Madonna and her daughter Lola have sung about the impact of fame in an emotional new track.
The 67-year-old star and her firstborn Lourdes ‘Lola’ Leon, 29, have collaborated on The Test, which appears on the Queen of Pop’s new album Confession II, and they have delved into their relationship and how it was affected by a life in the spotlight.
In the first verse, Madonna sings: “Little star / I tried to put you on a pedestal / You didn’t ask for all the flashing lights / I didn’t think of how it could disturb.
“Or how it hurt / I wish I knew / The pain I’ve caused / My butterfly / Was always being watched.”
The opening words of the song are a reference to Madonna’s 1998 track Little Star, which was dedicated to Lola and was recorded shortly after she welcomed her into the world.
On the second verse, Lola praises her famous mother’s influence.
She sings: “A hand tenderly reaching to me / You are my reason to be / Or what I want, or look like / What I wear, all the clothes on my back. “And what I attract / I trace the line of what you have sewn / Keep my own design / Make it a landscape / Make it alive.”
In the first chorus, Madonna takes over at first, referencing how people “tried to put us to the test”, and how she feels like she’s “treading on your footsteps”.
She sings: “Sometimes I think you wish I’d go away/ But my shadow stays and it’s okay to be yourself.”
Later, Lola responds: “I know they tried to put us to the test/ I’m not the same when I’m hanging on your coattail.
“Sometimes I wish I could multiply you/ But I know you are all around me/ You are all around me.”
Madonna recently revealed that the song was written for a very specific and poignant reason.
She told Interview magazine: “[Lola] approached me about writing a song together as a way to heal our relationship.”
It marked a change in attitude from her daughter, who has released her own music over the years and didn’t want to be seen as “taking advantage” of her family connections.
Madonna told Graham Norton on BBC Radio 1 last month: “She’s been very reticent to work with me. She doesn’t want to be perceived as my daughter taking advantage of her privilege.”
However, the Like A Prayer hitmaker explained: “She had been, through her adolescence, struggling with those feelings for a long time. “She came to me, she said, ‘Let’s write a song together, I think it will be a healing experience.’ And you say what you want to say, and I’ll say exactly what I want to say.”