page_title: Ghosttown (Madonna song)
section_title: Background and release
hierarchical_section_title: Ghosttown (Madonna song) / Background and release
caption_attribution_description: English: Jason Evigan, the lead vocalist of After Midnight Project, performing during the 2010 Warped Tour.
context_page_description: "Ghosttown" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, Rebel Heart. It was released to radio stations on March 13, 2015, as the album's second single. It was written by Madonna, Jason Evigan, Evan Bogart, and Sean Douglas, and produced by Madonna, Billboard and Evigan. Having listened to Douglas' previous works, Madonna requested studio time with him. Together with the other songwriters, they wrote "Ghosttown" in three days. The song was inspired by the imagery of a destroyed city after armageddon, and how the survivors carry on with their lives, with love being the only thing they can hold onto. Musically, "Ghosttown" is an uplifting pop, electropop and electro ballad, featuring an organ and drums in its instrumentation.
  "Ghosttown" was released to iTunes Store as part of the album's pre-order in December 2014, in response to hackers leaking songs from Rebel Heart. The song received positive response from music critics, who commended Madonna's vocal delivery, the lyrics, and the production; they also compared it to Madonna's earlier ballads.
context_section_description: "Ghosttown" was written by Madonna, Jason Evigan, Evan Bogart, and Sean Douglas. The song was composed in three days, after Madonna had personally requested some studio time with them. Madonna liked Jason Derulo's 2013 single "Talk Dirty" which was co-written by Evigan and Douglas, and hence she decided to collaborate with them. Douglas recalled that they ended up having a "great session", saying "I was incredibly nervous for obvious reasons, but she showed up, was super personable and was ready to work. I basically checked it off my life bucket list." Of their writing session, Madonna explained:
  We all get into a room together. They start playing their chords and then we just start thinking about... When I write with people, we always try to come up with a theme. What do we want to write about? So this one is about the city after armageddon. The burnt out city, the crumbling buildings, the smoke that's still lingering after the fire. You know what I mean? There's only a few people left. How do we pick up the pieces and go on from here? Kind of dramatic. But not entirely impossible at this stage of the game... And we'll all be in our version of a 'Ghosttown' or in a version of a 'Ghosttown', and at the end of the day, all we're going to have left is each other. So that's really what that song is about.
  While discussing the song's theme with French radio Europe 1, Madonna spoke about the intolerance going around the world, especially in France whom she believed to have lost its ability to accept people of all race and color. Adding that the level of intolerance and antisemitism was increasing all-throughout Europe, Madonna said that "Ghosttown"'s apocalyptic theme was a foreshadow of the destruction of humanity, should the  intolerance continue. "The way we behave, to treat one another the way we're treating one another, to maintain this level of intolerance and discriminatory prejudice... hateful behavior towards other human beings who are different than you are," Madonna concluded.
  On December 17, 2014, a total of 13 songs from the recording sessions were leaked. An aggravated Madonna took to Instagram and clarified that the songs were demo versions from earlier recordings. Madonna told Billboard that after the leak, she and her team tried to trace it back to the source. Ultimately they decided to release the finished songs. On December 20, 2014, the album became available for pre-order on iTunes Store. When ordered, six tracks were automatically downloaded, including "Ghosttown". Madonna added that she "would prefer [her] fans to hear completed versions of some of the songs instead of the incomplete tracks that are circulating." During Madonna's appearance on Italian television show Che tempo che fa, "Ghosttown" was confirmed as the second single from Rebel Heart and was sent to Italian radio on March 13, 2015. A week later it was added to Australian radio, while in the United Kingdom, it would be released on April 20, 2015.
caption: Jason Evigan co-wrote and co-produced "Ghosttown".
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