Like A Prayer (song) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Following the release of "Like a Prayer" on March 21, 1989, it received widespread acclaim from critics and biographers. Taraborrelli commented that the track "deserved every bit of the curiosity it generated. While being devilishly danceable, the song also shows Madonna's uncanny ability to inspire strong, conflicting emotions during the course of a single song, leaving the listener scratching his head for answers—and craving for more." Stephen Holden from The New York Times, while writing about Madonna's re-invention of her image, observed how Madonna's sound had changed from the "simple blaring dance-pop to the rich, fully rounded pop of 'Like a Prayer'". O'Brien felt that the most remarkable aspect of "Like a Prayer" was Madonna's usage of liturgical words. "There is the surface meaning, forging sexuality with pop lyrics that sound so sweet. But underlying that is a rigorous mediation on prayer. In shorter words, 'Like a Prayer really takes you there," she concluded. This view was shared by biographer Mary Cross, who wrote in her biography of Madonna that "the song is a mix of the sacred and the profane. There-in lies Madonna's triumph with 'Like a Prayer'. It still sounds catchy and danceable."

Michael Campbell, author of Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes On, felt that the soothing melody, which "flows in gently undulating phases", resembles English singer Steve Winwood's 1986 single "Higher Love". Australian rock music journalist Toby Creswell wrote in his book 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them that "'Like a Prayer' is a beautifully crafted devotional song in the guise of perfect pop. God is the drum machine here." Scholar Georges Claude Guilbert, author of Madonna as Postmodern Myth: How One Star's Self-Construction Rewrites Sex, Gender, Hollywood and the American Dream, noted that there was a polysemy in "Like a Prayer" as it was clear that the woman who sings is addressing either God, or her lover, and in doing so “Madonna achieves the gold-card of attaining her own divinity. Whenever someone calls her name, it alludes to the song." Theologian Andrew Greeley compared "Like a Prayer" with the music and the hymns present in the Hebrew religious textbook Song of Songs. Greeley, although focusing more on the video, acknowledged the fact that sexual passion may be revelatory, and complimented Madonna for glorifying ideologies of female subjectivity and womanhood in the song.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic called the song haunting and felt that it displayed a commanding sense of Madonna's songcraft. According to Rolling Stone's Gavin Edwards, it sounded glorious and "is the most transgressive—and the most irresistible" song of Madonna's career. Jim Farber from Entertainment Weekly commented that the "gospel-infused title track demonstrates that her writing and performing had been raised to heavenly new heights." In a review for The Immaculate Collection compilation album, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the "frothier" texture of the song added poignancy to its spiritual lyrics. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine was impressed with the track, saying "'Like a Prayer' climbs to heights like no other pop song before it—or after. Like most of the songs on the album, the track's glossy production gives way to a power beyond studio sonics, and if 'church-like' reverence feels like a religious experience, it's no mere coincidence."