Oh Father

I've always thought this song to be not only the most beautiful song Madonna has ever recorded, but also an interesting paradox in the meaning.

At face value, the song is clearly about a young child who is abused by her father, who grows up and breaks free of the violence.

However, I like to read between the lines on things. I see this as also being about someone who is in an abusive relationship (much like Madonna's relationship with Sean Penn) and how much it echoes the same violence she received from her father as a child. She was not only physically abused by her father, but her lover is now treating her the same way. She is plagued by memories of the abuse she endured in her childhood. She was sure she had broken free of it, but only landed in the same situation as an adult.

Just my take on it.

For me this song depicts a psychological process. At the beginning of a song, the singer holds a grudge towards her father because of his violent upbringing style. She looks at it from the simplistic point of view of a child, believing that violence comes from the absence of love. She severes ties with him and so states that he cannot hurt her anymore. But as the song progresses she grows old and begins to understand why people behave the way they do, and so comes to realize that people traumatized by violence enact violently on others. She ends up saying the same: her father cannot hurt her anymore, but not because he is absent, but because she has forgiven him

if you see madonna perform oh father in concert she uses a priest as the "father" figure. She wrote this song during a time when she was questioning her catholic upbringing and the way it made her feel. She is saying the reason he can't hurt her anymore is because she has escaped religion and that she doesn't blame the catholic church.

If you watch the film clip in conjunction then the meaning becomes more apparent. Also knowing that Madonna's mother died of breast cancer when she was 8 years old also helps. Taking these factors into account, the song meaning becomes more apparent. Madonna wasn't abused as a child but she did in reality run from her father's extremely strict catholic upbringing when she got the chance. She and her father are estranged in real life. The song would suggest that he was simply cold after the death of her mother and that he ruled with an iron fist, but not abuse.

Beautiful, Powerful and Sad Rock Ballad by Lady Madonna-that's Oh Father. Yet another Madonna tune that screams, rages and cries-"A Victim of a Kind of Rage!" Still Reeling from the sadness and shock of her mother's death, Madonna turns in a performance that is searing and compelling. What Oh Father is about is the outright ruin and shame of authority. As Madonna begins to sing the coda of Oh Father "I Never Felt So Good about Myself!"-she does so with an ironic twist. Madonna Cries Alone in Tears of Sadness. Defiantly, Oh Father is one of the saddest ballads she's done in Her Ciccone Name!

every us, may have our own interpretation ... but for me, i think it so obvious that this song tells about child abuse, in many way, not just physically

i think this song, fit with one of my friend situation, that she's somehow has a serious conflict with her father

and since, she's grow up enough now, then actually shes can say like what madonna says in this songs ...

like "you cant hurt me now, ...."

i hope this song will inspire her, but not in the meaning to hate her father

I think this song has a pretty obvious point, but it's just my interpretation. It's about a woman looking back at her father's abuse and pain that he caused her as a child.

it's not too obvious what this song is about, but it's still a quite powerful message.

that song came out when i was the age of the little girl in the music video. anywhoo now my father is dead.

I agree with ModNymph. Abusive childhood. Sad.