Page - 93 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/02

“And God Is Never Far Away” | 93www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 91–102 and backwards, while between the single pieces of the plot, Madonna sings with a gospel choir. At the start of the video, we see the singer running in the twilight and then falling, and 10 seconds in, the camera leads her gaze, and ours, towards a burning cross (fig. 1). Even though the word “cross” is not mentioned in the lyrics, a subtle re- demption may be found the lines “I hear you call my name / and it feels like home”. In fact, the lyrics are arbitrary in that they refer explicitly to neither God nor a beloved person, but Madonna herself described the song as a sto- ry about a girl feeling loved and saved by God in an almost mystical way, as though God was her male partner.2 So redemption here lies in the feeling of being loved – by whom is in the end not significant. The video clip suggests, however, another reading of cross, not its positive Christian connotations as a sign for redemption, by setting the song within a racial controversy. Visualising a love song in terms of assault and racial in- justice is unusual. On the audio level the gospel singers, who first accompany 2 Perricone 2011. Fig. 2: Music video still from Like a Prayer, Madonna, 00:01:23.