Unfortunately her career in the US was never the same after this song, but as always, she had the balls to say what needed to be said

@robertor9424

3 жыл бұрын

PERIODT, Madonna always be the queen

@manukosmos1163

3 жыл бұрын

Just after this she realesed Confession of the dancefloor Lmao which was one of her biggest success

@manukosmos1163

3 жыл бұрын

@Ethan White I meant world wide chart

@FerBaide

3 жыл бұрын

@@manukosmos1163 yes but the OP meant in the US. Of course only the US attacked her for the message in this video. She got tons of backlash and a radio ban, so her COADF era didn’t do as well in the US as it did outside. Still a success but less so.

@mxh2__42

2 жыл бұрын

@Ethan White She was blackballed during the confessions era but the sales were high.

The video is her perception of America being obsessed with war. The audience are "Americans" who clap and cheer at the violence. Her rap is about how privileged her life as an American is. And yet she's still not satisfied. What made the video controversial was the timing. It came out at the height of the Iraq war.

@maticbukovac6966

3 жыл бұрын

It wasn't at the height but in the period before the beginning...

@MrDakath

3 жыл бұрын

ugly truth hurts...that's why it was banned...gratuituous violence as exemplified in the video calls out the indifference of policial america on the plight of innocent victims of war

@mix3k818

Жыл бұрын

@gnu_andrew I recall stories that say MTV did air a censored version without the gore, but still with war footage of bombs going off and an ending skit of Bush himself catching the grenade and using it to light a cigarette. It supposedly came like a day after the Iraq War started.

The message was basically what everyone is saying NOW about America going to war with Iraq after 9/11. It was stupid lmao but America at the time was all for it and all about patriotism and everyone was pretty much like "how dare you mock the troops?!" We feel much differently now thank goodness. Madonna is ALWAYS ahead of her time

@nehemiahsaycsar

3 жыл бұрын

We love a woman with a mind of her own

@reinventyerrself

3 жыл бұрын

And now we have a PRESIDENT that mocks the troops...

@scottallencarr

2 жыл бұрын

She never mocked our troops. She mocked Cheney's plan.

This is pretty much the only time Madonna backed down from something controversial. In this case her family was receiving death threats and she wanted to keep her children safe. It sucks that people were so up in arms about this video but I'm glad it exists because it's still very relevant today

@fairuzmaileen5691

8 ай бұрын

Unfortunately still relevant today

The original ending was she tosses the grenade at someone in the front row, it’s George W Bush who grabs it and leans to the person next to him who is Saddam Hussein and he lights their cigars with it.

@brendenc8376

3 жыл бұрын

Yes!! Thanks for that. I was thinking the original ending showed Bush catching the grenade, but was after watching that, I was starting to think that perhaps I was wrong... 👍

@erregi4946

3 жыл бұрын

@@brendenc8376 there are many endings, all of them are actual

@warre1

3 жыл бұрын

George w Bush ending was the one I saw early in the morning in MTV Europe on release day. Later the same day video was pulled.

@manuelhuerta7974

3 жыл бұрын

I remember that! Epic 💯👌

@richardlara5466

2 жыл бұрын

I was also surprised that it was even edited out on this unreleased video version

Madonna is the real creative pop bravest activist ever... No doubt

@keetahbrough

3 жыл бұрын

No lol. You can’t listen to a lot of music if you think she’s about activism. She tells you; listen to her. She’s only here to live out the American Dream. Same as you. It’s a lie.

@CoolianOfficial

3 жыл бұрын

@@keetahbrough Lol, she has balls like no one actually have... you need to listen carefully, she tells you at the end: "and nothing it's what it seems"... yo need the brain to get it... that's a brave true, that's why I love her. Her message sprays the word until Madame X got onto the action.

@antonietoverdi2918

2 ай бұрын

​@@CoolianOfficialshe IS not brave. The islam kill gays, she doesnt say nothing about it

Ahead of its time. Timeless as usual. Only Madonna music videos can

Along with Erotica, American Life is one of Madonna’s most underrated, controversial, and misunderstood albums. The album tackled many important topics from war to the American dream to materialism - topics that are relevant now more than ever. Bad Girl and What It Feels Like For a Girl are goodies to react

@dalee72

3 жыл бұрын

I would say that the album doesn't talk about war. There's no mention or any reference of it in the lyrics in any of the songs. It's only on this video visually that it deals with the horrors of war.

@13blackcatzzz

3 жыл бұрын

Since you mentioned Erotica, I have to say it's my favourite album of hers. It's solid from start to finish with not one bad track on the entire thing. I love her softer vocals and the overall jazzy feel of it makes me feel like I'm sitting in a smokey cabaret in Paris.

@tzkou3617

3 жыл бұрын

and nothing fails is one of the best songs ever

@scottallencarr

2 жыл бұрын

Erotica changed my life. I'll just say I went to band camp the next summer and by 8th grade's end EVERYTHING was different. 🎶 🎺🎷🎻

You can tell she was angry at Bush and all that was going on in the world. I love it. American Life is one of my favourite albums. It's a shame this video was banned back in the day but at least it's still available today for those who didn't get the chance to see it and appreciate it. Great reaction man! And long live the Queen of Pop!

If you love the synths combined with strings you should really listen to her Music and her American Life album..

@Mysicalgreenunicorn03

3 жыл бұрын

And MX. Madame X is a masterpiece.

@DavidTyler

3 жыл бұрын

@@Mysicalgreenunicorn03 it really isn';t the Album is full of over done auto tune

@Mysicalgreenunicorn03

3 жыл бұрын

David Lomax and incredible music. It’s brilliance.

@Crazyshoppeuse

2 жыл бұрын

That's the Mirwais sound. Genius !

The Rap bit lyrically showcases the trite stuff that people care about to the suffering of others. It's a most powerful work of artistic venture. This song, fits as a prelude to a song on Madame X - "Killers Who Are Partying".

There's other version with Bush and Saddam at the end worth seeing.

This song grows on you, especially the rap. It’s her most underrated imo. I love it. Prolific.

This is a heavy critique for Bush’s positioning regarding war. This video is a masterpiece! You have to pay attention to the middle Eastern kids that were being bullied by soldiers. The war is a concert, a runaway for the USA. It’s a show, a strategy to make money over the suffering of thousands. Madonna is being very acid and ironic with the lyrics and the video. Pay attention that she doesnt sing “american liFE”, it sounds like American LIE. And many people doesnt care about the dead of innocents, of children, of families... this is what this video is about.

It wasn't really the case that the industry told her to make something softer. Madonna was receiving death threats and public criticism because this video was a direct criticism of the war that the USA was conducting at the time. The war was televised for the first time in history and became a form of entertainment - that's what the fashion show represents, war as entertainment - this was really the only time in her career that Madonna backed down and removed the video herself because she was scared for her families safety.

@eliasbarros2903

3 жыл бұрын

true

@ginakearney4146

3 жыл бұрын

Yep. What happened to the Dixie Chicks was still fresh at that time, too. Her team knew that could happen to her, so... Of course almost 20 years later she was 100% correct, but, at that time it could have ended her the way it did The Dixie Chicks. Albeit, temporarily.

@cristoferchanimak

3 жыл бұрын

Yes but it was more than that. The message of her video was true then and is now, but the impact was different from when she MADE the video to when she was about to release it. She said in her statement that when she made the video the war was just beginning and when it came time to release it, it was too late and she didn’t want it to be misunderstood in the new context. Of course, who knew what was actually the real real reason.

@michaelmcdonald2326

3 жыл бұрын

Cristofer Imak yes, I believe she said this in her interview with Jonathan Ross. She cancelled the release of the video after the US invaded Iraq

@InlawsOutlaws

3 жыл бұрын

Actually, both are true. Clear Channel controlled 1400+ radio stations in the US, the vast majority of pop radio in the land. They were openly pro-war and instantly became anti-Madonna. The video got cancelled out of concern for the death threats and sensitivity to US troops about to go to war (based on a lie, of course) but the song was never played. It disappeared instantly and she's never recovered in terms of radio play. She got Dixie Chicked by the folks who are supposedly against cancel culture.

Yes, the French-Afghan producer Mirwais did the whole American Life album with her, as well as Music and Madame X. :)

The first time I ever saw Madonna in concert was her Re-Invention Tour in Washington DC. American Life was amazing and graphic live on stage and the DC crowd loved it! The Re-Invention Tour was the closest thing Madonna ever did to a greatest hits tour. It was songs from the American Life album and the other songs were all her greatest hits from the past but of course they are reworked and tweaked a bit to make them new because she never likes to repeat her performances. She also performs a heart felt, emotional rendition of John Lennon's Imagine that the crowd loved! You should definitely check out the Re-Invention Tour, it's one of her most underrated tours because of the American Life album but in many ways it was one of her best! It will always be special to me since it was the first Madonna tour I went to. I've seen her five times now! 👑

@seesthruit

3 жыл бұрын

And she didn’t do a decent DVD of it… still wishing.

Please react to Madonna - “Die Another Day”, from the same album

Madonna along with the Dixie Chicks were the first artist to hate on Bush, well before it was fashionable to do so, in 02/03. Such a statement. Fast forward to 2008 and he was not popular at all. There are songs on Madame X that touch upon Trump’s administration. It didn’t chart very well in the US but people were very put off of her at this point. ICONIC

Please listen to the American Life album it's an industrial pop/folky masterpiece and it's actually not as political as people made it out to be. It gets extremely personal touching on topics on love, death, heartbreak, her journey, ego, her children and of course the superficialities of the American life but not really in a political way but on a personal internal level. You'll love it!

@deanodeano8604

3 жыл бұрын

By far her most underrated album, was overlooked due to the unjustified controversy surrounding this song. The tracks Intervention & X Static Process are among the best of her career. It's an album I still listen to every week.

@tjohnnie01

3 жыл бұрын

Deano Deano thank you! It's easily my top 3 favorite M albums. It's beautiful, sonically and thematically cohesive, and very introspective. It really sucks that the controversy of the AL video overshadowed the album. People don't even give it a chance. The problem is people have the expectation of it being political when it really isn't like at all lmao

@tjohnnie01

3 жыл бұрын

And it was the same thing with Erotica. The controversy overshadowed the album and the album isn't really that sexual. It explores themes of love, heartbreak, revenge etc it's a beautiful body of work that was overlooked by preconceived notions

@dalee72

3 жыл бұрын

@@deanodeano8604 The song itself is/was critiquing American life or Western culture's values. There's no mention or reference of war in the lyrics of the song or any of the other songs on this album. It's only the video that has war images.

@codywalker4729

3 жыл бұрын

I’m just now discovering the American Life era & is easy my fav album in general now. There are no skip tracks. The more I listen to it, the more I love it. I read is sold 5 million copies to date even with all the controversy

There were many different endings to this one, I’ve see the one where bush catches the grenade and uses it to light his cigar, then there’s one where bush and sadden kiss...

I spend my all night with your reactions! Awesome job! Thanks!!

Great reaction! Your face when the rap came up was priceless. I really hated this song when it first came out, the rap always put me over the edge, but it's grown on me a lot over the years. You know I'm satisfied!

Love your reaction videos!!

Great reaction, I forgot KZread has this version. I remember the release and she gave in and altered the video. Glad she still was able to release this version.

One of Madonna's album which has done very well in France, compared to other countries, I personally never tire of listening to it 👌👌

A totally underrated song and video - so powerful, provocative and unique. Completely ahead of its time which Madonna has always been.

Next : the James Bond theme Die Another Day. It rocks!

I love your American accent nearly as much as your review. Your insight is quite sharper as well!;-)

at the end Bush grabs the grenade which turns to be a lighter and light up a cigar then kisses Sadam Hussein, check out the live version from the Reinvention tour, they use that part of the video.

So excited to watch this reaction!!!!!!!

I was 13 years old on 2003, and I listened for Madonna at first time with her Music album in 2000. At that time , I didn't understand very well the difficult situation that the world was living. That was Iraq's war, but not only that country was suffering, all countries around the world were confused, because that war was an excuse in order to invaded and robbed Iraq's resources. So that, Madonna could express herself with American life, not only the song, also, with the complete album. This album is majestic, it is a treasure, but in that time, nobody understood the real message that Madonna wanted to express in it. I consider , it is one of the best Madonna's albums in her career . Greetings from Bogotá Colombia

Also I love that the album Music celebrates Americana culture in its imagery and American Life then goes in to criticise it. Love that juxtaposition. What’s more is that she was living abroad when these two albums were released.

Why the hell did they rob my generation of such kickass talent? MADONNA IS TIMELESS!!!!!

Your reaction during the rap was priceless!

@DereckReacts

3 жыл бұрын

I was like 😳

@christiphergarmendia8196

3 жыл бұрын

Oops I always love her and respect her always

I was lucky enough to get the original promo video for this, with an actual album image picture sleeve and it has a completely different ending. The hand grenade gets caught by a George Bush look a like and he lights his cigar with it.

@nunogouveia6458

3 жыл бұрын

That was the version played on European TV Music channels during 2 or 3 weeks. I guess that's also one of the reasons why this album did better in Europe.

Hey Dereck that was not the end, this version is different from the original version again, in the original version Madonna throws the grenade and George Bush catches it and light his cigarette with it.

@bethonna

3 жыл бұрын

This is why it was banned.

@larryproctor8234

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I was going to mention this. Saw that version once, before they pulled it.

@howiet1971

3 жыл бұрын

@@bethonna No. Madonna banned it.

Love your reactions to the Queen

Madonnas gang on wheels busts thru the backdrop... You said Hold on ... Lets rewind... And then said there is her double latte... HA... Funnny!

I like the sincerity of your channel

Great analysis of what Madonna does so well: pushing buttons both musically and in terms of content. She has said that she's not a great singer, but she has something to say. It's too bad that it often takes years for many people to catch on to what she's saying.

"American Life" is a great album! But this video got in the way for the album. The video is incredible!

The juxtaposition of war/violence and materialistic world , a fashion show being an example of society being so clueless about the pain of war and how it affects other parts of the world. You have to listen to the album. So underrated . Thanks for your Madonna reactions 💜👑💜👑💜

BRAVO 👏 AMAZING DESCRIPTION from Buenos Aires Argentina. Salutti Dereck

5:40-5:41 it seems how you pick up the tiny little musical details , love it

the ending of this video has also been censored. the original ending has the grenade being tossed into the crowd and being caught by George W. Bush (look a like) who is chuckling as he uses it to light a cigar

I loved American Life since Madonna was saying look at how materialistic our world is and consumed by celebrities etc. she wanted people to focus on the war in Iraq and all the destruction it brought. It was a bold move post 911 and death threats to her family prevented her from releasing this video. The album is so introspective and a real gem in her body of work. Madonna has always been and will continue tu be a musical trailblazer. There is an alternate ending where an actor playing Bush and Hussein pick up the grenade and it is rendered harmless when they light a cigarette. Love your video reactions.

@nunogouveia6458

3 жыл бұрын

The video was still released and played for a few days. In Europe played for a few weeks. The version was different with George Bush.

There's an alternative ending to this video, where she drops the granade & a Bush lookalike catches it & lights up a cigar with it as if it was a lighter & shares that cigar with a Saddam Hussein lookalike. I like that ending best.

Madonna wrote the song during 2002/3 when the world and especially the USA were raw from the 9/11 attacks. I think she was questioning herself and trying to see it from a different perspective, without taking sides. If I am not mistaken, by the time the video was being made, there were serious talks about waging a war on Iraq. She took the opportunity to voice out her disagreement with the possible war being waged on Iraq with this video, again, showing and highlighting a different perspective, without necessarily taking sides. As often happened in her career, her refusal to see things in simple terms, led to general public misunderstanding her and accused her of anti-USA. She was highly condemned for this. However, in hindsight, I think most people probably agree that the war had led to more problems.... So she might not have been completely wrong in her estimation of the situation at the time. In any case, she was right to offer a different perspective.

@dalee72

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, the Iraq War turned out to be based on the false pretense of the "weapons of mass destruction."

Another masterpiece from Madonna shes incredible

Madonna always comes with something so ahead of her time and American life is a living proof of that.

One of her. Best album ever

Ur reaction was FABULOUS , I loved it::: thank you! 😇😍🤪😎😎🤓zane💙

THANKS DERECK

Love your reaction. Speaking of controversial Madonna videos I think you should do "What It Feels Like for a Girl", directed by her then husband Guy Ritchie.

The glitchy-acoustic sound is very characteristic of Mirwais, the producer. You should check “Naïve song” by Mirwais which is an earlier song with a similar sound.

Madonna with black straight hair is so underrated

For me it’s the best video from Madonna, definetly is the most real, honest and humanity conscience point of view!

A MASTERPIECE... By far, one of the best albums she did, and when it was released was of course very controversial and had very negative critics by the media... But it's a real big album, love it, one of my Top 5 from her...

It was bold and controversial, but I love how the last American Life single was Love Profusion, which provided a little different perspective. Madonna looked feminine and vulnerable in the video.

This song kinda also to me explains why her following projects she stopped being so focused on the drive to be the best, and to start putting out projects based more on being an artist. She says she realized she had lost herself in the “American Life/Dream” and realized it’s all hollow pursuits.

Madonna is the only person I could tolerate rapping

Why do I enjoy watching people discover this woman? Been a fan since I was a kid and can say she influenced me tremendously without me even knowing it. I love how she’s a freedom fighter and have also made me one. Also I woke up thinking how other artists never take these chances bc of they are prolly worried their career will end. Not her. She prevails because she speaks the truth and makes us aware. --where is Mariah,jlo, Janet, xtina, Britney, Justin, etc making statements that need to be said?? Cmon now

She is playing ALL the guitar on this album in everything l every song... she plays on every track

She has a great VICE interview where she talks about the world changing only a few years ago. Remember her mdna world tour last show in South America her power went out and she apparently ran off stage to make sure her children were ok bc of threats. Then came back to finish it via loudspeaker 📢 like a pro

7:28 that expression on your face I just can not lmfao

Everyone always has a problem saying Madonna “tried to rap” and jumped the shark - she did this very intentionally, the things she spoke of during the rap exactly exemplify why she was doing the rap - like ‘hey I’m rapping to be trendy’ but it’s really an FU to all of that - she was satirizing/mocking it - she wasn’t actually trying to say ‘I’m a rapper now’ or ‘i want to be a rapper’ - she was using rapping as a way to express the theme of the song ‘American Life’ - ‘do I have to change my name, lose some weight, start rapping - to be heard?’

The rap is about the american dream loving everything thats not american,

@RoyCoof

3 жыл бұрын

Really? I thought it was her saying that even with all those things, she was not satisfied as she was constantly reminded of the chaos America was going through.

I’m just now discovering the American Life era & didn’t get the concept with the censored video. This version made me like the song more & understand it better

Thanks for doing more Madonna! Funny thing is your only 1/3 into her music career (if that?) & can't wait until you do more Madonna! Thanks Dereck!

Iconic video Madonna ♥️

YES!

Dereck PLEASE DO WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL........OFFICIAL VIDEO. Love you

Yes. She has "Batuka" , you can find a part about the man with yellow hair

It is wonderful watching you discover all these amazing M videos/songs for the first time - have you done reaction videos to "Cherish," "Oh Father," "Bad Girl," or "Material Girl" songs/videos??

Madonna brings the song back to her Madame X new concert video. She rightfully spoke truth about Bush at the time. Now more recently in context to the Trump era US.

Also, Madonna was ridiculed for that horrible rap, but if you actually listen to what she's saying, she's listing all the things that make her and everyone so satisfied, but then she ends that section by singing "Do you think I'm satisfied?" I think her rap was not just a condemnation of the trivial things that are meant to make us happy but the trivial things that specifically are meant to make HER happy. In the end, none of it satisfies.

There is another version where she throws it to Saddam Hussein and Bush kissing each other or something lol

The other versions of the video showed a Bush lookalike catch the grenade, which was actually a lighter- and he lit a cigar with it; the 2004 Reinvention Tour backdrop during the live “American Life” rendition also had a Sadam lookalike kiss his cheek or rest his head on Bush’s shoulder, like it’s all a game for oil & world domination. Madonna had stated- in that way, they’re actually alike. You have a good body . . . ;.) Oh, and rap-sequence was some constructive criticism, in my opinion, to the hip-hop community (since it was getting tired- seeing & hearing them brag & make it rain; all about $)

Madonna as usual the only singer ever to have the balls to release something like that and Erotica and still carry on having a career regardless, I think that is the reason you never saw her leaving a party drunk, or having problems with drugs, she never allowed herself to be a victim of her success, and she carries on her career not relying on her best hits tactic, she still pushing the envelop, if before was about being open about being a sexual woman and the causes she defends, now is about ageism as lots of people think that after 45 you should just dig a grave and through yourself in it lol

She actually pulled...said it was the start of the war and the timing wasn't right.

She's Amazing!!!!👑😍👏

Madonna is Madonna, and there will never ever. ever be another one! She is so fucking GOOD! ❤️❤️

All hail the Queen!

@tjohnnie01

3 жыл бұрын

Michael Asay chile who 😳

This Is A Great Song & Music Video! Madonna Took A Risk Here For Sure! Great Reaction!

I also feel on Madonnas personal note on herself when she is underground at the fashiuon show it looks to me like a stadium and before she hits the stage in a concert that it is like going into battle to slay. Just perhaps another point of view. If you see it performed in the Reinvention Tour it comes together a little more. Thanks Dereck. You get it.

I just wanted to see someone react to that rap. Omg, that drink goes right through her.

She’s a true artist

MADONNA 💞

This is a real reaction.

A great video and underrated track and album. I love American Life . I love her , she speaks her mind where many celebrities don't even dare

What good comments! It is a very strong video for an incredible song! There are 3 American Life videos the one who commented that it was forbidden a second where at the end President Bush appeared and the last one with the flags and yes, this is Madonna. Listen all The álbum

There is a version of this video with a different ending, more interesting and ironic. Saddam Hussein and George Bush appear, smoking cigars and hugging each other like great friends, and attending the fashion show. You should see it.

this rap turned out to be a prediction about Instagram

I’m new to this video. I heard you say you didn’t like her rapping here oh my God I love it I love her I love you love love love

ICONIC

The original unedited version had george bush catching the grenade at the end - you can still see that version on youtube - the ending was fully explained and pointed fully at him

the original AL video was again another genius submission by Madonna. very powerfu.

I truly appreciate the song's architectural form and even the rap, instead, really innovative! The alternate subtle and vibrant portions that recall both sides of life, silky hypocrisy and people rage. "The director's cut version" had a different ending with a man who looks like G.W. Bush, he takes the grenade to light his cigarette. Sadly this part has been cut off.When war and violence become a catwalk! Unbelievable the braveness of this video at that time, if not considering that it's Madonna we're talking about. The follow up to this video is an authentic masterpiece, that I consider one of the most important songs and videos in her whole carrier, HOLLYWOOD from the same album, a place where dream and reality merge together, where the opposites fade into each other, sex, cruelty, elegance, arrogance, beauty and rudeness Heavy sounds and emergency sirens across the life of a brunette Madonna in B&W, badly dressed, comes to Hollywood without a ticket for her ride; a blonde diva (shoot with colour this time) looks at her in a TV screen and you can understand that they are the same woman divided by fame, but something has changed indide her. In the final part the diva, riding the B&W TV with the brunette on, unplugs the video, erasing her own previous image (and ingenuity) forever... Fun fact: the song begins with almost the same lyrics of her first single Everybody (Everybody come on...-Everybody comes to Hollywood...).

@valentinarsene4600

3 жыл бұрын

You should make a react video!

Hi! Буду писать на родном языке, русском, насколько знаю, данная версия клипа была запрещена к показу на MTV, кроме России. Клип очень откровенный, показывающий разрушительтую политику вторжения USA в жизнь всего мира. Насколько знаю, у М были проблемы и FBI, за столь откровенное и прямолинейное выражение ее послания в клипе!