Hard Candy getting softer.
May 11th, 2008Is Madge obsessed with staying young? Or well adjusted? Conflicted by expectations of “valuable” women to remain youthful? She is 49 and I think she’s had some quality plastic surgery to stave off the visible signs of ageing. I reckon you’re only old if you feel it - if you are obsessing about being old. Or denying it. 49’s not exactly old: but it is old if you’re comparing yourself to the young. There’s little fragments of youth obsession laced through Hard Candy:
1. In the song Hard Candy, she insists on whispering/purring “my sugar is RAAAAW.” Sweetie, your sugar ain’t raw. Your sugar is so processed it ain’t funny.
2. Just before the end of the song Heartbeat a male voice conspicuously shrieks “Giiiiirl”…. Ah, 49 is not girl. 49 is woman, thankyou. Like John McEnroe is not a boy.
3. She’s Not Me sounds like a musical warning to hubby Guy Ritchie not to run off with a younger hottie:
She is licking her lips
And she’s batting her eyes
She’s not me
She’s got legs up to there
And such beautiful hair
She’s not me
But then she has another point: doesn’t matter how old she is, there’s no-one with her name. A name that keeps getting mentioned over and over again on the album, just in case you forget it.

