Confessions II, As Told By Madonna’s Getty Archive

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Then Madonna spread her legs and said, “let there be light,” and there was light. A bright green laser from her literal pussy, to be precise.

After years in the ether as a concept of a thing and a gauntlet rollout nothing short of legendary, Confessions II has at long last arrived. And, my god, is it glorious, easily her best output since…well…Confessions.

We can be honest, now, about the Stockholm Syndrome of the past two decades of Madonnadom. Not that there weren’t songs to love (major “God Control” truther here), but starting with Hard Candy, the icon’s work chased the surrounding culture rather than, as with her work up until that point, defining it. It’s hard to name one specific culprit for that — label interference, to be sure, as M has openly bemoaned, but also the rise of streaming and the subsequent push away from the album as the dominant form. Plus the dawn of smartphones and social media, which may or may not have ruined the world. It certainly did a number on the clubs that have always been Donna’s artistic haven, turning dancefloors into surveillance-state minefields.

If the first Confessions was an open-hearted embrace of togetherness after the fraught introspection of American Life, Confessions II (a sequel mostly nominally, less so sonically or thematically) is a dance floor state of the union. She’s fixated on that surveillance dynamic, as she explores in the film, and a desire for anonymity — the veil, creating a new persona, all the conditions that make her feel like she can Confess. As the album unfolds, it also reveals itself to be, to borrow an American Life-era critical epithet, about Madonna. It’s as if she’s emerging from a twenty-year artistic stupor, catching us up on everything from her brother to motherhood to her very own evil stepmother.

Much of this record is fixated on her artistic apotheosis, with various allusions across the album tracking her career arc and unparalleled canon. She’s also been, lest we forget, in a deep reflective state, what with the Celebration Tour and the biopic Universal is holding hostage. As such, we thought it might be fitting to pay tribute to M’s catalog of iconic looks, pairing each track with what it’s evoking for us visually. Think of it like synesthesia. But cunty.

“I Feel So Free”

Longtime readers will know how we feel about this song; they will also know how our patron saint Martin Diaz feels about this song. It is, as ever, #SafetyInNumbersSummer. This song is sheer and ethereal, that iconic veil from the cover; it is euphoria and release, the mind-expanding sort when you begin to transcend your physical form. It is this performance of “Bedtime Story” at the BRIT Awards — getting unconscious, honey, and feeling so free are sister states of being, no?

“Good for the Soul”

Cosmic mother alert, creator of dance. There’s not really a Kabbalah moment on the record (growth!) so we’re going to treat this spiritual treatise fantasy for that. Here she is at the 1998 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards (we used to be a proper country). Waxing poetic about partying and dancing can sometimes teeter into corniness, but there’s enough of a celestial angle here to keep this just on the right side of cool.

“One Step Away”

“Come and get salvation,” M intones on this similarly-ethereal cut. “All God’s children can be saved.” For those who have been Confessing with us from the jump, this is the song I erroneously called “Freedom” back at the Abbey. The manifesto that opens this is just perfect — adore the specifically frantic phrasing of “but they’ve got it all wrong!” This, of course, is from the 2018 Met Gala “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” which remains the best theme.

“Bring Your Love”

A moment for the album mix! A moment for the mixing overall; I’m heading out to erect a statue of Stuart Price as soon as I file this.

This song hits the same way “Break My Soul” did in the context of the full album. We’ve spent enough time with this song, so there’s not really something I wanna talk about. Shout-out to our beloved Martin for revitalizing the track and for his love of Sabrina’s giggly, girly laugh. The lyrics remain in vague hieroglyphics about fame and showbiz (the numbers!) but it’s characterized by the bubbly, flirty energy of Sabrina and those bouncy house pianos. This is M in 1996, exiting a friend’s apartment.

Don't we think this print is so cheeky? It's made even more so by the way it peeks out under that stunning coat. Very proto-Confessions.

“Danceteria”

Don’t you think national anthems should have a lifespan of, say, 250 years or so? One must imagine she purposefully picked the weekend of the 4th to drop this, considering it’s our leading candidate to take the mantle. It’s a song that boldly asks: what if the “Vogue” rap but with the New York scene and a French electronica breakdown? She namedrops so much it would probably be gauche were it not this exact group of people. Anyway, here’s a photo of her dancing with a bunch of faggots in front of a Keith Haring print at the Virgin Tour wrap party in 1985. Some things never change!

“Read My Lips”

To evoke the great Yasi Slasek, whose Bandsplain Madonna series should be part of any self-respecting person’s Confessions II practice…y’all mind if a white girl speaks a little español?

A lot of gay people on the Internet were being really heinous about this song after the film dropped because of residual Madame X trauma and general feature fatigue. To which I have two things to say: a lot of Madame X fucks, grow up, be grateful, and I am genuinely sorry if you cannot open your heart to this song’s greatness. It’s the sort of cool, surprising thing only Madonna can make. And just as a reminder that Madame X fucks, here’s a photo of her from Eurovision in 2019. Please don’t look up where in the world this was.

“Everything”

Everyone stop being lame and get outside NOW!

Her diction is mostly good on this, but spiritually (and audibly) this song is wearing a grill. The drop recalls the MDNA and Rebel Heart dark ages where she was chasing the EDM trends, albeit better executed. And, crucially, weirder — probably the strangest song on the album. (This or “School”, really.)

This is also the first track not teased in any capacity pre-release. She’s kind of doing an inverse MAYHEM, the brighter, poppier singles all red herrings concealing a darker, harder, rawer final product. Here she is at the 2014 GRAMMYs, brandishing one of her iconic canes as a weapon. She SAID she DOESN’T FUCK WITH IT!

“Love Sensation”

Are people aware that this is technically a bonus track? This one and the last three tracks aren’t on the 12-track physical editions. I think I probably purchased at least one of those but I blacked out every time she announced a new one.

Anyway, isn’t that blasphemous? Single status and Times Square aside, it’s hard to imagine Confessions II without “Love Sensation" and its glittery Technicolor euphoria. Perfect for that Sex and the City firefighter party, which is the reason I’ve opted for the Studio 54 look from The Girlie Show (which, if one must know, is my favorite of her tours.)

“Love Without Words”

I need to be in Ibiza right this fucking second. Effectively, this song declares: in the clerb, we all fam. It almost feels like a set change, the moment when the harder, edgier DJ takes the decks to carry the crowd into the real meat of the night.

Here she is earlier this year during Milan Fashion Week. In the spirit of the song, I'm keeping the word count low.

“Bizarre”

And while I’m in Ibiza, roll out the carpet for us!

On its face, this is one of those anonymous EDM tracks pop girls would haphazardly hop on all throughout the 2010s and which somehow persist by virtue of people like “Anyma.” What goes on in heterosexual EDM is not our business. But Martin Garrix is one of the more interesting DJs to come out of that boom and Madonna knows better after those nonsensical Diplo cuts.

“Bizarre” ends up in a decidedly cool, trance-y space that makes it a clear standout. Plus, Sean Penn lashings are always welcome; gather him and his weird ego! This is her in 1998 walking on Madison Avenue, and there is decidedly a lot going on here. The shirt as facemask gives a little proto-Confessions II veil, no? Who knew street fashion could be so bizarre!

“School”

A moment of vulnerability: I clowned this song a bit (a lot) when I saw the tracklist. Naming a song “School” is, of course, toddlerific. I bookmarked a bunch of photos from the book tour for The English Roses ahead of my first listen based on the title.

So imagine my surprise when this song comes on, interpolates underrated Bedtime Stories cut “I’d Rather Be Your Lover” and immediately announces itself as cunt. The key to Madonna’s penchant for reinvention is a desire to constantly learn, pick up new reference points and find ways to synthesize them into something specifically her. This photo, the first pap shot from the original Confessions era, was taken as she arrived at Lola’s 9th birthday party. It is a photo that says: I created all you bitches, and don’t you ever forget it. Or, alternately: school is in session.

“Fragile”

This is the one about Christopher, possibly Madonna’s single most fraught relationship in a life of fraught relationships. An exposé memoir will do that, I suppose. Despite its fragility, when the two of them were good, they were great, a singularly alchemic creative connection. It’s a really sweet, thoughtful spot on the record, much like this post-Golden Globes moment between them.

If I spend any more time thinking about this song or their relationship, I’ll start weeping onto the keyboard with such force it will invariably short-circuit.

“My Sins Are My Savior”

Justifie mon amour.

She repeatedly says “ray of light” on this song, which makes this a great opportunity to talk about her self-referential streak. This has been something Madonna does for a while now — most iconically with “Vogue” on “Deeper and Deeper,” quoting “Love Song” on “Hung Up,” elsewhere on lyrical callbacks scattered throughout the Dark Age records on songs that do not deserve them. There is no greater Madonnaologist than Madonna herself, and her insistence on her own canonization is part of what makes her so damn iconic. On this track, she’s owning all her controversies, as she is prone to do, but this time with some sexy French flair.

Here she is in 2010, shrouded in this stunning black coat, arriving at the “Hope for Haiti” telethon. International woman of mystery vibes.

“Betrayal”

Girl, we’re getting some Satie in this bitch!!! This song…très mystérieux. A very noirish fantasy, with lots of slinky espionage, peering around corners, and taking a moment to say: “hmm! How peculiar.” And who better as the target of such espionage than a heinous stepmother who she apparently has ongoing beef with? (Some people on the Internet think she’s using Joan as a proxy for Guy Ritchie, which also doesn’t totally make sense, but drag him regardless.)

She loved these goddamn newsboy/beret situations during the American Life era. I’ve already made one SATC reference, so I’ll spare everyone another. But we're all envisioning it, aren’t we? Also, notably, this has a Mirwais co-write/production!

“The Test”

I obviously had to pick a photo with Lola for this one, and the moody palette of this shot from the “Material Girl” Macy’s launch (it was a different time) immediately stuck out.

Speaking of Lola, she sounds lovely here; stream “T-Shirt.” Madonna's “Little Star” comes full circle, finally, both with a lyrical nod and an interpolation that serves as the basis for "The Test." Seems like she didn’t — and won’t — forget who she is. (Also, shout-out Arca.)

Madonna talks a lot about her early days, that scrappy era when she arrived in New York with however many dollars in her pocket (varies depending on when you ask.) She would perform and sleep anywhere that would have her, a remarkable origin story, one that might make a great movie, thank you very much.

It's typically told with a mythological sense of scale and distance. That's precisely what makes “L.E.S. Girl,” a quintessentially wistful Madonna closing track, such a revelation: here, the rent’s overdue, the mirror’s cracked and the hangover’s setting in. It’s a starkly honest love letter to a girl a lot like the one seen here, so full of life and hope that none of the myriad of things going wrong seem to matter. Before all the record contracts and the 360 deals, the colossal mindfuck of being Madonna, the ever-looming spectre of Guy Ritchie, there was just a girl with smeared eyeliner who loved the boy in the band. Everything fades away…

Images via Getty