Hollywood

Most of the time, Madonna's songs are lighthearted and happy but some of them are really thoughtful, profound and downright sad-the acoustic rocker Hollywood belongs in the latter group. As a sad bird begins to fly leaving the trappings of fame behind-Madonna herself-she plays her Gibson Hummingbird guitar and begins to cry like a Ciccone baby-All Still Wet, Sad and in Tears-in this song, place and idea/dream/nightmare named Hollywood-Madonna Lives to Tell, Promises to Try and Takes a Bow but barely hanging on-doing it wrong. She needs to escape the American Nightmare-to paraphrase Bob Dylan-for she who isn't born is busy dying. In angry rocker Hollywood, Madonna is dying inside as she starts to cry Wet Tears in her sad babydoll voice-but the way Madonna does it is naive, childlike and endearing. Madonna Cries in Sad and Wet Tears in perhaps her most Madonna-esque hook/refrain/chorus-"Everybody comes to Hollywood/They wanna make it in the neighborhood/They like the smell of it in Hollywood/How could it hurt you when it looks so good?" Yet in the end, Madonna will never leave the Hollywood section of the California sunshine-with its glamour, calm breezes of the palm trees, a formerly hard-luck hockey team who have won the Stanley Cup (Go Kings!) and the Pacific Ocean beaches. After all, it's one of her homes because Madonna is always welcome at parties come Golden Globe and Oscar time every time. Madonna is a celebrity in the very best sense of the terms and the world would be a dull and uncool place without her presence. Finally, Hollywood-Los Angeles is a part of Madonna-her life and music and when she plays Staples Center, the place and her audience are gonna go crazy and explode. In the middle of the song, she tells all of us who love her-"I Tried to leave it but I never could!" Madonna never will. And we're all grateful for that. Madonna is a Superstar-hey aren't we all!-in Hollywood, and anywhere else! Madonna Ciccone-an American original!