Background
When Madonna started work on her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, she was already in an emotional state of mind, following her divorce with then-husband Sean Penn, her thirtieth birthday, and unfavorable reviews for her acting endeavors. She had certain personal matters on her mind that she thought could be the musical direction of the album. But she understood that as she was growing up, so was her core audience. Feeling the need to try something different, Madonna wanted the sound of her new album to indicate what could be popular in music. However, being raised as a Catholic, Madonna felt guilty about the failure of her marriage. She said, "Because in Catholicism you are a born sinner and you are a sinner all your life. ... I could not escape my past, nor could I relax". Saddened by what was happening with her, Madonna missed her family, her father and her siblings. She confessed to Becky Johnston for Interview magazine:
I didn't feel close to anybody in my family when I was growing up. I didn't feel close to my older brothers, they were just typical older brothers who tortured me all the time. And I didn't feel close to my sisters. There was a lot of competition in our family, so, I worked really hard in school. I was a straight-A student, and they all hated me for it because I did it more for the position I was going to have in my father's eyes that for whatever I was going to learn by studying. Then when I got a little older—when I was in high school and started dancing really seriously—I'd say I got closer to my brothers. My oldest brother opened my eyes to lots of things .
The song was released as the sixth and final single from the album on January 30, 1990, by Sire Records. In Australia, it was released as the B-side of "Vogue", while it was not released in the United Kingdom at all, where "Dear Jessie" served as the album's final single.
Read more about this topic: Keep It Together (Madonna Song)
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