"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 Romeo and Juliet. "Cherish" was a commercial success, topping the Canadian music chart and reaching the top ten of the charts in Australia, Belgium, Italy, 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.
Background "Cherish" was written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, and released as the third single from Like a Prayer (1989). The song is built around the themes of love and relationships, with William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet one of its major inspirations. Madonna was reading Romeo and Juliet during the breaks during rehearsals for Speed the Plow, a Broadway show in which she was starring in 1988. On the third day of the Like a Prayer recording sessions, she presented Leonard with the lyrics of "Cherish", and explained that she had written the song "one sunny afternoon by the beach", but later confessed that it was actually written in her make-up room. "I wrote it in a superhyper-positive state of mind that I knew was not going to last", the singer recalled. Leonard introduced one line from the similar titled song by the 1960s band the Association, "Cherish is the word I use", after which Madonna decided to include it on Like a Prayer. The B-side of the single release of "Cherish" was a previously unreleased track called "Supernatural", initially composed during the recording sessions of her third studio album, True Blue and later completed in 1989. In 2009, during an interview with Rolling Stone, Madonna confessed that she had never been able to predict if her songs would be successful, irrespective of her personal opinion of them. As an example, she cited "Cherish" as one of the most "retarded" songs she had written, but noted it became a commercial success. The song was also included on the 1990 compilation album The Immaculate Collection and the two-disc edition of her 2009 compilation Celebration.
Composition
"Cherish" is a doo-wop style pop shuffle song and opened the second side of Like a Prayer. It begins with the sound of synths and keyboard and Madonna repeatedly singing the words "cherish, cherish". This is followed by the sound from drum machine, as percussion and guitars accompany her voice. During the bridge, Madonna sings the line "Cupid please take your aim at me", as the keyboard sound becomes pronounced. The drum changes its rhythm and Madonna moves into the chorus, "Cherish the joy/of always having you here by my side", accompanied by background vocals and a bass guitar. The second verse continues in the same way, with Madonna singing the line "Romeo and Juliet/they never felt this way I bet/So don't underestimate my point of view."
As the second chorus ends, a saxophone starts playing as Madonna softly asks the listener, "Who? You! Can't get away, I won't let you", followed by Leonard's Association-inspired line. Background vocals continue repeating words over a horn, playing in B minor. The drums and the percussion start again and the chorus is sung twice, before fading out. According to the sheet music published by Alfred Publishing Co. Inc., "Cherish" is composed in the time signature of common time, with a moderately fast tempo of 130 beats per minute. Set in the key of D major, "Cherish" has Madonna singing between the tonal nodes of A3 to D5. The song follows the sequence of G/D–D–Em7–D in the beginning as its chord progression, which changes to D–Dm–C–Em7 during the verses and shifts to G–D/G–A–D/F in the chorus.
The lyrics of "Cherish" makes it a simple love song, where Madonna talks about devotion and having her lover by her side, whom she would never leave. According to semiotician Thomas Sebeok, the backbone of "Cherish" is constructed by incorporating titles of previous romantic pop hits. Songs such as "Cupid" (Sam Cooke), "You Are My Destiny" (Paul Anka) and "I Can't Let Go" (The Hollies) are used within the first verse, while other verses use the words of such song titles as "Burning Love" (Elvis Presley) and "Two Hearts" (Bruce Springsteen). Other instances include the Association song reference and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Richard Burt, author of Shakespeare After Mass Media, deduced that the lines on Romeo and Juliet and "I Can't Let Go" makes the speaker alternate between assertiveness and dependency. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that although "Cherish" was a "radiant" song invoking the pop music of the 60s, "in the grand pop scheme, [it] pales only in comparison to their glorious counterparts, making Like a Prayer one of the quintessential pop albums of all time."
Critical reception
Wayne Robins from Newsday believed that "Cherish" exemplified the "kind of random pop we'd get if [postmodern author] William Burroughs were the program director of a Top 40 radio station." Burt compared the song and Madonna's delivery of the lyrics with the dialogues spoken by Shakespeare's Juliet, and found similarity in the, "Sweet so would I, Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing" from the play, with the lyrics of "Cherish". Allen Metz, one of the authors of The Madonna Companion, felt that "Cherish" as the opening song of the B-side of Like a Prayer, reaffirmed the sweet and happy romanticism that was missing from the A-side of the album adding, "As much a child of pop as of the church, Madonna is restored by music's healing power, in this case with a mixture of classic sweet soul and L.A. pop moderne."
Music critic J. D. Considine, while reviewing the Like a Prayer album for Rolling Stone complimented the song for creating an effective balance, contrasting its lighthearted nature with the trauma of "Oh Father", the next song. Considine also found retro-rock references in the song. Freya Jarman-Ivens, one of the authors of Madonna's Drowned Worlds, felt that the song was one of the last works on pure romanticism by Madonna. "She should come back to the formula from time to time, but I guess she has moved beyond all of that", Jarman-Ivens added. Carol Clerk, author of Madonnastyle noted that the "refreshing" nature of the song was particularly noticeable if one follows Madonna's catalog chronologically, especially embedded between the anthem like nature of the previous release, "Express Yourself", and the lament of the succeeding release, "Oh Father".
Scholar Maria Raha wrote in her book Cinderella's Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground that the song was full of "trite" lyrics. Andy Goldberg from The Jerusalem Post said that "Cherish" took "Madonna back to her old stomping grounds, the lively bass line and lilting melodies of hit albums past." Kevin Phinney from Austin American-Statesman was surprised by Madonna's contribution to the song and confessed that he "[found] it difficult to be believe that she even wrote this?" Phinney continued that he wanted Madonna to go in a more mature direction and compose songs musically similar to "Cherish". Writing for The Washington Post, Richard Harrington explained that "while songs on Like a Prayer dealt with matters opening her heart, with 'Cherish' Madonna dealt with matters which were close to her heart." This view was also shared by Ian Blair from Chicago Tribune who categorized the song as being sung for the "happy-go-lucky lovers and dreamers".
The Dallas Morning News Lennox Samuels appreciated the light-hearted theme of the song and complimented Madonna and Leonard for not sticking with personal subject matters only on the album. Dale Anderson from The Buffalo News opined that the song would become one of Madonna's most forgettable releases, but was also hopeful that it would not. This opinion was shared by Don McLeese of the Chicago Sun-Times, who added that "Cherish" was not something expected from Madonna at that point of time. McCleese was disappointed that Madonna went back to the "happy-go-lucky, lovey-dovey" kind of songs, which did not match her self-image. Dan DeLuca from The Philadelphia Inquirer, while reviewing Madonna's Drowned World Tour in 2001, compared "Cherish" with songs by Chris Robinson, humorously adding that "only if he was gay he would sing something like that." Lucy O'Brien, author of Madonna: Like an Icon, felt that the song was typical of Madonna's previous musical endeavors, and would have been more suitable for her third studio album, True Blue, whose songs mainly dealt with romance and relationships.
Chart performance