Holy Water

Album: Rebel Heart (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This church-baiting song finds Madonna touching on two of her favorite topics: sex and religion. A sort of erotic baptism, the lyrics marry sexual and religious imagery in a similar, albeit more explicit fashion, as the Queen of Pop's 1989 hit tune "Like A Prayer."
  • Asked about her current relationship with Catholicism during a February 2015 interview with Billboard magazine, Madonna replied: "Catholicism feels like my alma mater. It's the school I used to go to, and I can go back any time I want and take whatever I want from it because I suffered all the oppression, and all the abuse - and also enjoyed all the pomp and circumstance, the drama and the confusion and the hypocrisy and the craziness."

    "I feel like I can say whatever I want and do whatever I want. I've been ex-communicated by the Catholic Church a few times. But I also feel like this new pope is kind of groovy, and I think we might be able to get together and have a chat about sex."
  • Despite digging at Catholicism in this song, Madonna still values the Christian traditions. She told UK newspaper The Sun: "I love going to a beautiful Catholic Church and hearing Mass in Latin and smelling the incense and the whole pomp and circumstance and drama of all. We have to poke at our institutions. If you can't poke at our institutions, then you might as well just live in a fascist state."
  • Madonna wrote the song with English singer-songwriter Natalia Kills and Martin Kierszenbaum, who is the founder and chairman of Cherrytree Records and senior executive of A&R for Interscope Records. Both Madonna and Kills record for his label.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot

Jon Foreman of SwitchfootSongwriter Interviews

Switchfoot's frontman and main songwriter on what inspires the songs and how he got the freedom to say exactly what he means.

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Lyric

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo LyricMusic Quiz

In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

Lecrae

LecraeSongwriter Interviews

The Christian rapper talks about where his trip to Haiti and his history of addiction fit into his songs.

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.