God Control
"God Control" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her fourteenth studio album, Madame X (2019). It was written by Madonna, longtime collaborator Mirwais, and American musician Casey Spooner. Madonna and Mirwais produced the song along with Mike Dean. Lyrically the song talks about 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.
"God Control"
It received positive reviews from music critics, who deemed it one of the best songs of the album. On June 26, an accompanying music video directed by Jonas Åkerlund was released; it interspersed footage of Madonna as her alter ego Madame X with scenes of a nightclub where a shooting takes place. The video was reminiscent of the 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.
Live performances[edit]
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 adapted from the Madame X album liner notes.[4]