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Papa Don't Preach › Released

1986
Papa Don't Preach" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Madonna for her third studio album True Blue (1986). The song was written by Brian Elliot with additional lyrics by Madonna, who produced it alongside Stephen Bray. It was included in the compilation album Celebration (2009). Musically, "Papa Don't Preach" combines pop and classical styling, with lyrics that talk about teenage pregnancy, and the choices that come with it. Elliot was inspired to write it by the teen gossip he would hear outside his recording studio.

"Papa Don't Preach"

Single by Madonna
from the album True Blue
B-side
"Pretender"
"Ain't No Big Deal"
"Think of Me"
Released
June 11, 1986
Recorded
March 2, 1986
Genre
Dance-poppost-disco
Length
4:29
Label
SireWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Brian ElliotMadonna
Producer(s)
MadonnaStephen Bray
Madonna singles chronology
"Live to Tell"
(1986) "Papa Don't Preach"
(1986) "True Blue"
(1986)

Music video
"Papa Don't Preach" on YouTube
Released as the album's second single in mid-1986, it saw commercial success, becoming Madonna's fourth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100; "Papa Don't Preach" also performed well internationally, reaching the top position in the United Kingdom and Australia. It was lauded by contemporary critics, who noted an artistic growth in Madonna's work, and frequently cited it as a highlight in the album and a milestone in her career. The music video, directed by James Foley, shows the singer in her first "head-to-toe" image makeover, with a leaner, more toned body, and cropped platinum blonde hair. Its main storyline had Madonna trying to tell her father, played by actor Danny Aiello, about her pregnancy. The scenes are juxtaposed with shots of her dancing and singing in a small, darkened studio, and spending a romantic evening with her boyfriend, played by Alex McArthur.

Shortly after its release, the song caused heated discussions about its lyrical content. Women's organizations and others in the family planning field criticized Madonna for encouraging teenage pregnancy, while groups opposed to abortion saw the song as having a positive anti-abortion message. Madonna has performed "Papa Don't Preach" in five of her concert tours, the last being 2019―2020's Madame X Tour. The single's performance at the Who's That Girl World Tour (1987) caused Madonna's first conflict with the Vatican, as she dedicated it to Pope John Paul II, who urged Italian fans to boycott her concerts. In 2002, British singer Kelly Osbourne recorded a cover of the song, which was met with lukewarm critical reception, but achieved commercial success.
Background and release
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During the autumn of 1985, Madonna started writing and recording songs for her third studio album, True Blue; she brought back Steve Bray, who had worked with her on her previous album Like a Virgin (1984), and hired a new producer, Patrick Leonard.[1] The album's first track, "Papa Don't Preach", was written by Brian Elliot, who described it as "a love song, maybe framed a little bit differently [...] about a young girl who found herself at a crossroads in life and didn’t know where to turn".[2] Elliot, who had recorded an album of his own for Warner Bros., was producing sessions for an artist named Cristina Dent. When he played her tracks for Warner's Michael Ostin, the same A&R executive who discovered "Like a Virgin", he asked if he could play "Papa Don't Preach" for Madonna;[3] Elliot had been working with Dent for six months and was reluctant to let the song go to another artist, but he eventually gave in, finding the idea of Madonna recording his song "hard to resist".[4]

The lyrics of the song are based on teen gossip Elliot would hear outside his recording studio, which has a large front window that doubled as a mirror where schoolgirls from the Los Angeles' North Hollywood High School would regularly stop to fix their hair and chat.[5] Madonna only contributed with some additional lyrics, making "Papa Don't Preach" the only song on the album that she did not have a strong hand in writing.[3] In the United States, "Papa Don't Preach" was released as True Blue's second single on June 11, 1986;[6] in Europe, it was released five days later.[7][8][9][10][11] Afterwards, it was included on Madonna's compilation albums The Immaculate Collection (1990), and Celebration (2009).[12][13] In a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, the singer was asked by Austin Scaggs why she felt attracted to the song's theme and lyrics; she replied,

[The song] just fit right in with my own personal zeitgeist of standing up to male authorities, whether it's the pope, or the Catholic Church or my father and his conservative, patriarchal ways. ... For 'Papa Don't Preach' there were so many opinions – that's why I thought it was so great. Is she for 'schma-smortion', as they say in Knocked Up? Is she against abortion?[14]