Madonna Borderline Cover
Rachelle Kun
"Borderline" is a song by American singer Madonna from her debut self-titled studio album (1983), written and produced by Reggie Lucas. In 1982, Madonna was signed on by Sire Records for the release of two 12-inch singles; after the success of first single "Everybody", the label approved the recording of an album, and the singer decided to work with Lucas. "Borderline" is a pop song with post-disco elements whose sounds recall the music of the 1970s, while the lyrics find a woman complaining of her lover's chauvinism.
In the United States, it was released as single on February 15, 1984, whereas in Europe it was published twice: first in June 1984, and then in January 1986. Upon release, "Borderline" was acclaimed by music critics, who lauded the singer's vocals; in retrospective reviews, it has been referred to as Madonna's breakout song, and as one of the best songs from the 1980s. It was commercially successful: in 1984, it gave Madonna her first top-ten hit in the US Billboard Hot 100. The 1986 release saw success across Europe: it became the singer's second number one in Ireland, and reached the top 3 in the United Kingdom, Belgium and The Netherlands.
The song's music video was directed by Mary Lambert; in it, Madonna portrays the girlfriend of a Hispanic man, to whom she returns after being enticed to pose and model for a white British photographer. Authors pointed out that with the visual, the singer broke the taboo of interracial relationships. "Borderline" has been performed in the singer's Virgin (1985) and Sticky & Sweet (2008) concert tours. It has also been covered by artists like Jody Watley, the Flaming Lips, and Kelly Clarkson, among others.
Recording took place at the Sigma Sound Studios in New York.[10] Personnel working on the song included Lucas on the drum machine, Fred Zarr and Dean Gant on keyboards and synthesizers, alongside Ed Walsh; the bass was played by Anthony Jackson, while Bobby Malach played tenor saxophone. Background vocals were provided by Gwen Guthrie, Brenda White, and Chrissy Faith.[10] Lucas compared "Borderline"'s style to that of Stephanie Mills' "Never Knew Love Like This Before" (1980), which he also produced. It is also the first song where he used a drum machine instead of a drummer.[6] According to Rikki Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, the chord progression evokes Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (1974), while the inversions are similar to the sound of the 1970s, specifically disco, Philadelphia soul, and the work of Elton John.[3]
In the United States, "Borderline" was released on February 15, 1984, as the fourth single from the Madonna album, following "Holiday";[16] in the United Kingdom, it was published as the album's fifth single on June 2, 1984.[8][17] To "keep the Madonna mania going on", a second European release was done in January 1986.[18][16] "Borderline" was then included on Madonna's compilation albums The Immaculate Collection (1990) and Celebration (2009).[19][20]
"Borderline" has been acclaimed since its release. For Rikky Rooksby, it's the "most harmonically complex track on the album", while Dave Marsh, author of The Heart of Rock & Soul, felt it was "too damn good to be denied, no matter whose value system it disrupts".[3][22] To Marc Andrews, it's the album's "sweetest" song.[23] Author Maury Dean, in his book Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush, applauded its "saucy-style and come-hither magnetism".[24] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine singled it out as "effervescent", and as one of the "great songs" on his review of the Madonna album;[25] for Stewart Mason, from the same portal, "[it] proved that Madonna was more than a pretty face, a dancer's body and a squeaky voice [...] 'Borderline' is a pure treasure, one of those unabashedly commercial pop songs that also manages to at least hint at deeper emotions". He concluded that the singer, "delivers the best vocal performance of her early career, when her limitations were at their most obvious".[26]
While reviewing The Immaculate Collection on its 25th anniversary, Drew Mackie from People opined it was "catchy", and a "promise of even better things to come" in Madonna's career.[19] James Rose, from the Daily Review, referred to "Borderline" as an "insight to an emerging wordsmith, with a deeper sensibility married to her unerring aim on manufactured pop hooks".[35] On his review of the 2001 re-release of Madonna, Michael Paoletta from Billboard pointed out that, "such tracks as 'Borderline' [...] remain irresistible".[36] While ranking the album's tracks on its 40th anniversary, Marcus Wratten from PinkNews placed "Borderline" on the first spot, singling out Madonna's performance, and comparing the single to a "warm, comforting hug".[37] "Borderline" has often been referred to as Madonna's breakout song: Journalist Roxanne Orgill in her book Shout, Sister, Shout!, wrote that it made the singer "the star that she is".[38] J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his biography of Madonna, said it was, along with "Holiday", one of the "key recordings" that helped to establish her career.[39] Mark Elliott from website This is Dig! added that "Borderline" was a "landmark song", as it positioned Madonna as a "premier-league mainstream star and a compelling dance act".[16] Finally, the staff of Rolling Stone concluded that, "['Borderline'] propelled [Madonna] from urban-radio contender to pop queen".[7]
The week of March 3, 1984, several radio stations began to add "Borderline" to its rotation, which caused it to debut at number 107 of Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100.[49] One week later, it entered the Hot 100 at number 76.[50] By June 16, it peaked at number 10, becoming Madonna's first top-ten hit, the first of 17 consecutive top-tens the singer would achieve from 1984 through 1989.[51][52] Overall, it spent 30 weeks on the chart.[51] On March 24, 1984, it entered the Dance Club Songs chart at number 67, eventually peaking at number 4 almost two months later.[53][54] It also reached the 23rd position of the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.[55] By the end of 1984, "Borderline" ranked 35th on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.[56] On October 22, 1998, the song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 500,000 copies.[57] In Canada, the single debuted in the 56th position of RPM's Top Singles chart on the week of August 4, 1984;[58] one month later, it peaked at number 25.[59]
In the United Kingdom, "Borderline" debuted at the 74th position of the UK Singles Chart on June 2, 1984, and, almost two week later, reached number 56; it spent 5 weeks on the chart overall.[17] Following the 1986 re-release, it peaked at number two, behind Billy Ocean's "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going".[17] In February 1986, the single was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[60] "Borderline" was the 50th best-selling single of 1986 in the United Kingdom.[61] According to Music Week magazine, over 298,300 copies of the single have been sold in the United Kingdom as of 2008.[62] The 1986 release saw success across Europe; it was Madonna's second number one in Ireland after "Into the Groove",[63][16] and peaked within the top 3 of the charts in Belgium and The Netherlands.[64][65][66][67] "Borderline" reached the 29th and 25th spot of Music & Media's European Hot 100 Singles and European Airplay Top 50, respectively.[68][69] In Australia, the singled peaked at number 12.[70] It was less successful in New Zealand, where it barely cracked the top 40.[71]
Mary Lambert directed the music video for "Borderline", which was filmed on location in Los Angeles, California from January 30 to February 2, 1984.[72][73] Production was in charge of Lambert, Bruce Logan, and Michele Ferrone; Simon Maskell was on art direction, Andrea Dietrich on cinematography, while Glenn Morgan did the editing.[74] In the video, Madonna plays a young woman emotionally torn between her Hispanic boyfriend and a white British photographer, for whom she models and who publishes her pictures on a magazine cover.[75][76] Lambert recalled that there was "no formula" used when making the video and that they were simply "inventing it as we went along".[73] The role of the singer's boyfriend was played by Louis "Louie Louie" Cordero, while actor John Leguizamo appeared as an extra.[77][78]
Lambert herself described the video's plot to Rolling Stone: "[A] Boy and [a] girl enjoy simple pleasures of barrio love; girl is tempted by fame, boy gets huffy, girl gets famous, but her new beau's out-of-line reaction to a behavioral trifle (all she did was to spray-paint his expensive sports car) drives her back to her true love".[11] Throughout the clip, the singer is seen with her boyfriend and his "multiethnic break-dancing entourage", hanging out on rooftops; the scenes with the photographer depict a luxury sports car and take place in a "sanitized, colorless" private studio.[76] Madonna herself is shown with messy hair, "dramatic" make-up, jewelry, and a punk studded belt. In one particular scene with the boyfriend, she dons a denim jacket with "boy toy" emblazoned on the back.[76] When she models, she wears a couple of evening gowns.[75] These clothes were later used in fashion shows by designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Christian Lacroix.[75]
Footage with the photographer was shot in black-and-white, while the scenes in the barrio with her boyfriend were shot in full color.[76] "Borderline" was added to MTV the week of March 24, 1984.[53] Years later, it was added to Madonna's video compilations The Immaculate Collection (1990) and Celebration: The Video Collection (2009).[74][20]
"'Borderline' was significant not only because of its then-controversial representation of an interracial relationship and female sexual assertiveness [...] but because [it] played out -and with- struggles over immigration, gender roles, and multiculturalism that were at the forefront of US politics in the 1980s".