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It was in a sleeveless khaki jacket and chinos accompanied by short, floppy hair and throwing some (very limited) dance moves in a low-budget music video that 24-year-old Madonna Louise Ciccone made her official musical debut.
Released in 1982, “Everybody” was not a roaring success. And, despite her eponymous debut album of the following year now garlanded with cult status, it wasn’t until three years later in 1985 that the singer got her first number one, with the rollicking Calypso-style “Holiday”.
This year, Madonna releases her latest album Madame X with 300 million album sales already under her belt (21 of which have earned top 10 status), 22 film appearances, a Grammy Award and the undisputed moniker as the “Queen of Pop”. Madonna is one of the most famous women in the world.
Zeitgeist-defining from the off, she has not simply survived but dominated where many female artists have been chewed up and spat out by the brutality of an industry that values youth and novelty above all else.
As she releases Madame X , The Independent’s lifestyle and culture teams have hand-picked their favourite Madonna song, and what it means to them.
Show all 9 1 /9Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Don't Tell Me" (2000) While the Stetson she appeared in for the Music era of 2000 is just one of many hats worn by Madonna, the message of its best single, “Don’t Tell Me”, is one she has practiced her entire career. I was fairly independent as a child and my colleagues would likely agree I’m even more stubborn and wilful as an adult – Madonna’s defiant lyrics on this track could certainly have had something to do with that. The twangy guitar loop of this electronic-country-pop number provides one of the most recognisable intros in music, as she instructs the listener: “Tell the leaves not to turn/ but don’t ever tell me I’ll learn, no, no/ Take the black off a crow/ but don’t tell me I have to go.” “Like a Prayer”, “Vogue” and “Material Girl” might be more iconic among Madonna fans, but for this one, “Don’t Tell Me” eponymises who she is as an artist, and as a person. (Roisin O'Connor)
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Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Into the Groove" (1984) Although "Into the Groove" isn’t technical musical feat like some of Madonna’s later dance work, such as the electro masterpiece "Ray of Light", or pretty much anything on the Confessions album, it encompasses Madonna’s less filtered earlier work, complete with a signature spoken introduction. All of Madonna’s spoken introductions prelude her best work, as if to serve as a siren to dash to the dancefloor before the bassline kicks in. "Into the Groove" is the literal finest example of this: when her vocals pop up over a drum and synth intro (“And you can dance/For inspiration/ Come on”) I will always want to hit that floor. (Chloe Hubbard)
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Papa Don’t Preach" (1986) Hunting around my parents’ house when I was 10, I found my mum’s Immaculate Collection VHS, the pastel blue box signalling something exciting. Slotting it into the machine, I waited for a song to finish and a fade to black. More than just a story of a young pregnant woman having to break the news to her protective father, “Papa Don’t Preach” is a coming-of-age story. It felt relevant to me even at that age, contrasting with the numerous songs I’d heard telling men’s stories. The impossible-not-to-dance-to beat, the catchy lyrics and that feeling of a song capturing the female experience have stayed with me ever since. And it’s not just me. Put this track on at a wedding and the dance floor will be alight in moments with women shouting the lyrics, dancing like Madonna – feeling empowered. If that doesn't qualify as an iconic song, I don’t know what does. (Harriet Hall)
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Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Like a Virgin" (1984) From the minute the unmistakable beat of “Like a Virgin” begins to play, you can’t help but start rocking your head from side to side and tapping your feet in sync with the music in true 1980s fashion. Not only is the song undeniably catchy, but it also epitomises several aspects of Madonna’s identity, namely her openness with sexuality and erotica. Some of Madonna’s most iconic moments have come from her performances of the track, such as at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 when she appeared on stage wearing a white wedding dress. It’s playful, upbeat and impossible to resist dancing to. What’s not to love? (Sabrina Barr)
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Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Like a Prayer" (1989) Is “Like a Prayer” the favourite Madonna song of every lapsed Catholic out there? Maybe it’s over speculation, but there’s some primal part of my Catholic childhood that can’t help but claw to the surface on each listen of the 1989 pop classic. Madonna made no secret of the fact her work was heavily influenced by her own upbringing surrounded by Italian Catholicism and, as she told Rolling Stone in 1989: “Once you’re a Catholic, you’re always a Catholic - in terms of your feelings of guilt and remorse and whether you’ve sinned or not”. But with “Like a Prayer”, there’s a sense of freedom: an intimate, personal rewriting of religion that breaks the taboos of intermixing sex and religion. Add to that, the radical nature of the track’s video making a sincere statement about racism and police brutality - a message often buried by the hysteria surrounding the Vatican’s own condemnation of it. (Clarisse Loughrey)
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Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Vogue" (1990) To strike a pose is to “Vogue”. So much more than a glitzy disco track, Madonna’s “Vogue” cements its rank as a pop culture phenomenon thanks to the flamboyant New York City subcultures it celebrates. The dance itself originates in 1980s drag culture and Madonna’s eponymous track is an homage to the sexual freedom and flagrant theatrics that the routine evokes to this day. With its liberal roots and non-binary rhetoric (“it makes no difference if you’re black or white, if you’re a boy or a girl”), “Vogue” is the ultimate empowerment anthem, fuelled by grandeur, old-school glamour, and an insatiable appetite for fun. It’s a corker. (Olivia Petter)
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Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Beautiful Stranger" (1999) Madonna’s enjoyably psychedelic “Beautiful Stranger” was the perfect selection as main soundtrack single for Austin Powers sequel The Spy Who Shagged Me. Co-written by William Orbit, the man behind Blur’s “Coffee and TV” as well as All Saints belter “Pure Shores”, the song draws instrumentally from unexpected places (The Beatles, The Doors) with its drum-free guitar-backed opening verse setting the stage for that roaring chorus: “You’re everywhere I go! And everybody knows!” It’s a flawless slice of late-1990s pop that’s as good as anything Madonna’s ever recorded. Groovy, baby. (Jacob Stolworthy)
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Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "La Isla Bonita" (1986) On the very rare (two) occasions I’ve done karaoke, it says something that the song I’ve picked both times was "La Isla Bonita". I’m a sucker for melody – and especially one that’s uptempo yet loaded with a melancholic yearning to be on a mysterious tropical island. From the opening Cuban drums, followed by castanets, it’s the winning blend of Latin rhythms and Spanish guitar with 1980s synths, and the sweetness of Madonna’s cooing vocals, that makes “La Isla Bonita” stand out – and it was the first Spanish-tinged track that Madonna released. It’s so distinctive that it’s impossible to imagine this on Michael Jackson’s Bad album, for which the track was initially written. Romantic, evocative and always alluring. (Elisa Bray)
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Material Girl" (1984) While some may criticise “Material Girl” for being shallow, it is in fact a feminist anthem. Sure, prioritising money and shiny things over personality may not be the best approach when looking for a partner, but there’s nothing wrong with appreciating fashion and the finer things in life – it doesn’t mean you’re frivolous, vain or superficial, as Madonna points out. Because the thing is, some boys may kiss you and some boys may hug you (consensually, one would hope), but if they don’t give you proper credit, you really should just walk away. (Rachel Hosie)
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