"What It Feels Like for a Girl" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her eighth studio album Music (2000). It was released as the third and final single from the album on April 9, 2001, by Maverick Records and Warner Bros. Records. It was written and produced by Madonna and Guy Sigsworth, with David Torn as co-writer, and Mark "Spike" Stent as a co-producer. A mid-tempo electronic, synth-pop and glitch pop song, it lyrically conveys society's double standard toward women, addressing hurtful myths about female inferiority. To emphasize the message, the song opens with a spoken word sample by actress Charlotte Gainsbourg from the 1993 British film The Cement Garden. A Spanish version of the track, "Lo Que Siente la Mujer", was translated by Alberto Ferreras and included in the Latin American edition of Music.
"What It Feels Like for a Girl" received acclaim from most music critics, who declared it as a highlight from the album, while also remarking it as one of the most mature musical ventures of Madonna's career. Commercially, the song reached the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Romania, Spain, Scotland and the UK. In the US, it peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and atop the Dance Club Songs.
An accompanying music video for "What It Feels Like for a Girl" was directed by Madonna's then-husband Guy Ritchie and premiered on March 22, 2001. It features the singer as a reckless woman on a crime spree. The video was criticized for its depiction of violence and abuse, which caused MTV to ban it before 9:00 pm. The single was also released on DVD and became the highest weekly sales for a DVD release in the United States. Madonna performed the track on the promotional concerts for Music in November 2000 and on her 2001 Drowned World Tour, where a remixed version was used as a video interlude and also performed in Spanish. The song was covered by the actors of television series Glee, during the episode "The Power of Madonna", and was included in the accompanying EP.
Background and development
After the critical and commercial success of her seventh studio album, Ray of Light (1998), Madonna had intended to embark on a concert tour in September 1999, but the tour was cancelled due to the delay of her film The Next Best Thing (2000). She released one-off singles like "Beautiful Stranger" (1999) and a cover of Don McLean's "American Pie" (2000). The singer also became pregnant with her son Rocco, from her relationship with director Guy Ritchie. Wanting to distract herself from the media frenzy, Madonna concentrated on the development of her eighth studio album, Music.
In April 2000, it was announced that French musician Mirwais Ahmadzaï was creating a melding of dance and pop songs with a disco feel for the album. Later, it was also announced that Madonna enlisted Guy Sigsworth to work with her on the album. The singer had followed Sigsworth's work, admired his love of understated technology in music, and contacted him for adding an ambient feel to her record. Madonna played him the rough demo tracks developed for Music, including the songs created with Ahmadzaï. The idea for "What It Feels Like for a Girl" came to Madonna when she was halfway through her pregnancy and was trying to keep the media from finding out. Sigsworth sent her a demo backing track containing a sample from the 1993 British film The Cement Garden, directed by Andrew Birkin, in which the voice of actress Charlotte Gainsbourg speaks softly, "Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short, wear shirts and boots. 'Cause it's OK to be a boy. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading. 'Cause you think that being a girl is degrading. But secretly you'd love to know what it's like... Wouldn't you? What it feels like for a girl".
Madonna listened to the phrase uttered by Gainsbourg and started writing the song and the melody, resulting in "What It Feels Like for a Girl", a track described by her as a complaint about the politics of sexes. She was going through some emotional turmoil due to living on a different continent than her husband Guy Ritchie. Due to her pregnancy she decided to move to England to be close to him. "Being the girl, I made the first compromise. It's that extra thing that [women] have. I don't think that we're better than men, but I believe there's an extra accommodating chromosome", she told Interviews Ingrid Sischy. Madonna reflected on how her generation of women had been encouraged to be independent, be educated and take over any opportunity life bestowed upon them. But she had realized that being a smart and accomplished woman can come across as threat to men, thereby making them a casualty. Madonna questioned, "Why didn't somebody tell me? Why didn't somebody warn me?' And that's also what that song is about—swallowing that bitter pill... It was a combination of that, and also just feeling incredibly vulnerable that inspired the song."
Recording and composition
Sigsworth's demo track was the second of two sketches presented to Madonna, and she chose the one with the sample from The Cement Garden. It was almost finished but was still kept unpolished so that the singer could continue writing on top of it. He recorded the track at Sarm West Studios rather than his own studio since he did not want to "fuck up" working with Madonna. The song was finished quickly and within four days they were able to create the final version. From the first day onward Madonna and Sigsworth decided to keep all the musical noises from the demo. So the producer had to find a way to reposition Madonna's vocals around the segments, utilizing Pro Tools on a SSL 9000 J console. Madonna insisted Sigsworth to give her a rough approximate sound, rather than work on the music for two-three hours. That way they would know if it can be kept or rejected and save time on production. During recording, Sigsworth noticed that the verses were out of sync with the music and wanted to add extra bar which would help them be coherent. However Madonna dismissed it, and he had to cut up the individual music to put it in his computer for accompanying her vocals. Sigsworth thought it made the song sound more "fluid and magical" and commended Madonna for not taking the cop-out solution.
"What It Feels Like for a Girl" is an electronic, synth-pop and glitch pop semi-ballad. Madonna and Sigsworth were listed as songwriters and producers on the track with additional production by Mark "Spike" Stent. American guitarist David Torn was credited as an additional songwriter after Madonna found out Sigsworth had sampled from Torn's 1987 album, Cloud About Mercury. Stent recorded "What It Feels Like for a Girl" using a Sony 3348 HR and a BASF 931 tape. He mixed it at London's Olympic Studios using SSL G Series Quantegy magnetic tapes. Tim Young mastered the track at Metropolis Studio at Westminster, London.
According to the sheet music published by Musicnotes.com, the song is set in common time, with a tempo of 104 beats per minutes. It's set in the key of E major, with Madonna's vocals spanning from the lower octave of G3 to the higher note of B4. The song has a sequence of Dmaj9–E–E/F–A during the verses and F9sus4–A–Dmaj9–E during the chorus as its chord progression. The track begins with Gainsbourg's monologue which is followed by drum sounds, a rhythm section supported by string pads, and the chord sequence which highlights the melody. Madonna sings over a synth line the first verse, "Silky smooth lips as sweet as candy, baby/Tight blue jeans, skin that shows in patches" in a mellow and feminine tone, which is driven by a "cool beat" and filtered bass licks. The ambient production has a number of sounds floating in-and-out of the track, long echos and vocals being pulled back.
As the pre-chorus ends, the drums are pulled out and added immediately the chorus starts, washed over by tidal keys and pads, and Madonna asking the question, "Do you know what it feels like for a girl?". Phil Dellio from The Village Voice noticed the presence of "gossamer-like" synthesizer in the background, while author Rikky Rooksby highlighted the equalized bass guitar in the center of the production. Another characteristic Sigsworth feature is the sound of a CD player "skipping" during the song. A Spanish version of the track, titled "Lo Que Siente la Mujer" (English: What a Woman Feels), was translated by Alberto Ferreras and included as the B-side of the US CD maxi single release, as well as on the bonus disc of the 2001 Special Tour edition of Music and as a bonus track on the Mexican and Latin American editions. Stan Hawkins, author of Critical Musicological Reflections, felt that by switching "girl" to "woman" in the Spanish version, Madonna had "upgraded" its nature. Lyrically, "What It Feels Like for a Girl" condemns male chauvinism by addressing hurtful myths about female inferiority and female role-playing in society, with the singer inviting men to imagine themselves as girls.
Release and remixes
"What It Feels Like for a Girl" was initially planned to be the album's second single, but "Don't Tell Me" was chosen instead. The song was eventually released as the album's third single on April 16, 2001. Upon release, several remixes were commissioned, created by Above & Beyond, Victor Calderone, Richard "Humpty" Vission, Paul Oakenfold and Tracy Young. The "Velvet Masta Mix", created by Richard Vission, gave the song a bass-heavy intro and a funkier groove. Vission recalled that Madonna had turned down his first mix and asked him to redo it again. Calderone's "Dark Side Mix" was more mellow, relying more on percussions while Tracy Young's mix included stringed harp instrumentation. AllMusic's Jose F. Promis praised in particular the Oakenfold version for "transforming the song into a massive, deep arena club stomper". The Above & Beyond remix, which was used for the music video, features "hard and rhythmic" pumping beats and removed Madonna's verses, leaving only the chorus and repeating the Charlotte Gainsbourg sample several times in the middle. It peaked at number 14 on the VG-lista in Norway.
Production duo Thunderpuss was hired to do an official remix of "What It Feels Like for a Girl". However, when they were almost finished, an unofficial remix, credited as "The Thunderpuss Mix", leaked on the internet. During an interview with About.com, Barry Harris from the group recalled that they had been working on the remix and were waiting for it to be approved when they received a call from Warner Bros. Records, informing them that the remix was circulating in the internet. Both Chris Cox and Harris tried to find out the issue and concluded that someone had retitled the original with their group's name and released it. Thunderpuss tried to convince the record label executives but failed and the remix was canceled.
Critical reception