 1987, and Ciao Italia: Live from Italy, filmed in Turin, Italy, on September 4, 1987. For the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990, Madonna and her supporting dancers Niki Haris and Donna De Lory were dressed as old women in fluffy dressing gowns with dollar signs and curling pins in their hair. Singing the song with a strong mid western accent, they got up and revealed a frivolish pink dress underneath their gown, in which they danced around. On some dates Madonna replaced the words "experience has made me rich" with "experience has made me a bitch". After singing, she produced dollar bills out of her corsage and threw them up in the air for the audience to catch. Two different performances were taped and released on video, Blond Ambition: Japan Tour 90, taped in Yokohama, Japan, on April 27, 1990, and Blond Ambition World Tour Live, taped in Nice, France, on August 5, 1990. During the Re Invention World Tour of 2004, a general setlist was decided where the show rehearsals would start with "I'm So Stupid" from American Life, "Dress You Up" and "Material Girl". But "Dress You Up" and "I'm So Stupid" were later dropped from the show. Hence "Material Girl" was transferred as the closing song of the military segment of the show, and was re arranged as an electric guitar version. Madonna wore military themed clothes and sang the song while standing in front of a microphone and playing an electric guitar. The backdrops displayed mathematical equations along with DNA helixes rushing through the screens. Minimal elements of the song were included in the live performance of "Girl Gone Wild" on the MDNA Tour (2012). "Material Girl" was included in the final section of the Rebel Heart Tour (2015–16). For this section, Madonna worked with designer Jeremy Scott for party inspired costumes. She wanted a "Harlem flapper meets Paris in the Twenties" look, and Scott came up with the final dress adorned with thousands of Swarovski crystals. Following the jazz rendition of 2000 single "Music", Madonna's started performing "Material Girl", in a similar theme like the music video. Towards the end, Madonna changed the choreography, and made her dancers who posed as suitors, to fall down the stairs instead. The performance ended with the singer walking down the catwalk in a bridal veil and carrying a white bouquet, which she eventually throws into the crowd. Utilizing the stage as both stairs as well as video backdrop, the stairs rose up and down during the song. The performance of the song at the March 19–20, 2016 shows in Sydney's Allphones Arena was recorded and released in Madonna's fifth live album, Rebel Heart Tour. In June 2022, to accompany the remix album release Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones, Madonna performed at Pride at the Women of the World Party in New York City. In the event, the singer premiered "Material Gworrllllllll! ", a mashup of "Material Girl" with Saucy Santana's hip hop song of the same name. The song was released the following month.

After the song's release, the phrase "material girl" became another nickname for Madonna. She has since remarked that if she had known she would constantly be referred to by the "Material Girl" moniker, she probably would not have recorded the song. In 1993, a conference was held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, with the subject as Madonna: Feminist Icon or Material Girl?. The conference pondered on the duality of Madonna as both of them and deduced that the question of Madonna's feminism is not easy to decide. Some of the feminists left the conference, citing that they had not been able to make up their minds. As New Age spirituality became popular in the U. S. in the late 1990s, Madonna embarked on a spiritual quest of her own, and journals like The Times and The Advocate described her as "the Ethereal Girl" and "Spiritual Girl" respectively.

In August 2022, Madonna and Saucy Santana released "Material Gworrllllllll!". The song is a remix of Saucy Santana's 2019 single, "Material Girl", combining elements of the song with Madonna's of the same name. "Material Gworrllllllll!" is an electronic track with elements of rap. Madonna and Saucy Santana first performed the song in June 2022 at Terminal 5 during New York City Pride. The song debuted and peaked at number 69 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart dated August 18, 2022, and fell off the chart the following week.