Analysis of Madonna’s Girl Gone Wild Song.

Analysis of Madonna’s Girl Gone Wild Song (with video)

(Please watch the Video before reading this Analysis)

Recently I got a chance to look at Madonna’s new video for her song ‘Girl Gone Wild’ and literally I was speechless. More because of her balls in using blasphemous statements towards God, the video is a kind of mockery toward religious conformity and an embrace to secularism and worldly freedom. She blatantly blasts any form of conformity to institutional religion (as we know her for) and encourages freedom of spirit in the name of fun. Well, I like Madonna and here’s why, not only because she is talented and gifted for music, which is an artistic field- it’s obvious this woman is given the gift of music; but more because as an artist myself (A poet) I can appreciate the creativity of other artists. I love art and I’m a deep thinker- at least I try to be.

For this song along with video I have decided to write an interpretation of my opinion on the message. Any video so bizarre has to be pushing some kind of sublime ideology to the viewers. So I will do my best and hope you enjoy the read. Literature is a form of art along with music (sounds), dance, visual, and the singing is poetry in case you didn’t know. Art has many forms and every good artist is trying to tell a story in his/her art. It’s as simple as that. In the video Madonna goes way back into history to tell a story behind the lyrics of the song- a visual explanation of the songs content. Listening to the song and the sound arrangement with the words you would say- this is a dance pop electric high energy club music for the young and energetic. You might even feel like dancing because of the heavy base and timed beats. No problem. But when you listen to the lyrics (the poetry) you are taking it a step further.

I’ll start with the most difficult part the video because of the complexity of the symbolism and religious connotations she draws to the present society. See the past is always being compared to the present because there is a relationship between the past and the now. This might be a long one- so put on your seatbelt. Madonna opens the video with few words, which set the foundation, she is representing the ‘Girl Gone Wild’, which could be your daughter or sister or whoever, more than likely its a young inexperienced girl. She says, 

“Oh my God I'm heartly sorry for having offended thee and I detest all my sins because I dread The loss of heaven and the pains of hell but most of all because I love thee and I want So badly to be good”

Now reading those lines, it might sound to you like a sincere prayer, but to Madonna, she does not mean it! It is sarcasm and mockery which is the same thing. She is saying the opposite of what she means or meaning the opposite of what she says. You only have to listen to her tone of voice and look at her non verbal facial expression to agree with me. She knows what she’s doing and she is not sorry. This is the foundation for the video. This really is a good girl gone Wild. She doesn’t care.

Next, I will focus on the visuals so blatant in the video and what they mean symbolically. While she is saying those words as if communicating with God, you see two men sucking on a fruit that appears to look like an apple (it’s very disturbing but an artist’s work nonetheless)- implying that they might be homosexuals (gays). But suck on an apple? The apple symbolizes lust of the eye or the forbidden fruit from Genesis and since the song is about A Girl Gone Wild- I have come to that assumption. The fruit of genesis was on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And God forbid man to touch, taste or even go near it.

Next you see Madonna going on her stomach like a serpent and twiling and slithering with represents a snake or lower beast. Skipping that, the next scene is a gang of men dancing very erotic to in ordered fashion. What stand out the most is the feminine posture of these men. They have the build of men but the curve of women at the same time- it’s very freaky! Could this represent the unity of the masculine and feminine as one energy? Others might say they are homosexual- that’s a possibility as well. The next scene is quick, Madonna is chained by four chains and dancing- this could represent religious or institutional social inhibitions of mental chains that restrain her physical movement.

The next thing you see is a firework of sparks shaped into a cross in which Madonna is standing in front. The men who are presumed to be gay, I don’t think they are gay. They hover over Madonna in a kind of worship and adoration like a child on a mother’s breast in a kind of intimate unity. The next scene is a naked man in front of a glass mirror whose posture represents very much the painting of Michelangelo creation of Adam. The scene is fast but worthy of note taking. He (could be Adam) is lying beside a mirror beating the mirror looking directly at himself. The mirror here too is symbol of man being made in the image of God of man and God being one. The man looks to be kissing himself and beating the mirror- it could be an act of loneliness. While he is doing that, the two men are lusting over the apple but not actually eating it. The man appears to be going crazy. Very deep.

Fast forward the video, the next few scenes you see a well sculpted man with a crown of thorns on his head representing Christ- obviously. The scenes flash a pose of Christ with is arms extended east and west horizontally- the famous scene of agony when he paid for the sins of the world. Madonna flashes the same pose in-front a sparked cross which some would say represents the Baphomet. You then see her tossling and wrestling with a huge snake representing a kind of struggle with evil or sin- because the Devil is represented as a snake, who is subtly and a deceiver. It could be the world. The final scene four drops of blood seeping from her eye- could be the innocence of her purity leaving her- her former life.

I have to come back to the apple while explaining the lyrics because it means something deeper. Its safe to say Madonna is representing Eve, here’s why? Before Eve tasted of the forbidden fruit she was innocent and pure, undefiled and obedient. Madonna obviously has tasted of the fruit evidenced by the lyrical content- she is describing an experience. Her eyes are opened and she is corrupted. She keeps saying, a good girl gone wild, a good girl gone wild, and girls they just wanna have some fun. But the fun she is referring to is innocent freedom in her eyes. The freedom of the world.  Its a club scene, a girl is dancing, its a new experience for her, guys are around- she’s having ‘fun’. Too much. Madonna says, the room is spinning in the speed of Tanquaray, im about to go astray my inhibitions gone away, i feel like sinning, you got me in the zone.

She keeps saying I have that burning hot desire, no one can’t put out my fire, here it comes. Its for these reasons why I’m led to believe that the fruit- is the fruit of sex, which is compassion and intimacy. You see the gays who are said to be gay flocking and mounting her because she displays the fruit of desire on her. And they are tempted by it. Typically, usually bad girls have this burning desire that attracts men and the only reason for that is sex.

It is the reason why Eve ate the fruit first and not Adam- because that is the gift of the woman sex. Its only through the act of sex that the human population can continue. Sex is an emotion based thing that’s why women are more soft and gentle and warm.

The woman shared that gift with the Man but some women choose to make it a curse to allure men and to get there way. That is the message of this song. Ya