Madonna: Like a Prayer Meaning
Song Released: 1989
Like a Prayer Lyrics
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home
Chorus:
When you call my name it’s like a little prayer
I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your...
-
1TOP RATED
anonymous Aug 24th 2009, 04:24 report
This song is so straight forward, I'm surprised so many people misinterpret the lyrics. "Like a Prayer" is about performing fellatio, and the ecstatic state it can produce on the person doing it. Performing oral sex on a man can be so intense, Madonna compares it to a powerful religious experience. *Like* a prayer is key there, it is a metaphor for that beautiful, passionate state.
-
2TOP RATED
-
anonymous Jan 20th, 15:33 report
This song has a very interesting meaning. Madonna gives her Love to her man and by giving Love she receives Love from God (because "to love" is divine thing). It's old Vedic conception that a person in a female body can receive Love only
1). from man or (from God through the man she loves)
2). to generate love herself (when the "spiritual virginity" is present)
3). from GOD directly (only if 1). is out of the program (monastery or smth like that).
Man is more primitive that's why he receives God (Love) directly or "from woman".
IMHO the version about oral sex is impossible because Madonna was a victim of rapist and he made her suck his dick with the knife agains her throat (see autobiographic part of "Dangerous Game" by Ferrara). -
anonymous May 5th 2012, 23:20 report
I think the Song is about Madonna having a conversation with her mother who is heaven! Sounds weird but it is the only thing makes sense!
-
anonymous Feb 5th 2012, 20:31 report
The part that got me is falling from the sky. You know the devil was a falling angel.
-
anonymous Sep 29th 2011, 21:54 report
its about satan she wrote it for the guy who introduced her to the church of satan its a great song but if u really read into it 1.. a falling angel 2 midnight hour thats when spells etc have stronger power demons etc
-
anonymous May 27th 2011, 23:18 report
If you play a song backwards it sounds like gibberish. It doesn't have another message. The song is comparing religious ecstasy to sexual or romantic ecstasy. The idea is they are the same because they are inspired by love.
-
anonymous Mar 26th 2011, 19:39 report
Oral sex? Oh, come on! I know that most guys seem to think that fellatio is the peak of all sexual activity, but "down on my knees" could mean doggy style just as well. And why on earth would she write about that as a religious experience instead of, I don't know.. an act that would actually give her some pleasure too?
-
anonymous Jan 30th 2011, 19:35 report
I believe this song is about God, not about sex. I think the lyrics can be interpreted that way, but it's clearly inccorect. Considering the music video, and they places she's performed this song, I'm going to say it is about having faith in God. If you look at lyrics besides the chorus, it's very obvious.
-
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
-
anonymous Jan 13th 2011, 16:35 report
The last 2 posts hit the nail on the head 110% right. She is calling out to the devil. Many songs out there were there is similar meanings when played backwards wake up people (she is singing about oral sex) you having a laugh.
-
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
-
anonymous Dec 23rd 2010, 11:38 report
"Life is a mystery" part when played backwards says "Devil I worship you"
-
Susan7 Oct 23rd 2010, 20:16 report
I think it may also be referring to someone in an incestuous relationship.
"Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home
(Feeling alone, someone she is familiar with, trying to convince her that it's ok, it's love)
"When you call my name it’s like a little prayer
I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer you know I’ll take you there"
(Speaks of being called on to give oral sex, knowing she can give the release of orgasm, but the older man is obviously in control, insistent)
"I hear your voice, it’s like an angel sighing
I have no choice, I hear your voice
Feels like flying
I close my eyes, oh God I think I’m falling
Out of the sky, I close my eyes
Heaven help me!"
(Quietly having her name called out, but knowing she doesn't have a choice (even though it may bring some pleasure) The feeling of guilt, feeling like she is doing something very wrong, asking for forgiveness from God)
Like a child you whisper softly to me
You’re in control just like a child
Now I’m dancing
It’s like a dream, no end and no beginning
You’re here with me, it’s like a dream
Let the choir sing
(Still in the submissive state, being told to "dance" (have sex) feeling surreal, that it will always be that way, and that there is nothing that can be done to change it, also not remembering how life was before it started)
"Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me, you are a mystery
Just like a dream, you are not what you seem
Just like a prayer, no choice your voice can take me there"
(Again, speaking about the clandestine relationship, also that others either can't or don't seem to know about it, and that even though at time it may seem exciting, there is really no choice to make it stop.) -
Susan7 Oct 23rd 2010, 20:01 report
Obviously, this songs speaks about oral sex being performed on a man! "In the midnight hour",(most sex takes place at night) "I can feel your power" (how throbbing and insistent the guy's penis is to her mouth) "Down on my knees, I want to take you there" (to orgasm). "I hear you call my name" (happens a lot when someone is really enjoying themselves, along with...)"Oh, GOD! I think I'm flying" (Describing the ecstacy during sex). OK if you are into that sort of thing, but.....
Oh, my God! I can't believe how HUGE this song has gotten and all the airtime on TV! I was so embarrassed for the groups singing, i.e. The Stars for Haiti Relief after the devastation there, thinking they were being "inspirational" and even on the show "Glee" when they did the Madonna episode. Using a "church" choir with robes, obviously trying to clean it up, but sadly, the song was NOT inspirational. (except maybe to explain the joys of both getting and giving fellatio, but it was ANYTHING BUT SUBTLE!!)
Anyone who can sing that song pretending it means anything else is either totally BLIND, or just likes to pretend that it had a "spiritual" meaning. But I wholeheartedly disagree. Keep it in the proper venue, which doesn't include supposedly "G-rated" programs, or anything even a middle-school child might be watching. Don't they get it!? I really don't think a "Christian" group would be singing backup if they would just stop denying what the song really means, now would they? -
Tyler77 Jul 20th 2010, 11:27 report
Clearly the song is about oral sex, and Madonna is saying that she feels giving oral sex is like a religious experience. The references to 'like a child' and 'now I'm dancing' refer to her state of ecstacy in giving pleasure to another. 'In the midnight hour' is a famous song about sex by Wilson Pickett ('I'm gonna kiss you, and hold you, and do all the things I told you, in the midnight hour') and 'I can feel your power' is a reference to the traditionally dominant role of the male - or possibly a crude sexual reference to the size of his member.
Other lyrics refer to the fact that she feels that this is where she belongs and has found an escape from the isolation that is the human condition - 'Life is a mystery, everyone must walk alone, I hear you call my name, and it feels like home' in sexual pleasure and union.
The controversial video has little relationship to the song; pop videos are usually created by film-makers and not the artist. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
-
-
anonymous Apr 16th 2010, 23:32 report
The song was written from a Submissive's point of view during a scene with her Dom. She's on her knees at her Dom's feet because he controls her (like a child). She has no choice but to let him have control over her because she is his Submissive. He takes her to a place, in her mind, through the pleasure he gives her.
-
anonymous Mar 16th 2008, 02:12 report
It's one of those songs that's deliberately ambiguous as to whether it's about God or a lover. There are a lot of other songs that are the same way. I prefer the religious interpretation but the other one is obviously deliberately there too.
-
anonymous Mar 15th 2008, 20:19 report
I think madge is a whorebag biscuit (look it up in the urban dictionary!) she is on about giving a bloke a cheeky blowy and would just like a bit of appreciation from her chap....she is either shit at giving head or the bloke is a dick cheers
-
anony Feb 1st 2008, 20:17 report
Oh this song is about the fact that you realize you are a whore one day and that your name is from the blessed virgin Mary and you have blasphemed throughout your crappy career. then you really realize you are screwed because you make a music video where there are burning crosses all over and you are making out with a priest. Then to make matters worse you name your only daughter after a beautiful site of an apparition of Mary, Lourdes, just to rub in the fact that you are a horrible human being. yep that's what it's about.
More Madonna song meanings »
Like a Prayer lyrics
Like a Prayer is considered:
Songs with Religious Themes
Songs about Sex
Songs with Backwards Messages
[ suggest ]
Submit Your Interpretation
Trending:
Just Posted
| Beast and the Harlot | anonymous | |
| So Long | anonymous | |
| Take a Chance on Me | anonymous | |
| I Have a Dream | anonymous | |
| The Chain | anonymous | |
| Like We Used To | anonymous | |
| Beautiful Disaster | anonymous | |
| Maybe | anonymous | |
| Here Comes the Sun | anonymous | |
| No Time | anonymous | |
| Give Me a Reason | anonymous | |
| Jump on My Shoulders | anonymous | |
| China Grove | anonymous | |
| This Afternoon | anonymous | |
| If You Seek Amy | logan3mv |
10 Most popular bands this week
| 1 | Beatles |
|---|---|
| 2 | Ed Sheeran |
| 3 | Eminem |
| 4 | Coldplay |
| 5 | Taylor Swift |
| 6 | Linkin Park |
| 7 | Rihanna |
| 8 | Pink |
| 9 | Silverstein |
| 10 | Imagine Dragons |
