Music update

Thirteen months ago, I began listening to all of my CDs. That process is still ongoing. I'm on the M's in the second half of the CD collection (the ones filed away out of their jewel boxes). I've finished the CD singles, but still have a lot of compilations to listen to.

M starts out with lots of Madonna. One of those CDs is what I consider my first CD, Like a Prayer, which I won from a local radio station. I very much enjoyed it, and ended up listening to it time and again. It's a great collection of songs from arguably her peak of popularity (not that there have been many troughs in Madonna's career). The singles were great, and among the album tracks is a duet with Prince (talk about the face of late 80's music!).

Of all the songs on the album, though, my favorite is a track that didn't get a single release in America, Dear Jessie. The song is basically a lullaby for coproducer Patrick Leonard's daughter, and evokes wonderful fairy tale imagery. And every time I listen to the song, one lyric sticks out:

There's a golden gate where the fairies all wait

And I think, how did this escape criticism from gay activists?

Actually, if you set your mind to it, the song is filled with phrases that can be twisted into double meanings:

Rub this magic lantern // He will make your dreams come true for you
Ride the rainbow to the other side
Pink elephants
love parade
dancing moons
fountain of gold
Sugarplum fingertips kissing your honey lips

(Addendum for HP: immediately following Madonna is Magnetic Fields)