Don't Tell Me' by Madonna (2000)

Madonna: Version 12.3

That enigmatic expression in the above photo, as the reigning Pop Icon of the 20th Century stares down the Millenium and her advancing years with a kind of shaky contempt, found its sonic counterpart in this single, which could handily act as Madonna's entire manifesto: she needs to be here, and be seen, and you could change the laws of nature before you could ever dream of stopping her.

The collaboration with Swedish knob-twiddler Mirwais yielded some or the most truly radical pop music in Madonna's career. Coming off the back of the lush but self-consciously 'mature' work she did with William Orbit on Ray of Light, the Music album saw Madonna reclaim a sense of delirious investment in what she's doing that had been shelved in favour of critic-wooing. Rather than pontificating vaguely (nigh on sanctimoniously) about love, or her dead mother, or the evils of mankind, the focus is upon Madonna's own insecurities, and thus she delivers a minor masterpiece like 'Don't Tell Me'.

Mirwais' jerky, stop-start stylings may infuriate some in their foregrounding of artificiality, but they're completely in service to a strained/pained vocal that expresses that quality that Madonna so often finds somewhat elusive: i.e. tangible humanity. Madonna's traded on her brashness and impudence to get where she is, but at a cost; 'Don't Tell Me' exposes the self-doubt that fuels her defiance.

Bonus points: Undaunted by the heinous legacy of Billy Ray Cyrus, Shania Twain and Steps, Madonna dabbles in some linedancing. Let the size of her balls never be questioned.59. 'Don't Tell Me' by Madonna (2000)