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Why wasn't ghosttown a hit for MADONNA


tricky ricky
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Just to make a comment about whether teenagers listen to older artists. When I was a teenager in the 80's I discovered older artists but mostly ones that were still active and radio and the general public weren't quite as ageist as they are now.  This is ironic if we are supposed to be evolving mentally and emotionally I would hope.

To discriminate against anyone outside of your "group" is quite conservative and music today seems very corporate and formula based disguised as art. People in the music business have tapped into one of the worse things to come out of 60's which is the notion that everyone older thinks the same way and they simply don't know "where it's at." It may have really started in the 50's but became a movement in the 60's. 

I think that has steadily grown but with the leadership today and the culture we are definitely in "dismiss whomever is not a part of my group society."

To get away from my rant about ageism and the general dismissive society we are living in now, my feelings about Ghosttown as a hit is that it does not help if people are conditioned to automatically reject an older artist which I believe they are. As a teen we were somewhat conditioned as we would definitely scour the record store for older artists but only talked openly about the latest artists. 

There is the social thing created but there is also the fact of older artists embracing the idea that they are past it and also feel maybe a little jaded by life. It IS harder to be idealistic and as passionate about things the more life happens to you and if that comes across in your art it might not appeal to the majority of people who spend their time streaming music. A lot are streaming the songs from "the image" artists and the song really doesn't matter but there are also ones who are interested in artists who show idealism and passion in their art. 

Madonna to me in the last 8 years or so has gone to extremes in her music whereas I believe she was better at balancing and infusing her songs with a mixture of maturity, passion, thoughtfulness, playfulness...there seems to be a lack of confidence in Madonna's work like she had before. I can here it in her voice. Older artists who buy into ageists ideas lose their most important asset, confidence. Instead of simply speaking their mind they wonder how what they say will be perceived and that is unappealing to people looking for something that inspires them, makes them think and feel. 

Madonna's songs seem to be going to the extremes now with little balance. Ghosttown would have been a big hit for an image artist and praised as "look how sweet and wonderful she is" by her devoted followers. Since Madonna is not allowed to be on thier radar and Ghosttown certainly doesn't push it's way through anything they disregard it. Ghosttown is a nice song that doesn't demand to heard or seen. 

People have created artists based on what they think appealed to Madonna's fans and it truly lacks substance but the truth is Madonna's fans liked what was beneath the surface I am not sure I am hearing passion in Madonna's voice or confidence like I did before and that what was appealing about her. She was everything...every real emotion we all experienced. 

Ghosttown is a good song but if it's a hopeful song... Madonna sounds sad in it to me. Does she believe in what she is singing? I don't know if Madonna had the confidence to make this song a hit. The older artists that appealed to me the most were the ones that showed the most confidence. Madonna's idea "now" in showing confidence seems to be in anger or explicit language. 

Universal themes are what I think were Madonna's strength as a hitmaker and Ghosttown is definitely universal but does she care about the world as much as she seemed to before? She seems to be disconnected. She definitely cares about her children and that's how it should be but a song or songs relating to motherhood I think would be more believable coming from her. 

So I guess I think she didn't seem confident enough to make Ghosttown a hit plus their is the very real factor of radio discriminating against her and people only following thier given leaders. 

It's weird today. Rejecting what or whom you think is uncool has always been conservative to me and yet it came out of a real time of change. 

So my ultimate answer is that their are a few reasons it didn't become a hit but I think it was Madonna's lack of passion and confidence. 

 

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I agree with most of your opinions... 

What I think about that is that times changed but not for best. When I was a child in the 80's and listened to the radio you could hear all kind of music. I remember listening to Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, U2,... and at the same time, in the same radio station you could hear Aretha Franklin, The Doors, Elvis, Janis Joplin, The Beatles and singers from my country (I'm from Spain) that were important in that moment and others that had hits years before that. Same with the kind of music... You could listen all kind of music and from all the conutries. I remember hearing songs from Germany, France, Italy, UK... Maybe the singers wer "old" for a 10 years old boy but there was "respect" for the music and was like "Ok, this one has 60 years but makes good music and that's the important thing".

I think people has change a lot about that. I mean, now people want something new everyday. Even young stars have a hit and the next day people say "Ah, it's part of the past". I don't know how to explain it... For example, at my work I have now a guy that has 23 years old and he was crazy with Katy Perry's "Swish, swish". We were talking about her and I told him that I thought she was funny and that she had tallent and when when we started to talk about her songs and I told him that "Roar" had a funny video it was like "What??? Do you listen to songs that are so old?". He didn't even remember songs like "I've kissed a girl" or "Hot n Cold". For him it was like songs that never happened.

What I'm trying to say is that if they don't listen to songs from 10 years ago sang by a young artist because that's very old they won't lose their time listening to what an "old" singer had to say. They know Madonna's name but they are not interested in what she makes of what she made. For most of them is a singer that makes music for their parents, not for them. And you can see in everything... Young people don't want to see classic movies because they are in black or white, they don't want to see traditional animation because they have the CGI and all those things... I think this is the biggest problem with Madonna now.

Of course the fact that the singles are not played on radio and there are no physical singles (and most of the music stores are closed) help too. My friends like Madonna and they went to the music stores at least once a month and they bought albums, singles and things like that. They don't want to buy an mp3 file that you can download for free, they want physical releases and they can't get them in their own town so they just don't buy it.

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19 hours ago, professormouse said:

Living For Love sounds like a 2nd or 3rd 'single release' from when the media hung on her every word.
The only mix of the follow-up I liked was the Paul Andrews Reconstruction Mix, was that 'official' ?

It's not her best, that's why it didn't do so well.

While I don't think LFL was a great song, it had first single written all over it. 

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It's not a popular opinion, but Ghosttown did nothing for me. I think the song is overproduced, sounding too much like a Miley song. It just lacks the Madonna magic. It's not because of Madonna's age that Ghosttown didn't get played on the radio or didn't sell well, it's just a matter of quality. Yet there are a lot of fans who love the song, so perhaps I'm wrong.

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22 hours ago, tricky ricky said:

she has fans though surely ...fans who will buy the singles ...i mean her albums go top ten so why cant her singles especially the first single ...i just don't think many people fans even buy her music anymore :( they don't support her like they used to do 

Buying physical copies won't help that much in 2018. Rules changed. Her 35+ years old fans need to understand that only streaming will help her chart now. If they want her to chart first of all. That doesn't mean you can't buy physical copies too.

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All the reasons stated in the past 2 pages are relevant, age, lack of promo, and so on - the big truth tho, its just not a big hit. Who wants to hear generic pop from Madonna?  Its not a standout track and her vocals are just average on this.

I personally easily take HeartbreakCity over Ghosttown.

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if she ever got a hit again that'd be a miracle. Madonna's at a point where she doesn't care about her success because she's already cemented a legendary status. At this point she's more worried about spending time with her kids and widening her portfolio outside of music. Music is just a fan favor at this point which is completely fine. Plus it doesn't help that she's old (which is somehow her fault.)

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13 hours ago, drivebitch said:

While I don't think LFL was a great song, it had first single written all over it. 

I was meaning like Ray Of Light, Erotica....that kinda thing.
It was 'nice', I liked the Haddaway mashup !
I heard a letter being read out on Points Of View, British viewers will know it ont' BBC.
He complained that....as he had the radio on at work, he counted that 'Dear Jessie' played on BBC Radio 1
18 times....did have no Other Records ?
I thought that only got released 'coz Prince = He say no, it will 'help' the album sales ??

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Swerving off topic what does Prince have to do with Dear Jessie?

Imo the RH stuff is fun and what it is. It will be interesting if the new works are more “true to life” and less pop sensible to compare the two. The overtly sexy/horny songs on RH like UB, BIM, BS, Sex, HW, BN, DP, IO, VVV are what I tend to favor because I think they are more the real, honest Madonna than LFL Ghosttown or Hold Tight for example. Even Autotune Baby like this is really unconventional horniness but I bet she does really get turned on by this, enough to write a nursery rhyme song about it. LFL, even Messiah they’re cute sometimes but really romantic love isn’t lifting up anything. I barely ever want to listen or can make it through that entire song (LFL) I humbly submit that it should have been left off the album it’s dull.

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I got the sense that the label sort of made her do Ghosttown.  It's the ONLY track that hadn't leaked in any form and I think was done very late into the RH sessions, almost as an afterthought. I feel like the label wanted a really strong ballad for a single, and they really put a lot behind giving her a hit album with RH. Maybe that's why she didn't promote it a lot or include it in the setlist, just out of rebelliousness cuz it was sort of forced on her?  She clearly doesn't hate it too much as she did it at the Leo benefit last year.  

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It is by far one of her best songs ever. Period. Great melody, brilliant lyrics (very current given state of the world - poignant without being preachy), 100% classic Madonna. Bad promotion? What are we talking about? It had an epic video featuring a hot actor (Terrence Howard fresh of "Empire's" success at the time), it was performed during various TV appearances and performed live with Taylor Swift, hottest thing in pop. May I also remind everyone it was named best song of 2015 by the Rolling Stone? I absolutely agree with Diplo - it would've been a massive hit for anyone else. 

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16 hours ago, kesiak said:

It is by far one of her best songs ever. Period. Great melody, brilliant lyrics (very current given state of the world - poignant without being preachy), 100% classic Madonna. Bad promotion? What are we talking about? It had an epic video featuring a hot actor (Terrence Howard fresh of "Empire's" success at the time), it was performed during various TV appearances and performed live with Taylor Swift, hottest thing in pop. May I also remind everyone it was named best song of 2015 by the Rolling Stone? I absolutely agree with Diplo - it would've been a massive hit for anyone else. 

absolutely the song is deffo 1 of her best ..

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Sorry if I take it left for a second. 

Joan of Arc would have been a better ballad single. It has emotional depth. Even more than that, it has moments that "hit me like a truck" when I hear them. When Madonna sings "I wanna die"....my heart falls into the floor. I honestly don't know if it would happen if just anyone sang this or if it's because I have never heard such things come out of Madonna's mouth but I am completely devastated when I hear this. Also when she sings "one word of kindness it can save me". It is so powerful. It's so real. i think it is also a message most anyone can relate to, but specifically something teenagers can relate to. 

 

Contrast it with Ghosttown, and forgive me for goin in on the song, I don't think the emotion is completely there. From a songwriters point of view i would argue it doesn't have that "it" factor yet.

Its like how Candy Shop was ok and then 7 years later she finally got it right when they remixed it for the Rebel Heart Tour. In Candy Shops instance, I think Pharrel's rhythm in the original is a little strange and not completely danceable. I would say Ghosttown's flaws are in the lyrics and melody. 

Don't kill me, these are just my opinions. I think the melody is fine as it is. But some words don't fit the melody. "This world has turned to dust" doesn't sound like a person who is singing from a broken world. It would have been a great moment for variation instead of sticking hard to the original melody. 

I think also subconsciously the mixing up of time in the songwriting hurts it as well. "When it all falls" implies the future. It hasn't happened yet. However the rest of the song is talking about how it has already fallen. i don't think anyone is sitting around thinking this, I just think its definitely something that isn't helping the song. 

and last...the hook, the part that's supposed to grab on to you isn't powerful enough. "When it all falls, when it all falls down we'll be two souls in a ghosttown. It comes across as more of a generic statement rather than something that makes me feel like "we are in this together". Or "its just me and you". It doesn't make me feel the weight of the situation or the love that is supposedly holding them together. And if I had to pin it down to one thing, it would be this point. If someone is listening to this for the first time, when they make it to the hook, it doesn't pay off. It wasn't worth the ride. 

Like I said before, Ive grown to love the song, so don't think my harsh, pedantic criticism is hate. There's a lot they got right with the song too. The production is on point! The pre chorus with the ah ah ah, ah ah ah... is fresh and modern. "Might as well start with us singing a new song, something to build on" is definitely my favorite line. 

 

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21 minutes ago, RUADJAI said:

Sorry if I take it left for a second. 

Joan of Arc would have been a better ballad single. It has emotional depth. Even more than that, it has moments that "hit me like a truck" when I hear them. When Madonna sings "I wanna die"....my heart falls into the floor. I honestly don't know if it would happen if just anyone sang this or if it's because I have never heard such things come out of Madonna's mouth but I am completely devastated when I hear this. Also when she sings "one word of kindness it can save me". It is so powerful. It's so real. i think it is also a message most anyone can relate to, but specifically something teenagers can relate to. 

 

Contrast it with Ghosttown, and forgive me for goin in on the song, I don't think the emotion is completely there. From a songwriters point of view i would argue it doesn't have that "it" factor yet.

Its like how Candy Shop was ok and then 7 years later she finally got it right when they remixed it for the Rebel Heart Tour. In Candy Shops instance, I think Pharrel's rhythm in the original is a little strange and not completely danceable. I would say Ghosttown's flaws are in the lyrics and melody. 

Don't kill me, these are just my opinions. I think the melody is fine as it is. But some words don't fit the melody. "This world has turned to dust" doesn't sound like a person who is singing from a broken world. It would have been a great moment for variation instead of sticking hard to the original melody. 

I think also subconsciously the mixing up of time in the songwriting hurts it as well. "When it all falls" implies the future. It hasn't happened yet. However the rest of the song is talking about how it has already fallen. i don't think anyone is sitting around thinking this, I just think its definitely something that isn't helping the song. 

and last...the hook, the part that's supposed to grab on to you isn't powerful enough. "When it all falls, when it all falls down we'll be two souls in a ghosttown. It comes across as more of a generic statement rather than something that makes me feel like "we are in this together". Or "its just me and you". It doesn't make me feel the weight of the situation or the love that is supposedly holding them together. And if I had to pin it down to one thing, it would be this point. If someone is listening to this for the first time, when they make it to the hook, it doesn't pay off. It wasn't worth the ride. 

Like I said before, Ive grown to love the song, so don't think my harsh, pedantic criticism is hate. There's a lot they got right with the song too. The production is on point! The pre chorus with the ah ah ah, ah ah ah... is fresh and modern. "Might as well start with us singing a new song, something to build on" is definitely my favorite line. 

 

joan of arc should have been a single too and it should have been on the rebel heart  tour setlist ,,,i loved when she sang it the australian show of tears of a clown 

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11 hours ago, Régine Filange said:

Let's be real: the perfect 1st single for chart success in 2015 would've been Bitch I'm Madonna. The perfect song that deserved to have a music video tho, would've been Devil Pray.

My thoughts would’ve been to make Ghosttown the lead single in late 2014. Since it was unleaked. Follow with Valentines release of Living for Love and then BIM.

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