Oh Father
"Oh Father" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her fourth studio album Like a Prayer (1989). It was released as the fourth single from the album on October 24, 1989, by Sire Records. The song was not released as a single in most European territories until December 24, 1995, when it appeared on the 1995 ballads compilation Something to Remember. Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, the nexus of "Oh Father" was the presence of male authoritative figures in Madonna's life, most prominently her father, Tony Ciccone. Madonna's relationship with her father had soured after her mother's death in 1963 and his remarriage three years later. While developing the Like a Prayer album, Madonna was in an emotional state of mind due to her personal problems, which is reflected in "Oh Father".
For other articles, see Oh, Father."Oh Father"
Musically, "Oh Father" is a baroque pop ballad. It was recorded at a studio in the Garment District of New York City. Leonard put together different types of chord progression and created the basic outline of a melody, which Madonna shaped and then wrote lyrics to fit the melody. She used a contrast of timbre while singing the song, which also featured instrumentation from strings, piano, violin and drums. "Oh Father" received positive reviews from critics and authors, but commercially was less successful than Madonna's previous singles. In most of the countries where it was released, the song failed to attain top-ten positions, except in Finland, where it peaked at number six. It ended Madonna's string of 16 consecutive top five singles in the United States.
The music video of the song was Madonna's attempt to embrace and accept her mother's death. Directed by David Fincher and shot in black-and-white, it shows a little girl playing in the snow as her mother dies. A grown-up Madonna follows the child and sings the song as the child runs away from her abusive father. Described by reviewers as "autobiographical", the video was listed by Rolling Stone as one of "The 100 Top Music Videos". Scholars noted how Madonna's persona was split into the child and adult in the video, and one writer described a scene, involving the dead mother shown at her wake with her lips sewn shut, as one of the most disturbing scenes in the history of mainstream music videos; the scene was inspired by Madonna's memory of her mother from her funeral. "Oh Father" was performed only on the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990, where Madonna portrayed a woman trying to find her religion and her battle for it.
Chart performance[edit]
In the United States, "Oh Father" was released on October 24, 1989, and debuted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100, during the week of November 11, 1989.[34][35] The song became Madonna's first single since "Holiday" in 1984 not to enter the top ten in the United States, peaking at number 20 on the week of January 6, 1990.[36] This ended her streak of 16 consecutive top five singles and 17 consecutive top ten singles.[37] It was present on the Hot 100 for a total of 13 weeks.[36] In Canada, "Oh Father" debuted at number 84 on the RPM Singles Chart on November 11, 1989.[38] After nine weeks, the song reached a peak of number 14 on the chart, and was present for a total of 15 weeks.[39][40] The single was Madonna's lowest charting single in Australia at the time, where it peaked at number 59, breaking a run of 20 consecutive top 40 singles.[41]
"Oh Father" was not released as a single in most European territories until December 24, 1995, when it appeared on Madonna's 1995 compilation album Something to Remember.[42] The 1995 single was released with different track listing and artwork which included a photography still from the 1989 music video.[43] The song debuted and peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart on January 6, 1996.[44] It became the third single of her career to miss the top-ten position in the United Kingdom, after "Lucky Star" (1984) and "Take a Bow" (1994).[45] According to The Official Charts Company, "Oh Father" has sold 58,730 copies in the UK as of August 2008.[46] The song also appeared on the Irish Singles Chart for one week at number 25 on January 4, 1996.[47] The song was more commercially successful in Finland, where it reached number six.[48] On the European Hot 100 Singles, the song debuted at number 73 on January 13, 1996. The next week, it reached its peak position at number 62 and became her lowest-charting single on the chart up to that point.[49]