Madonna - Cherish (1989)

"Cherish" is a song by American singer Madonna from her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer (1989). It was written and ...

"Cherish" is a song by American singer Madonna from her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer (1989). It was written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, and was released by Sire Records as the album's third single on August 1, 1989. "Cherish" was built around the themes of love and relationships, with William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet being one of the major inspirations. The track also included a line from "Cherish" by the 1960s band the Association. Musically constructed as a doo-wop-style pop song, it is regarded as a light-hearted track by critics and includes instruments such as a drum machine, percussions, keyboards and a saxophone. Lyrically, it speaks of Madonna's devotion to her lover, and her promise to be always by his side. "Cherish" was included on Madonna's greatest hits compilations The Immaculate Collection (1990) and Celebration (2009).

After its release, the song received positive feedback from reviewers, who were surprised by the change of content and the lighter image of Madonna's music in contrast to her previous singles from Like a Prayer, which incorporated themes such as religion and sexuality. They compared certain lyrics of the song to Juliet's lines in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. "Cherish" was a commercial success, topping the Canadian music chart and reaching the top ten of the charts in Australia, Belgium, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the combined European chart. In the United States, "Cherish" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Madonna the record for the most consecutive top-five singles by any act with 16.

A black-and-white music video for the song was directed by photographer Herb Ritts at the Paradise Cove Beach in Malibu, California. In the video, Madonna plays herself, while three co-actors dressed as mermen swim in and out of the sea. Academics noted that the mermen became symbols for the homosexual community and the oppression it faced. Madonna performed "Cherish" on her Blond Ambition World Tour (1990), where the performance included her dancers dressed up as mermen. Its symbolism was seen to de-sexualize men, relegating them to objects of desire.

Music video

"Cherish" was promoted by a black-and-white music video that was directed by Herb Ritts and was filmed on July 22, 1989 at Paradise Cove Beach in Malibu, California. Its world premiere took place on MTV on August 21, 1989. Ritts was one of Madonna's preferred photographers at that time and so she asked him to direct the "Cherish" video. Ritts reportedly tried to talk her out of it by saying, "But I'm a still photographer. I don't know anything about film." Undaunted, Madonna replied simply, "Well you have a few weeks to learn." The director practised with a Super 8 film camera while working on a job in Hawaii and after returning confirmed to Madonna that he could helm the video. "Two weeks later, I was filming 'Cherish'. I directed it and did the camera work as well. It was invigorating," he told art curator François Quintin in a 1999 interview.

The video was conceptualized by Ritts, who wanted to portray mermen in their natural habitat, but Madonna baulked at the idea since she wanted to be portrayed as herself, but keep the mermen also. Four male performers were signed for this, one of them being Tony Ward who would become Madonna's boyfriend later, with the other three being water polo players from nearby Pepperdine University. There were four merman tails created by Global Effects in North Hollywood, California for the video. Three full-size tails for the mermen were cast in a solid highly flexible rubber, each weighing around 40 pounds (18 kg). This was necessary to make them neutrally buoyant in water as lighter tails would have floated, causing the swimmers to be head-down in the sea. Once in these tails, the polo players needed to be carried to and from the water and once in it, they had tremendous swimming power and agility. This was partly due to a plastic spring-like armature cast into the flipper of each tail. One of the reasons this video was shot in black and white is because the water was very cold, causing Madonna's already pale complexion to look even whiter.