MADONNA - Hard Candy - Shedoesthecity Events & Culture

Got no boundaries and no limits
If there’s excitement, put me in it
If it’s against the law, arrest me
If you can’t handle it undress me!

In 1989, as an impressionable nine year old I was singing EXPRESS YOURSELF; nearly twenty years later I am singing GIVE IT 2 ME. Madonna’s lyrics are always catchy, slightly irreverent and make me feel like a hot tramp badass – which I quite enjoy.

I can’t grab a coffee at Starbucks, catch a cab or walk the dog without seeing Madonna Hard Cany posters…EVERYWHERE. I found my reaction to the overtly sexual, swirly pop pink posters to be quite divided. One part of me was like, "wow you are fifty and look at you spreading your legs, wearing a big gold belt, chewing provocatively on some kind of s&m belt thing, with your sex boots and punk rock hair" COOL! and then part of me was like, "wow you are fifty and look at you spreading your legs, wearing a big gold belt, chewing provocatively on some kind of s&m belt thing, with your sex boots and punk rock hair" EWW!.

As I walked around the city I tried to sort out my feelings towards Madonna. I mean, this is serious stuff – as no other celebrity or music has infiltrated my life with such longevity and mystique. However, my analysis came fairly easy and I can sum it up in one word – VOGUE VOGUE VOGUE VOGUE..oops, I mean PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE.

Yeah, maybe her time is up as a rocker, but if I look at all the flakey wasted rehab celebs that fill the scene now, it makes me respect Madonna even more. Madge has been in the industry for 30 years, been naked, had cone tits, slept with who she wanted, was a wild child – and yes has received slack at times, but always owned her behaviour. Some feminists may scold her for making it in the business in part for ripping off her clothes, but I can only admire her for her gutsy talent and fearless personality. For me, her work and life is utterly empowering for women.

Madonna also has incredible knack for nailing the trends of the time. You could play Hung Up from Madonna’s 2005 Confessions of a Dance Floor, in between an MIA song and a JUSTICE track, and it would fit in effortlessly. 4 Minutes (featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland), Give it 2 me and Beat Goes On are already pulsating the dance floor and making you sweat.

Although Esther may be 50 years old, she’s in better shape than me, and if she wants to rock her bad girl image until the day she dies, then more power to her. If at fifty, I’m still vogueing then I’ll be a happier woman because of it.