On this Day: May 09th. 1989 The "Express Yourself" single is released

Don't go for the second best, baby ...
Happy B-Day 25th

EXPRESS YOURSELF

Lyrics            him

Credits Written by Madonna and Steve Bray Produced by Madonna and Steve Bray Album Like A Prayer The Immaculate Collection Celebration   Single After the huge #1 success of Like A Prayer, Madonna didn't go for second best, but released Express Yourself as second single. It seemed like Madonna wanted to get back on her critics by saying everybody should 'express himself' like she does; a message she would repeat in 1994's Human Nature. While Like A Prayer caused controversy in the Catholic church, Express Yourself stirred up opinions about feminism. Whether or not the song and the video pushed feminism forward or backwards was subject of discussion. Though very popular, the song didn't reach #1 and stalled at #2 in the US (Gold; it was kept from #1 by Simply Red's 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' & Martika's 'Toy Soldiers') and in Japan, #4 in Canada and #5 in the UK and Australia. It did get to #1 on the Hot Dance / Club Play though. Video David Fincher directed what became one of Madonna's biggest video projects. With a price tag of $2 million it's also her most expensive. Based on Fritz Lang's movie Metropolis (1927), Madonna uses the distinction between lower working class (the slaves) and the upper high-society class (the director and Madonna herself) to symbolically turn around the classic stereotypes between men and women. Madonna is sexy, independant and in control, but on the other hand gives in to the advances of the slave (played by Cameron, the good-looking model of the Guess jeans ads). Dressed both in a stylish green dress and in a male suit (with sexy corset underneath), one moment in control and the other crawling on the floor on hands and knees, Madonna ridiculed stereotypes and pushed the boundaries. The true meanings of the video are still an interesting subject for discussion today. Fact is that the video won awards for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Direction at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, where Madonna performed the song as well. Originally, the video was set to the Shep Pettibone club remix and included a longer bed scene at the end [released on Celebration Video Collection], but because MTV thought the remix was not enough mainstream, an edited clip featuring a soundtrack close to the album version was released [which features on Immaculate Collection video collection]. Watch now Tour At the Blond Ambition Tour, Madonna opened her show with Express Yourself (the Non-Stop Express Mix). The stage was inspired by the factory from the video and the dancers were only wearing a jeans, just like Cameron in the video. Madonna revealed her notious Gaultier corset, while she, Niki and Donna did some impressive moves. As they were singing "What you need is a big strong hand..." they each brought a male dancer to his knees and showed him who was in charge. On the Girlie Show Madonna brought the 70s back, as she descended to stage on top of a huge disco ball, sporting a big afro and hotpants. Niki and Donna joined her for a fantastic disco version of Express Yourself that channeled the female empoverment of the 70s disco divas, which then flows into Deeper And Deeper. 'What you need is a big strong hand...' It got a totally new meaning on the Re-Invention Tour, when Madonna was actually holding a gun in her hand. She and her dancers were dressed in military gear and performed a perfectly timed rifle choreography. The song in its military version could be talking about personal love just as well as patriotistic love. In the context of the show, with performances like American Life and Imagine, it added to the anti-war message of the tour. At the beginning of the song, she thrilled her male fans by replacing the traditional "come on girls" by "come on boys". By the time the MDNA Tour commenced, Express Yourself had already been introduced to a new generation of pop music lovers due to its immediate comparisons to Lady Gaga's 2011 hit Born This Way. Madonna infamously called that track "reductive" in an interview but the expressive girl she is, she didn't leave it at that. Dressed as a 1940s majorette, she opens the second segment of the show with Express Yourself in its most familiar commanding arrangement, similar to the previous live interpretation with the military boys now replaced by marching girls. As the baton cautiously swings in her hand during the instrumental breakdown, she then sings a few bars of the Lady Gaga single that conveniently fits not only in key but also the call-to-arms attitude of Madonna's own song. At the same time, on the screens (the colourful backdrop video inspired by J. Howard Miller's World War II posters and Roy Lichtenstein's pop art), blindfolded little monsters appear who consume various canned icons, including the cone bra and the ponytail. When the number is about to flow into the cheerleading Give Me All Your Luvin' with the marching snare drums, Madonna does not leave much to the imagination as she chants the title line of She's Not Me...