Madonna Bags "Life" Video

Madonna won't release the video for "American Life," the titular first single from her upcoming April 22nd release, due to content that could have been perceived as offensive and insensitive in light of the ongoing war in Iraq.

The clip, which was set to debut Friday, featured a camouflage-clad Madonna leading a brigade of dancers and reportedly throwing a grenade to an actor playing President Bush. The singer recently said that she had edited the video, shot before the war started, to tone down its irreverence, but she announced yesterday that she was abandoning the treatment all together.

"I have decided not to release my new video," she said. "I do not believe it is appropriate to air it at this time. Due to the volatile state of the world and out of sensitivity and respect to the armed forces, who I support and pray for, I do not want to risk offending anyone who might misinterpret the meaning of this video."

The song doesn't deal with the war explicitly or implicitly -- it's a sardonic send-up of Madonna's own life. At press time, there was no word on whether she plans to shoot a new clip for the single.

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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