Adventure #13: Meeting the "Pop Perfection" of Darren Hayes

Remember Savage Garden? Did you know their former frontman, Australian singer/songwriter Darren Hayes, has released four solo albums in the last ten years? ...Yeah, it took me a bit to catch up with that, too, being American and all, but he's been a new candy for me. Well, he’s not exactly new for me. I have flavored some of his music before but didn’t take a leap for him until recently.

HISTORY

Let’s take a (dry) rundown of my discovery of him nearly two years ago:

• Hear “I Knew I Loved You” again on radio (it eventually becomes my favorite Savage Garden song; plus, gorgeous Kirsten Dunst is featured in the music vid)
• Remember/Renew curiosity of Savage Garden
• (Wikipedia) Research Savage Garden
• Come across name “Darren Hayes” and research
• Discover 2004 tongue-in-cheek single “Pop!ular” reached #1 on U.S. Dance/Club Play chart
• Like “Pop!ular” but have interest in little else
• Use gift card to get Savage Garden Affirmation, which contains “I Knew I Loved You”

Last summer, I had some free music downloads, part of which I used to get “Pop!ular” and a few tracks off the album it’s from, The Tension and the Spark (Darren’s second album). About eight months later, I listened to his first and fourth albums, respectively, Spin and Secret Codes and Battleships on Spotify, generally liking them and occasionally listening to them more often.

DARREN & ME

Then, I moseyed along until May of this year (two months ago) when I realized a similarity in the songs he writes to the songs I write (and consequently, completed my collection of his music by ordering physical copies of his albums). This was HUGE! When I had thought about my songs, they seemed to be about...nothing...or, at least, nothing I could give a synopsis of, I felt. They're driven by feelings. Most songs are inspired by feelings and fused with emotion, but I've seen that the focus of my songs is completely about subconscious feelings becoming manifest. Darren's and mine don't exactly sound the same, but the focus and drive are similar. We each have our own separate patterns of addressing similar motives that are influenced by our own musical paths. Still, our songs seem to rest in an intuitive space (hence the mention of mine seeming "to be about...nothing;" the images we typically use aren't exactly tangible).

I had been looking at the current pop scene, especially Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, as well as other songs, but I couldn’t find many that I would say my songs were like. Darren’s have come the closest. When I figured this out, so many things in his songs opened up to me, and I could not believe what I was experiencing while listening to his music. Everything he sang made sense. There was no deciphering the metaphors or translation of events in my life to make them applicable to the song. Everything fit perfectly, like I could be saying those lyrics. It was one of those connections you have with someone and you just sense and feel that, “I need to know this person better,” or, “I want to meet this person.” It’d be awesome to meet him and chat about songs and ideas—perhaps, someday, if our lives cross. His songs are so honest to me. Perhaps, they are even too honest…

THE DOWNSIDE

Something he has been prized for is that, often, rather than taking a more commercial pop route, he musically and lyrically tends to take a more sophisticated, intellectual journey, which is a great aspect that I like (and makes me feel smart). But, his music is very artful and somber to the point that it can be depressing for me. At the same time, I love his music, because, like I said, my connection is so close; but it is easily depressing for me, because I don’t have to work to connect. His music naturally recalls emotional places I’ve been by just hearing those words and, especially, singing them.

HIS MUSIC

He does have light and positive songs but mostly on Spin, from which my favorite track is “I Can't Ever Get Enough of You.” His transition to heavier subjects is sampled on Spin’s title track but was also previewed in 1999 with the opening and title track of Savage Garden’s Affirmation. The music of these songs is still upbeat and fun, but the discussion is thoughtful.

His darkest album is The Tension and the Spark, where he explores themes of dark and light with, even, track titles as “Darkness” and “Light.” The Tension and the Spark is an amazing album, overall, despite its dark themes. It is brilliantly crafted with genius electronic production, and, honestly, deserves every one of the four stars Allmusic gave it (I tend to agree with Allmusic). “Darkness,” especially, is a song that surprised me how closely I connected with it when I really listened. I felt like someone had been watching me from my window… Other songs I most connected with from the album, whether emotionally or hearing my own thoughts in someone’s song, were “I Like the Way,” “Hero,” “Unlovable,” and “Love and Attraction,” but really, I side with the whole album.

His third release, the highly experimental and personal double album This Delicate Thing We've Made, continues a somber approach but has a more intellectual feel. The album fits together almost like a story with most of the songs leading up to the next, though they are strong enough to stand alone (not that they're mixed together but that they're like chapters in a novel). Overall, the entire album is incredibly elegant. My favorite track is the beautiful single “Casey” (which the last minute and a half of the album version is gorgeous but, sadly, was taken out to make it appropriate as a single, even though it emphasizes, what I believe to be, the main point of the song: “I wanna be someone”), which he wrote about his sister Tracey (rhymes with Casey; ooooooh, clever boy). Other tracks that especially stand out to me are “A Fear of Falling Under,” “Listen All You People,” “Neverland,” “Words,” and “The Tuning of Violins.” The whole album is wonderful, though.

His latest album, Secret Codes and Battleships, released autumn of last year, brings him back to commercial pop senses but without losing lyrical merit. I, especially, have taken a liking to “Don’t Give Up” and “Black Out the Sun,” which is another one that encapsulates emotions I have felt and instantly recalls them (and vocally, it’s fun to sing). He originally wrote “Black Out the Sun” for Leona Lewis but kept it for himself. Lead single “Talk Talk Talk” sounds like a sequel to “Words.” When I watched the music video for “Bloodstained Heart,” I cried at the end, and then I watched it again, crying throughout from understanding deeper the symbolism. I get choked singing it or even when I explain the song and video to others.

THE UPSIDE

I’ve learned several things from Darren, though. One thing I’ve understood is that this connection I’ve had is only one part of me, and it is good to have someone to connect to, even with my darker experiences. I connect with lots of artists, but my favorites tend to be The Corrs and Kylie Minogue. I’ve often thought myself the male version of Andrea Corr, lead singer and lyricist for The Corrs, and still, I see myself more in her personality than I do Darren’s. Both Darren and The Corrs appeal to the dreaminess of hopeless romantics. Andrea’s solo lyrics and her lyrics with The Corrs, I have felt, are words I could have written myself and that speak for me, just as with Darren’s. I think why I may find Darren's lyrics particularly special is that he is male, and there is an inherent part of me, perhaps initially subconscious, that recognizes and connects with this. The difference between The Corrs and Darren is that while The Corrs (and Andrea; I do like Sharon Corr’s solo work, as well) are willing to go to the dark places that Darren goes, they offer a glimmer of hope, whereas Darren goes there to reveal and explore but doesn’t always offer a way out. He takes you there to experience it with him (but it is fair to say that when you are in those dark places, sometimes hope is forgotten or not desired because of the pain in the letdown of what was once hoped).

I enjoy all of Kylie’s songs, but I most connect with the ones she writes herself, especially “No More Rain” and “Looking for an Angel” (both metaphors; *gasp* intriguing). She goes to dark places on 1997’s introspective Impossible Princess, in which she wrote or co-wrote all the songs, but, like The Corrs, she offers a way out, even if it is just a cry for deliverance. Mostly, Kylie appeals to my fun side. From having seen her live and what I’ve seen of her in interviews, Kylie is pure fun, as also found in her choice to release bubbly, danceable songs. Understandably, she's been referred to as a dance force of light (interestingly, Darren's idol, Madonna, compared to Kylie, has been seen as a dark force; I also like Madonna but more to get groovy with). Through it all, Kylie still is able to express love and its vulnerability (see my paper on that here).

Basically, in general (and for me), Kylie presents the fun and vulnerabilities of love, The Corrs the reassurances of love, and Darren the fears in love. Darren doesn’t really seem far off from The Corrs and Kylie. All three of these artists explore romance and art with class that appeals to me, reassuring what I’ve evaluated about my interests (as described here).

One thing I speculate about Darren from his songs is that he holds things very precious. This is even suggested in the album title This Delicate Thing We've Made and is something I relate to. It makes him a true lover and is a characteristic I'm attracted to to add him to my collection of favorite artists. But while I do like his more darker themes for their own sake, I wish for more of the songs about the positive aspects of love, like he does in “I Can't Ever Get Enough Of You” and “I Knew I Loved You,” but I'll appreciate whatever he turns out.

Of Darren himself, his voice is very beautiful. He uses falsetto a lot, and it is equally pleasing. His voice has a soft, youthful timbre (as do Kylie and Andrea), as does mine, I’ve been told. Last year, I sang “Ten Minutes Ago” from the musical Cinderella for a voice lesson. My teacher said I sounded great, but the only problem with my performance was that I sounded sixteen and the character needed to be old enough that his parents were irritated he wasn’t married yet (so, at least ten years older...hmm).

Darren’s vocal range is very similar to mine, making him fun and comfortable to sing along with. I had previously been introduced to Mika, who also sings high into his falsetto range, but his isn’t always nice sounding. Hearing that falsetto made me afraid to use my own, but Darren’s has given me confidence to use it, as I have heard that my voice and falsetto are “pretty,” as well. When I have sang some of Darren’s and Savage Garden’s songs to others and then later showed them the recording, my audiences have mentioned similar pleasing qualities in my voice and his, though we each have our own value and sound like ourselves. Also, we have similar impulses on forming words when singing; that is, we naturally tend to emphasize the same letter sounds in pronunciation.

If anything, Darren has helped me reach another level of acceptance for my voice. It is what it is, and it can have a place as I find where to use it. It is okay for it to sound pretty and soft and young...or “unique.” And, like I said about his songs’ similarity to mine, it is okay for my songs to be what they are. The sound of Darren's “Unlovable” gave me faith in the few of my songs that lean to the experimental. “Unlovable” is done in a way that makes the song work, despite often possessing an almost disjointed melody, as a few of mine do. When I wrote them, I wasn't sure if they would work but completed them, anyway. Now, I see that as they are explored, an appropriate way of expressing them can be found, just as it was with “Unlovable.” I know some of my apprehension about my songs comes from a fear of revealing self-qualities expressed in the song. Tsk tsk. Courage, now. I'm sure as I embrace them their performance will smooth out and become whole, making them a treasure. They have a place, as what has been reiterated to me a lot this past year (not even an exaggeration; everywhere I turn, this comes up)—to quit hiding and offer what I have. And, honestly, I have been feeling more ready to share what I have with songs, poetry, acting, stories, my novels. Perhaps, finishing college soon has brought this to my mind, also, and given me the realization that I need to come forward in order for anything to happen, rather than hiding in the educational world. In all, Darren has brought it up for me, again.

So, if you don’t know much about Darren, check him out! It’s a shame his music is as rare as it is. He is a gem! You never know what you may find in store to experience with him, and you can see why critics call him genius and his work “pop perfection.”

Review of Madonna's MDNA

Madonna released her twelfth studio album, MDNA, this Monday, March 26. Courtesy of Spotify, I listened to this recent effort on the day it came out. MDNA, used as an entendre for the drug MDMA but more rightfully for Madonna DNA and an abbreviated spelling of the singer's name, reminds that she is the source of controversy that has paved the way for many pop stars, by infusing references to religion and sexuality, often irreverently. At times, this feels like a forward stab to Lady Gaga, especially considering her recent "reductive" words about Gaga. She wants everyone to know that she is "Queen"--that she is what brought pop to what it is now. Fittingly, Madonna's performance beneath the heavy electronic alterations (especially in "Gang Bang") sounds much like it did twenty years ago during her times of greatest controversy in her Like a Prayer-Erotica era, before her vocal training for Evita. She has continued exploring this, revisiting the black-and-white music video for "Girl Gone Wild," like she did with "Justify My Love" and "Erotica." Similarly, "Girl" has met censory with an 18 and older age stamp on Youtube.

While the album's production sounds good, most of the lyrics seem forced. Madonna set out to make an album, and that's what she did--she made an album, when she needed to create one. However, production all-around is nothing short than what she wanted--a full ride in the dance genre for a non-stop party, as she did with Confessions on a Dance Floor but without revealing lyrics and cohesive beats (without brilliance, basically). An issue with the album is that there are little standouts for single releases. The track that comes closest is "I'm Addicted," which, besides the lyrics, sounds very close to Pet Shop Boys cuts. A potential promo release for club play is "Gang Bang," which sounds darkly fantasy-filled enough for Gaga, screwball co-writer Mika, or a metal arrangement. It isn't until near the end of the album that lyrics start to take meaning, on the tracks she collaborated with William Orbit, who brought introspection out of Madonna in 1998's Ray of Light. "I'm a Sinner" even rings a sound similar to the Orbit/Madonna collaboration "Beautiful Stranger."

MDNA is good but not great as it could have been. It contains tracks that people will want to hear again but that won't stick with them. I give it three-and-a-half stars out of five.

Adventure #8: Nothin' But Nettie

Story time! About a very special someone! (Not my "special someone," but someone I really love and admire)

My friend Jeannette and I met in a beginning acting class at BYU. We had one of those relationship (that I have often) when I would quietly talk and joke with her, but she ended up being the one that got caught talking. Sometimes she was reprimanded for distracting me from what was happening in class.

This semester, Jeannette took a break from school to nanny in Texas and has even blogged about her nannying experiences. I've missed her a lot and have been meaning to write this post for several months now. I dedicate it to her! Here's to Jeannette and our adventures!

In January 2010, we attended a BYU stage production of They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Afterward, we ate Teriyaki Stix for dinner. She was hesitant but ordered some bowl with fried rice. After two bites, she was sick of it, so I tasted it and found that it tasted like barf. DISGUSTING! So, we threw it away.

Anyway, it was at this meal that we decided we should take another class together and decided we'd take a Doctrine & Covenants (LDS scripture and church history) class. MISTAKE! We took it from a professor whose name we could never pronounce, spelled something like: Schaalje. It was at 10 in the morning. Jeannette only woke up early enough to come to one class meeting, and I kept being late, causing me to miss several quizzes and forget to make sure I signed the roll. Regardless of her attendance history, Jeannette scored higher than me on our first exam, which she also failed...there shan't be more comparison of our scores.

Pregnant Penelope and baby

Also, the other class members were fairly odd, it seems. They had a habit of staring at me. NO JOKE. For instance, one day (that I came late) I took a seat in the front right corner. After progression in the lesson, someone from the front left corner was commenting, so I turned to listen to her. She talked a long time, and I grew tired of looking that direction, so I turned to glance at the back left corner of the room and found about half of my classmates staring at me. Half of the stare-ers corrected themselves and turned away, uneasily, while the other half persisted staring. This was very uncomfortable for me, so I turned to the front of the room to face a blank white board...It was very awkward...There were other similar instances, but soon after our exam failure, Jeannette and I formally Withdrew from the class.

Among other fantastical happenings of that semester were randomly befriending Garrett, a Tuesday night security guard for BYU's fine arts center, and Jeannette's pregnant balloon poodle, Penelope; on a random night, I made the impromptu decision to join her at a BYU dance but was denied entrance, because I was wearing jeans, instead of slacks.

One last highlight of visiting Jeannette was last Fall semester. She had recently moved, so she gave me the numbers to her new address but didn't distinguish the direction of north/south/west/east. I found Mountain View Apartments, which was somewhat in a seeming vicinity of what she told me, so I called her, waking her.

"Hey, I'm at Mountain View Apartments. Is this where you're at? Which one is yours?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, I think that's it," she replied. "I live across the street from there."

I looked across the street to find Wasatch Mental Health.

"I'm pretty sure you don't live across the street," I laughed, "Unless there's something you haven't told me...Is it alright for me to come over? How long are your visiting hours?...What is your real address?"

Eventually, I found my way over to her apartment building and approached the apartment that was hers. I rang the doorbell. The lights were off inside, and I waited. No one came. I knocked and rang the doorbell more to no answer. I called her, again.

"I'm here," I told her.

"'Kay. Come in."

I tried the door. "I can't. The door is locked."

"Um, it shouldn't be."

"Well, it is."

"Did you ring the doorbell?" she inquired.

"Yeah," I replied.

"I didn't hear it. I don't even see you out my window. Where are you?"

"I'm at the place you told me. I'm ringing the doorbell." I obnoxiously repeatedly pushed the doorbell. "It's ringing. I can hear it."

I heard the door to the apartment next to me open and looked up to see Jeannette standing in its doorway. She didn't say anything but shot me a sassy smile. I walked down and joined her in her apartment.

We played a game of Battle of the Sexes, which I won (Go Men!), and had a lot of fun. On my way home, the windows of my car were rolled down, and I had Madonna's "Give It 2 Me" blasting while I was singing, cruising down Center Street in Provo. I stopped at a light just in time to scream, "GIVE IT TO ME!" and to catch the attention of people on the sidewalk...

These are just a few of my memories with Jeannette, but whenever I am with her, we have so much fun! She is very much like Glozell from Youtube, if you are at all familiar with Glozell. Everything she does is so entertaining. She is someone I can always depend on for a good time and who I can trust will be respectful in personal conversation. I am excited for her to come back to Provo next month and look forward to great more fun with my friend!

Not "All the Lovers" Splurge in "Erotica:" Not Everyone is a Sex Maniac

JAN 31, 2011 UPDATE: At the beginning of this semester, my Advanced Writing professor emailed me and said she wanted to nominate my paper for a research paper contest that only accepted professor-nominated entries. So, I had to hop back onto working on this paper and made a few changes. The version below is the newly revised version.


For my Advanced Writing class, we had to write a research paper with an argument on an issue, so I chose to discuss Kylie Minogue and Madonna.  I'm posting this due to popular request.

To get into it, I will mainly be discussing Madonna's "Erotica" from Erotica and Kylie's "All the Lovers" from Aphrodite, so I would suggest checking the songs out below in order for you to get a feel of them before my analysis.  Generally, if you've never heard a song before, I would also impress you to listen to the song for a play before watching the music video, so you can get your own image and feel for it before you view someone else's translation.  I suggest the same for these two songs.  I also feel I must WARN that both videos tend to be quite SEXUAL and SENSUAL in nature.

Kylie with her OBE

Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue is crowned nothing short of royalty, especially considering her 2008 receptions of an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) (United Kingdom) and an Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France) for her services in music.  Such honors place her among the elite of the celebrity community, where she is never free from critical comparison to pop music superstar Madonna.  However, Madonna and Kylie’s artistic messages are very different from each other.  Madonna feeds her audience the theme that power can be gained by sexuality, while Kylie explores themes of love and vulnerability.

Charlene from Neighbours

Initially, Kylie stood free of being critically assimilate to Madonna as she gained popularity with her character Charlene Mitchell on the Australian television soap opera Neighbours.  This led to her eventual break into pop music in the late 1980s (“Kylie Attends”) with the single “I Should Be So Lucky,” whose accompanying video helped her adopt a girl-next-door image, eventually known as CuteKylie (Sutherland and Ellis 58).  She immediately skyrocketed to international success and still remains strong, as her latest album release in July 2010, Aphrodite, reached number one on the U.K. album chart (“Featured”) and number two on the Australian chart (“Kylie Minogue”).

Her Madonna comparison began with the release of her Rhythm of Love album in 1990, which introduced the world to the phase known as SexKylie.  At the time, Kylie “wanted to develop, to experience different things and express [her]self beyond primary colours […] [She] was twenty-one and growing up.  [Her] own sexual revolution” (Baker and Minogue 41).  The sexual direction she took was mostly sparked from her recent relationship with INXS singer Michael Hutchence who taught her the power of sexuality (Baker and Minogue 50).  Regardless of her own ambitions, this change in persona from CuteKylie and shared similarities of her Rhythm of Love Tour to Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour led many to regard Kylie as a “Madonna wannabe” (Baker and Minogue 85, 86; Baron 52), a term often used in negative dismissal of an artist’s credibility and originality.

For a modern example, Lady Gaga is frequently coined the same, especially for her “Alejandro” music video’s use of Catholic symbols (“Lady”), which Madonna already exhausted in her “Like A Prayer” music video, on her Confessions Tour, and on several other occasions (“Religious”).  In cultural critic Camille Paglia’s article “Lady Gaga and the Death of Sex” for The Sunday Times, she continues referencing the “Alejandro” music video, citing “Gaga has borrowed heavily from Madonna.”  The article trashes Gaga, strongly posing her as a “copycat” and failing to mention anything that makes Gaga valuable as a standalone artist.  Paglia’s criticism limits her perception of Gaga’s individual potential.  In this instance, a cultural critic places Gaga under Madonna’s shadow, just as so many critics have done with Kylie.  In fact, in research for this paper, no scholarly article could be found about Kylie without comparison to Madonna.  To cling to such arguments that certain pop artists are merely borrowing from Madonna narrows one’s ability to see what those artists can contribute themselves, and they potentially miss the artists’ own valuable offerings.

Blond Ambition World Tour, 1990

Rhythm of Love Tour, 1991

Kylie’s ex-producer, Pete Waterman, though, admitted in an interview with The Independent, “She was setting her sights on becoming the new Prince or Madonna.  What I found amazing was that she was outselling Madonna four to one, but still wanted to be her” (Lister).  However, Kylie herself confessed, “Madonna has definitely influenced me […] generally rather than specifically” (Baron 47).

In support of her comments, this paper proposes that despite similarities in artistic pattern between Kylie and Madonna, the two are separate in the meaning and purpose of their work and Kylie is credible as an artist in her own right with artistic value that extends beyond the limiting label of a wannabe.  Madonna presents the use of sexuality to gain power until her theme’s peak with the release of Erotica in 1992, while Kylie’s musical artistry stands apart in its mission to gain love and express vulnerability until her artistic message’s pending peak with Aphrodite.  The lead singles from both albums, “Erotica” from Erotica and “All the Lovers” from Aphrodite, will be analyzed in support of these themes.

To separate the women further, both artists’ imitation of societal expectations of gender roles, each fulfilling the opposite of the other, reflects their overarching themes and the polarity between them, as supported by a music video study by Jennifer Hurley.  While a doctoral student at Deankin University in Geelong, Australia, Hurley worked with Media Studies students of secondary education and reported the students’ description “of Madonna as 'masculine', when [asked] to name pop stars who they thought were either feminine or masculine. [They] referred to Madonna's 'attitude' […] —being assertive, active, and significant, as opposed to being submissive, passive, and insignificant— […] and muscular body as distinguishing her from other 'feminine' performers such as Kylie Minogue” (330, 331).  These impressions joyride the themes of Madonna’s power and Kylie’s love.  Naturally, the masculine individual is associated with power while the feminine with vulnerability.

With power as Madonna’s super-objective in her artistry, she uses tactics of sexuality in pursuit of her objective.  She has played with gender roles on many occasions in order to deconstruct sexual boundaries, as shown in her music videos for “Express Yourself” (1989), where she dresses in a pin-striped suit and performs crotch grabs, and for “Justify My Love” (1990), in which a woman wears a pen-drawn mustache and Madonna kisses another woman (Hallstein 125).  She does not limit the expression of one’s sexuality and demonstrates the power one has to express that sexuality.  Lyrically, both songs emphasize a woman on a pedestal, informing her lover to express himself and to justify a reason for her to love him and have sex with him.  In this, there is a power play that is less commonly given to the female, where she holds sexual expression hostage if the man does not reach her expectations.

Her climb with pushing these social boundaries peaked [in 1992] when she praised a variety of forms of sexuality with the release of her soft porn coffee table book Sex and the accompanying album Erotica.  The album’s explicit songs and video promotion thoroughly demonstrate power through sexuality.

The opening and title track and first single establishes Madonna as a leader of sexuality, declaring to the listener, “I’ll be your mistress tonight,” and promising, “I’ll hit you with a truck/ I’ll give you love/ I’ll teach you how to… aahh.”  Madonna is forward with her declaration of power as a well-versed and well-experienced guide on the listener’s journey of sexual discovery, even posing, “If I’m in charge/ And I treat you like a child/ Will you let yourself go wild […] / Give it up, do as I say.”  She places herself in a position of power above the listener, putting her audience in a schoolroom to be educated “like a child.”  She is the teacher with authority of the classroom.  The track’s music video expands her power beyond educator to that of disciplinarian, since she sports a dominatrix outfit and samples BDSM (Bondage Dominance Submission Masochism) in many scenes.

Madonna continues her power play with gender roles in the video.  In some scenes, she dresses as a feminine figure in an elegant, glittery gown and straps a group of nearly naked men together, bowed down on all fours facing the direction away from her.  The image is reminiscent of sled dogs or horses pulling a carriage.  In her fancy dress suggesting her womanhood, she bears a whip, declaring her as the leader and driver of her team.  She once again takes the dominant role, subjecting the male figure to her rule.  The men are her slaves, and she is their master.  They are under her command to serve her fantasies.  She maintains power over them, so they will be at her disposition for her sexual desires.

Naturally, controversy surrounded the explicit material of Sex and Erotica. In reflection of her build to Erotica and its peak of her theme, in 1995 Madonna released the single “Human Nature” from her following album Bedtime Stories (1994).  The song serves as an unapologetic and direct response to those who were critical of her effort with Erotica (Rooksby 45).  She picks up the controversial train labeled “sex” she has been driving and sarcastically approaches her criticizers with backing vocal statements as, “Oops I didn’t know I couldn’t talk about sex/ (I musta been crazy) […] / Oops I didn’t know I couldn’t talk about you.”  She once again hangs sex over her audience’s head, stating they are involved in the topic, because “it’s human nature (I’m just like you).”  The video reprises her role as a dominatrix in acts of BDSM, retaining her as the hand of power through the song’s conversation, repeating, “I’m not sorry,” and finally ending confrontational and cold, retorting, “Absolutely no regrets.”



Madonna steps down from her peak, remaining a power figure and convinced that what she did was right.  Madonna knows what she has done and is perfectly aware of the message of power-gain through sex that she is sharing through her art.

Such heavy material contrasts to that of her “wannabe” counterpart, Kylie, who follows a theme of love throughout her career and explores vulnerability as a by-product of love.  Now, in order for there to be a peak in Kylie’s theme, there must be a climb to that summit, just as there was with Madonna’s theme.

"I Should Be So Lucky," 1988

From even her first single “I Should Be So Lucky,” Kylie explored the theme of love, as she sang of dreaming that her hidden feelings for her love interest would be returned.  Also, despite her SexKylie phase at the time, the song “Shocked” still encompassed the manifestation of romantic feelings, being “shocked by the power of love.”  Her music also delves into vulnerability with the single “What Do I Have To Do?”  She is having trouble convincing her lover she loves him.  He does not take any of her confessions seriously, and she questions, “How can I prove that I really love you?”  This, naturally, places her in a vulnerable and frustrating position of unrequited love.  However, the song’s musical styling is one of angst, suggesting Kylie desires to prove her love to only relieve herself, not necessarily to benefit her partner.

A deeper meaning of love comes from the album Kylie Minogue in 1994 with the single “Confide in Me,” whose message simply lies in its title.  The song offers a more mature move for Kylie, dealing with an honest concern for another individual, whether lover or not.  She is open to vulnerability, induced by empathy, as suggested by the lines, “We all get hurt by love/ And we all have our cross to bear/ But in the name of understanding now/ Our problems should be shared.”  She is matured in matters socially and emotionally to include others and to consider their feelings.  At the same time, she enters vulnerability by opening up and allowing herself to care enough to be the wailing wall of another individual and to love them, even if they are a stranger, “Should I offer some assistance?/ Should it matter who you are?”

Fever (U.S. Edition)

Kylie further explored her overarching theme through her subsequent work, particularly her 2000 single “Please Stay,” whose yearning vulnerability is basic to its title.  A heightened landmark toward her peak came with her 2001 album Fever.  Its singles “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” “In Your Eyes,” “Love at First Sight,” and “Come Into My World,” as well as tracks “Fragile,” “Love Affair,” and “Your Love” and the Australian bonus track “Tightrope,” help constitute her theme of love and vulnerability.

Of that set list, highest potency towards her message is “Fragile,” which is yet another title that forwardly suggests its lyrics’ journey.  It is the epiphany of vulnerability towards a lover in its description of potential wounds.  She is so consumed with admiration and feelings towards her love interest that she claims disappointment would be her emotional undoing, “Scared of what’s to come […] / I get butterflies/ Water in my eyes/ When I think of you/ I could break in two/ ‘Cause I’m fragile when I hear your name/ Fragile when you call/ This could be the nearest thing to love.”  Yet, she also does not claim that it is love.  She has more maturity to gain on the subject but, eventually, she reaches her summit.

In July 2010, Kylie promoted her status to Goddess of Love with the release of the album Aphrodite, whose overall concepts enrapture the idea of love and vulnerability.  A glimpse at the track list, with songs like “Cupid Boy,” “Everything is Beautiful,” and “Looking for an Angel,” is simple enough to explore its concepts of love, beauty, and the celestial, as these are recurrent associations with the goddess Aphrodite.

“All the Lovers,” Aphrodite’s opening track and lead single, portrays the epitome of Kylie’s theme of love and vulnerability, much like what “Erotica” did for Madonna’s power through sexuality.  “All the Lovers” sums up the ideals of finally finding a true, honest love after so much search, “All the lovers/ That have gone before/ They don’t compare/ To you.”  From the moment the song begins, Kylie reveals how strongly she feels for her lover, “Dance, it’s all I wanna do so won’t you dance,/ I’m standing here with you why won’t you move/ I’ll get inside your groove ‘cos I’m on fire […] / It hurts./ When you get too close but baby it hurts.”  She loves him enough to dedicate a dance through life devoted to him.  She opens up with complete honesty of her greatest desire, because she is on fire with emotion to the point that it is overwhelming, due to her vulnerability towards her lover.

The second verse encourages her lover to be open to the sensations he is feeling, coaxing, “Feel […] there’s so much here to feel […]/ Breathe […]/You’ll be next to me it’s all you need […]/ I’ll take you higher.”  Kylie’s performance is sweet and caring.  She is humbly begging, pleading for her benefit as well as his.  She has come a long way from her self-interested concern in “What Do I Have To Do?” and has graduated to becoming a true lover.  She finds the vulnerability as not just an ache or longing needing cure, but she is reaching something beyond herself, something only attainable with the companionship of another.

As the persona of Kylie understands this, she is qualified as the heavenly Aphrodite in the music video.  The video begins on a skyscraper-lined city street with a flash mob stripping to white undergarments—the white, their purity in love; the revealed undergarments, the stripping of layers down to the core of an individual, where they are most vulnerable.  Physically, this is also a vulnerable position, as there is nothing to cover and protect the body from harm if it is attacked, especially the vitals within the body core.  Also, it reveals parts of the body that one may not be fully comfortable with exposing, since it is rarely seen to be judged and accepted by others.

Regardless, the mob is completely open to one another, participating in passionate kissing with other members and signifying their role as the lovers.  When the chorus is sung for the first time, Kylie is lifted by the mob and surrounded by ascending doves, an animal sacred to Aphrodite (Berens 61).  She is caressed and touched like a holy Messiah, an Aphrodite, their deliverer of love.  Kylie rules as love, and the manner of loving expression from her followers shares the deep purpose that is more meaningful than the bump-and-grind presented by Madonna, the leader of lust.  As the song progresses, more and more lovers hear the song of love and join the mob, until the group is nearly as tall as the skyscrapers.

Another motif throughout the video is a QR Code, a barcode-like device defined as a “two-dimensional matri[x] that represent[s] text,” even “a phone number, a URL, a paragraph or any other type of textual information” (“QR”).  It is seen on a coffee cup, a milk bottle, the pavement, and banners.  It is not forwardly evidenced what text is encoded in the QR Code, but it is designed the same every time it is seen, therefore, stating a repetitive message.  Nonetheless, the presence of the QR Code represents the immaterial of love.

Love is not something tangible, but it exists, even on a coded frequency that is felt and registered within oneself.  Its availability rests in a lover’s own desire and willingness to seek, recognize, and handle its communication.  Just as anyone trying to receive the message from a QR Code must have the proper technological equipment to obtain the encoded message, the lover must be prepared and have the tools ready to access those sought messages coded in the emotional language of love, so they can recognize those communicated emotions and know how to handle them.

The location of the QR Codes demonstrates the universality of Kylie’s love message across different demographic groups, stating that love is everywhere, among everyone.  The Codes on the coffee cup and the milk bottle represent love crossing the boundaries of race—the coffee distinguishes those of colored skin, while the milk denotes those of pale skin.  The cup and the bottle fall and spill their liquids to show the release and freedom of seeking love beyond the container of one’s own race.

The Code on the pavement is accompanied by falling white marshmallows that symbolize the gay male community.  Marshmallows are sweet and flavorful, just as the male homosexual personality is commonly connoted as being gentle and flamboyant.  Furthermore, the marshmallows in the video all share the same appearance, and the clip following is of a male with an earring.  The next scene is an opening briefcase with white paper falling out and a QR Code on a banner in the background.  These images are representative of those of lesbian interests, since individuals aligning in that manner tend to follow more butch and masculine paths as symbolized by the defined edges of the briefcase and the papers.  Also, the follow-up character shown is female to denote a female tendency.  The white of the marshmallows and paper qualify the homosexual love as pure, as well.  The banner is seen in later scenes as a reminder that love language is communicated through emotion and is manifested in the lovers’ physical expressions the audience views.  However, the marshmallows and sheets of paper can also symbolize different body sizes—fluffy like a marshmallow or thin like paper—and qualifies everyone to love, no matter how they are physically shaped.

Returning to Kylie in the video, her role as Aphrodite is not the only deity present.  Her efforts are supported by the appearance of the elephant-headed Indian god Ganesha, represented in the video by a gigantic inflatable white elephant.  Ganesha is “worshipped as a guardian god, bringer of luck, and regularly invoked as the ‘Remover of Obstacles’” (Coomaraswamy 30).  His presence is made during the second verse, as Kylie encourages her gathering lover followers to sense their feelings and recognize the emotions and stakes as “going higher, higher, higher.”  She calls on Ganesha’s assistance as a guardian and “Remover of Obstacles” to help her lovers remove their barriers and walls they have placed around their hearts.  At the same time, Ganesha hovers above as a guardian to protect from potential harm that may come when Kylie’s lovers open their hearts to the vulnerabilities she beckons them to give one another.  Later in the video, when the mob of lovers has grown in height, Ganesha floats a ways off from Kylie, providing a protectant journey to new lovers on their way to join the group.

With the protection of Ganesha’s vigilance and of being lowered into the mob of lovers, Kylie is safe during the song’s bridge to softly express her vulnerability through her vocal performance, which is helped by dropping the pounding bass line and synthesizers and only backing her with a gentle piano and warm strings.  She once again pleads her desire to “dance […]/ Even if it throws you to the fire.”  She longs to live harmoniously with her lover and wants him to open himself to a vulnerable position, though he is fearful of it.  As she comes out of the bridge, the music builds again until it reaches its climax with its bass line and a soaring synthesizer melody.  At this segment of the video, a white horse, often a symbol of spiritual illumination (Tresidder 241), runs through the street of kissing lovers.  Kylie’s lover, along with her followers, released inhibitions and entered the vulnerable state Kylie required, earning the spiritual illumination that “love is really good.”  During the second half of the last chorus, the soaring synthesizer melody plays in the background to show the lovers’ spiritual illumination and adherence to the lines, “Don’t be frightened/ Just give me a little bit more.”  With her mission accomplished, Kylie ends the video as Aphrodite, releasing a white dove into flight, releasing love into the world.

Kylie has come to understand what it means to love and how to be open and share vulnerability with her lover.  She has finished her climb to her peak.  She is Aphrodite.

Kylie completes her theme of love and vulnerability, just as Madonna completed her theme of power through sexuality.  Their artistry may have crossed paths on occasion, but their meanings and intentions for their audiences’ experience are totally different and unique to themselves.  Both patterned themes that led to eventual peaks, but both women stand alone in their artistry, neither requiring a pigeonhole label of a “wannabe,” limiting the perception of their artistic value by critics, whether cultural or scholarly.  Kylie possesses profound artistic integrity, deserving individual praise for her work without the mention or backup of Madonna and her works.

Works Cited

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