Background
American Life became Madonna's final studio album with Maverick Records, and marked the end of an eleven-year recording history with the label. In an interview with VH1 Madonna discussed her motivations behind the record discussing her 20 years in the industry and stating that "material things" were unimportant and she also stated, "I look back at the 20 years behind me and I realized that a lot of things that I'd valued weren't important" in response to the non-materialistic themes of the record.
The album has been deemed by some as a concept album featuring political themes based around the United States. Whilst talking to MTV she discussed the political themes within the record saying; "I feel like America has changed over the years and that a lot of our values seem to be materially oriented and so superficial. And we all seem to be obsessed with fame just for the sake of fame, no matter what — sell your soul to the devil if that's what it takes. And we're also completely obsessed with the way we look. And I bought into a lot of that, so a lot of the record, especially the first three songs are just like, "What was I thinking?"". After being asked by John Norris of MTV he discussed the first three tracks as a trilogy discussing things she wishes to put behind her, in response Madonna stated "I think they're an extension of "American Life." They're examining things I valued and things I found myself worrying about, caring too much about, and realizing that those things aren't important and wanting to get out from underneath that cloud, the world of illusion." Madonna discussed the materialistic themes of the record and her personal encounters which have led to the composition with MTV saying:
"Who better to say those things don't matter than somebody who's experienced them?, "How can you say they don't matter? How can you say that money won't bring you happiness if you don't have a lot of money? How can you say that fame and fortune are not a guarantee for happiness and joy and fulfillment in your life?" You have to have that experience to know. 'Cause you have all those things, I've had all those things, and I've had nothing but chaos around me. So I'm just sharing what I know with the world. 'Cause I do think that we've become completely consumed with being rich and famous, our society has. And I just want to tell people, take it from me, I have all those things and none of them ever brought me one minute of happiness."
Read more about this topic: American Life
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