La Isla Bonita

"La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album '' True Blue'' (1986). Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, with additional lyrics by Bruce Gaitsch, the song was originally presented by Leonard as an instrumental demo to Michael Jackson, who turned it down; Leonard then played it to Madonna, who liked it and wrote the lyrics and melodies. "La Isla Bonita" was Madonna's first song with Latin influences; its instrumentation features Cuban drums, Spanish guitar arrangements, maracas and harmonicas. The lyrics talk about an island named San Pedro; according to Madonna, the song is a tribute to the beauty of Latinos. The song was released as the fifth and final single from ''True Blue'' on February 25, 1987. It was included on her compilation albums '' The Immaculate Collection'' (1990), and '' Celebration'' (2009).

Upon its release, "La Isla Bonita" was positively received by music critics who, in retrospective reviews, have considered it one of Madonna's best songs. It was also commercially successful, becoming her 11th top five hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and second Adult Contemporary number one; it topped the charts across several countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom, where it became her fourth number one. In the accompanying music video, Madonna portrays two opposite characters: a Catholic young woman, and a flamenco dancer; academics applauded the clip for using Hispanic fashion and symbology as icons of beauty and romanticism. The song has been performed in seven of Madonna's concert tours, the last being 2019–2020's Madame X Tour, and covered by multiple artists, including Ricky Martin and Alizée.

Background and release

During the autumn of 1985, Madonna started writing and recording songs for her third studio album, '' True Blue''; she decided to bring back producer Steve Bray, with whom she had worked on her previous album '' Like a Virgin'', and also hired a new producer, Patrick Leonard. Leonard had previously worked with Michael Jackson on 1984's Victory Tour; he recalled that after the tour concluded, Jackson's manager Quincy Jones asked him to write "something sort of Sade-like" for the singer. One of the instrumental demos Leonard submitted for Jackson's approval had "some form of a vocal", and included the phrase "La Isla Bonita", but Jackson and Jones did not like it and rejected it. After meeting with Madonna to start working on ''True Blue'', Leonard showed her the demo, and she worked on it to create some of the lyrics and melodies; "it wouldn't have occurred to me to do anything like that with her. But she liked it", Leonard recalled.

"La Isla Bonita" was the first song Madonna recorded that incorporated Spanish motifs and lyrics; the singer and Leonard would go on to work together on other similarly Latin-inspired songs, such as " Who’s That Girl" ―from the soundtrack of the film of the same name―and "Spanish Eyes" ―from '' Like a Prayer'' (1989). To get the translations correct, they talked over the phone with a Hispanic housekeeper. Of working with the producer on the song, Madonna recalled, "Latin rhythms often dominate our uptempo compositions ..It's like we're possessed. eonard and Iboth think that we were Latin in another life". She then referred to "La Isla Bonita" as her tribute to the "beauty and mystery of Latin American people". The location of the titular island has been debated, with Cuba, Belize, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic being cited as possibilities. Several sources have speculated that San Pedro Town in Ambergris Caye, Belize, is the factual geographical location; on its official website, the island's Victoria House Resort & Spa posted that the town has been nicknamed "La Isla Bonita" because of the song. During an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Madonna herself admitted to not knowing where San Pedro was: "I don't know here San Pedro is At that point, I wasn't a person who went on holidays to beautiful islands. I may have been on the way to the studio and seen an exit ramp for San Pedro".

"La Isla Bonita" was released as the fifth and final single from ''True Blue'' on February 25, 1987. It was included on Madonna's compilation albums '' The Immaculate Collection'' (1990) and '' Celebration'' (2009), as well as on the Japanese edition of ''Something to Remember'' (1995). In 2014, while working on her thirteenth studio album '' Rebel Heart'' (2015) with producer Diplo, Madonna recorded a dubplate of "La Isla Bonita" with new lyrics that referenced trio Major Lazer; this version premiered in March 2015 on BBC Radio 1Xtra.

Composition

"La Isla Bonita" was written and produced by Madonna and Leonard, with additional lyrics by Bruce Gaitsch. Personnel working on the song included Leonard on the keyboard arrangement and programming, Gaitsch on guitars, and Paulinho da Costa as percussionist; background vocals were performed by Siedah Garrett and Edie Lehmann. Described as a Latin pop song by author Rikky Rooksby, the single features instrumentation from Cuban drums, Spanish guitar, maracas, harmonicas, and a mix of synthesized and real drumming. According to the sheet music published by Alfred Publishing Inc., "La Isla Bonita" is set in the time signature of common time, with a tempo of 100 beats per minute. It is written in the key of C minor, with Madonna's voice in a high register, spanning between F₁₃ to G.

Lyrically, it describes a "humble observer, captured by the rhythm of an imagined island", and has four lines sung in Spanish. The title "La Isla Bonita" translates to "The Pretty Island". The song starts with a musical introduction performed on Bongos, before descending into synthesized beats from castanets. Madonna sings the chorus in the same G₃ to C₅ range; after the second chorus, there is a Spanish guitar interlude where her voice expands to F minor, which can be heard when she sings "I want to be where the sun warms the sky", before coming down to C minor when she sings the phrase "loves a girl". Toward the end, there is another musical interlude with a harmonica and another chorus. Ending with a gradual fade-out, the song has Madonna utter the words "Él dijo que te ama (He said he loves you)".

Critical reception

Upon release, "La Isla Bonita" was met with positive reviews from music critics. In his biography of the singer, J. Randy Taraborrelli deemed it an "exotic ..enchanting, uptempo Spanish-themed song with an equally enchanting melody". AllMusic's Stewart Mason considered it ''True Blue''s "most prescient" track, that sounds "fresh and enjoyably new"; he further singled out the singer's "purring" vocals as one of her "sexiest and most understated performances". '' Slant Magazine''s Sal Cinquemani named it "timeless", and one of Madonna's "biggest, most influential hits". In ''Rock and Roll is Here to Stay'' (2000), William McKeen referred to the single as "tranquil", and as an example of the "Latin-flavored sweet that Blondie could never resist". For ''Creem''s Ken Barnes, " La Isla Bonita'is no ' Open Your Heart', but its lilting (yet reflective) quality transcends the south-of-the-border cliches". Dawn Keetley in ''Public Women, Public Words'', said it was "smooth ndtransparent", as well as one of Madonna's "most perfect" songs.

For Lucy O'Brien, ''True Blue''s "sense of romantic thrill" is reflected in songs like "La Isla Bonita". Author Maury Dean felt it was a "tough tune for most males to shrug off". "La Isla Bonita" was referred to as "spunky" by John Leland for '' Spin'', while Jan DeKnock from the ''Chicago Tribune'' said it was "charming". From the ''Houston Chronicle'', Marty Racine considered it one of the album's standout tracks, opining that it is "almost romantic, even if smacks of an overnight fling, where being true-blue is not so difficult". For ''Entertainment Weekly''s David Browne, "a 30-ish urban sophisticate ..making Carmen Miranda-does-MTV moves ought to sound ridiculous. With the help of collaborators like Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard, though .. tturns into a perfectly conceived pop record". Writing for the ''New York Times'', Jon Pareles