Why spend a freezing winter or a scorching summer in one of our congested cities when there is La Isla Bonita available, ready to welcome us with its sea breeze and its wild nature?
In 1986, Madonna invited her fans to dream, like her, of a splendid Latin American island, uncontaminated in nature and in the rhythms of life of its inhabitants.
A real dream, indeed, for those who would like to escape from the frenzy of modern life and the pollution of cities.
La Isla Bonita was born as an instrumental demo composed by Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch.
The first artist to whom it was proposed was Michael Jackson, working at that time on his album Bad.
Jackson, however, discarded the song and the offer passed to Madonna, who appreciated the Spanish atmosphere of the composition.
It was precisely Madonna who wrote the lyrics, paying homage to the beauty and mystery of Latin America, with its uncontaminated landscapes and its friendly and life-loving inhabitants. The protagonist of the song dreams of going to a tropical island and living a love story with a local boy, complete with breathtaking sunsets and Latin music in the background.
La Isla Bonita was included in the 1986 album True Blue and was released as the fifth and final single on February 25, 1987.
At that point, True Blue had already exceeded 12 million copies sold, but the single still conquered the world charts and was among the most played on the radio and TV.
Despite some negative reviews, La Isla Bonita was also positively received by critics, who were not always benevolent in reviewing Madonna’s previous works.
And here are some curiosities 👇
- One of the curious things about this song is that it was on the charts before it was even released as a single. In fact, in December 1986, the Italian singer Micaela released a cover which ranked at 25th place in the best-selling singles chart in the Netherlands.
- In the video for the song (now over a billion views on YouTube), Madonna doubles herself and plays both a devout Catholic woman and a flashy flamenco dancer.
- One last curiosity: in the video, a young (and at the time unknown) Benicio del Toro appears. It’s the teenager sitting on the hood of the car at the last minute of the video. Seeing is believing. ⬇️
