28 June 1986
I was an innocent, unworldly nine-year-old boy when I first heard ‘Papa Don’t Preach’, so I just assumed her ‘baby’ meant her guy, like the one in the video: “I’m not gonna dump my fella just because you get all preachy and disapproving, pops!” Pretty quickly, of course, even my small child brain twigged that there was debate and controversy about what this song is actually about. To me, now older and wiser, the song is about the tough choice a young woman must make, but it’s her choice, she’s made up her mind, and now she asks her father to support her in her choice. The outcome of the choice itself isn’t as important to me as the fact that she has a choice but still has to fight to get that choice respected and supported. That fight is still going on today.
So, ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ is a dramatic story. What makes it so outstandingly good is that it’s a dramatic record too. Remember how ‘Two Tribes’ begins with a sweeping old-world symphony that gets obliterated by the gleeful armageddon of Frankie’s nuclear war? In a similar way, ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ opens with a square, formal string quartet, which switches to dramatic flourishes as our heroine enters and takes on the world around her, then also fades out the track in edgy, unresolved slashes. This all perfectly captures the drama of the story, even in leaving us unsure how the daughter-father tension will play out. (Unforgivably, the otherwise excellent video, featuring Danny Aiello as the titular paterfamilias, loses its nerve right at the end and tags on a conciliatory keyboard figure and storyline resolution.)
Madonna is central to this record’s drama, most notably in her new singing style. Gone is the party-popper voice of ‘Holiday’ that bobs up again through ‘Into The Groove’ only a year previously; now she sings with real depth and gravitas when setting the scene in the verses, adds stakes and emotion in the pre-chorus where she spells out the conflict, then hits her strong, confident stride in the chorus. It’s a sensational performance that completely sells us both story and song.
Innocent, unworldly nine-year-old me has had it easy all his life. The plot of ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ is something that happens every day, in varying circumstances, around the world to countless young women. Many don’t have a choice, or at least not one that is safe and legal. Many are treated disgracefully, with no support from their family, community or society, and often must run the gauntlet of hostile interest groups or restrictive legislation. Many face the additional struggle of simply having their choices accommodated by social supports, work opportunities or financial security. Pop music didn’t bring down the Berlin Wall or disarm nuclear missiles, but it helps give strong, intelligent women a voice so that other young women feel heard and young men like me can actually learn something. Add that to the list of what this ambitious and remarkable record is about.
