Just when you thought you had the song of the summer pegged as something by Marina or Billie Eilish or Mark Ronson (feat. Lykke Li), Madonna comes along and proves once more that the sole sound for the season is that which is punctuated by lulling reggaeton beats as only she could render them (think “La Isla Bonita” for the twenty-first century). With the seductive complementing vocals of Maluma to lend a more playful air to Madonna’s serious reflection, “I took a pill and had a drink/Went back to my seventeen…year/Allowed myself to be naive” we are led into an alternate portal that gives us a direct flight to Medellín (the nice, resort-friendly kind of now, as opposed to the old school Pablo Escobar variety–for even Colombia fell prey to gentrification).
For Madonna, her arrival happens somewhat differently than our sonic teleportation, as she notes, “I took a sip and had a dream/And I woke up in Medellín.” For those who can’t afford to sip on anything so hallucinogenic, this song suffices, painting an idyllic portrait of what it means to be free, perpetually on vacation, as it were. Whispering, “One, two, cha cha cha” at the intro and closing, that aspect of Madame X’s (M’s new alter ego in case you’re egregiously not in the know) world where she’s part cha cha instructor, in addition to such other professions as a “head of state” and “nun” (something Madonna always stated she wanted to be before settling on pop star), comes into play. As such, she’s likely seen plenty on her dance floor. But none so alluring as the likes of Maluma as she makes cocaine amor allusions like, “We built a cartel just for love/Venus was hovering above us.”
Even so, Madonna’s running theme throughout her career is that with great love comes great pain, hence the line, “Sipping my pain just like champagne” (her posting of a teacup and saucer featuring this phrase a while back all makes sense now). Reminiscing about her more carefree days spent in love (and presumably in Medellín), she sings, “I felt so naked and alive” as Maluma suggestively whispers, “Show me.”
While Madonna’s dabblings in Spanish are still somewhat, er, rusty, she’s certainly improved upon them since the era of 2008’s Hard Candy, with “Spanish Lesson.” Having flirted her entire career with Spanish lyrics (not to mention more than flirting with her fair share of Spanish men), “Medellín” is the track that finds her speaking it the most (minus songs already made and then translated specifically for a Latin market, e.g. “Veras” and “Lo Que Siente La Mujer”)–and with the most confidence. Maybe it has to do with having Maluma at her side while she urges, “Ven conmigo, let’s take a trip.” He builds on her vocals with, “Si te llevo pa’ un lugar lejano” (“If I take you to a distant place”). She continues, “Ven conmigo, I’ll be so good for you.” He swoons, “Dame de eso que tú estás tomando” (“Give me what you’re taking”–presumably whatever pill she was referring to earlier).
With the rhythm perfectly designed to resonate off the stage of a stadium, one envisions Madonna and Maluma finding time to hit all the right steps on the floor in between taking shots of tequila to this track. “Slow down, papi,” her inner cha cha instructor demands lasciviously at one point. But how can we when it’s already so hard to keep up with Madonna and her evolution as it is?
A jubilant celebration of life and all that makes it worth living–primarily dancing naked in the rain–“Medellín” is your best bet for booking a trip this summer without ever leaving the confines of your mind. On a side note, it’s just nice, from a pop cultural standpoint, that we can finally associate Medellín with something other than Vincent Chase from Entourage.
