On Madonna’s Couch
Photo: Ricardo Gomes – from Madonna’s Instagram
The final phase of the UK promotion of Confessions II officially kicked off this morning on The Times, where the album co-executive producer Stuart Price had a long chat with Ed Potton sharing the stories behind the songs and the secrets of the studio.
The interview mentions that Madonna’s late brother Christopher is referenced in two songs of the album: Fragile and Forgive Yourself. He tells The Times:
The best way to deal with the rollercoaster is to write about it. Christopher died while they were making Fragile and Madonna tweaked the lyrics to acknowledge that. If you’re an artist who lays it all on the line, it’s irresponsible for you to ignore what is going on in your life. Madonna doesn’t have an off switch.
Madonna first revealed she wrote Forgive Yourself during an appearance on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast. The songs apparently didn’t make the final cut on Confessions II, and we have no solid information about it being scrapped, saved for future projects or reworked into another track.
Another intriguing song that we still have to listen to – My Sins Are My Savior – is written to address various controversies that have dogged Madonna through the years, from being accused of blasphemy by the Vatican after featuring burning crosses in her video for Like a Prayer to allegations of appropriating vogue and Latin dance styles and Kabbalah and Islamic imagery. Stuart tells The Times:
The misunderstanding is that [controversy] was used as some kind of marketing ploy, What Madonna offers is a mirror, in a really honest, brutal way. But I think we all love the truth.
To promote Confessions II Madonna and Price are appearing at nightclubs around the world, events that are “a lot of fun”, Stuart says.
It’s been an incredibly productive period, so there is more to come.
Don’t miss the full story on The Times.
