Like a Virgin (song)
Madonna's breakthrough single, using virginity as a metaphor for renewal.
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"Like a Virgin" is a track from Madonna's second studio album, also titled Like a Virgin (1984). Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly wrote the song, while Nile Rodgers handled production. It came out as the album's first single on November 6, 1984. Steinberg came up with the lyrics after getting out of a tough relationship and starting a new one, drawing on the fresh start he felt.
Musically, the song is dance-rock, built around a synth-bass groove, guitar, and drums, with an arrangement that pulls from Motown and the sound of Rodgers' band Chic. Lyrically, it uses virginity as a metaphor for the emotional renewal of a new romance, and its double meanings and ambiguous wording leave room for both romantic and sexual readings. Early reviews were mixed to positive: some critics praised or criticized Madonna's vocals, Rodgers' production got positive marks, and a few reviewers took issue with the lyrics.
The song became Madonna's first number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100, staying there for four weeks straight. It also hit number one in Australia, Canada, and the European Hot 100, and made the top ten in many other countries. Worldwide sales top six million copies. The music video, directed by Mary Lambert and shot in Venice, Italy, and New York City, shows Madonna switching between a sexually confident woman and a bride in white, mixing religious and erotic imagery with a costumed performer wearing a lion mask.
1984 MTV Video Music Awards
Critics have read the video as playing with traditional ideas about virginity, sexuality, and female purity. Madonna performed "Like a Virgin" at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, wearing a wedding dress and rolling across the stage. That performance became a key moment in her career and is now seen as one of the greatest and most important in the awards show's history.
Impact
She has since included the song on eight of her concert tours, most recently the Celebration Tour (2023–2024). The song has been credited with challenging old attitudes about female sexuality and virginity, and with expanding how women's sexual independence is shown in pop music, while also sparking backlash from conservatives. Widely covered, parodied, and referenced in pop culture, "Like a Virgin" helped push Madonna to superstardom. It is now considered one of the defining recordings of the 1980s and among the greatest and most important pop songs ever.
Background
The song was conceived by Billy Steinberg after emerging from a difficult relationship and beginning a new one, drawing on the sense of renewal he experienced. Steinberg brought the lyrics to Tom Kelly without a melody; Kelly initially approached it as a ballad, but Steinberg felt the phrase "like a virgin" did not work in that setting. After experimenting, Kelly played a bass line inspired by Motown and sang in falsetto, and they recorded a demo. The song initially met resistance from A&R executives who found the title "bizarre," but Warner Bros. executive Michael Ostin played it for Madonna, who was drawn to its wordplay and decided to record it.
Producer Nile Rodgers was initially less enthusiastic, not considering the title phrase a strong hook, but after finding the song stuck in his head, he agreed to record it. Recording took place in April 1984 at the Power Station studios in New York City.
Rodgers assembled a rhythm section including himself on guitar, Bernard Edwards on bass, and Tony Thompson on drums. Madonna was closely involved in the sessions' musical direction and drew closely from the original demo when recording her vocals, even retaining Kelly's ad-libs at the end of the song. The recording was done digitally at the urging of engineer Jason Corsaro.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Like a Virgin (song) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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