PAPA DON'T PREACH
Madonna
Papa I know you're going to be upset
'Cause I was always your little girl
But you should know by now
I'm not a baby
You always taught me
right from wrong
I need your help
daddy please be strong
I may be young at heart
But I know what I'm saying
The one you
warned me all about
The one you said
I could do without
We're in an awful mess
And I don't mean maybe.. please
chorus
Papa don't preach..
I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach..
I've been losing sleep
But I made up my mind..
I'm keeping my baby
I'm gonna keep my baby mmm
He says that he's going to marry me
We can raise a little family
Maybe we'll be all right
It's a sacrifice
But my friends keep telling me
to give it up
Saying I'm too young
I ought to live it up
What I need right now is
some good advice.. please
repeat chorus
Daddy daddy if you could only see
Just how good he's been treating me
You'd give us your blessing right now
'Cause we are in love
We are in love.. so please
repeat chorus
Papa don't preach..
I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach..
I've been losing sleep
Papa don't preach..
I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach..
I've been losing sleep
I'm gonna keep my baby
Ooh don't you stop loving me daddy
I know I'm keeping my baby
* * *
The dance step is enough for one to shiver. No, maybe puke. Knowing that most of our generation (the youth sector, to be exact) is conditioned with ecstatic musicians that vary from the dark goths to the cheap butterflies, it is hard to pull out something appreciative that goes far beyond our aptitude of recollection—unless it is an unforgettable classic. Madonna’s Papa Don’t Preach unfortunately falls under this category of being incognito in my mental archives.
The video, with Madonna’s unnatural portrayal of a demented daughter alongside the rest of the people present in it (extra or not), is a bit tacky. Sans the negativity, somehow, the music video has able to project its message towards its viewers. And this is about a woman’s confusing life in a dysfunctional family setting. And no one can even call it a “complete” family setting since Mother is nowhere in sight. If feminism is applied here, then we can conclude once again that in the process of making the song or the video, patriarchy is still present.
Considering that the video is like a documentary of a girl’s life to womanhood in a drama series-esque way, not dipping its toes into any form of “indie spirit” or surrealism that has sickened most recent music videos today, it is easy to get the main gist. It is understandable—and this is a plus point.
A line in the lyrics can be considered ambiguous but smart such as this: But I made up my mind/ I’m keeping my baby/. Who is this baby the song refers to; the lady’s actual biological child currently inside her womb or the kind of baby that suggests a “boyfriend-girlfriend” relationship? This is a question of which each circumstances works well. Even though the video shows this double meaning technique that effectively keeps any viewer to think, the latter possibility mentioned is more likely to happen. The teenage preganancy issue may be more pressing but, in my opinion, it is not well-sustained in the presentation that it might fall as something unbelievable. This hint of indistinctness may seem indirectly unsure for some audience such as this comment by SamArmstrong1977 at YouTube, “During this period she was known for being shocking, much more than nowadays. Parents didn’t like their kids to her, mine didn’t anyway. The pregnancy message here was considered outrageous…” With this message alone, it shows that some doesn’t agree. Anyway, the song works in many ways.
Though the situation in this music video is quite complex, one thing is really sure: it may be complex in its time but in the 21st century, it is not that complex.
The video, with Madonna’s unnatural portrayal of a demented daughter alongside the rest of the people present in it (extra or not), is a bit tacky. Sans the negativity, somehow, the music video has able to project its message towards its viewers. And this is about a woman’s confusing life in a dysfunctional family setting. And no one can even call it a “complete” family setting since Mother is nowhere in sight. If feminism is applied here, then we can conclude once again that in the process of making the song or the video, patriarchy is still present.
Considering that the video is like a documentary of a girl’s life to womanhood in a drama series-esque way, not dipping its toes into any form of “indie spirit” or surrealism that has sickened most recent music videos today, it is easy to get the main gist. It is understandable—and this is a plus point.
A line in the lyrics can be considered ambiguous but smart such as this: But I made up my mind/ I’m keeping my baby/. Who is this baby the song refers to; the lady’s actual biological child currently inside her womb or the kind of baby that suggests a “boyfriend-girlfriend” relationship? This is a question of which each circumstances works well. Even though the video shows this double meaning technique that effectively keeps any viewer to think, the latter possibility mentioned is more likely to happen. The teenage preganancy issue may be more pressing but, in my opinion, it is not well-sustained in the presentation that it might fall as something unbelievable. This hint of indistinctness may seem indirectly unsure for some audience such as this comment by SamArmstrong1977 at YouTube, “During this period she was known for being shocking, much more than nowadays. Parents didn’t like their kids to her, mine didn’t anyway. The pregnancy message here was considered outrageous…” With this message alone, it shows that some doesn’t agree. Anyway, the song works in many ways.
Though the situation in this music video is quite complex, one thing is really sure: it may be complex in its time but in the 21st century, it is not that complex.
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