Living for Love
"Living for Love" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, Rebel Heart (2015). It was written and produced by Madonna, Diplo and Ariel Rechtshaid, with additional writing from MoZella and Toby Gad. Originally intended for a Valentine's Day 2015 release, the song was rush-released as the lead single from the album on December 20, 2014, by Interscope Records, after demos recorded for the album leaked on to the internet. An EDM, diva house, disco and electropop track on which Madonna experimented with different musical genres, "Living for Love" contains instrumentation from percussion and piano by singer Alicia Keys, along with a gospel choir. Madonna composed the track as a break-up song, however she wanted to deviate and make the lyrics as uplifting in nature, talking about counteracting negative thoughts with positive responses.
For other uses, see Living for Love (disambiguation)."Living for Love"
"Living for Love" received positive reviews from critics, who praised its rhythm and lyrics, comparing it to her earlier works. They also considered the song a step-up from her last two lead singles. In the United States, it failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100, but became Madonna's 44th number-one hit on the Dance Club Songs chart, tying her with country singer George Strait as the act with most number-one singles on any Billboard chart. Although United Kingdom's BBC Radio 1 decided not to play it, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 26, becoming Madonna's 71st top-forty single, extending her record as the female artist with the most top-forty UK singles. "Living for Love" reached the top-twenty of the charts in Finland, Hungary, Israel, Japan and Lebanon, but was commercially unsuccessful in other nations.
An accompanying music video was directed by the French duo Julien Choquart and Camille Hirigoyen, together known as J.A.C.K., and was released in February 2015. The storyline incorporates mythological elements and shows Madonna as a matador, fighting her dancers dressed like minotaurs in a red circular stage. It had numerous costume changes, and was critically appreciated for its empowering theme and transcending gender roles. Madonna first performed the song in a similar matador theme at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards; it became the most-watched moment of the night. The second performance was at the 2015 Brit Awards, which made headlines due to the singer's wardrobe malfunction causing her to be pulled down a flight of stairs that made up part of the stage. Alternate versions of "Living for Love" were performed on Le Grand Journal, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and on Madonna's 2015–16 Rebel Heart Tour.
Release
The demo version of "Living for Love" leaked onto the Internet in December 2014, alongside the other twelve demo recordings for Madonna's then untitled thirteenth studio album.[8] On December 20, 2014, the album's title was confirmed to be Rebel Heart and became available for pre-order on iTunes along with six tracks, including "Living for Love" as the album's lead single.[9] Madonna stated that the songs were meant to be "an early Christmas gift". Originally, "Living for Love" was intended to be released on Valentine's Day 2015, with the rest of the record slated for a spring release. However, due to the leak of materials, the release date had to be pushed up. She went on to say she would prefer her fans hear the completed versions of some of the songs instead of the incomplete tracks that were circulating.[10]
Gordon Murray from Billboard reported that two versions of the song were sent to US club DJs on December 21, 2014: the original version and the instrumental. Interscope sent the song as a "soft sell" on December 22 to radio outlets, and it failed to receive airplay at the Top 40 formats, garnering a total of 10 plays due to the rushed out release and being on a Christmas week, when most programmers were on vacation. The label decided to re-service it to radio after 2015 started, with an official adds date to Top 40/Mainstream radio stations on February 10.[11][12] "Living for Love" was commercially released on February 25 in the United Kingdom.[13] A number of remixes were released for streaming, namely those by Djemba Djemba, Offer Nissim, Mike Rizzo and Drew G.[14][15]
Recording and composition
"Living for Love" is an EDM,[16][17] diva house,[18] disco[17] and electropop[19] song which starts as Madonna sings over a "regal" piano line which is eventually joined by percussion.[20] The song is set in the simple time signature of 4/4, with a tempo of 123 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of F minor, with Madonna's vocals spanning the range from E♭3 to C5. "Living for Love" has a I–IV–V–I sequence as its chord progression, with the rhythm flowing as Fm–Cm–D♭–A♭–E♭/A♭.[21] The song was engineered by Demacio "Demo" Castellon and Nick Rowe, while the former also mixed it. Angie Teo did the additional recording and mixing of the track, with Ann Mincieli. Along with The London Community Gospel Choir, MNEK and Santell also provided backing vocals on the track, while Keys and Gad acted as additional musicians.[22]
Dean Piper from The Daily Telegraph explained that "Living for Love" has "some classic Madonna traits: religious references, a gospel choir, 1990s piano beats and a whirling bass", and was compared to her 1989 singles, "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself", by Jason Lipshutz from Billboard.[20][23][24] Keys' piano tracks are played along with the electronic music, up to the chorus.[25]
Unlike Madonna's previous two lead singles, "4 Minutes" (2008) and "Give Me All Your Luvin'" (2012), "Living for Love" puts the emphasis on the lyrics and vocals, with the lines on the bridge going like "Took me to heaven, let me fall down/Now that it's over, I'm gonna carry on" and a "throbbing drop" in the middle.[20] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as Kiesza meets "Like a Prayer", and noted that there were many changes from the leaked demo version: the throwback house music being replaced by an 808 pulse sound and Keys' piano, as well as handclaps and gospel riffing being removed towards the end of the song.[26] For Jon Lisi from PopMatters, "Living for Love" fitted with contemporary pop music releases and the DIY ethic they displayed, starting from Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off", to Ariana Grande's "Break Free" and Katy Perry's "Roar". The survivor anthem-like nature of the track was evocative of Madonna's survival in her music career.[27] With NRJ the singer herself explained the meaning behind the lyrics: "It's a song having your heart broken but it's about saying you know what I'm going to my life goes on, I will carry on, I won't stop believing in love, I'll pick up my crown, put it back on my head and I will walk through life proudly believing that love, true love does exist."[28]
Music video
Development
In December 2014, Madonna's manager Guy Oseary announced that a music video was scheduled to be released in early February 2015.[67] The video was directed by the French duo Julien Choquart and Camille Hirigoyen, together known as J.A.C.K. It was edited by Danny B. Tull, styled by B. Akerlund and choreographed by Megan Lawson.[68] According to Madonna, she wanted to have a cinematic and storytelling aspect with the video adding that: