Nothing Fails

"Nothing Fails"
Single by Madonna
from the album American Life
A-side	"Love Profusion" (Europe)
B-side	"Nobody Knows Me"
Released	November 21, 2003 (Europe)
Format	CD maxi single 12" maxi single
Recorded	2003
Genre	Pop, soft rock
Length	4:48 (Album Version) 3:46 (Radio Edit)
Label	Maverick, Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Madonna Guy Sigsworth Jem Griffiths
Producer	Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzaï Mark "Spike" Stent
Madonna singles chronology
"Me Against the Music" (2003) "Nothing Fails" (2003) "Love Profusion" (2003/2004) Music sample "Nothing Fails"

"Nothing Fails" is the third single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 9th studio album American Life. It was released by Maverick Records on November 21, 2003. There was little promotion to accompany it and no music video was filmed. The song performed poorly on most mainstream charts. The song was released as a double A-side to the fourth and final single "Love Profusion" in some territories such as the UK and Australia.

Background and composition

The song started as a collaboration between Guy Sigsworth and singer Jem Archer as she was beginning work on her debut album. After two days of working in the studio the song "Silly Thing" was written, which later became "Nothing Fails". Sigsworth had initially planned to write the song for his wife. He said: "I never write love songs, but I was moved to write one for her. I've never had a problematic relationship with her, there's not been a lot of drama. But I wanted to write something naive and honest."^[1] The song was later played for Madonna, who loved it and added to and changed parts of the song. On the song Archer said: "When I finally heard the finished song it was the strangest experience. It's not every day you hear Madonna singing words and melodies you sang into your dictaphone at two in the morning! I really admire her for being so involved in everything she does. The song sounds beautiful."^[1]

The London Community Gospel Choir, led by Nicki Brown, recorded backing vocals for the song ^[2], and performed it with a choir during her MTV American Life Special. The strings engineer for the choir Geoff Foster recalls that the choir consisted of "a bunch of great singers giving it loudly, it was impressive."^[1] No official music video was produced for the release.

Critical reception

Critical response to the song was generally positive. Entertainment Weekly called it "lovely" and named it, among other songs from the album "refreshingly - hell, shockingly - earnest".^[3] Alex Petridis of The Guardian praised its choral finale, which E! Online called "warm" and "earthy". Slant Magazine labeled it a moment of greatness on the album.^[4] However, Stylus Magazine compared it negatively to "Like a Prayer", calling it "an off-hand denouncement of religion" and stating that "the same old song, over 10 years later, just doesn't cut it anymore".^[5] Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club considered the song "emotionally resonant", but characterized the introduction of a choir as "busy".^[6]

Chart performance

Madonna performing "Nothing Fails" during the Re-Invention World Tour on 2004.

"Nothing Fails" was a minor chart success, but did not match the success of previous singles from American Life in Europe, charting outside the top twenty in some countries. In Canada the song charted in the top ten. It was a dance hit in the US though, charting at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club play chart. In the UK, it remained unreleased as a single and was included as a radio edit on the "Love Profusion" single. In Australia, Warner released a maxi CD single of "Nothing Fails" (considered an album by ARIA, due to its playing time), a two-part CD single of "Love Profusion" (which, like the UK single, featured a radio edit of "Nothing Fails") and the "Remixed & Revisited" EP (again, considered an album by ARIA due to the number of different tracks) on the same day in December 2003. While "Love Profusion" peaked on the ARIA singles chart at #25, both "Nothing Fails" and "Remixed & Revisited" failed to chart on the ARIA albums chart. However, they did appear on the ARIA Dance Album chart at #5 for "Remixed & Revisited" and #6 for the "Nothing Fails" EP.

Track listings and formats

US 12" promo vinyl (PRO-A-101232)[7] A1 "Nothing Fails" (Peter Rauhofer's Classic House Mix) — 8:24 B1 "Nothing Fails" (Nevins Big Room Rock Mix) — 6:44 B2 "Nothing Fails" (Nevins Global Dub) — 7:45 US 12" promo vinyl (PRO-A-101245)[8] "Nothing Fails" (Peter Rauhofer's Lost In Space Mix) — 8:36 US promo CD single (PRO-CDR-101230)[9] GR promo CD single (PR 04322)[10] "Nothing Fails" (Radio Edit) — 3:46 "Nothing Fails" (Radio Remix) — 3:59 US 2 x vinyl (0-42682)[11] A1 "Nothing Fails" (Peter Rauhofer's Classic House Mix) — 7:38 A2 "Nothing Fails" (Nevins Big Room Rock Mix) — 6:44 B1 "Nothing Fails" (Tracy Young's Underground Mix) — 7:29 B2 "Nothing Fails" (Jackie's In Love In The Club Mix) — 7:28 C1 "Nothing Fails" (Nevins Global Dub) — 7:45 C2 "Nobody Knows Me" (Mount Sims Italo Kiss Mix) — 5:26 D1 "Nobody Knows Me" (Mount Sims Old School Mix) — 4:44 D2 "Nothing Fails" (Tracy Young's Underground Dub) — 8:36 EU CD single (5439 16500 2)[12] "Nothing Fails" (Radio Edit) — 3:46 "Nothing Fails" (Peter Rauhofer's Classic House Mix) — 8:24 EU Maxi-CD (9362 42690 2)[13] "Nothing Fails" (Radio Edit) — 3:46 "Nothing Fails" (Peter Rauhofer's Classic House Mix) — 8:24 "Nothing Fails" (Tracy Young's Underground Mix) — 7:29 "Nothing Fails" (Nevins Big Room Rock Mix) — 6:44

EU Maxi-CD single (9362 42682 2)[14] AU Maxi-CD single (9362 42682-2)[15] "Nothing Fails" (Peter Rauhofer's Classic House Mix) — 8:24 "Nothing Fails" (Nevins Big Room Rock Mix) — 6:44 "Nothing Fails" (Tracy Young's Underground Mix) — 7:29 "Nothing Fails" (Nevins Global Dub) - 7:45 "Nothing Fails" (Jackie's In Love In The Club Mix) — 7:28 "Nobody Knows Me" (Peter Rauhofer's Private Life Part 1) — 8:07 "Nobody Knows Me" (Above & Beyond 12" Mix) — 8:45 "Nobody Knows Me" (Mount Sims Italo Kiss Mix) — 5:26 Nothing Fails/Love Profusion EU Maxi-CD (9362 42697 2)[16] "Nothing Fails" (Radio Edit) — 3:46 "Love Profusion" (Album Version) — 3:48 "Love Profusion" (The Passengerz Club) — 7:01 Nothing Fails/Nobody Knows Me US Maxi-CD (42682-2)[17] "Nothing Fails" (Peter Rauhofer's Classic House Mix) — 8:24 "Nothing Fails" (Nevins Big Room Rock Mix) — 6:44 "Nothing Fails" (Tracy Young's Underground Mix) — 7:29 "Nothing Fails" (Nevins Global Dub) — 7:45 "Nothing Fails" (Jackie's In Love In The Club Mix) — 7:28 "Nobody Knows Me" (Peter Rauhofer's Private Life Part 1) — 8:07 "Nobody Knows Me" (Above & Beyond 12" Mix) — 8:45 "Nobody Knows Me" (Mount Sims Italo Kiss Mix) — 5:26

Official versions

• Album Version (4:48)
• Radio Edit (3:46)
• Radio Remix (3:59)
• Peter Rauhofer's Classic House Mix (8:24)
• Peter Rauhofer's Lost In Space Mix (8:37) (Bonus track on the 'Love Profusion' USA CD Maxi Single)
• Nevins Mix (4:00) (featured on Remixed & Revisited as simply "Nevins Mix")
• Nevins Big Room Rock Mix (6:44)
• Nevins Global Dub (7:45)
• Tracy Young's Underground Mix (7:29)
• Tracy Young's Underground Dub (8:36)
• Jackie's In Love In The Club Mix (7:28)

Charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Dance Albums Chart	6
Austrian Singles Chart	51
Canadian Singles Chart[18]	7
Danish Singles Chart	11
France SNEP Singles Chart	34
German Singles Chart	36
Germany Airplay Chart[19]	2
Greek Singles Chart	19
Irish Singles Chart	10
Italian FIMI Singles Chart	7
Romanian Singles Chart[20]	49
Spanish Singles Chart[21]	1
Spain Los 40 Principales Chart	35
Swiss Singles Chart[22]	41
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs	1

Preceded by "Devuelveme El Aire" by David Bustamante	Spanish Singles Chart number-one single December 16, 2003	Succeeded by "Uno Mas Uno Son Siete" by Fran Perea
Preceded by "Wonderful" by Annie Lennox	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs number-one single February 7, 2004	Succeeded by "Fake" by Simply Red

References

1. ^ ^{a b} O'Brien, 2007, p. 267
2. ^ "Introducing the FreeFreight shipping option from". HBDirect. 2003-04-22. http://www.hbdirect.com/album_detail.php?pid=480446. Retrieved 2010-09-06. 
3. ^ Tucker, Ken (2003-04-25). "American Life Review: Madonna". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,444558~4~0~americanlife,00.html. Retrieved 2011-09-29. 
4. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (2005-11-04). "Madonna: Confessions on a Dance Floor". Slant magazine. http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/madonna-confessions-on-a-dance-floor/674. Retrieved 2011-09-29. 
5. ^ Madonna - American Life - Review - Stylus Magazine
6. ^ Thompson, Stephen (2003-04-23). "Madonna "American Life". The A.V. Club. The Onion, Inc. http://www.avclub.com/articles/madonna-american-life,12006/. Retrieved 2010-01-19. 
7. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails
8. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails
9. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails
10. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails
11. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails
12. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails
13. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails
14. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails
15. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails
16. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails / Love Profusion
17. ^ Madonna - Nothing Fails / Nobody Knows Me
18. ^ Allmusic
19. ^ "Chart Data: Madonna". Mariah-charts.com. http://www.mariah-charts.com/chartdata/PMadonna.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-06. 
20. ^ Romanian Top 100
21. ^ "Hits of the World: Spain". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc) 115 (52): 64. 2003-12-27. http://books.google.com/books?id=bA8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA64&dq=Dec+27,+2003+%22hits+of+the+world%22+spain&hl=en&ei=c6V0TKS4D4GGvgPG9IzDBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-08-24. 
22. ^ Swiss Singles Chart

• (2006). MoCaW:Chart History. Retrieved from http://justzheng.com/Madonna/CHThist.htm on January 18, 2006. International charting information.
• (2003). Eil.com. Retrieved from http://eil.com/shop/extsearch.asp?refresh=18648953 on January 18, 2006. Tracklistings and formats.
• (2003). "ARIA Album Dance Chart". Retrieved from http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20040107-0000/Issue722.pdf on December 22, 2003. Australian chart position.