Like a Prayer - Analysis

"Like a Prayer" is a song created by American singer Madonna, which was released in 1989. The music video displays powerful statements about race and the Catholic Church through the use of symbolic and technical conventions.

At the time of it's release the music video had been perceived as greatly controversial due to its narrative. The piece constructed an overall negative portrayal of the, at the time, existing Catholic Church as well as brought to light the unjustified differences between races. The exposition of a wrongly accused black male together with a white criminal, later followed by a black saint and entirely black choir point towards the indifference between races. Mainly white catholic conservatives and other such groups poorly received this due to the race differences present in the U.S. at the time. The video confronts the issue of racism and inequality in the church further by displaying Madonna walking around in lingerie in the church and dancing/singing in front of burning crosses. The notion that racism and the Catholic Church are in some ways corrupt and/or immoral is evident throughout the narrative of the music video, which is additionally supported by the pieces lyrics.
The records narrative, although not entirely linear, elaborates upon Madonna witnessing a number of white people attacking a woman for which an innocent black male is blamed for. The white males than threaten Madonna into not discussing with the police what has actually happened, after which Madonna runs to the church. In the church a black saint and a choir greet Madonna, which aids her in making the rightful decision later on. Eventually Madonna feels empowered and leaves the church to help free the innocent man by telling the truth to the police. The overall tone of the music video could be interpreted as that racism and religion do not matter and that doing what is morally right is truly significant.

There are a number of symbolic conventions within the music video that aid this notion. First of all the narrative of the music video is constantly cut by Madonna dancing in front of burning crosses, which could easily be connoted with hate and or carelessness towards the Catholic Church.  Than again though, due to Madonna finding help within Church filled with black people, It could be interpreted that Madonna has a clear issue with the racial tensions caused by the Catholic Church instead of the religion in itself.  This statement is supported by the appearance of a black saint and choir that aid Madonna in making the morally right decision. As for the mise-en-scene of the video, Madonna is covered in sexually appealing clothing that is a clearly a symbolic convention, as it is not the usual outfit worn to church by individuals.  It appears well defined that Madonna has tried to make a powerful and moving statement through the release of her  “Like a Prayer “which she has represented through the use of symbolic conventions.

Technical conventions are also present within the music video, this furthermore adds onto the ideas displayed through the narrative. For instance editing techniques were used to escalate the pace of the video as well as bring attention towards the saint burning crosses through increased shot duration. Moreover long sliding shots are used to dramatise the video, which works well with the carefully planned out composition of most shots. Additionally nearly all shot of the black saint are low angles shots, as to show his power and importance, similarly high angles are used to show the fragile and weakened state of the wrongly accused black man. In general “Like a Prayer” is a influential music video that through its use of symbolic and technical conventions has caused a huge controversy during the time of its release.