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Madonna‘s “4 Minutes” is about having four minutes to save the world. If you thought that was weird, the Material Girl connected the song’s lyrics to environmentalism. That has to be one of the biggest stretches in the history of popular music. In addition, the Queen of Pop revealed what it was like to work on the song with Justin Timberlake.

Madonna’s ‘4 Minutes’ is about having fun while being an environmentalist

Many of Madonna’s hits revolve around normal pop song topics, such as love, sex, and dancing. Meanwhile, Madonna’s “4 Minutes” is about having only four minutes to save the world. That premise is so odd that it’s hard to take it at face value. 

During a 2008 interview with MTV News, the Queen of Pop was asked about the meaning of “4 Minutes.” “Well, I don’t think it’s important to take it too literally,” she said. “I think the song more than anything is about having a sense of urgency; about how we are you know living on borrowed time essentially and people are becoming much more aware of the environment and how we’re destroying the planet. 

The “Like a Virgin” singer elaborated on the environmental meaning of “4 Minutes.” “We can’t just keep distracting ourselves we do have to educate ourselves and wake up and do something about it,” he said. “You know at the same time we don’t want to be boring and serious and not have fun so it’s kind of like well if we’re going to save the planet can we have a good time while we are doing it?”

What Madonna thought of Justin Timberlake as a person

Madonna revealed what it was like to work with fellow pop superstar Timberlake. “Really, it was fantastic working with him,” she opined. “He is a great song writer, he likes playing with rhythms and I like words so we wrote well together he would sort of go off in a corner and listen to stuff and come up with concepts.”

During a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, Madonna had other things to say about Timberlake. She compared the “SexyBack” singer to Old Hollywood actor Cary Grant. However, Madonna didn’t see herself in Timberlake in the way that she saw herself in fellow pop star Lady Gaga.

Then why was she so impressed with Timberlake? Interestingly, she considered him a musical genius. The Queen of Pop called Timberlake’s “What Goes Around…/…Comes Around” “brilliant.” She was also able to sense his ambition. That’s really saying something, considering that Madonna is one of the most famously ambitious celebrities of all time.

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‘4 Minutes’ fails in 1 major way

So, is Madonna’s “4 Minutes” a work of musical genius? Well, the production on the song is great. It marked the tail-end of the electro-R&B sound that dominated much of the 2000s. The lyrics of the track definitely attract attention, as they are some of the quirkiest of Madonna’s discography. 

However, “4 Minutes” doesn’t communicate its supposed environmental message very well. Nobody would ever think that the song was about saving the planet if Madonna didn’t explain the song to MTV News. Regardless, the tune still works on the dancefloor.

Madonna’s “4 Minutes” is fun, but it’s probably not going to get anyone to save the planet.

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