Madonna's had a rough couple of weeks. First the reviews came in for Swept Away. Now Badly Drawn Boy's "You Were Right" is becoming a hit on college radio. The song describes a Madonna sex dream had by the quickly rising, one-man Britpop band led by Damon Gough, but it's the Material Girl in pursuit. And Gough blows her off.

"I'm turning Madonna down," Gough sings. "I'm calling it my best move."

Gough is a star back in Madonna's adopted home of Britain, where he recently received a note signed "Your fan, Bono." In the U.S., which he's currently touring, he's best known for scoring the Hugh Grant movie, About a Boy, and looking like actor Jason Lee hiding inside a wool cap.

His profile is rising, however. Gough crooned "You Were Right" (off his forthcoming third album, Have You Fed the Fish, due November 5th) on The Late Show With Conan O'Brien last week. "I've not spoken to Madonna directly about it," he says, "but I hope she takes it in the right way."

Would Gough rebuff her in waking life? "It would depend on the night, really," he says, laughing. "No, I'd have to turn her down, although I think Madonna might be the only person my girlfriend would forgive me for straying away just overnight with -- because I think she'd do the same."

Part of the wild appeal of "You Were Right" is its lyrical mood swing from comedy to tragedy. In the next stanza, Gough somberly recalls his reactions to the loss of music legends Frank Sinatra, Jeff Buckley, Kurt Cobain and John Lennon.

"They were casualties, partly because of their involvement in music, partly because of fame," Gough says.

Well, Sinatra was neither a casualty of music nor fame . . .

"Yeah," Gough admits. "His name just sounded good because it has three syllables."

COREY LEVITAN
(October 25, 2002)