Devil Pray

src: i.ytimg.com

" Devil Pray " is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter, Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, Rebel Heart (2015). It was written and produced by Madonna, Avicii, DJ Dahi, and Michael Diamonds, with additional writing by Arash Pournouri, Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, and Savan Kotecha. During the initial stages of the album, Madonna was encouraged by her manager to work with Avicii and his songwriting team. Together, they work on seven songs and "Devil Pray" is prepared after Madonna wants to talk about her experience with drugs and the quest for spirituality. Lyrics, songs related to the theme of drug addiction, sin, temptation, and desire for salvation.

"Devil Pray" is a technopop song, which combines pop-country and folk elements, and has similarities with Madonna's own single "Do not Tell Me", Avicii's previous work and The Animals' version of traditional folk songs "The House of the Rising Sun ". The song received high praise from critics for its musical elements, while also highlighted for its self-conscious lyrics. However, there are some criticisms of the list of drugs used in the choir. Having been released as a pre-ordered song of Rebel Heart , the song is mapped in many parts of Europe, reaching the top 25 in Finland, Greece, Hungary and Lebanon. Madonna performed for the first time on Italian TV show Che tempo che fa, wearing a black robe and various rosaries.

Video Devil Pray

Background and release

Madonna and Avicii first met in 2012 when the singer appeared at the Ultra Music Festival to feature a remix of the single "Girl Gone Wild", produced by DJ. Later, when developing his upcoming album, Madonna manager Guy Oseary suggested the singer to work with the Avicii songwriter team; the singer accepted because he is a fan of Avicii's work. On March 7, 2014, the singer posted a picture of herself in her Instagram account under the title, "Do some homework before heading to the studio with Avicii." A week later, he posted a photo with Avicii and his songwriting team, claiming that they performed "so many great songs". In an interview with David Blaine for Interview , Madonna said of the song:

It's about how people use drugs to connect to God or to a higher level of consciousness. I keep saying, 'Applying into a matrix'. If you become tall, you can do that, which is why many people drop acid or drugs, because they want to be closer to God. But there will be short circuit, and it's a drug illusion, because they give you the illusion to get closer to God, but eventually they kill you. They destroy you. I mean, I tried everything once, but once I got high, I spent my time drinking lots of water to get it out of my system. As soon as I'm tall, I'm obsessed to get rid of it from me. I like, 'OK, I'm done now'.

In the same interview, he said the song was not written for anyone in particular and that he only shared his experience. Rolling Stone publishes an article in which Madonna advocates "intense personal exploration" of drug use. When asked if "Devil Pray" could be at risk of being misunderstood as a drug-inducing song, Madonna replied: "I certainly do not judge people who use drugs or say 'do not use drugs'; however, I say you can do all these things to connect to a higher level, but in the end you will disappear.The taller people instinctively also try to connect to a higher level of consciousness, but do so in a way that will not sustain them. "

Demo version "Devil Pray" leaked to the Internet in December 2014, along with 12 other demos from the upcoming album. After this Madonna released the album, titled Rebel Heart, for pre-order on December 20, 2014. When instructed, the first six songs are automatically downloaded, including "Devil Pray". Madonna stated that the songs were meant to be "early Christmas gifts" and added that she would prefer her fans to hear the full version of some songs rather than the incomplete songs that are in circulation.

Maps Devil Pray

Recording and composition

"Devil Pray" was written and produced by Madonna, Avicii, DJ Dahi and Michael Diamonds, with additional writings done by Savan Kotecha, Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub and Arash Pournouri. Avicii and Falk are also responsible for providing keyboard and programming, with Falk also providing guitars. Additional recording and mixing is done by Angie Teo, while Demacio "Demo" Castellon is an engineer and a mixer of songs. "Devil Pray" has been described as "mid-acoustic mid-tempo moody pop" and technopop songs about coping with addiction, in "country-tinged" and "folksy" style compared to other songs on the album. Critics find the similarity between Madonna's own song and single "Do not Tell Me" (2000) for "pop-country elements" and traditional folk songs "The House of the Rising Sun", for its "bluesy-vibe".

"Devil Pray" takes Madonna "as a devoted disciple, attracted to a darker kind of prayer", as noted by Amy Pettifer's The Quietus , and her story relates to sin, the temptation and liberation. The song begins with a hand clap and a guitar, "whose country edge is [...] the characteristic output of Swedish producer Avicii himself", claims Pettifer. The choir contains "a list of warnings, treacherous treacheries" that "offer short help", when he sings, "And we can use drugs, and we can suck weeds, and we can drink whiskey/Yes, we can be tall, and we can be stoned/And we can sniff glue, and we can do E, and we can drop acid. "

During the second verse, Madonna "seems to understand her own spiritual suffering when she sings [...], 'Mary, can not you help [me]?/Because I have been lost/All angels around me/All have been flown' "before the warning," Lucifer is close ". Later, he suggested that despite providing short assistance, the use of such drugs would not have a positive effect on the user, warning, "Yes, we can run and we can hide/But we will not find the answer" and invite them to "get help "for making" the devil of prayer ". Then, a "falling" voice joins in "the pleas of his soul [to] be saved". As she sings, "Ooh, save my soul, save my soul, save/devil me here to fool you", "overcrowded bed, increasing orgasm sample in mix", and "one hundred small voices of Madonna in coital abyss."

src: i.ytimg.com

Critical reception

"Devil Pray" got a positive response from music critics. While noting that the song "reaches back smartly, is not just for the hoe pop of his 'Do not Tell Me', but for the subject, and the bluesy walking style of 'The House of the Rising Sun'", Jim Farber from < i> New York Daily News praised "[t] he added a beat home beat [that] gave him another bait." Bernard Zuel of the Sydney Morning Herald also found a similarity in "Devil Pray" with both songs, defining it as an "acoustic guitar-with-electro-cowboy" song, whose melody "does not attempt to hide his familiarity with 'House of the Rising Sun '. "Matthew Jacobs points out that Madonna awakens" more traditional dance tastes that she's known for. " Jamieson Cox of Time enthusiastically wrote that the song "can fit neatly on the radio next to the British pop-house crossover this year and belong to Avicii 'Hey Brother'." Kathy Iandoli of Idolators praises Avicii and Blood Diamonds for "being a divine partner for ['Devil's Prayer]' where you can hear both of their styles woven into a knock." Andy Gill from The Independent found that "Devil Pray" recalled "Like a Prayer's peak-career achievement", while Gavin Haynes of NME believes that the song is "reminiscent of the song dance 2013 belongs to Lady Gaga's 'Aura'. "

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic took it as one of the best songs of Rebel Heart, calling it "an expert revival of his Y2K folktronica." Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone agreed, noting that "Avicii helped Madonna revive the vibrational strum-and-beats of the 2000's Music ." Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine goes further, calling it "its best song in 15 years". He continues to praise "Devil Pray" for "reimagin [ing] The Animals as a folktronica band with wizarding tendencies... His prophecy of salvation and the existential trap of sniffing glue [removes] unexpected low-end grooves." Annie Zaleski from The A.V. The Club also sees the song as a highlight, describing it as "an acoustic-guitar-grounded, acoustic, unbearable plea for salvation and divine guidance in the face of temptation like drugs." Sasha Geffen of Consequence of Sound considered Devil Pray one of Madonna's best releases for years and her choir as "one of the strongest in decades." He praised "the sound of Madonna shifting into a ghostly echo - and unlike the 'Whore' tap, the production slide perfectly.It is one of the most remarkable songs about messing up every imaginable molecule, but also heavy with the longing for self-purification and direction. " The New York Times also shared this view, noting that the song" featured [s] some of Madonna's finest singing over the years. " Saeed Saeed of The National felt that the song was similar to The Animals version of "The House of the Rising Sun" and praised him for being a better country dance song than Madonna's cover of Don McLean. "American Pie".

However, there are some critics who are directed to the list of drugs used in the choir "Devil Pray". Chris Richards of The Washington Post criticized the fact that "the lyrics in Rebel Heart felt almost very resistant to wisdom", quoting the liquor menu used in the choir and asking, "Which which helps us to forget that this is happening? " Andrew Unterberger of Spin also wrote about the "liquor list" referenced in the song, and stated that it "made 'Demon Pray' sound like the mid 80s PSA." Jessica Hopper of Pitchfork Media went on to criticize the list for being "a strange, gentle, funny thing, [...] but in the end, it was a boring song about the bell and/or big-G, God. -doing-Madonna [sic] ], which is too often the fall of Rebel Heart . "Alexis Petridis of The Guardian is negative about the production of" Devil Pray " claiming that "this is a fairly transparent effort by Avicii to produce something along the lines of his hit" Wake Me Up ". "

src: 1.bp.blogspot.com

Performance chart

"Devil Pray" is mapped in many parts of Europe after it was released along with five other album tracks, on December 20, 2014. The song reached the top ten in Greece and Hungary, peaking at 9 and 10, respectively, while in Finland, Lebanon and Sweden, "Devil Pray" reached the top twenty, reaching 16, 18 and 14. In Spain, the song reached number 50 and was the lowest chart, while in France, "Devil Pray" was the third highest charting song, Living for Love "and" Ghosttown ", their first and second albums respectively, and reached number 62.

src: i.ytimg.com

Live show

On March 1, 2015, Madonna performed the song for the first time on the Italian TV show, Che tempo che fa, along with Ghosttown, the second single. An episode featuring his performance aired on March 8th. For "Devil Pray" performances, Madonna wore "luxurious black robe and various rosaries." A writer for Yahoo! noting that both performances were warmly welcomed by the audience, while Lionel Nicaise appreciated that Madonna put more emphasis on her melodies and vocals during the show than the costumes and stage props. Bianca Grace of Idolator notes that the show "will make you repent of the sins of your weekend, because the singer emotionally sang the song." "Devil Pray" is done at the Rolf Heart Massacre 2015-2016. Following the mashup show themed the Last Supper of "Holy Water" and "Vogue", Madonna took to the main stage to perform a "Satanic Prayer"; during the show, he straddles one of his dancers, dressed like a priest, and performs a dance along with other dancers. Jordan Zivitz of the Montreal Gazette said he thought the show was "challenging". Previously, the song was also used for promotional videos related to tour training and dancer interviews. The "Devil Pray" show on March 19-20, 2016 at Allplay Arena Sydney was recorded and released in Madonna's fifth album, Rebel Heart Tour .

src: img00.deviantart.net

Credits and personnel

Management

• Publisher Webo Girl, Inc. (ASCAP)/EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Music Publishing EMI Scandinavia AB (STIM)/Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI)
• Sony/ATV Scandinavia AB (STIM)/Team 2101 Tracks (ASCAP)/Rami Productions AB (ASCAP)/Cobalt Songs Music Publishing
• Sony/ATV Sonata and Dahi Productions (SESAC)/Michael Tucker Music (ASCAP) c/o Kobalt Songs Music Publishing/This Is Pulse Songs (ASCAP)/OWSLA Trax (ASCAP)

Personnel

Personnel adapted from Madonna's official website.

src: i.ytimg.com

Diagram

src: 1.bp.blogspot.com

References

src: i.ytimg.com

External links

• MadonnaÃ, - "Devil Pray" (audio version) on YouTube

Source of the article : Wikipedia