{Note: The Madonna Timeline is an ongoing feature, where I put the iPod on shuffle, and write a little anecdote on whatever was going on in my life when that Madonna song was released and/or came to prominence in my mind.}
The iPod has picked 1985’s ‘Angel’ for the next timeline song – I was ten when it came out. I don’t remember much about when I was ten, except for a handful of Madonna songs. Like most of the ‘Like A Virgin’ cuts, this reminds me of driving in the car with my Mom and my brother – it was his cassette tape, and it was on perpetual play.
Why am I standing on a cloud, every time you’re around?
And the sadness disappears, every time you are near…
You must be an angel, I can see it in your eyes,
Full of wonder and surprise,
And just now I realize…
It is a quintessentially-80’s trifle, all synths and breathy echoes, and Madonna’s delicious laughter. Easy on the ears and the mind, but the perfect microcosmic emoting of the wonder and joy of infatuation.
Walking down a crowded avenue
All the faces seem like nothing next to you
And I can’t hear the traffic rushing by,
Just the pounding of the heart and that’s why…
No one captures the exuberance, and, I would argue, the innocence, of the beginnings of love better than Madonna. Especially at this stage of her career, when all was still shiny and new – she had the perfect grasp of a pop song – centered around romance, founded on a wish and a prayer, and wedded to a catchy melody and driving beat.
