Express Yourself Video
Video Synopsis:
The video takes place in an industrialized city on a rainy night. It then switches to a shot of Madonna on a gargoyle-like swan. She speaks the line "Come on girls, do you believe in love?" The song then picks up and heads to the chorus. The scene changes to a dark factory where a large group of male workers work tirelessly over machines and gears. The rain is still pouring in the factory, furthering their miserable experience. Meanwhile, Madonna is seen upstairs singing in an office of some sort. She is wearing a green dress and is holding a cat. The workers perform a choreographed dance to Madonna's singing. Madonna's cat escapes her. The video portrays her voice running through a speaker system that plays in the factory to be heard by the workers. One in particular looks up to see where the sound is coming from. An overseer-looking character watches the worker listening to Madonna and appears distraught by it. The video then cuts to a shot of Madonna wearing black lingerie, dancing seductively in a room with many screens. The worker who noticed her lies awake, listening to Madonna, thinking about her. The worker then rises and sees Madonna down in the factory. She steps out of a doorway atop a staircase dressed in a suit. He dances in a very similar style to Michael Jackson, moon-walking and grabbing her crotch. Once this dance is done, it cuts to a scene of the overseer in some ornate room. He watches a performance of life musicians using a remote control. At this time, Madonna appears naked, chained to a bed in her room. Her chain runs all the way down to the factory. The video cuts from Madonna on the bed to the overseer watching his musicians. The worker then finds Madonna's cat and decides he will return it to her. The next scene is Madonna, back in her lingerie, crawling on the floor like a cat over to a bowl of milk. She spills the milk down her back and it lands on the worker's face. He then gets on an elevator to come see Madonna. Meanwhile, a riot as risen in the factory. The workers are fighting with each other, for sport seemingly, while others yell and cheer them on. The worker walks into Madonna's room to find her naked on her bed. The cat is safely returned. The man takes Madonna up in his arms and they proceed to make love. Meanwhile, the overseer finds that the worker is not at his place and the factory is in chaos. He looks up towards Madonna's room and seems to see them making love. It appears that all is lost to him. The video ends with a quote in text: "Without the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind."
Highlights of the video:
The video takes place in an industrialized city on a rainy night. It then switches to a shot of Madonna on a gargoyle-like swan. She speaks the line "Come on girls, do you believe in love?" The song then picks up and heads to the chorus. The scene changes to a dark factory where a large group of male workers work tirelessly over machines and gears. The rain is still pouring in the factory, furthering their miserable experience. Meanwhile, Madonna is seen upstairs singing in an office of some sort. She is wearing a green dress and is holding a cat. The workers perform a choreographed dance to Madonna's singing. Madonna's cat escapes her. The video portrays her voice running through a speaker system that plays in the factory to be heard by the workers. One in particular looks up to see where the sound is coming from. An overseer-looking character watches the worker listening to Madonna and appears distraught by it. The video then cuts to a shot of Madonna wearing black lingerie, dancing seductively in a room with many screens. The worker who noticed her lies awake, listening to Madonna, thinking about her. The worker then rises and sees Madonna down in the factory. She steps out of a doorway atop a staircase dressed in a suit. He dances in a very similar style to Michael Jackson, moon-walking and grabbing her crotch. Once this dance is done, it cuts to a scene of the overseer in some ornate room. He watches a performance of life musicians using a remote control. At this time, Madonna appears naked, chained to a bed in her room. Her chain runs all the way down to the factory. The video cuts from Madonna on the bed to the overseer watching his musicians. The worker then finds Madonna's cat and decides he will return it to her. The next scene is Madonna, back in her lingerie, crawling on the floor like a cat over to a bowl of milk. She spills the milk down her back and it lands on the worker's face. He then gets on an elevator to come see Madonna. Meanwhile, a riot as risen in the factory. The workers are fighting with each other, for sport seemingly, while others yell and cheer them on. The worker walks into Madonna's room to find her naked on her bed. The cat is safely returned. The man takes Madonna up in his arms and they proceed to make love. Meanwhile, the overseer finds that the worker is not at his place and the factory is in chaos. He looks up towards Madonna's room and seems to see them making love. It appears that all is lost to him. The video ends with a quote in text: "Without the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind."
Highlights of the video:
Lyrics:
The following is a sample of the lyrics in the song, including the chorus and an intermediate.
[Chorus:]
Don't go for second best baby
Put your love to the test
You know, you know, you've got to
Make him express how he feels
And maybe then you'll know your love is real
You don't need diamond rings
Or eighteen karat gold
Fancy cars that go very fast
You know they never last, no, no
What you need is a big strong hand
To lift you to your higher ground
Make you feel like a queen on a throne
Make him love you till you can't come down
(You'll never come down)
[Intermediate:]
And when you're gone he might regret it
Think about the love he once had
Try to carry on, but he just won't get it
He'll be back on his knees
To express himself
(You've got to make him)
Express himself
Hey hey
What you need is a big strong hand
To lift you to your higher ground
Make you feel like a queen on a throne
Make him love you till you can't come down
(You'll never come down)
It is clear that the lyrics portray a feminist message. With lines like "Don't go for second best baby," "What you need is a big strong hand,To lift you to your higher ground, Make you feel like a queen on a throne, Make him love you till you can't come down, (You'll never come down)" and "And when you're gone he might regret it, Think about the love he once had, Try to carry on, but he just won't get it, He'll be back on his knees." The rest of the lyrics not listed above are pretty similar in message.
The following is a sample of the lyrics in the song, including the chorus and an intermediate.
[Chorus:]
Don't go for second best baby
Put your love to the test
You know, you know, you've got to
Make him express how he feels
And maybe then you'll know your love is real
You don't need diamond rings
Or eighteen karat gold
Fancy cars that go very fast
You know they never last, no, no
What you need is a big strong hand
To lift you to your higher ground
Make you feel like a queen on a throne
Make him love you till you can't come down
(You'll never come down)
[Intermediate:]
And when you're gone he might regret it
Think about the love he once had
Try to carry on, but he just won't get it
He'll be back on his knees
To express himself
(You've got to make him)
Express himself
Hey hey
What you need is a big strong hand
To lift you to your higher ground
Make you feel like a queen on a throne
Make him love you till you can't come down
(You'll never come down)
It is clear that the lyrics portray a feminist message. With lines like "Don't go for second best baby," "What you need is a big strong hand,To lift you to your higher ground, Make you feel like a queen on a throne, Make him love you till you can't come down, (You'll never come down)" and "And when you're gone he might regret it, Think about the love he once had, Try to carry on, but he just won't get it, He'll be back on his knees." The rest of the lyrics not listed above are pretty similar in message.
Analysis and Controversy with Feminism:
From the lyrics, one would believe "Express Yourself" to be an empowering song for women. It clearly conveys a strong feminist message. This makes sense, as Madonna is a strong, successful woman. However, the music video offers a different message. It almost completely contradicts the lyrics. There are clips of Madonna with little to no clothing, dancing erotically. Almost all of her dance moves are suggestive of sex. It also conveys relationships as something completely sexual. In the video, Madonna is waiting for a man with " a big strong hand To lift you to your higher ground." She then submits pretty easily to this man and has sex with him almost instantly upon meeting him. There are also hints in the video that show that she is doing this to make another man, the overseer, jealous, using sex as a form of revenge. This provides a clear contradiction to the overwhelmingly feminist lyrics.
The controversy with this song comes from the opinions of both feminists and conservatives. Feminists can complain about how Madonna has portrayed herself. From the video, she sends a message that you can get what you want by using sex. This obviously goes against the modern feminist ideals. In the early 90's during an interview on "Nightline," Madonna speaks with Forrest Sawyer about her image with feminists. "You've taken some heat . . . from some women who feel that maybe you're not expressing the values that they want feminism to express . . . [all the way back to] when you wore the belt buckle that said 'boy toy' for the 'Material Girl' video, which they feel reflects old values of women" (Sawyer).
On the other end, the conservative public/media gets on Madonna's case for being too racy. For example, her MTV banned the airing of her music video for "Justify My Love" for being too sexual, claiming that the video featured "a grainy nipple image, some bisexual group sex, and a lot of heavy breathing." She also had a $5 million commercial deal with Pepsi using her song "Like a Prayer" that the company eventually cancelled due to her radical image. This controversy is nothing new and certainly did not end with Madonna; before Madonna there was Marilyn Monroe and after her come Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and many more. However, here is where Madonna and these women thrive from their controversial stunts; they all end in attention. Madonna's songs would be listened to and would have made money if there were no controversy. But with the added heat, the public's attention is caught. All eyes on Madonna. As Sawyer stated on the same Nightline interview, "But in the end you're going to wind up making even more money than you would have." To which Madonna replied with a satisfied smile, "Yeah, so lucky me." The same goes for Gaga, Beyonce, Miley and the rest of them. The end goal is self promotion and they do it well. A loss for Pepsi resulted in massive gains for Madonna. But selling oneself comes at the price of selling oneself, in this case, as a self-proclaimed bimbo. However, to this, Madonna replies "I may be dressing like the typical bimbo, whatever, but I'm in charge. You know. I'm in charge of my fantasies. I put myself in these situations with men, you know, and . . . people don't think of me as a person who's not in charge of my career or my life, okay. And isn't that what feminism is all about, you know, equality for men and women? And aren't I in charge of my life, doing the things I want to do? Making my own decisions?" Madonna tactfully covers her tracks, or at least tries to appease any feminists she has angered in the process. Although this will not win all of them back, she softens the blow to her image. Here lies Madonna's genius.
From the lyrics, one would believe "Express Yourself" to be an empowering song for women. It clearly conveys a strong feminist message. This makes sense, as Madonna is a strong, successful woman. However, the music video offers a different message. It almost completely contradicts the lyrics. There are clips of Madonna with little to no clothing, dancing erotically. Almost all of her dance moves are suggestive of sex. It also conveys relationships as something completely sexual. In the video, Madonna is waiting for a man with " a big strong hand To lift you to your higher ground." She then submits pretty easily to this man and has sex with him almost instantly upon meeting him. There are also hints in the video that show that she is doing this to make another man, the overseer, jealous, using sex as a form of revenge. This provides a clear contradiction to the overwhelmingly feminist lyrics.
The controversy with this song comes from the opinions of both feminists and conservatives. Feminists can complain about how Madonna has portrayed herself. From the video, she sends a message that you can get what you want by using sex. This obviously goes against the modern feminist ideals. In the early 90's during an interview on "Nightline," Madonna speaks with Forrest Sawyer about her image with feminists. "You've taken some heat . . . from some women who feel that maybe you're not expressing the values that they want feminism to express . . . [all the way back to] when you wore the belt buckle that said 'boy toy' for the 'Material Girl' video, which they feel reflects old values of women" (Sawyer).
On the other end, the conservative public/media gets on Madonna's case for being too racy. For example, her MTV banned the airing of her music video for "Justify My Love" for being too sexual, claiming that the video featured "a grainy nipple image, some bisexual group sex, and a lot of heavy breathing." She also had a $5 million commercial deal with Pepsi using her song "Like a Prayer" that the company eventually cancelled due to her radical image. This controversy is nothing new and certainly did not end with Madonna; before Madonna there was Marilyn Monroe and after her come Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and many more. However, here is where Madonna and these women thrive from their controversial stunts; they all end in attention. Madonna's songs would be listened to and would have made money if there were no controversy. But with the added heat, the public's attention is caught. All eyes on Madonna. As Sawyer stated on the same Nightline interview, "But in the end you're going to wind up making even more money than you would have." To which Madonna replied with a satisfied smile, "Yeah, so lucky me." The same goes for Gaga, Beyonce, Miley and the rest of them. The end goal is self promotion and they do it well. A loss for Pepsi resulted in massive gains for Madonna. But selling oneself comes at the price of selling oneself, in this case, as a self-proclaimed bimbo. However, to this, Madonna replies "I may be dressing like the typical bimbo, whatever, but I'm in charge. You know. I'm in charge of my fantasies. I put myself in these situations with men, you know, and . . . people don't think of me as a person who's not in charge of my career or my life, okay. And isn't that what feminism is all about, you know, equality for men and women? And aren't I in charge of my life, doing the things I want to do? Making my own decisions?" Madonna tactfully covers her tracks, or at least tries to appease any feminists she has angered in the process. Although this will not win all of them back, she softens the blow to her image. Here lies Madonna's genius.