December 1 is World AIDS Day. This day means a great deal to many of us. The peak of the AIDS crisis generated some unforgettable songs by major artists that still hold up today.
Released in 1992 and largely misunderstood at the time, Madonna’s Erotica was called “a post-AIDS album about romance” by Rolling Stone. The effects of the AIDS crisis are felt throughout the record.
One track in particular stands on World AIDS Day. That’s the penultimate track, In This Life. The slow song, with orchestral arrangements, is about gay men in Madonna’s life she lost to the disease, including singer Martin Burgoyne, who was a good friend and former roommate, when she lived in New York in the early 80s. Burgoyne died from AIDS in 1986 at the age of 23. Christopher Flynn was Madonna's dance teacher and mentor, who died of aids as well. It’s also likely the song was inspired by the AIDS-related death of artist Keith Haring.
The haunting track features percussion that many have likened to a doomsday clock, and it samples George Gershwin’s blues lullaby “Prelude No. 2.”
This track was very much ahead of its time. It probably still is.
Other key tracks to revisit on World Aids Day include:
Bruce Springsteen’s Oscar-winning “Streets of Philadelphia” from Philadelphia
“The Last Song” by Elton John
“Boy Blue” by Cyndi Lauper
And “Sing” by Annie Lennox
Below are the full lyrics for “In This Life”
“Sitting on a park bench
Thinking about a friend of mine
He was only 23
Gone before he had his time
It came without a warning
Didn't want his friends to see him cry
He knew the day was dawning
And I didn't have a chance to say goodbye
In this life
I loved you most of all
What for?
'Cause now you're gone and I have to ask myself
What for?
What for?
Driving down the boulevard
Thinking about a man I knew
He was like a father to me
Nothing in the world that he wouldn't do
Taught me to respect myself
Said that we're all made of flesh and blood
Why should he be treated differently
Shouldn't matter who you choose to love
In this life
I loved you most of all
What for?
'Cause now you're gone and I have to ask myself
What for?
People pass by and I wonder who's next
Who determines, who knows best
Is there a lesson I'm supposed to learn in this case
Ignorance is not bliss
In this life
I loved you most of all
What for?
'Cause now you're gone and I have to ask myself
What for?
People pass by and I wonder who's next
Who determines, who knows best
Is there a lesson I'm supposed to learn in this case
Ignorance is not bliss
Have you ever watched your best friend die
Have you ever watched a grown man cry
Some say that life isn't fair
I say that people just don't care
They'd rather turn the other way
While we wait for this thing to go away
Why do we have to pretend
Some day I pray it will end
I hope it's in this life
I hope it's in this lifetime
I hope it's in this life
I hope it's in this lifetime