Composition
"Vogue" is a dance-pop and house song with visible influences from disco music. The song has also been noted by Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine to have a "deep house groove" and to have a "throbbing beat" by Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone. J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his book Madonna: An Intimate Biography, wrote that the song was a "pulsating dance track". According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com at Alfred Publishing, the song is written in the key of A♭ major, has a tempo of 116 beats per minute, and in it, Madonna's vocal range spans from C4 to E♭5. Lyrically, song has a theme of escapism, and talks about how any person can enjoy himself. Later on, the song has a rap/spoken section, in which Madonna names numerous "golden era" Hollywood celebrities.
The lyrics of the song's rap section features the names of 16 stars of the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Ordered as sung in the song, they are Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Joe DiMaggio, Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean, Grace Kelly, Jean Harlow, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Lana Turner and Bette Davis.
"Vogue" contains samples of some songs from the disco era. The bassline is from "Love Is the Message" by MFSB. The horns and strings appear in the song "Ooh, I Love It (Love Break)" by the Salsoul Orchestra. Some vocal samples from "Love Break" are also in the 12" remix and dubs. "Like a Virgin" (the intro hook) is also in one of the dubs. It also contains a slowed sample from the synth start of "Lucky Star"
Read more about this topic: Vogue (Madonna Song)
Famous quotes containing the word composition:
“Every thing in his composition was little; and he had all the weaknesses of a little mind, without any of the virtues, or even the vices, of a great one.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“At painful times, when composition is impossible and reading is not enough, grammars and dictionaries are excellent for distraction.”
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
“Give a scientist a problem and he will probably provide a solution; historians and sociologists, by contrast, can offer only opinions. Ask a dozen chemists the composition of an organic compound such as methane, and within a short time all twelve will have come up with the same solution of CH4. Ask, however, a dozen economists or sociologists to provide policies to reduce unemployment or the level of crime and twelve widely differing opinions are likely to be offered.”
—Derek Gjertsen, British scientist, author. Science and Philosophy: Past and Present, ch. 3, Penguin (1989)