Confessions II isn’t just the sequel to Madonna’s 2005 masterpiece, Confessions On A Dance Floor. It’s a return to form for one of pop music’s most transformative artists. And in her new track, “Danceteria”, she revisits the place where it all began.
No Entiendes
Madonna’s song gets its name from the New York club where she was discovered by a DJ named Mark Kamins, who introduced her to Sire Records.
The opening verse glimpses a night out in the city. This is Madonna, young and broke, yet full of swagger and conviction. She name-checks friends and collaborators and cuts to the front of the line, en route to the cabaret, No Entiendes.
I get off the train, four, five, six,
Walk to the club, don’t wait for sh*t.
Meet this boy named Martin Burgoyne,
He’s my best friend, he’s my boytoy.
We see the line; it’s way too long,
Cut to the front, there’s Haoui Montaug.
Waves us in, No Entiendes,
I’m not sure you understand this.
Now she’s on the dance floor and, in passing, calls out her 1985 hit, “Into The Groove”. (The song was featured in the film Desperately Seeking Susan, which includes scenes filmed at Danceteria.)
It’s not what I say, it’s not what I do,
It’s how my body language talks to you.
I just want to lose myself in the groove,
Get over here.
“You Look Lost”
Madonna told Interview about an early encounter at the club: “I probably looked completely tragic waiting in line at Danceteria. That’s when Martin [Burgoyne] came up to me.” He said, “You look lost.” Then he walked Madonna into the club.
“He brought me in and my whole life changed. And obviously I went there a lot because I was figuring out a way to butter up Mark Kamins,” she said.
Later in the song, Madonna mentions a who’s who of the glitzy scene: Fab Five Freddy, Basquiat, Nile Rodgers, David Byrne, and The B-52s, to name quite a few.
“This is how we start the party,” she sings. And in less than four minutes, “Danceteria” takes one on a journey through Madonna’s early chapter in New York City. Though she was born in Michigan, New York’s Danceteria transformed Madonna Louise Ciccone into the Queen of Pop.
Everybody get up and dance,
Everyone here is a work of art.
Photo by Pablo Porciuncula/AFP via Getty Images