| "What It Feels Like for a Girl" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Madonna | ||||
| from the album Music | ||||
| B-side | "Lo Que Siente La Mujer" | |||
| Released | April 18, 2001 | |||
| Format | DVD, CD, CD Maxi-single, VHS, Cassette single, 12" vinyl | |||
| Recorded | 2000 | |||
| Genre | Trance | |||
| Length | 4:43 | |||
| Label | Maverick, Warner Bros. | |||
| Writer(s) | Madonna, Guy Sigsworth, David Torn (credited later) | |||
| Producer | Madonna, Guy Sigsworth, Mark "Spike" Stent | |||
| Certification | Gold (Australia) Silver (United Kingdom) |
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| Madonna singles chronology | ||||
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"What It Feels Like for a Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was the third and final single released from her eighth studio album Music on April 17, 2001 by Maverick Records. The video mix of the song is a trance song, while the album version is a more demure pop and trip-hop song. The song describes the pressure women feel to conform to social norms of politeness and subservience. The song had received positive reviews from most music critics.
The single was also released on DVD and VHS containing a controversial music video that was directed by Guy Ritchie. Its depiction of violence and abuse caused MTV to ban it before 9pm. The music video plays the trance remix by Above & Beyond which contains only a sample of lyrics from the original, album version. The song had also good charting success, peaking in the top ten in many countries.
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The song was written by Madonna and Guy Sigsworth and produced by Madonna, Sigsworth, and Mark "Spike" Stent. An additional composer credit is included in the I'm Going To Tell You A Secret CD inner notes, with David Torn being the third composer. The producer had sampled Torn's Cloud About Mercury album and, when Madonna found out, she had Torn added to the credits.[1] The track contains a spoken introduction by actress Charlotte Gainsbourg taken from the 1993 film version of the Ian McEwan novel, The Cement Garden.
A Spanish version of the song was specially recorded for inclusion on the single as the B-side. "Lo Que Siente la Mujer" was released as a promo-only single in Europe. Later it was added to the two-disc Tour Edition of Music and the Mexican edition of the album along with the remix of the same track replacing "American Pie", and was performed live on Madonna's Drowned World Tour in the same summer. This marks the only time so far that Madonna has performed live a song with its lyrics written entirely in Spanish. The maxi-single containing the Above & Beyond and Paul Oakenfold trance remixes of the song was also released alongside the conventional single version.
The acclaimed remixing duo Thunderpuss was hired to do a remix of "What It Feels Like for a Girl". However, when they were almost finishing the mix, it was rejected because some people renamed an amateur remix of the song as "Thunderpuss Mix" and spread it on the Internet. The label thought the remix was leaked from Thunderpuss studio, after an employee claimed that he saw the Thunderpuss remix in rotation on the Internet already. Barry Harris (of Thunderpuss) talked about this episode in an interview at About.com.[2]
"What It Feels Like for A Girl" received generally favorable reviews from most music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic had highlighted the track as an album highlight. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine had said that Madonna had expressed a more "soul" tone towards to song, which is also towards her other single "Don't Tell Me".[3] Timothy Mark from NME gave it a positive review, as he concluded "Madonna, who has generously recorded this single for the benefit of anyone still curious as to what it really feels like for a girl. Thanks, your Madge-esty!!".[4]
The song had peaked at number twenty-three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming a more lower peak than average. The song however managed to top the Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts in the U.S. Elsewhere, it was successful. The song had debuted at number six on the Australian Singles Chart. It also debuted at number fifty on the New Zealand Singles Chart, until it rose to number fifteen. It was successful in Europe as well. It debuted at number thirteen in Switzerland, until peaking at number eleven. It debuted at number forty on the French Singles Chart, until desending several times on the charts. It was very successful in Italy, where it peaked at number two until decending. It debuted at number seven in Finland, until peaking at number four for three consecutive weeks and peaked at number nine on the Danish Singles Chart. It also peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart.
The song attracted attention because of its music video, which premiered on America Online, but was banned from TV broadcasts in many parts of the world. It was directed by Madonna's then-husband, filmmaker Guy Ritchie in February 2001 and filmed throughout various parts of Los Angeles, including one location on W. Olympic Blvd and S. Wooster St. The video used an alternate remix edit by Above & Beyond which featured only the chorus of the original song. The remix can be found on the European single.
Madonna portrays an angry woman on a crime spree. She is shown leaving a motel room and stealing a Camaro, with licence plates "pussy" and "cat", and picking up an elderly lady from a nursing home, called "Ol' Kuntz Guest Home". Throughout the video, she is shown stealing money, driving dangerously, damaging property and setting fire to a gas station. It also has shots of pill containers and alcohol in the motel, several driving licences and Madonna putting on body armour. The final shot in the video is the car driving into a pole at full speed.
Critics criticized the video for being overly violent and graphic. Madonna's spokesperson said that there was a lot of violence because it tells the story of a woman who had probably been abused. Madonna also explained that her character was acting out a "fantasy and doing things that girls are not allowed to do."[5] The video was banned from most North American and European video stations including MTV and VH1, receiving only early hours play.[6] The decision to ban the video was a source of argument, since it appeared to be no more violent than some television shows that aired at the time. Ironically, the video went into heavy rotation on the Oxygen channel and was streamed on America Online frequently. It was also later played frequently on VH1 Madonna programs, but in an edited format. Madonna released the video as a DVD single on April 17, 2001.
When aired on MTV and VH1, the video was given a TV-MA rating and when the DVD music video single was submitted to the MPAA, it received an R rating for "violent images". The DVD single received a 12 from the BBFC and a PG from the OFLC.
The Tracy Young remix contains a sample of the background music used during the Blitzball sequences in the Square-Enix PlayStation 2 video game Final Fantasy X.
The popular TV show Glee performed an all male cover of this song in their episode "The Power of Madonna" on April 20, 2010 (season 1, episode 15).
| Chart (2001) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) | 6 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75) | 26 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100) | 2 |
| Czech Republic (IFPI) | 11 |
| Denmark (Tracklisten) | 9 |
| European Hot 100 Singles | 8 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) | 4 |
| France (SNEP) | 40 |
| Germany (Media Control AG) | 16 |
| Italy (FIMI)[20] | 3 |
| Japan (Japan Hot 100) | 7 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) | 7 |
| New Zealand (RIANZ) | 15 |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[21] | 1 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] | 11 |
| UK Singles (The Official Chart Company) | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 23 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay[23] | 36 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales[23] | 9 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 27 |
| Preceded by "Club Tropicana" by Gypsy Teens |
Spanish Singles Chart number-one single April 26, 2001 - May 3, 2001 |
Succeeded by "Dream On" by Depeche Mode |
| Preceded by "All for You" by Janet Jackson |
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single June 2–8, 2001 |
Succeeded by "Dream On" by Depeche Mode |
| Preceded by "Operation Blade (Bass In The Place...)" by Public Domain |
Australian Dance Singles Chart number-one single May 7–21, 2001 |
Succeeded by "Operation Blade (Bass In The Place...)" by Public Domain |
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