Get Together (Madonna song)
"Get Together" is a song by American singer Madonna from her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). The song was written and produced by both Madonna and Stuart Price, with additional writing by Anders Bagge and Peer Åström. It was released in the United States as the third single from the album on May 30, 2006, by Warner Bros. Records. The decision was spurred by the fact that the song was the third most downloaded song from the album, following its previous singles. The song was also released to coincide with the start of Madonna's Confessions Tour. It is a disco-influenced electropop, trance and techno song which lyrically talks about the possibility of finding love on the dancefloor.
"Get Together"
"I Love New York"
May 30, 2006
5:15 (album version)
3:58 (radio edit)
- Madonna
- Anders Bagge
- Peer Åström
- Stuart Price
- Madonna
- Stuart Price
Upon release, "Get Together" received generally positive reviews by music critics, with some appreciating its production, while others were underwhelmed. The song reached the top 10 in countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and Italy, while topping the charts in Hungary and Spain. However, in the US, the song failed to match the same success as it did not enter the official Billboard Hot 100 chart, only peaking at six on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart due to low radio airplay.
Two music videos were created for the song, featuring Madonna's performance of the song at London's Koko Club, but they were animated to make it different visually. The videos showed Madonna singing the song amongst graphical visuals portraying volcanoes erupting and a cityscape. The singer performed the song during a promotional tour for Confessions on a Dance Floor and on her 2006 Confessions Tour, where she was accompanied by two dancers wearing horse reins around their heads. In 2007, "Get Together" was nominated in the category of Best Dance/Electronic Recording at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.
Background and composition[edit]
Initially, "Jump" was set to be released as the third single from Confessions on a Dance Floor, following "Hung Up" and "Sorry"; however, it was decided that "Get Together" would be released instead, spurred by the fact that it was the third bestselling digital single from the record. The song's digital sales stood at 20,000 at that time, whereas digital sales for "Jump" were around 9,000.[1] Additionally, "Get Together" was also chosen as the third single to coincide with the start of Madonna's 2006 Confessions Tour.[2] Several remixes of the song, done by DJs such as Tiefschwarz, Danny Howells, and James Holden, were included on versions of the single around the world, released by Warner Bros. Records on May 30, 2006, in the United States and on July 24 in the United Kingdom.[3][4][5] Keith Caulfield of Billboard was particularly fond of Danny Howells & Dick Trevor KinkyFunk remix, which "makes over the tune as a snappy, strutting, disco-funk number".[6] The cover artwork for the single features Madonna and her Confessions Tour crew members, including the song's producer Stuart Price.[7] The photo alternatively can also be found on the inlay cover of the I'm Going to Tell You a Secret live album (2006).[8]
"Get Together" was written and produced by both Madonna and Price, with additional writing by Anders Bagge and Peer Åström.[10] It is a disco-influenced[11] electropop,[12] trance,[13][14] and techno[15] song. The track starts with the ringing of an alarm clock, before turning into "an irresistible wave of filtered synths and thumping house beats".[16][17] The song is set in common time with moderately fast dance groove tempo and a metronome of 126 beats per minute. It is set in the key of C major with Madonna's vocals spanning from A3 to A4. The track follows in the chord progression of Em–F–G–Am throughout.[18] Some reviewers noted similarities to Stardust's song "Music Sounds Better with You",[17][19][20] which also contains samples of Chaka Khan's song "Fate".[21] One songwriter of the former song, Dominic King, alleged Madonna used the disco riff from the track without permission. King commented he was surprised him and co-writer Frank Musker "didn't get a call", as "it would have been nice to have been asked"; the songwriter said he was "almost certain a discussion about money will happen with her people".[22]
Lyrically, "Get Together" is about the possibility of finding love on the dance floor, with Madonna asking several questions, such as "Do you believe in love at first sight?" and "Do you believe we can change the future?",[9][23] before asking on its hook, "Can we get together? I really, I really wanna be with you";[24] she realizes that whether it exists or not, she does not care: "It's an illusion."[21] At the end of the song, she concludes that "If it's bitter at the start then it's sweeter at the end".[25] According to Jason Shawham from About.com, the lyrics comes off as representing a "conversation or an internal dialogue",[21] while for VH1's Christopher Rosa, Madonna "beckons for closer contact with a nighttime lover".[26] Some reviewers also noted an allusion to the S.O.S. Band's 1980 single "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" in the line "Baby we can do it, we can do it all right",[16][20][27] whereas Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine also observed "subtle nods" to Madonna's own songs like "Holiday" (1983) and "Secret" (1994) in the lyrics.[28] For his part, Nick Levine, in an article for NME, opined that the lyrical content of "Get Together" captures the "thrill of going out dancing and maybe hooking with someone just as effortlessly as 'Into The Groove' did two decades earlier."[24]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the US, "Get Together" failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100; however, it was able to reach number six on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, which acts as an extension of the former chart.[40] The song also reached a peak of number 84 on the Pop 100 chart.[41] Its low chart performance in the region was attributed to limited radio airplay, as according to Billboard's Michael Paoletta, "Get Together" had been "all but ignored by pop stations".[42] It was reported that for the week ending July 15, 2006, the single had a radio audience of fewer than 1 million listeners in the US, based on market size and station share. A petition titled "End the Madonna U.S. Radio Boycott" was signed by about 3,300 fans at petitiononline.com, and was addressed to Clear Channel Communications CEO Mark P. Mays; additionally, fans posted messages supporting Madonna on websites such as Entertainment Weekly and VH1, as well as conspiracy theories about why she was not played on radio.[42] On the other hand, the song was a success on Billboard's dance charts, topping the Dance Club Songs and Dance/Mix Show Airplay charts.[43][44]
In the UK, "Get Together" debuted at seven on the UK Singles Chart in the issue dated July 23, 2006.[45] It also reached the top of the dance chart.[46] According to Music Week magazine, 67,163 copies of the single have been sold in the region as of August 2008, thus becoming Madonna's 59th best selling single in the UK.[47] In mainland Europe, "Get Together" reached the summit in Hungary and Spain.[48][49] The song also reached the top ten of the charts in Croatia,[50] Finland,[51] Italy,[52] and Scotland.[53] It peaked within the top 40 in countries like Austria,[54] Denmark,[55] France,[56] Germany,[57] Ireland,[58] Netherlands,[59] and Sweden,[60] where it was certified gold by Grammofonleverantörernas förening (GLF) for shipments of 10,000 copies.[61] Across the pan-Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, it reached a peak of number 18.[62] In Australia, "Get Together" entered the charts at its peak of number 13, on the issue dated June 26, 2006.[63]
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[10]