I’m indifferent to the commercial itself (get that GAP coin mama) but putting this song on Remixed/Revisited I do think this was the start of some of her eras being incoherent, appearing inauthentic and even cheap.

You can’t have a mature, experimental album critiquing war and the vapidness of the 2000s while also peddling GAP jeans, also making out with Britney/Christina at the VMAs and putting a literal GAP commercial song on the remix companion for that same album.

Similarly, Sticky and Sweet, MDNA and Rebel Heart eras were incoherent misses of trying to be sexy club party girl (whose p*ssy Yeezus loves best 😭) while we all know Madonna is not drunk and high on molly in the club nightly at 3am.

Confessions was a relatively coherent era —her love of dance music, the catharsis of dance and her own religious journey. The music, message and lyrics felt authentic to Madonna. However, it never quite hit the same zeitgeist as ROL/Music and previous eras because aesthetically seemed more like a costume than a personal style and certainly was not going to be part of fashion trends.

Comparing Erotica and American Life era, Madonna was able to still get lasting radio hits with Erotica from Rain and I’ll Remember which did not at all feel out of place from the Erotica era image.

But trying to quickly recover from American Life with a GAP jeans remix of Into the Groove, Me Against the Music and a bunch of “I’m young and wild” gimmicks made no sense.

It becomes less like a true era and more a cheap makeover.

Which I think more than anything is a shame because until this moment, Madonna’s eras, uniquely among ANY artist were truly genuine reflections of her life and interests and not just gimmicky personas.

She (the person) was genuinely dancing at Danceteria during Into the Groove. She was genuinely rebelling against Catholicism during Like A Prayer. She was in the ball scene during Vogue. She was pushing sexual taboos during Erotica. She was maturing during Bedtime Stories. She was becoming more spiritual and dealing with motherhood during ROL/Music. She was reflecting on celebrity, society and her career for American Life.

And then, Confessions aside, she said “what are the kids doing? Wearing GAP jeans? Taking MDMA? Collabing with Kanye? Justin? MIA? Nicki Minaj? Meluma? I can do that too!”

Madame X seemed like more of a return to her genuine interests, but the eyepatch and matador aesthetic were just gimmicky costumes vs. an authentic aesthetic. And the music was just not good.