This features Justin Timberlake, who also co-wrote the track with Madonna, Danja Hills and Timbaland. Madonna told Interview magazine about writing with Timberlake: "I really enjoy writing with Justin. We had psychoanalytic sessions whenever we wrote songs first. We'd sit down and we'd start talking about situations. And then we'd start talking about issues or problems or relationships with people. That was the only way, because you know, writing together with somebody is very intimate. That was fun, because he's open and he's got talent. He's a songwriter. I haven't worked with a lot of songwriters where I'm instantly connected and start riffing and playing with the rhythm of the words. He's as interested in the rhythm of the words as the meaning of the words."
The 4 minutes refers to the length of the song. It's a little dramatic, as they don't really save the world, but the song provides a concise showcase for the talents of Madonna, Timberlake and Timbaland. The song builds in urgency until the dramatic cold ending, as the song cuts off just about 4 minutes in.
The song's co-producer Timbaland provided backing vocals on this track and produced it along with Hills, Timberlake and Demo Castellon. Timbaland had partially debuted it at a Philadelphia Christmas concert in December 2007.
The video for the track was directed by French duo Jonas & François (Justice's "D.A.N.C.E."). In the promo Madonna and Timberlake play superheroes tackling physical obstacles and Timbaland also makes an appearance.
This was only the second time that Madonna dueted with another artist. Ironically the only other chart duet which Madonna has put her name to was "
Me Against The Music" by Timberlake's former squeeze Britney Spears.
This song was Madonna's 37th US Top 10 hit, breaking Elvis Presley's record of the most career Top 10 singles. She's unlikely catch Elvis when it comes to Top 40 hits, as he has 114.
Madonna revealed to Q magazine that this is her son Rocco's favorite song on the Hard Candy album. Her daughter Lourdes' favorite tracks are "Candy Shop" and "Miles Away."
Madonna on this song: "If you're paying attention to what's going on in the world - the Middle East, the (US) election, the environment, there's so much chaos and turmoil everywhere. Are you going to be part of the problem or part of the solution? But people also need to be cheered up. We also need to have fun and be given a sense of hope."
In the third week that this topped the UK single chart, Madonna's
Hard Candy album debuted at #1 in the album chart. This was the fourth time that the Material Girl had simultaneous chart-topping singles and albums in the UK. No other solo female artist has achieved that feat more than once. Previously she'd done the double with the 1986 single "
Papa Don't Preach" and album
True Blue, the 1989 "
Like A Prayer" single and album and the 2005 single "
Hung Up" and album
Confessions on a Dancefloor.
This was Madonna's 13th #1 in the UK. Her first British chart-topper, "Into The Groove" was in August 1985, meaning a 22 year gap between her debut #1 and this one. No other female act in history can claim such a span of longevity in the UK.
This song's radio version actually lasts 3 minutes and 9 seconds, though the album version is 4 minutes and 4 seconds.
This song plays during the closing credits in the 2008 movie
Get Smart.
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Suggestion credit:
Steve - Austin, TX
Timberlake told industry magazine Hollywood Daily People about their collaboration: "A couple of times I pushed her in a direction where it took a minute before we saw eye to eye. Her approach was, 'Well, I just haven't done that' and I was like, 'Yeah, that's why you should do it'."
When Madonna and Timberlake are dancing on conveyer belts in the video's supermarket scene, they are ten feet in the air. The crew placed crash mats around them just in case they fell.
According to VH1's Pop-Up Video, Madonna demanded an exact replica of each set be built for rehearsal. That meant the crew had to find two of each car featured in the snippet of her and JT dancing over the tops of cars.
