Mama won't preach // A parent changes her tune about enraging Madonna hit

This is not the column I was planning to write.

I was all set to write a column full of rage. Rage at Madonna.Rage at Warner Brothers. And especially rage at man named BrianElliot.

Brian Elliot has written a song called "Papa Don't Preach." Itis sung by Madonna on her latest Warner Brothers video. And it iscurrently No. 1 on the singles charts.

"Papa Don't Preach" is one of those songs that really ticks offyour average parent. In it, a girl (played by the chronicallyunwashed Madonna) informs her dad that she's just a little bitpregnant . . . and furthermore, no matter what he says, she is goingto keep the baby. So there.

Now I am not one of those moms who think rock 'n' roll is thework of the devil, but when I saw this video, I got real steamed.And I started railing that an artist as influential as Madonna, usingan art form as potent as music videos, could have addressed the issueof teen pregnancy from a more constructive viewpoint. A nice rock'n' roll song about the upside of restraint, perhaps.

So I decided to call this jerk who wrote a song in which apregnant teenager is perceived as some sort of heroine - full ofresolve, and pluck, and valor. And I was all set to chew him out.

Brian Elliot has written songs for 16 years and he's bemused bywhat has gone on with this song. "The irony," he says, "is that Inever envisioned this as a tough, adamant pro-teenage pregnancysong."

Well what exactly did he think he wrote?

"I thought I took one of the most sensitive, poignant momentsthat can happen in a young girl's life and wrote a plea forcompassion from parents. I honestly intended this to be helpful."

So what happened?

"What happened is that the girl I wrote the song for didn'trecord it. Madonna did. I'm not complaining, believe me. Itprobably wouldn't be selling 50,000 copies a day otherwise. Butpicture this song sung by someone soft and scared and waiflike in themiddle of `West Side Story.' It becomes a very different song thanthe one it is when someone like Madonna sings it."

The guy had a point.

"I saw this girl as someone like Juliet. A girl who lovedsomeone her parents detested. A girl who slept with this person sheloved. Only the girl in my song got caught. Like a lot of girlstoday. But the end product doesn't really reflect any of that."

Are you sorry you wrote it?

"Let me reserve comment on that. People are impressionable andeverybody will bring their own baggage to it. A song has a life ofits own. For instance, the girl in the song says her friends wanther to give up the baby but she wants to keep it. Now I'm almostsure the pro-life people will co-opt this song and say that's what Iwas writing about. And what am I going to do about that?" Whatindeed.

I still am having a lot of trouble seeing Madonna as Juliet.But at least when I hear "Papa Don't Preach" these days, this mamadon't preach, either.