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Discussion: "Justify My Love" 25 Years Later – Song, controversy, & sex
Member Since: 4/28/2012
Posts: 37,654
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"Justify My Love" 25 Years Later – Song, controversy, & sex
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'Justify My Love,' 25 Years Later – A Short History of the Song, the Controversy and, Yes, the Sex
How much controversy can you cram into five minutes? If you're Madonna, enough to make your new single a hit. On Nov. 6, 1990 – 25 years ago this week – Madonna released the first single from The Immaculate Collection, "Justify My Love." In the month that followed, Madonna filmed a video for the song, submitted it to MTV (which promptly rejected it), and then rode the resulting controversy all the way to the bank. The video was ultimately sold as a "video single," and it sold well.
Today, the incident is remembered as one of the biggest controversies in Madonna's career, which is saying a lot.
2. The controversy helped propel the single to the top of the charts
3. The VHS single sold over 1 million copies
And they weren't cheap: The initial retail price for the illicit video was $9.98, according to Entertainment Weekly.
5. Madonna, of course, had opinions about the ban
Madonna pointed out that MTV's ban on nudity in music videos might be inconsistent. "When I did my 'Vogue' video, there's a shot of me where I'm wearing a see-through dress, and you can clearly see my breasts. They told me that they wanted me to take that out, but I said I wouldn't, and they played it anyway," she said. "I thought that I was once again going to be able to bend the rules a little bit."
She also claimed that the sexual content of the video wasn't as dangerous as other themes more readily accepted on television. "I would like to address the whole issue of censorship on television. Where do we draw the line in general?" she said. "I draw the line in terms of what I think is viewable on television. I draw the line at violence and humiliation and degradation."
6. It wasn't any one scene that got the video banned
"When we gave it to MTV, we asked if they would play it. They came back a while later and said no," she said. "I asked them, 'Is there one scene or another that you specifically object to?' They said, 'No, it was the whole tone.' So we didn't even really get a chance to try to make it viewable. They rejected it completely."
9. Strangely enough, Nightline aired the video in its entirety
And that might seem surprising, since ABC is a broadcast network, not a cable channel like MTV.
11. There was a famous Saturday Night Live parody
The May 11, 1991, episode of SNL had Delta Burke hosting and Chris Isaak as the musical guest, but it also featured a surprise appearance by Madonna in a pre-taped "Wayne's World" bit that introduced the phrase "Wow, look at the unit on that guy" to the pop culture lexicon.
16. The song was based on a letter Igrid Chavez had written for Lenny Kravitz
As Chavez recalled to Vibe in 2013, the creation of the song was surprisingly simple. "Andre [Betts] got a beat going, Lenny recorded a synth line, and then he asked me if I had something I wanted to say. I had a letter on me (my letters are like poems), and so I got on the mic and basically read the letter. One take and the rest is history," Chavez said.
18. There's a remix of the song that's arguably even better designed to be controversial
Titled "Justify My Love (The Beast Within Remix)," this version ditches most of the lyrics and replaced them with passages from the Book of Revelations.
20. In the end, the video aired on MTV2
In 2002, the spinoff channel to MTV aired "Justify My Life" as part of a late-night countdown of the most controversial music videos. So … all that hullaballoo turned out to be for nothing, just twelve years down the line.
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Full article x
The true definition of an ICONIC music video.
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Member Since: 9/2/2012
Posts: 7,546
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amazing song and video 
#iconic, #legendary , etc , etc ....
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Member Since: 5/13/2012
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Member Since: 9/16/2011
Posts: 50,981
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Basically my fave. 
So incredible and iconic
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 6,024
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 7,686
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Her best video. 
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 10,527
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Member Since: 1/5/2014
Posts: 10,002
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I was just listennng to it like 2 hours ago and telling myself how good this song is. I love the atmosphere and Madonna's voice is so sexy. It's definitely one of my faves from the Queen Of Pop and the video still slays.
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Member Since: 8/18/2013
Posts: 21,558
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One of her best songs
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Member Since: 3/2/2014
Posts: 2,262
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Cutting edge. Boundary pushing. Iconic.
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Member Since: 3/18/2012
Posts: 15,751
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I love the vibe and the mood that the song gives off  great song and very erotic
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Member Since: 8/18/2013
Posts: 1,911
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I'm turning into a Madge Stan all because of this song and the erotica era. Truly iconic, groundbreaking, and unapologetic.
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Member Since: 6/15/2012
Posts: 4,586
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its still sounds so good,video is the definition of iconic.
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Member Since: 4/28/2012
Posts: 37,654
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Quote:
Originally posted by Legacy
I was just listennng to it like 2 hours ago and telling myself how good this song is. I love the atmosphere and Madonna's voice is so sexy. It's definitely one of my faves from the Queen Of Pop and the video still slays.
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This of the reasons that Erotica is her best album. 
Quote:
Originally posted by nd01
I'm turning into a Madge Stan all because of this song and the erotica era. Truly iconic, groundbreaking, and unapologetic.
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Omg yaaas, converT sis! 
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Member Since: 8/18/2013
Posts: 12,760
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Poor is the man whose pleasure depends on the permission of another
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Member Since: 2/28/2012
Posts: 19,176
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Quote:
Originally posted by Reverie
Poor is the man whose pleasure depends on the permission of another
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ICONIC
great article interesting facts
never heard of the beastwithin remix
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Member Since: 1/26/2012
Posts: 9,236
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The song that really started her SEX Era. Flawless
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
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Member Since: 1/28/2009
Posts: 20,640
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iconic
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Member Since: 12/17/2011
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