Express Yourself
Released: 03.06.89 Highest Chart Position: 5 Weeks on Chart: 10 Total Sales: 200,000
"Express Yourself" was released as the second single from Madonna's fourth studio album, Like a Prayer.
"Express Yourself" was the first song that Madonna and Bray collaborated on for Like a Prayer, co-written and co-produced as a tribute to American funk and soul band Sly and the Family Stone. The main inspiration behind the song is female empowerment - 'girl power' before the phrase had been coined - urging women to never "go for second-best" and to put their love "to the test". Madonna explained to Becky Johnston in the May 1989 issue of Interview:
"The ultimate thing behind the song is that if you don't express yourself, if you don't say what you want, then you're not going to get it. And in effect you are chained down by your inability to say what you feel or go after what you want. No matter how in control you think you are about sexuality in a relationship there is always the power struggle... always a certain amount of compromise. Of being beholden, if you love them. You do it because you choose to. No one put the chain around this neck but me. I wrote 'Express Yourself' to tell women around the world that pick and choose the best for yourself, before that chain around your neck kills you instead. It's my take on how men can express what they want, the same prerogative should be there for a woman too."
'Express Yourself' was accompanied by another glossy, high-production video. Whereas 'Like A Prayer', the song, was powerful enough to stand on it's own right regardless of all the publicity generated by the video, 'Express Yourself', the actual song, was in danger of being overshadowed. The music video was directed by David Fincher and filmed in April 1989, at Culver Studios in Culver City, California. It was inspired by the Fritz Lang classic film Metropolis (1927), and featured an epigraph at the end of the video from the film: "Without the Heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind". The video marked the first appearance of the Shep Pettibone remix of the song. It had a total budget of $5 million, which made it the most expensive music video in history at the time it was made. At time of writing (2013) it is the third most expensive of all time (behind Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson with 'Scream' and another Madonna video for 'Die Another Day'). "Express Yourself" had its world-premiere on 17 May 1989, on MTV and was an MTV exclusive for three weeks, being aired every hour on the music channel. The concept of the video was to portray Madonna as a glamorous lady and chained masochist, with muscular men acting as her workers. In the end, she picks one of them—played by model Cameron Alborzian—as her date for the night. When Fincher explained this concept to Madonna, she was intrigued and decided to portray a masculine persona. She was dating actor Warren Beatty at that time, and asked him to play the part of a slave working at a factory; Beatty politely refused, saying later that "Madonna wanted the video as a show case of her sexual prowess, I never wanted to be a part of it." She then thought about Metropolis and of its scenes displaying factory workers and a city with tall skyscrapers. Fincher liked the concept and it became the main backdrop for the video. In Madonna 'Talking': Madonna in Her Own Words, she commented about the development of the video.
This one I had the most amount of input. I oversaw everything—the building of the sets, everyone's costumes, I had meetings with make-up and hair and the cinematographer, everybody. Casting, finding the right cat—just every aspect. Kind of like making a little movie. We basically sat down and just threw out every idea we could possibly conceive of and of all the things we wanted. All the imagery we wanted—and I had a few set ideas, for instance the cat and the idea of Metropolis. I definitely wanted to have that influence, that look on all the men—the workers, diligently, methodically working away.
Madonna mentioned jokingly in a 1990 BBC Television interview on the program Omnibus, that the main theme of the video and the cat metaphor represented that "Pussy rules the world". She added that the idea of the cat licking the milk and then pour it over, was the director's. "It's great but believe me I fought him on that. I didn't want to do it. I thought it's just so over the top and silly and kind of cliched, an art student or a film student's kind of trick. I'm glad that I gave in to him."
Incidentally, the video also showed that Madonna had already eschewed the dark locks premiered with 'Like A Prayer' and had returned once more into the bleach! Despite the best efforts of a glossy video, the track failed to match it's predecessor peaking at No. 5
"Express Yourself" was the first song that Madonna and Bray collaborated on for Like a Prayer, co-written and co-produced as a tribute to American funk and soul band Sly and the Family Stone. The main inspiration behind the song is female empowerment - 'girl power' before the phrase had been coined - urging women to never "go for second-best" and to put their love "to the test". Madonna explained to Becky Johnston in the May 1989 issue of Interview:
"The ultimate thing behind the song is that if you don't express yourself, if you don't say what you want, then you're not going to get it. And in effect you are chained down by your inability to say what you feel or go after what you want. No matter how in control you think you are about sexuality in a relationship there is always the power struggle... always a certain amount of compromise. Of being beholden, if you love them. You do it because you choose to. No one put the chain around this neck but me. I wrote 'Express Yourself' to tell women around the world that pick and choose the best for yourself, before that chain around your neck kills you instead. It's my take on how men can express what they want, the same prerogative should be there for a woman too."
'Express Yourself' was accompanied by another glossy, high-production video. Whereas 'Like A Prayer', the song, was powerful enough to stand on it's own right regardless of all the publicity generated by the video, 'Express Yourself', the actual song, was in danger of being overshadowed. The music video was directed by David Fincher and filmed in April 1989, at Culver Studios in Culver City, California. It was inspired by the Fritz Lang classic film Metropolis (1927), and featured an epigraph at the end of the video from the film: "Without the Heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind". The video marked the first appearance of the Shep Pettibone remix of the song. It had a total budget of $5 million, which made it the most expensive music video in history at the time it was made. At time of writing (2013) it is the third most expensive of all time (behind Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson with 'Scream' and another Madonna video for 'Die Another Day'). "Express Yourself" had its world-premiere on 17 May 1989, on MTV and was an MTV exclusive for three weeks, being aired every hour on the music channel. The concept of the video was to portray Madonna as a glamorous lady and chained masochist, with muscular men acting as her workers. In the end, she picks one of them—played by model Cameron Alborzian—as her date for the night. When Fincher explained this concept to Madonna, she was intrigued and decided to portray a masculine persona. She was dating actor Warren Beatty at that time, and asked him to play the part of a slave working at a factory; Beatty politely refused, saying later that "Madonna wanted the video as a show case of her sexual prowess, I never wanted to be a part of it." She then thought about Metropolis and of its scenes displaying factory workers and a city with tall skyscrapers. Fincher liked the concept and it became the main backdrop for the video. In Madonna 'Talking': Madonna in Her Own Words, she commented about the development of the video.
This one I had the most amount of input. I oversaw everything—the building of the sets, everyone's costumes, I had meetings with make-up and hair and the cinematographer, everybody. Casting, finding the right cat—just every aspect. Kind of like making a little movie. We basically sat down and just threw out every idea we could possibly conceive of and of all the things we wanted. All the imagery we wanted—and I had a few set ideas, for instance the cat and the idea of Metropolis. I definitely wanted to have that influence, that look on all the men—the workers, diligently, methodically working away.
Madonna mentioned jokingly in a 1990 BBC Television interview on the program Omnibus, that the main theme of the video and the cat metaphor represented that "Pussy rules the world". She added that the idea of the cat licking the milk and then pour it over, was the director's. "It's great but believe me I fought him on that. I didn't want to do it. I thought it's just so over the top and silly and kind of cliched, an art student or a film student's kind of trick. I'm glad that I gave in to him."
Incidentally, the video also showed that Madonna had already eschewed the dark locks premiered with 'Like A Prayer' and had returned once more into the bleach! Despite the best efforts of a glossy video, the track failed to match it's predecessor peaking at No. 5
UK Variations and Collectables
'Express Yourself' was available in standard 7", 12", cassette single and CD single. It was supplemented by a number of limited editions, namely a 7" posterbag, a 7" shrink-wrapped in a zipper sleeve and a 12" picture disc.
Aside from standard UK and German 7" pressings, 'Express Yourself' is unique in being the only single released with two different limited edition 7" formats. Although these limited editions were intended exclusively for the UK market, they were both manufactured in Germany as the records within are both standard German labels. The poster-bag re-affirms that it was manufactured for the UK market by using the UK rear sleeve design as part of the poster-bag.
Just as limited is the surprise reappearance of an Irish 7" pressing. These pressings were assumed to have ceased, at least for Madonna singles, at the end of 1987 as no Irish pressing was forthcoming for 'Like A Prayer'. Or at least, none of the contributors to this site have seen a copy. It therefore came as a surprise when this label emerged in the distinctive Irish style. Also interesting to note is the 'unique' catalogue number as all other Irish 7" pressings followed the standard UK catalogue number but this one contains an extra letter 'W' - the same catalogue number of the 'zipper sleeve'. Perhaps it was also to be issued with a zipper sleeve but the production costs - which includes a real zip - may have proved prohibitive. Indeed this pressing appears in no picture sleeve at all!
The 12" is more straight-forward appearing as standard UK, standard German (with a slightly different sleeve design on both front and rear) and standard picture disc. There is however a very rare white vinyl test pressing for the picture disc - the one shown below also has a ghost 'reverse' image clearly visible.
Rounding off the variations, there is also a cassette single and another sealed 3” CD single. Those copies of the CD that are still sealed will attract the highest price. With regard to the cassette single, mention needs to be given to a mystery second cassette that was listed in 'Record Collector' which supposedly contains the 12" mixes and has a 'CX' catalogue number. No evidence of the existence of this item has been found by anyone contributing to this site. There are apparently mis-pressings of the standard cassette which do play the 12" versions but they do not come in their own case with their own catalogue number.
The centrepiece item for 'Express Yourself' is likely to be the 7" single in the zipper sleeve particularly if it is still contained within it's original shrink-wrap.
A new addition to this section (and also to 'Like A Prayer' and 'Express Yourself' singles pages) is the recent discovery of 'German long box' releases relating to these singles, which also contain UK catalogue numbers as the German releases often did. Unfortunately, as most collectors now know (some to their cost), any 'exciting new discovery' is likely to be a recent forgery (see in particular the 'newly discovered' Japanese promo 7" singles). Assuming these are unofficial it does have to be said that they appear to be of exceptionally good quality and, as happens with these item, on first being made available to buy, do attract eye-wateringly high bids. This website does not endorse unofficial releases so while these items are included for the sake of completion, they are flagged as 'bootlegs'. Let the buyer beware!
Aside from standard UK and German 7" pressings, 'Express Yourself' is unique in being the only single released with two different limited edition 7" formats. Although these limited editions were intended exclusively for the UK market, they were both manufactured in Germany as the records within are both standard German labels. The poster-bag re-affirms that it was manufactured for the UK market by using the UK rear sleeve design as part of the poster-bag.
Just as limited is the surprise reappearance of an Irish 7" pressing. These pressings were assumed to have ceased, at least for Madonna singles, at the end of 1987 as no Irish pressing was forthcoming for 'Like A Prayer'. Or at least, none of the contributors to this site have seen a copy. It therefore came as a surprise when this label emerged in the distinctive Irish style. Also interesting to note is the 'unique' catalogue number as all other Irish 7" pressings followed the standard UK catalogue number but this one contains an extra letter 'W' - the same catalogue number of the 'zipper sleeve'. Perhaps it was also to be issued with a zipper sleeve but the production costs - which includes a real zip - may have proved prohibitive. Indeed this pressing appears in no picture sleeve at all!
The 12" is more straight-forward appearing as standard UK, standard German (with a slightly different sleeve design on both front and rear) and standard picture disc. There is however a very rare white vinyl test pressing for the picture disc - the one shown below also has a ghost 'reverse' image clearly visible.
Rounding off the variations, there is also a cassette single and another sealed 3” CD single. Those copies of the CD that are still sealed will attract the highest price. With regard to the cassette single, mention needs to be given to a mystery second cassette that was listed in 'Record Collector' which supposedly contains the 12" mixes and has a 'CX' catalogue number. No evidence of the existence of this item has been found by anyone contributing to this site. There are apparently mis-pressings of the standard cassette which do play the 12" versions but they do not come in their own case with their own catalogue number.
The centrepiece item for 'Express Yourself' is likely to be the 7" single in the zipper sleeve particularly if it is still contained within it's original shrink-wrap.
A new addition to this section (and also to 'Like A Prayer' and 'Express Yourself' singles pages) is the recent discovery of 'German long box' releases relating to these singles, which also contain UK catalogue numbers as the German releases often did. Unfortunately, as most collectors now know (some to their cost), any 'exciting new discovery' is likely to be a recent forgery (see in particular the 'newly discovered' Japanese promo 7" singles). Assuming these are unofficial it does have to be said that they appear to be of exceptionally good quality and, as happens with these item, on first being made available to buy, do attract eye-wateringly high bids. This website does not endorse unofficial releases so while these items are included for the sake of completion, they are flagged as 'bootlegs'. Let the buyer beware!
Promotional Items
As usual, the promotional section starts with the 7" single in stickered sleeve.
Of more interest are two different in-store promo cassettes numbered 32 and 33 respectively.
The most visually appealing item is a 12" display flat for the picture disc although it needs to pointed out that this particular flat is not as rare as its predecessors. The paper-based section is, as always, rounded off with music press adverts of which there are two versions.
Given that 'Express Yourself' was one of the most expensive videos ever produced it is not surprising that it was issued as a promotional video. This is also one of the rarer promotional videos fetching asking prices of up to £75!
Express Yourself also appears on a June 1989 compilation video which also includes 'Like A Prayer'. This can be viewed in the VIDEOS tab
ALL PROMOTIONAL ITEMS CAN BE VIEWED IN THE PROMO SECTION - FOR ITEMS RELATING TO THIS RELEASE CLICK HERE
Of more interest are two different in-store promo cassettes numbered 32 and 33 respectively.
The most visually appealing item is a 12" display flat for the picture disc although it needs to pointed out that this particular flat is not as rare as its predecessors. The paper-based section is, as always, rounded off with music press adverts of which there are two versions.
Given that 'Express Yourself' was one of the most expensive videos ever produced it is not surprising that it was issued as a promotional video. This is also one of the rarer promotional videos fetching asking prices of up to £75!
Express Yourself also appears on a June 1989 compilation video which also includes 'Like A Prayer'. This can be viewed in the VIDEOS tab
ALL PROMOTIONAL ITEMS CAN BE VIEWED IN THE PROMO SECTION - FOR ITEMS RELATING TO THIS RELEASE CLICK HERE
7" Single - Standard UK Release
7" Single - Standard UK Release with indented label
7" Single - German pressing for UK release
7" Single - Limited edition posterbag (German pressing for UK release)
7" Single - Limited edition in 'zipper' outer sleeve (German pressing for UK release)
7" Single - Irish Pressing no p/s (believed to be the final Irish-pressed 7")
12" Single - Standard release
12" Single - German pressing with UK catalogue number
12" Single - Picture disc in barcode stickered sleeve
12" Single - White vinyl test pressing for picture disc (note ghost 'reverse' image)
Cassette Single
3" CD Single - Sealed
BOOTLEG - German CD Longbox
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© madonna-decade 2013
© madonna-decade 2013
