Just gotta rather randomly mention this song as infact it is one of the few Madonna songs I like! It is a shame that this is not one of her most famous songs but anyway.....I love the "metropolis" video it has too! Very much of it's time thanx to the colours and the budget of it all but great stuff!

I just caught her "oh father" video too, a vid I ain't seen on TV for many years.....beutiful video.....

anyway Madonna fans, any background info on the song? Who produced it, any video details etc.....?

It's one of my fav Mad songs as well.

Produced by Stephen Bray and Madonna
Inluded on the "Like a Prayer" album

The video apparently has 2 versions

One of my fave Madonna songs.

2 versions eh? Is one longer or something? I heard this vid was one of the most expensive ever!!!

Do Madonnna hardcore fans like this song alot? It may have feminist lyrics which do not directly apply to me as Iam a bloke, but lyrics r great as is production.I get so sick of hearing "vogue" all the time wherever I go....."express urself" always, to me, seems to live in "vogues" shadow!

thesexofit said:

I think "Scream" was the most expensive video by MJ and JJ
But, this was an expensive one for sure

And i prefer this song to vogue myself, i feel all women should listen to it to know their place in society.

Some interesting trivia about this song...


***"Express Yourself" is a tribute to Sly and The Family Stone.Madonna was thinking of Sly when she wrote it.


***Producer and co-writer Stephen Bray swears that there is an alternate version of this song that KILLS the released version.

DavidEye said:

i thought "keep it together" was her tribute to Sly & The Family Stone..

sosgemini said:

It is.Both songs are inspired by the music of Sly Stone.On the 'Blond Ambition' tour,she briefly sings a few lines from Sly's "It's A Family Affair".And on her "Girlie Show" a few years later,she even performs a bit of Sly's song "Everybody Is A Star".


needless to say,she's a huge Sly fan,lol

"Express Yourself" is one of her most famous songs. Why don't you think it is ?

"Express Yourself" was the most expensive video, at the time ('89). The video 4 the second single from her 'Like A Prayer' album was directed by David Fincher (who also directed "Oh Father").

Interesting facts:

-One of the guys with trumpets under-glass is actor Djimon Hounssou.

-The pinstriped men's suit Madonna wears at the top of the stair case was stolen from the wardrobe department of "Dick Tracy" (which Madonna was shooting at the time)

-The video was modeled after the 1920's silent film "Metropolis".

-While the original video's song is an edited version of the "Non-Stop Express Remix", the version that appears on the 'Immaculate Collection' video is the LP version.

-The song actually did hit # 2 on the pop charts.

Great song and one of her standards... if she has those. It failed to reach number 1 because it was released at the same time of another major hit song of that era... don't remember which one.

Feminist groups were up in arms over the shots of Madonna in chains.

Express Yourself opened the Blonde Ambition Tour... First song of the Disco set of the Girlie Show and was performed as a Military piece in Re-Invention.

ehuffnsd said:

"If You Don't Know Me By Now" and "Toy Soldiers" kept that song from reaching the summit. Insane, huh?

love this song. love it.



love the 7" remix even more. very similar to the album version, but punches it up a bit for radio.

npgmaverick said:

not exactly. one of the vids is very similar to the album version, but it slightly remixed. it's not the album version, it's not the 7" remix, and it's not the Local Mix, but it's very close to all 3.

VoicesCarry said:

i love toy soliders

Why was the exact version that's in the video not released on something? That's the definitive version of that song.

my least favourite song on the album after cherish

Me too, underated and underplayed because it comes from a genre of music (dance pop) that sounds very dated now.....I hope some of that stuff dets re-evaluated, same with NewJackSwing.....

ehuffnsd said:

i love "if you dont know me by know"