Every casual listener knows Madonna hits like “Material Girl,” “Vogue,” and “Like a Virgin.” But someone with more than four decades of experience in the music industry is bound to release plenty of great tracks that never hit it big.
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After a review of Madonna’s discography—from her self-titled 1983 debut to her 2019 release Madame X—we’ve identified four songs that never got the recognition they deserve.
Keep reading to see our picks, listed from the oldest track to the newest one.
“Till Death Do Us Part” (1989)
Released on Madonna’s Like a Prayer album, “Till Death Do Us Part” is thought to be the singer’s account of her tumultuous marriage to Sean Penn in the ’80s. While it’s an upbeat tune, the lyrics are anything but. The song tells the story of a marriage that’s fallen apart. That’s thanks to the groom in question having fallen out of love.
“The bruises they will fade away / You hit so hard with the things you say / I will not stay to watch your hate as it grows,” Madonna croons on the track. “You’re not in love with someone else / You don’t even love yourself / Still I wish you’d ask me not to go.”
It’s hard to imagine that the track wouldn’t have been a smash if it’d been released decades later. Now many pop music fans—here’s looking at you, Swifties—break apart tracks lyric-by-lyric to decode real-life implications of troubled or fairytale romances. They would’ve had a field day with this one.
“Sanctuary” (1994)
“Sanctuary,” which appears on Madonna’s Bedtime Stories, was lauded by Rolling Stone as having a “seductive techno pull.” Indeed it does, with help from a sample of Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man.”
On the track, Madonna sings about a lover who’s become her sanctuary in a troubled world. One spoken passage of the song borrows lines from Walt Whitman’s poem, “Vocalism,” which appeared in his Leaves of Grass collection in 1855.
“Paradise (Not For Me)” (2000)
One of Madonna’s first collaborations with French music producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï came on her album Music. The pair teamed up for “Paradise (Not For Me),” slightly different versions of which appeared on both of their albums.
The album was a departure for Madonna. She sought to reinvent herself as other pop stars begin to rise in fame. Madonna did so on “Paradise (Not For Me) specifically by getting experimental—there’s a verse in French!—and a bit electronic. All of that led to a new sound for the singer.
Years later, Madonna performed the song, a mid-tempo number, on her Confessions Tour.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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