Oh Father

For the British television series "Oh, Father!", see Oh, Brother! (TV series).

"Oh Father"
Single by Madonna
from the album Like a Prayer
B-side	"Pray for Spanish Eyes" (1989 release) "Live to Tell" (live edit) (1995 release) "Why's It So Hard" (live) (1995 release)
Released	October 24, 1989 (Worldwide) December 31, 1995 (UK)
Format	CD, 7", cassette
Genre	Pop
Length	4:57 (album version) 4:20 (edit)
Label	Sire, Warner Bros. (1989) Maverick, Warner Bros. (1995)
Writer(s)	Madonna, Patrick Leonard
Producer	Madonna, Patrick Leonard
Madonna singles chronology
"Cherish" (1989) "Oh Father" (1989) "Dear Jessie" (1989)
Audio sample file info · help

"Oh Father" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her fourth studio album Like a Prayer. It was released as the fourth single from the album on October 24, 1989 by Sire Records. It was not released as a single in the UK until December 31, 1995 when it appeared on the 1995 ballads compilation Something to Remember.

Chart performance

The song first debuted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 single chart during the week of November 11, 1989. The song became Madonna's first single since "Holiday" in 1984 not to enter the top ten in the United States, peaking at number 20 on the week of December 30, 1989. This ended her streak of 16 consecutive top five singles and 17 consecutive top ten singles.

Outside the U.S. the song was only a modest hit. It is to date Madonna's lowest charting single in Australia, where it only reached number 59, breaking a run of 20 consecutive top 40 singles.

"Oh Father" was not released as a single in the United Kingdom and Ireland until December 27, 1995, when it appeared on Something to Remember. The song peaked at number 16 on the UK singles chart and number 25 in Ireland. The single was released in the Republic of South Africa in late 1989, yet failed to chart. Upon its re-release there in December 1995, it reached the #1 spot, which it held for 2 weeks.

Music video

Madonna in the "Oh Father" video. This same image was used as the artwork for the 1995 UK single taken from the ballads compilation Something to Remember.

The music video was filmed during the last week of October 1989 at Culver Studios in Culver City, California and was directed by David Fincher, who worked with Madonna in her video for "Express Yourself". Shot entirely in black-and-white, the video is said to have taken stylistic inspiration from the Orson Welles film Citizen Kane. MTV world premiered the video on November 11, 1989.

In 1991, the music video was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 33rd Grammy Awards but lost to Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract". It also has been honoured by Rolling Stone as one of the "The 100 Top Music Videos", placed at number 66. It is commercially available on Madonna's The Immaculate Collection (1990) DVD/VHS companion. In the 1991 MTV special hosted by Kurt Loder titled "Breakfast with Madonna", Loder described the video as "the most amazing video". He then asked Madonna if her father, Silvio Ciccone, had seen the video. Madonna responded, "To tell you the truth, I don't know if he's seen it. I'm sort of afraid to ask."^{[citation needed]} There is also a scene in the video, where the young girl walks up to her mother's coffin, and it then cuts to a shot of her mother's mouth sewn shut. This mimics what Madonna has stated, that it happened when she looked at her mother's mouth in her coffin.

• Director: David Fincher
• Producer: Tim Clawson
• Director of Photography: Jordan Cronenweth
• Editor: Jim Haygood
• Production company: Propaganda Films

Live performance

Madonna performed this song on her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour as a medley with Live to tell while kneeling on an altar.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Oh Father."^[1]

CD single

1. "Oh Father" (edit) – 4:20
2. "Pray for Spanish Eyes" – 5:15

7" / Cassette single

1. "Oh Father" (edit) – 4:20
2. "Pray for Spanish Eyes" – 5:15

UK cassette single (1995)

1. "Oh Father" (album version) – 4:58
2. "Live to Tell" (live edit from Ciao Italia) – 6:22

UK CD single / UK Limited edition CD Jewel case with 4 postcards (1995)

1. "Oh Father" (album version) - 4:58
2. "Live to Tell" (live edit from Ciao Italia) – 6:22
3. "Why's It So Hard" (live from The Girlie Show) – 5:12

Charts

Chart (1989)[2][3]	Peak position
Australia ARIA Singles Chart	59
France SNEP Singles Chart	26
Japanese Oricon International Singles Chart	12
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	20
Chart (1996)[4]	Peak position
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	62
Finland Singles Chart[5]	6
Irish Singles Chart[6]	25
Italian Singles Chart[7]	6
UK Singles Chart	16

Cover versions

UK alternative band My Vitriol released a rock version of the song on their 2001 hit single Grounded. A cover version by Giant Drag done in folk rock style was included on the 2007 Madonna tribute compilation Through the Wilderness. In 2010 Sia covered the song on her album We Are Born. Sia wasn't allowed to change the lyrics, but did sing it with re-written lyrics during the We Meaning You Tour.

References

1. ^ EIL.com. link. Last accessed on March 6, 2006. - Formats and track listings.
2. ^ Billboard.com. link. Last accessed on March 6, 2006. - U.S. chart positions.
3. ^ MoCaW: Madonna on Charts around the World. link. Last accessed on March 6, 2006. - Worldwide chart positions and certifications.
4. ^ MoCaW: Madonna on Charts around the World. link. Last accessed on March 6, 2006. - Worldwide chart positions and certifications.
5. ^ Finland Singles Chart
6. ^ IRMA
7. ^ "Madonna: Discografia Italiana" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. 1983-1999. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/mono/madonna_disco.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-06.