Madonna expresses herself once more....

In June 1989, Madonna released the second single from her international No.1 album, Like A Prayer. The song was Express Yourself, and peaked at No.5 in the UK, spending a total of 10 weeks on the chart. The song was the follow-up to the massive UK No.1 single Like A Prayer. You would've thought that riding high on the success and controversy of the No.1 album and single Like A Prayer, Express Yourself would've charted a bit higher than No.5, not only because of it's a fantastic song, but because of the stunning video.

Express Yourself opens with a brilliant and brassy beat in which Madonna proudly declares, "Come on girls! You believe in love? 'Cos I've got something to sing about it! And it goes something like this!" The song then kicks into its fantastic chorus as Madonna sings, "Don't go for second best baby, put your love to the test you know, you know you've got to make him express how he feels and maybe then you'll know your love is real." The song is very upbeat and has a killer beat to it. Madonna then sings her first verse, "You don't need diamond rings or eighteen karat gold. Fancy cars that go very fast you know they never last no, no." Then we move onto the bridge with the lyrics, "What you need is a big strong hand to lift you to your higher ground. Make you feel like a queen on a throne. Make him love you until you can't come down." The fantastic chorus then blazes through, and we're then onto the second verse. "Long stem roses are the way to your heart, but he needs to start with your head. Satin sheets are very romantic, what happens when you're not in bed." We then get another bridge with the lyrics, "You deserve the best in life. So if the time isn't right then move on. Second best is never enough, you'll do much better baby on your own." The song then repeats the chorus a few more times, with a fantastic trumpet solo, before dying down and finishing.

The video to Express Yourself was the second most expensive music vide of the 1980's, after Michael Jackson's Thriller - both of which topped the $1 million production mark. We see Madonna as the kind of boss of an all-male factory. The men work away hard while Madonna sits above in her bedroom, expressing herself and getting anything she wants. She has two cats, and basically lives her life the way she wants to, in a world where anything that she wants she gets, rather reminiscent of Madonna's own life at the time the video was made. All in all, Express Yourself deserves its respect from women because it's such a girl power type song with a video to match.

One of the best dance singles ever!

To understand what this single mix means, you should live in the eighties (I mean, have at least fifteen years old on those years). CD's were not the standard yet, and electronics were used only to give analog instruments and composition something "extra".

I became a DJ just because of this single. I could not resist when I first heard this wonderful Non-Stop Express mix, and of course, remixed with Stop & Go dubs by some DJ in her live performance. I have two vinyls that I bought then, and of course the CD single of this song.

In that decade, you used to buy vinyl-singles only if you were a DJ, and since you could only have a couple of turntables to play with (no rhythm boxes, computers, nor samplers) because equipment used to be very expensive, "dubs" were perfect complements for making your own sets.

Shep Pettibone is one of the best remixers ever, and New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" is just one sample. He was transforming simple pop singles into big smash dance hits years before David Morales.

So if you want to know how the dance floor used to be in the eighties fall, and you like Madonna, New Order, Fine Young Cannibals, Mid Night Oil, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Paula Abdul, INXS, Rich Astley, Roxette, Kon-kan, Technotronic, Bobby Brown, etc. YOU DEFINETLY HAVE TO BUY THIS SINGLE!!!

Very good

There is an exploration of the existential in Madonna's work now that shows a definitive maturity. I think that the ability that sets Madonna apart the most is not simply being someone who manipulates media well but in truth two things: One, she's not a big fan of TV or indulging in the media, beign a puppet to it in watching it. Two, Marianne Williamson talks about that people who become legends do so because they tap into the concept of what the human consciousness is available to, needing to develop and that rings within all of us. It is that work that interests the rest of us.