Nothing Fails
"Nothing Fails" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her ninth studio album, American Life (2003). Written by Madonna, Guy Sigsworth and Jem Griffiths, and produced by the singer along with Mirwais Ahmadzaï and Mark "Spike" Stent, it was released as the third single from the album on October 27, 2003. Originally demoed as "Silly Thing", "Nothing Fails" is a love song which has acoustic guitar chords and a gospel choir appearance. Lyrically, the song discusses a lover who is the one, and how their meeting was not just chance. A number of remixes of the song were done, with one of them being included on Madonna's remix album Remixed & Revisited (2003).
"Nothing Fails"
October 27, 2003
2002
4:48
- Maverick
- Warner Bros.
- Madonna
- Guy Sigsworth
- Jem Griffiths
- Madonna
- Mirwais Ahmadzaï
The song received generally positive reviews, with music critics praising it as one of the best tracks from American Life, while others compared it with Madonna's previous single "Like a Prayer" (1989), as both songs feature a gospel choir. "Nothing Fails" was released in the US in hopes of attaining sales from American Life. However, it did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it the second single from the album to fail to chart in the US. Nevertheless, the song reached number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs and Hot Singles Sales charts. The single also reached number one in Spain and the top ten in Canada and Italy.
Although initially reported on the contrary, no music video was filmed for "Nothing Fails". The song was performed during a promotional tour for American Life in 2003, along with other songs from the album and her past hits. One of these performances was shown by MTV in a special named Madonna on Stage & on the Record. It was also performed during Madonna's sixth concert tour, the Re-Invention World Tour (2004), with Madonna alone on stage singing the song accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Many reviewers noted that Madonna in the performance was a "solitary figure" as it was herself alone playing the acoustic guitar.
Composition and remixes[edit]
"Nothing Fails" features an acoustic guitar introduction, which is a recurring theme of American Life.[6] The guitar is accompanied by a "light" drum section and low-pitched vocals from Madonna and also features a cello in the first part of the song, while gospel music comes in at the later half.[6][7] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing, "Nothing Fails" is written in the time signature of common time with a moderately slow tempo of 92 beats per minute.[8] It is composed in the key of B♭ major with Madonna's voice spanning from F3 to B♭4.[8] The song follows a basic sequence of Gm–F–E♭–B♭–Gm as its chord progression.[8]
Lyrically, the song discusses a lover who is the one, and how their meeting was not just chance, a reference to the "tree of life" is made during the song while Madonna makes denouncements of religion by singing "I'm not religious" but she wishes to pray.[6][9] Bill Friskics-Warren, author of I'll Take You There: Pop Music and the Urge for Transcendence, described the lyrics as consisting of double entendre, talking about both spiritual and sexual rebirth.[10] The London Community Gospel Choir, led by Nicki Brown, recorded backing vocals for the song.[11] The strings engineer for the choir, Geoff Foster, recalls that the group consisted of "a bunch of great singers giving it loudly, it was impressive."[1] According to Rolling Stone and The Advocate, the song glides from a lean arrangement and then reaches its peak with the gospel chorus, which resembles that of Madonna's single, "Like a Prayer" (1989).[12][13]
A remix version for the song, "Jackie's In Love In The Club Mix", done by DJ Jackie Christie, was made available as one of the exclusive tracks of the American and European maxi-single release of the song. She maintained Madonna's vocals and the gospel choir appearance, commenting that "I was asked to remix 'Nothing Fails' [...] I wanted it to be a mainfloor mix with a big choir breakdown so you felt the magic of the Madonna and the choir, like church."[14] Peter Rauhofer's remix of the song was added along with the remixes of the follow-up single, "Love Profusion".[15] Another version, the "Jason Nevins Mix", was included on Madonna's 2003 remix album Remixed & Revisited. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic commented that on this remix, Madonna sounds as if she is out of step with the music of 2003.[16]
Chart performance[edit]
Following the commercial disappointment of "American Life" and "Hollywood"—the first two singles from American Life—Maverick sent a radio remix of "Nothing Fails" in hopes of attaining sales.[29] The song was sent to Mainstream Top 40 radio on October 28, 2003.[33] "Nothing Fails" did not chart in the United States; however, it was a commercial success on the dance charts.[34] According to Fred Bronson, the single release of the remixes of the song debuted at number-one on the Hot Singles Sales and Hot Dance Single Sales chart, on the issue dated December 27, 2003, the same week it also moved up to the top-twenty of the Dance Club Songs chart. "Me Against the Music" by Britney Spears, on which Madonna was featured, and "Nobody Knows Me", both were also present in the top-twenty, making Madonna the only artist to have three songs within the top-twenty on the chart simultaneously.[35] However, the single sold less than 10,000 units according to Nielsen SoundScan, marking one of the lowest totals at the time for a number-one song on the chart.[36] At the year-end Hot Dance Singles Sales recap, "Nothing Fails" was at number two position, while "Me Against the Music" and "Love Profusion" was at numbers one and three respectively. Billboard reported that Madonna was the first artist in its chart history to have the top three Dance Sales song.[37]
In Australia, Warner Bros. Records released a maxi-CD single of "Nothing Fails". The release was considered an album by ARIA due to the number of different tracks; it failed to chart on the ARIA Albums Chart. However, it did appear on the ARIA Dance Albums Chart at number six.[38] The song also reached the top ten in Canada.[34] In Europe, "Nothing Fails" achieved moderate success on the charts. In Austria, "Nothing Fails" debuted at number 74, and one week later, peaked at number 51, going on to spend six weeks inside the chart.[39] On January 3, 2004, "Nothing Fails" debuted at its peak of number 50 on the Belgian Flanders Singles Chart.[40] However, it peaked at number three on the Ultratip chart of Wallonia.[41] The song debuted at number 16 on the Danish Singles Chart, peaking at number 11 the next week.[42] The song debuted at its peak of number 34 on the French Singles Chart on November 30, 2003. In its second week, the song began its decline, falling out of the chart at number 97, almost four months later.[43] Estimated sales stand at 24,818 units in France.[44] The song had commercial success in Italy, reaching the top ten on its singles chart, and also in Spain where it reached the top of the chart.[45][46] On the German Singles Chart, the song peaked at number 36.[47]
Credits for "Nothing Fails" are adapted from American Life liner notes.[4]