Composed by Peter Brown and Robert Rans. Recorded by Madonna for her second studio album, Like A Virgin. The lyrics identify with materialism, with Madonna asking for a rich and affluent life rather than romance and relationships. The music video was inspired by Madonna’s admiration of Marilyn Monroe and mimicked Marilyn’s performance of Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. When asked about the song during an interview in 1986, Madonna said that although she did not write or create the song, the lyrical meaning and concept did apply to her situation at that point of time. When asked about Material Girl and another of her songs (Like a Virgin) in 2009, she responded “I liked them both because they were ironic and provocative at the same time but also unlike me. I am not a materialistic person and I certainly wasn’t a virgin, and, by the way, how can you be like a virgin? I liked the play on words, I thought they were clever.” Genre: Dance-Pop.
As well as being a talented music artist, Madonna is also a philanthropist through her Ray of Light charity. Find out more here: http://www.rayoflight.org.
