Music / True Blue

You’re the one I’m dreaming of
Your heart fits me like a glove

I see you on the street, and you walk on by
You make me wanna hang my head down and cry

If you gave me half a chance you'd see
My desire burning inside of me
But you choose to look the other way

I've had to work much harder than this
For something I want
Don't try to resist me

"Open Your Heart"

True Blue is the third studio album recorded by American pop musician Madonna. It was released through Sire Records on June 30, 1986.

It contains the popular hits "Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", "Open Your Heart", and "La Isla Bonita". Its title track, although it also became a hit, unfortunately became Canon Discontinuity with the artist as it was written for her ex-husband Sean Penn.

Tracklist

Side One

1. "Papa Don't Preach" (4:27)
2. "Open Your Heart" (4:12)
3. "White Heat" (4:25)
4. "Live to Tell" (5:45)

Side Two

1. "Where's the Party" (4:20)
2. "True Blue" (4:16)
3. "La Isla Bonita" (4:01)
4. "Jimmy Jimmy" (3:54)
5. "Love Makes The World Go Round" (4:27)

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Last night I troped in San Pedro...

• Album Title Drop: In "True Blue".
  I'm gonna be true blue, baby, I love you.
• Alliterative Title: "Papa Don't Preach".
• Celebrity Cameo: Danny Aiello plays Madonna's father in the video for "Papa Don't Preach".
• Dark Secret: "Live to Tell". It's never revealed what that secret is, but the singer wishes to tell it someday.
• Dedication: The album was dedicated to "my husband, the coolest guy in the universe."
• Dream Sequence: "La Isla Bonita"
  Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
  Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song
  A young girl with eyes like the desert
  It all seems like yesterday, not far away
• Even the Girls Want Her: A lesbian appears in one of the booths of the stripper show watching Madonna dance in the video for "Open Your Heart".
• Face on the Cover: Madonna's face in close-up, filling up the entire cover.
• Fan Vid: Although Madonna already had a video for "True Blue", she ran a contest on MTV for a fan-made video that would be chosen as the "official" video for the song on that network.
• The '50s: "Jimmy Jimmy" is a homage to James Dean and the music video of "True Blue" shows Madonna driving around in a 1950s car.
• Good Girls Avoid Abortion: The subject of "Papa Don't Preach" is an unwanted pregnancy which the singer gets from somebody, and her friends are pressuring her to get an abortion. She decides that she's going to keep the baby instead of getting rid of it, and wants her father's blessing. The song does not reveal how the subject's father feels about it, and the music video only implies that he at least has her back on whatever decision is ultimately made.
• Gratuitous Spanish: "La Isla Bonita".
  Como puede ser verdad? ^note  "How could it be true?"
  (...) Te dijo te amo
• Growing Up Sucks: In "Where's The Party?":
  Couldn't wait to get older,
  Thought I'd have so much fun.
  Guess I'm one of the grown-ups,
  Now I have to get the job done.
  People give me the business.
  I'm not living in fear,
  I'm just living in chaos;
  Got to get away from here.
• Mood Whiplash: Sandwiched in the middle of a bunch of light danceable songs is "Live to Tell", a dark brooding song which she recorded for her ex-husband Sean Penn's movie At Close Range.
• One-Man Song: "Jimmy Jimmy".
• One True Love: The title track.
• Questioning Title?: "Where's The Party?"
• Record Producer: Madonna, Stephen Bray, and Patrick Leonard.
• Shout-Out:
  • "White Heat" references the Film Noir classic White Heat (1949) with James Cagney. The quote "make my day" is a shout-out to Clint Eastwood in Sudden Impact.
  • "Jimmy Jimmy" is a homage to James Dean.
• Silly Love Songs: The title track.
• Smoking Hot Sex: The lesbian in the video for "Open Your Heart" lights up a cigarette after watching the show.
• Spoken Word in Music: "White Heat" quotes the titular movie.
• Stalker with a Crush: "Open Your Heart" is about a woman who wants someone who is ignoring her and shutting her out, but she really persists. "Don't try to run, I can keep up with you".
• Teen Pregnancy: "Papa Don't Preach" is about this topic, involving a girl who tells her father she will keep her baby.
• Textless Album Cover: Originally it was just Madonna's head on the front cover.
• Title Track: "True Blue".
• Video Full of Film Clips: The "Live to Tell" video has clips from Sean Penn's At Close Range intercut with Madonna sitting on a chair in a dark room with a spotlight on her.
• You Can Leave Your Hat On: The video for "Open Your Heart" takes place in a stripshow theater, with Madonna as the stripshow artist.

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