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Madonna‘s album Like a Prayer was a major sea change in the Queen of Pop’s career. She never seemed more honest than when she put out that album. For example, a tune from Like a Prayer gave fans insight into her relationship with her mother. She revealed that she still spoke to her mother from beyond the grave.

Madonna dealt with family trauma on ‘Like a Prayer’

Prior to 1989, Madonna was known for boisterous dance tunes, sentimental ballads, and the occasional song about teen pregnancy. Her output got a little more personal with her 1989 album Like a Prayer. That record showed off a side of her that was more vulnerable. With the singles “Keep It Together” and “Oh Father,” the Queen of Pop gave fans insight into her feelings about her own family. Never had the Material Girl seemed more down-to-earth and human.

During a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone, the Queen of Pop reflected on her feelings toward her deceased mother. “When someone dies and the years go by, you tend to make them into something they’re not,” she said. “The song ‘Promise to Try’ on the new album is about letting go of that. It’s about a yearning to have her in my life but also about trying to accept the fact she’s not.”

Madonna told her mother private things from beyond the grave

Decades before genius.com, Madonna interpreted some of her own lyrics for her audience. “As in the lyric ‘Don’t let memory play games with your mind / She’s a faded smile frozen in time,'” the “Frozen” singer said. “Yes, I wish, but it’s not going to be. I do talk to her often. I mean, I always have. I don’t know if she can hear me or not, but I tell her things that a girl can only say to her mother. Private things.”

Madonna was asked if she thought about death often. “Yes, but in spurts,” she replied. “Sometimes I just assume I’m going to live forever. I don’t want to die. It’s the ultimate unknown. I don’t want to go to the dark beyond. I want to stay where I know where everything is.”

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‘Like a Prayer’ produced 5 hit songs

“Promise to Try” was not a single, so it did not chart in the United States. The album Like a Prayer became a huge hit. It topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks. It spent 77 weeks on the chart altogether, making it one of her most popular records.

Madonna was so huge in 1989 that she released six singles from Like a Prayer. Of those songs, four hit the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The title track hit No. 1, “Express Yourself” and “Cherish” hit No. 2, and “Keep It Together” reached No. 8. Meanwhile, “Oh Father” reached a respectable No. 20 while the children’s song “Dear Jessie” didn’t chart at all. Maybe “Dear Jessie” could have done well in the 1960s, when kiddie songs like The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” and “Puff, the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul and Mary were bona fide hits, but 1989 was a different musical landscape.

“Promise to Try” isn’t one of the big singles from Like a Prayer, but it helped make the album a moving listing experience.

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