Like A Prayer

30 Oct Like A Prayer

A fun, light-hearted and reggae-inspired arrangement of Madonna’s hit. Most of the song is arranged to be sung in unison or two voice parts, but we added four-part harmony at the end in the Wholehearted Chorus so I’ve separated out each voice part track here.

Composer & Copyright

Copyright Madonna & Patrick Leonard, arranged for Wholehearted Chorus by Lisa G. Littlebird.

Recording

Recording is by Rayner Marx on guitar and Lisa G. Littlebird on vocals.

Lyrics

Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name and it feels like home

Chorus:
When you call my name, it’s like a little prayer
I’m down on my knees, I want to take you there
|In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer, you know I’ll take you there

Solo: I hear your voice – it’s like an angel sighing
I have no choice, I hear your voice, feels like flying
I close my eyes, oh God, I think I’m falling
Out of the sky – I close my eyes, heaven, help me

Chorus

Solo: Like a child, you whisper softly to me
You’re in control just like a child, now I’m dancing
It’s like a dream – no end and no beginning
You’re here with me, it’s like a dream, let the choir sing

Chorus

Whoa, whoa….

Bridge: Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me, you are a mystery
Just like a dream, you are not what you seem
Just like a prayer, no choice
Your voice can take me there

Bridge chorus:
Just like a prayer, I’ll take you there, it’s like a dream to me (x4)

Intro

Teaching Notes

Despite being unison or 2-part harmony for most of the song, this arrangement has quite a bit of complexity and is designed for an established chorus. In the Wholehearted Chorus we used a small group to sing the bridge with the rest of the chorus doing the whoa’s and oooh’s and coming in on the bridge chorus. In the instrumentation we move from a light-hearted reggae feel at the beginning to more of a full gospel feel toward the end.