True Blue

"True Blue" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album of the same name (1986), released as the third single on September 10, 1986, by Sire Records. Written and produced by Madonna and Steve Bray, the song deals with Madonna's feelings for her then-husband Sean Penn. A dance-pop song, it features instrumentation from a rhythm guitar, a synthesizer, keyboards, and drums. The main chorus is backed by an alternate one, incorporating a chord progression generally found in doo-wop music. Received by critics as a light-hearted and cute retro song, "True Blue" topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada and became another consecutive top-ten song in United States for Madonna, by reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The original music video portrayed her again with a new look, leaner and sporting platinum blond bushy hair. An alternate video was made through the "Make My Video" contest on MTV. The final selected videos had a similar theme of a 1950s-inspired setting and the storyline following the lyrics of the song. "True Blue" has been performed on the Who's That Girl World Tour (1987) and the Rebel Heart Tour (2015–2016). Background and writing When Madonna had started working on her third studio album, True Blue in 1985, she was already in a relationship with actor Sean Penn whom she married by the year-end. It was the first album that the singer acted in the role of a record producer and wanted to add her own "sophistication" to it. Her optimism assimilated in the songs created, including the title track, which she co-wrote and co-produced the song with Stephen Bray. According to Madonna, "True Blue" takes its title from a favorite expression of Penn and to his very pure vision of love. The song and the album was Madonna's "unabashed valentine" for Penn. In an interview, Bray said, "She [Madonna] was very much in love. It was obvious if she's in love she'll write love songs. If she's not in love she definitely won't be writing love songs." In 2015, Madonna said that "True Blue" is "a song about true love. I didn't know what I was talking about when I wrote it."