God Control

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"God Control"
Song by Madonna
from the album Madame X
ReleasedJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)
Genre
Length6:19
LabelInterscope
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Music video
"God Control" on
YouTube

"God Control" is a song by American singer-songwriter

gun control and also touches on the political climate of the United States at the time. It is an experimental pop, disco, hi-NRG and electropop
song and features the Tiffin Children's Chorus repeating "We lost god control" all throughout. In the music video, we can see Madonna typing "we lost gun control" and not "god control" as the song title suggests.

It received positive reviews from

2016 Orlando nightclub shooting and was criticized by the media and the survivors of the massacre. However, it was praised by some gun control advocates. Madonna performed "God Control" during her appearance at Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019, and as the opening number of her 2019−20 Madame X Tour
.

Background and composition

In 2017, Madonna relocated to

soccer player.[1] While living in the city, she began meeting artists, painters and musicians, who would invite her to "living room sessions". In these sessions, they would bring food, sit around the table and musicians would start playing instruments, singing fado and samba music.[1] Finding herself "connected through music", the singer decided to create an album; "I found my tribe [in Lisbon] and a magical world of incredible musicians that reinforced my belief that music across the world is truly all connected and is the soul of the universe".[1][2] On April 15, 2019, Madonna revealed Madame X as the album's title. For the album, she worked with longtime collaborator Mirwais Ahmadzaï, who had previously worked on her albums Music (2000), American Life (2003) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), as well as Mike Dean, who served as a producer on Rebel Heart (2015), and Diplo.[3]

"God Control" was written by Madonna and Mirwais and produced by the latter two along with Mike Dean.

retro sound.[9][10] It features a gospel choir, gunshot sounds and vocodered vocals.[5] The song begins with Madonna singing "Everybody knows the damn truth/Our nation lied and lost respect" in a "clenched teeth" style,[11] followed by the Tiffin Children's Chorus[4] repeating the phrase "we lost gun control".[6] It is followed by a "schmaltzy" chorus inspired by Philadelphia soul in which Madonna sings "It's a hustle" amid backing verses about "a new democracy".[12] On one particular section, there is a rap ;– compared by some critics to the vocal style she used on her 1990 album I'm Breathless and electronic duo Daft Punk – to sing "Each new birthday gives me hope / that's why I don't dope" and talks about her brain being "her only friend".[6][7]

Songwriting claim

In November 2019,

royalties. Spooner turned this down, as he claimed he would only receive $10,000 of the $25,000 settlement after covering taxes and his legal fees.[15] He also claimed that "there's no money in record sales. Not even for Madonna", and demanded he be paid 1% of the singer's touring profits to "cover [my] contribution and damages".[14]

Critical reception

Madonna, flanked by her dancers, singing "God Control" during her appearance at Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019

The track received positive reviews from music critics.

sheeple".[5] Samuel R. Murrian from Parade ranked it at number 96 on his list of the singer's 100 greatest songs.[9] According to Nicolas Hautman from Us Weekly, "God Control" is Madonna's "most daring and epic" song since 2012's "Gang Bang".[20]

Consequence of Sound, listed "God Control" as one of the standout tracks in Madame X; "Madonna's ambitions aren't merely musical. Several songs [on the album] contain social messages with varying amounts of bite ... But the message is even better expressed on the ambitious 'God Control'."[25] HuffPost's Daniel Welsh opined it was one of the album's "party tracks tinged with sadness".[26] Robbie Barnett from the Washington Blade compared it to Madonna's 2000 songs "Music" and "Impressive Instant", calling it "perfectly fit for dance floor consumption", the singer's best dance track since "Hung Up" (2005), as well as the best song on the album.[11] On a less favorable note, Rich Juzwiak from Pitchfork said it was "supposed to be fun, but it's exhausting".[6]

In March 2023, Billboard ranked "God Control" as Madonna's 89th greatest song, with Joe Lynch writing that "this unusual odyssey announced that Madonna was far from finished when it comes to taking risks and speaking her mind."[27]

Music video

Background and synopsis

Screenshot of the "God Control" music video, depicting a dead, blood spattered Madonna just after a shooting broke out at a nightclub

During an interview with People, Madonna said one of the main reasons she made a video for "God Control" were her kids; "I send my children to school with the same fear every mother in this era has [...] It's really scary to me that the once-safe spaces where we gather, worship and learn are targets. Nobody's safe".[28] In another statement, she said that also wanted to draw attention to an ongoing problem in America.[29] Regarding those who could criticize it for being too graphic, she answered: "this is what happens. Guns kill".[28]

The

National Rifle Association of America (NRA).[29][31] It ends with the phrase "Wake Up", and a quote from civil rights activist and Black Panther member Angela Davis, "I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept".[33][35]

Reception

"This is your wake up call. Gun violence disproportionately affects children, teenagers and the marginalized in our communities … Honor the victims and demand GUN CONTROL. NOW. Volunteer, stand up, donate, reach out. Wake up and insist on common-sense gun safety legislation … Innocent lives depend on it."

—Madonna talking about the "God Control" music video on her Twitter account.[36]

The video was criticized for its depiction of violence. Ryan Reed from Rolling Stone, said it touched the theme of society's inability to restrict gun ownership, and that certain scenes were a contrast of "the joy of nightclub dancing" and "the brutality of a mass shooting".[29] Slant Magazine's Alexa Camp noted similarities to the original music video for "American Life"; while that one was a "satire of modern society's consumption of war as popular entertainment", "'God Control' depicts the carnage weapons of war can wreak here at home". Camp also highlighted easter eggs, including some to Madonna videos from the past. The scene in which the singer is assaulted could be seen as a reference to her 1989 video for "Like a Prayer", in which Madonna witnesses a young woman being sexually attacked by a group of men. The shot of a crucifix seemingly crying blood was another reference to "Like a Prayer", according to Camp.[31] The author also pointed out framed photos of Frida Kahlo, Simone de Beauvoir, Patti Smith and Martha Graham hanging on the walls around Madonna's desk; this last one, according to the artist, christened her with the nickname "Madame X" in the late 1970s.[31]

Christopher Rudolph from The Backlot called it a "disturbing disco bloodbath".

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, were among those who praised the singer and the video.[40] Patience Carter, survivor of the Orlando shooting, tweeted: "I applaud the attempt, but I am truly disturbed". Similarly, fellow survivor Brandon Wolf said that he appreciated the message, but felt the singer was using the tragedy and the victims as "props".[12] X González, Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor, panned the video for being "fucked up and horrible".[41]

Live performances

Madonna first performed "God Control" during her appearance at Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019; she wore an eye-patch with an X, which was designed in the colors of the rainbow flag, while her background dancers were decked as police officers wielding combat shields.[42] Billboard praised the "visually powerful live performance ... replete with detailed choreography and a disco groove that had the crowd gyrating and shimmying".[43] The song was then performed as the opening number of the singer's Madame X Tour.[44] The show began with a quote by James Baldwin: "Art is here to prove that all safety is an illusion... Artists are here to disturb the peace". Then, a silhouetted woman sat at a typewriter; each key press sounding like a gunshot, accompanied by a dancer jerking and flinching as if he's been shot.[45] Madonna then appeared, decked in a glittery Revolutionary War attire and a feathered tricorne hat, to sing the song while being bounced between two police officers' shields;[46] the performance featured two staircases, that moved and dismantled throughout the show, and cops attacking dancers under a video montage of news footage.[23][47][48] On her review of one of the concert at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, Kelli Syke Fadroski opined that "it was a bit unnerving to hear dozens of gunshot sound effects echo through a very dark venue. But that was the point".[44] The performance was included on the live album Madame X: Music from the Theater Xperience.

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel adapted from the Madame X album liner notes.[4]

References

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