Life Is a Memory

Dudes. I was last week years old, when I saw this performance of “Gambler,” from “The Virgin Tour,” by Madonna for the very first time.

No. Joke.

Like she does during “Nobody Knows Me,” from the “Re-Invention Tour,” this is some energetic shit. Madonna dominates her dance floor stage left; much like during the glorious “Like a Virgin” moment of the “Rebel Heart Tour,” she goes at it alone, lit in that majestic pinky purple-y hue that complements her so well and denotes this is a jam. Her bet paid off, no?

Then, I dove into a full remastered “Like a Virgin Tour” head first, and connected some tissue with the “Confessions Tour.”

OMG. The brilliance.

But, yeah…”Gambler.” If I had to drop a pin, and I guess I am, that’d be it: The earliest memory (one of the oldest, for sure). They must’ve shown Vision Quest in Lima (not that I saw it or have seen it – I wonder if it’s streamin’). It sure was on the radio a lot. And I have two older sisters, so I’m sure one of ’em rocked “Gambler” on loud a time or a few. I simply remember it. Big song. It’s just so good.

It’s fucking nuts how good that “Gambler” is and was (it’s a happy memory). And the power of the song to reverberate across “borders” and cultures.

Big reputation, this ditty. A gamble that paid off, indeed. Very wise not to overplay it, yet oh-so-cruel to deprive us.

So goes the jazz.