“Material Girl” by Madonna isn’t actually about being materialistic. The music video for the song makes that abundantly clear. Madonna wasn’t happy when people took the song the wrong way.
Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’ led to an annoying nickname
Madonna broke into the mainstream with her self-titled album, which includes the hits “Holiday,” “Borderline,” and “Lucky Star.” Of course, this impressive trio of songs didn’t convince everyone that Madonna was here to stay. “In the beginning, I was called everything from a Disco Dolly to a one-hit wonder,” Madonna said in 1999. Everyone agreed that I was sexy, but no one would agree that I had any talent, which really irritated me.”
“Material Girl” was one of the hits from Madonna’s second album, Like a Virgin. It proved Madonna was no one-album wonder, but the Queen of Pop didn’t like when the press started calling her “the Material Girl.” The tune was supposed to be a satire of greed and gold-digging but people took it at face value.
“I can’t completely disdain the song and video, because they certainly were important to my career,” she said later. “But talk about the media hanging on to a phrase and misinterpreting the damn thing as well,” she added. “I didn’t write that song, you know, and the video was all about how the girl rejected diamonds and money. But God forbid irony should be understood. So when I’m 90, I’ll still be the Material Girl. I guess it’s not so bad.” Notably, Madonna reinvented herself with a more spiritual image in the late 1990s and 2000s, so maybe she doesn’t seem as materialistic now as she did in the 1980s.
Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’ was part of a greedy cultural moment
Why do people misinterpret “Material Girl” so much? Well, every satire is going to be misinterpreted by people who aren’t paying too much attention. It’s why satire is an inherently tricky art form.
Beyond that, “Material Girl” was released at a certain time in American history: the 1980s. That was an era when American culture might have been more focused on wealth and conspicuous consumption than ever before. It’s the era that produced Wall Street starring Michael Douglas, the perverse rags-to-riches story of Scarface, and numerous yuppies. When the song came out, it must’ve been easy to see it as a straightforward endorsement of greed. After all, Madonna has long been famous for her ambition and she’s not exactly strapped for cash.
The song took over the world
Madonna’s “Material Girl” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, showing that “Like a Virgin” was no fluke. The record lasted on the Billboard Hot 100 for 17 weeks. It appeared on the album Like a Virgin, which topped the Billboard 200 for three of its 109 weeks on the chart.
Like a Virgin produced three other hit singles: the title track, the suggestive “Dress You Up,” the perfect dance tune “Into the Groove,” and the mostly forgotten love song “Angel.” That’s an incredible set of singles from one album.
The Material Girl doesn’t like being called the Material Girl but that doesn’t change the fact that “Material Girl” is an awesome song.
