Like A Prayer (song) - Development

Development

"I have a great sense of guilt and sin from Catholicism that has definitely permeated my everyday life, whether I want it to or not. And when I do something wrong... if I don't let someone know that I have wronged, I'm always afraid that I'm going to be punished. And that's something you're raised to believe as a Catholic. Both the song and album stemmed from this uneasiness; my direct prayers to God, it is beautiful and divine."

—Madonna talking to Los Angeles screenwriter Becky Johnston about Like a Prayer and the title track.

As Madonna considered her alternatives, producers Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray experimented with instrumental tracks and musical ideas for her consideration. Both of them wanted to bring their unique style to the project, and they developed completely different music for the title track. Eventually, Madonna felt that the music presented to her by Leonard was more interesting, and she started to work with him. Together they wrote and produced the title track, naming it "Like a Prayer"; it was the first song developed for the Like a Prayer album. Once Madonna had conceptualized the way she would interpose her ideas with the music, she wrote the song in about three hours. She described "Like a Prayer" as the song of a passionate young girl "so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life."

Madonna's further inspiration for writing the title song came from the Catholic belief of transubstantiation. She believed that the wine and wafer, which symbolize the Body of Christ during Mass, have transformative power and every word in the prayer has its precise meaning. For Madonna, "Like a Prayer" similarly appeared to carry its own transformative power. While writing the lyrics, Madonna introduced liturgical words but changed the context in which they were added for a dual meaning. She wanted the song to have superficial pop lyrics about sexuality and religion, but a different meaning underneath which she believed could provoke a reaction from her listeners. In author J. Randy Taraborrelli's book Madonna: An Intimate Biography, Leonard explained that he was not comfortable with the lyrics and the sexual innuendos present in it. He gave the example of the first verse for "Like a Prayer" which goes "When you call my name, It's like a little prayer, I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there." Leonard understood that the dual meaning of the lines referred to someone performing fellatio. He was aghast and requested that Madonna change the line, but she was adamant about keeping it.