La Isla Bonita
March 20, 1987
"La Isla Bonita" enters the Billboard singles chart.
Single by Madonna
From the album True Blue
Released: February 25, 1987
Format: 7", 12"
Recorded: 1986
Genre: Latin pop
Length: 4:02
Label: Sire, Warner Bros.
Writer(s): Madonna, Patrick Leonard, Bruce Gaitsch
Producer(s): Madonna, Patrick Leonard
"La Isla Bonita" (English: The Beautiful Island) is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the fifth and final single from her third studio album, True Blue, on February 25, 1987, by Sire Records. The instrumental version of the song was first offered to Michael Jackson before Madonna both accepted it and wrote the lyrics and melody. "La Isla Bonita" is noted for being the first Madonna song to have a Latino influence in it, with arrangements of Cuban drums and Spanish guitar, maracas, harmonicas and a mix of synthesized and real drumming. The lyrics of the song tell about a beautiful island and was a tribute to the beauty of the Latin people according to Madonna.
"La Isla Bonita" achieved worldwide popularity, topping charts in countries such as Austria, Canada, France, Germany and Switzerland. It became Madonna's fourth number-one single in the United Kingdom, giving her a record for most number-one singles among female artists. In the United States, it reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In the accompanying music video, Madonna portrayed two opposite characters – a pious girl and a passionate Latina. The Latin style and the flamenco red dress she wore became a trend later. The song is one of the most performed live songs by Madonna, appearing in five of her world tours including 2008–09's Sticky & Sweet Tour. Madonna has regularly performed the song in its Spanish form, sometimes with tribal or folk songs and remixes to accompany it. The song has been covered by a number of artists including Mexican recording artist Byanka (1988) and French recording artist Alizée for her album Psychédélices (2008).
Writing and inspiration
"La Isla Bonita" was written by Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch. The song was previously written as a lament for the mythical city of San Pedro in the island of Ambergris Caye in Belize and was offered to Michael Jackson for his Bad album, who, according to Gaitsch, turned it down. While working with Leonard on the True Blue album, Madonna accepted it in Jackson's place and wrote the song's lyrics and melody, thus earning herself a co-writing credit.
"La Isla Bonita" was the first Madonna song to employ Spanish motifs, going so far as to include Spanish lyrics. The Spanish theme would reoccur throughout her career, manifesting itself in lyrics for "Who's That Girl" (1987), "Spanish Eyes" (1989), "I'm Going Bananas" (1990), the Spanish version of "You'll See" (1995) called "Verás", "Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corazón)" (1999) which was a duet with Ricky Martin, "Lo Que Siente La Mujer" – the Spanish version for "What It Feels Like for a Girl" (2001), "Sorry" (2005) and "Spanish Lesson" from Hard Candy (2008). Madonna described the song as her tribute to the "beauty and mystery of Latin American people". According to her "Latin rhythms often dominate our uptempo compositions. It's like we're possessed. We both think that we were Latin in another life."
Composition
"La Isla Bonita" is a Hispanic styled pop song. It is one of the characteristic works of the collaboration between Madonna and Patrick Leonard. The single mixes the sound of different instruments like Cuban drums and Spanish guitar, maracas and harmonicas and a mix of synthesized and real drumming. The song is written in the key of C♯ minor and is set in the time signature of common time like most pop songs, moving at a moderate tempo of 95 beats per minute. Madonna's vocal range spans two octaves, from G3 to C5.
The song starts with a musical introduction performed on a Cuban drum, before descending into synthesized beats and Spanish guitar fusion. Madonna sings the chorus in the same G3 to C5 range. After the second chorus there is a Spanish guitar interlude whence Madonna's voice expands to F♯ minor as she sings "I want to be where the sun warms the sky" and then comes down to a C♯ minor when she sings "loves a girl". There is another musical interlude with a harmonica and the song, after another chorus, ends with fading out and Madonna's voice uttering the words "El dijo que te ama (He said he loves you)".
The phrase "La Isla Bonita" translates as "The Beautiful Island" in English. The song has four lines sung in Spanish, a theme which Madonna later incorporated in her 1987 single "Who's That Girl". The lyrics begin by describing Madonna as a tourist who prays "that the days would last, they went so fast" simultaneously isolating the other Latin people as them ("you can watch them go by"). In her book Women and popular music, author Sheila Whitley said that the chorus of the song places its emphasis on the incantatory present participle ("Tropical the island breeze, all of nature wild and free, this is where I long to be"). The song draws connotations from the supplicant before its explicit focus on the chorus.
The title and first line of the song refer to an island called San Pedro, held by some to be Ambergris Caye in Belize, referencing the town of San Pedro, which has since adopted the song's title as the town's principal nickname. However, Gaitsch has mentioned that at that time, Madonna was spending time in a U.S. town of the same name, and both Madonna and her then husband Sean Penn were good friends with a poet called San Pedro and novelist Charles Bukowski. Madonna herself has not clarified this in any interview. Instead, she referred the song as being a tribute to Latin America and its people, along with an island and to herself.
Music video
The music video was set in Los Angeles and was directed by Mary Lambert, who directed a number of Madonna's 1980s videos, including those for "Borderline", "Like a Virgin" and "Like a Prayer". Benicio del Toro appeared in the video as a background character. The video world-premiered on MTV on March 29, 1987. It starts with showing a number of Latin people dancing in a Spanish barrio as Madonna watches them from her window. She plays two different characters in the video: a boyishly-dressed Catholic woman and a colorful Flamenco dancer. The characters are quite opposite in their portrayal, which is emphasized by two opposing settings for the characters. Firstly, the video shows a sparsely decorated room with an altar and pictures of Hispanic people on the wall. Madonna plays a pale-looking pious girl wearing a white petticoat and her short hair brushed back. She cries in her room and reluctantly ignores the invitation of the Latinos in the street to join them.
The austerity and the passivity of the first character is however contrasted vividly with the passion and activity of the second character. Madonna in this portrayal wears a red voluminous extravagant Spanish style dress, which shows off her décolletage, with a middle parting in the skirt, while wearing red carnations in her hair. Complementing this passionate look, the second setting features a bright red room with red candles and candelabra. While the spiritual and submissive Madonna watches the Latinos and prays in her room, the passionate Madonna dances and leaves the room to join the dancers in the streets.
While both settings seem to suggest that Madonna's characters live in the barrio and may be Latina themselves, the portrayal of Madonna in the dancing scenes (lush, flashy, colorful) contrasts with the Latinos in the street (sparsely worn out dresses). She dances around and even flirts but does not get really involved with them as the last scene shows Madonna dancing off the screen. The video symbolizes the link between Latino culture and Catholicism. The two characters symbolize the restrained and passionate side of Catholicism, which author Rettenmund has described as Madonna's take on the religion.
The Latinos in the video are portrayed as stereotypes as nonchalant people, unemployed adults, school deprived children and a crumbling barrio. However, the music video was critically appreciated for its utilization of Hispanic fashion as an icon of beauty and romanticism. Collen McDanell, in his book Material Christianity, noted Madonna's use of Catholic objects in the video like the candlestands and home shrines, thereby giving them a new meaning according to her own. Author Douglas Kellner noted, "such 'multiculturalism' and her culturally transgressive moves turned out to be highly successful moves that endeared her to large and varied youth audiences". Madonna's Spanish look in the video became popular and appeared in the fashion trends at that time in the form of boleros and layered skirts accessorizing with rosary beads and crucifix like the video.
Formats and track listing
7" single
"La Isla Bonita" (7" Remix) – 4:01
"La Isla Bonita" (Instrumental Remix) – 4:20
U.S. / Germany 12" maxi-single
"La Isla Bonita" (Extended Remix) – 5:28
"La Isla Bonita" (Instrumental) – 5:14
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