This Used to Be My Playground

, which was directed by Penny Marshall (pictured''). In 1992, Madonna starred in the Penny Marshall directed film A League of Their Own, which portrayed a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Columbia Records representatives presented music supervisor Jay Landers with the film's script. Together with Michael Dilbeck, head of music for Columbia Pictures, they decided to compose a soundtrack for the film. According to Landers, Marshall being well connected to the music community also helped them choose the artists they wanted to work with. The director wanted the music and songs to be performed by contemporary artists, but catering to the period of 1943–44, which was the film's timeline. Carole King had already written the opening song for A League of Their Own, and Madonna being associated with it, Columbia wanted her to record another song. Lars recalled that there was some "early hesitation" if Madonna's character should be kept the same or separated from that in the film and the song, and in the end they decided to go with the latter concept. After the shooting was over, Madonna was busy in the recording sessions for her fifth studio album, Erotica with producer Shep Pettibone. Throughout January–March 1992, Madonna and Pettibone worked on demos for the album and finally decided on 15 of them. When Lars called Madonna and asked her to record a song for the film, the singer and Pettibone had just completed working on the ballad "Rain". Madonna admitted that she did not have any material for the film and Lars explained that Marshall wanted only a ballad. Pettibone composed a track the same night and Madonna had some ideas she wanted to incorporate. During an interview with The Guardian, Madonna described the process as "assignment writing" since it was completely separate from her Erotica sessions. It took them two days to write and produce the song, and the final version was submitted to Marshall's team. Lars recalled that they "immediately loved it... We all thought it would be a very successful record and we knew right away it would be perfect." "This Used to Be My Playground" was officially released as a standalone single to promote the film, on June 16, 1992, by Warner Bros. Records. == Recording and composition ==

Recording the track was a new experience for Pettibone since it was the first time that he worked with live musicians and arrangements. Pettibone took the demo of the song, and added live drums, piano and strings to it. They did not have any strings written originally for the song, and chose composer Jeremy Lubbock for the music arrangement; Lubbock had previously worked with Madonna on her soundtrack album ''I'm Breathless'' (1990). The chords have an unexpected flow in terms of the beginning and the ending, moving from E down to Gm and momentarily to F major, then going back to the previous sequence again. The song has a lush, romantic quality, with the melody going through different ranges and peaks, and the verse and the chorus flow into each other, making it sound seamless. Madonna sings in subdued but expressive vocals, aided by the strings and background singers during the third verse. Towards the end the singer's voice is double tracked and produces little amount of roughness. == Critical response ==

After its release, "This Used to Be My Playground" received positive reviews from music critics. J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of Madonna: An Intimate Biography, called the track a "melancholic performance". Michelle Morgan, author of the book Madonna, described it as a "beautiful ballad". Similarly, Humberto Quiroga Lavié called it one of Madonna's best ballads in his essay Secretos y Misterios de Hombres y Mujeres. Author Rikky Rooksby wrote in his book The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, that the song was appropriate for the film and its nostalgic moment towards the end, showing the characters grown up and reuniting at a museum opened for themselves and the titular league. He called it "one of Madonna's very best recordings and most expressive single". While reviewing Something to Remember, author Chris Wade wrote in his book The Music of Madonna, that the song conjured up a "strangely sad, nostalgic feel, reminding ourselves of memories from yesteryear". He commended Madonna's vocals calling it as the song's "premier sound" and adding that the way "she sings and captures the melancholic melody is heartbreaking [...] it's one of her finest ever ballads." Encyclopedia Madonnica writer and journalist Matthew Rettenmund noted in the book that the song's rise to the top of the charts was aided by its "honest delivery and aching sense of loneliness, regret and nostalgia for friendship lost." Larry Flick from Billboard magazine wrote, "She offers a subtle and melancholy vocal amid a string-filled production, ably handled by collaborator Shep Pettibone". He added it as "a mature and thoroughly satisfying effort". Cashbox called it a "reflective ballad". Gavin Report commented, "This change of pace for Madonna is a seamless knuckler of a slow song rich in melody and thoughtfully pitched." Matthew Jacobs from The Huffington Post, placed it at number 32 on his list "The Definitive Ranking of Madonna Singles". He wrote: "What's surprising is that this heartfelt ballad's release was sandwiched between 'Justify My Love' and 'Erotica', which corroborates the many checkered crowns that Madonna can wear". Similarly, AllMusic's Jose F. Promis called it "a quiet predecessor to her most notorious album Erotica". Promis also believed that the single version of the song was worth of collecting since it was not released in CD version in the United States. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine, called it one of the singer's "soundtrack gems". Writing for the Deseret News, Chris Hicks called the song "a lovely change-of-pace number" for Madonna. Richard LeBeau from Medium called it "a gut-wrenching ballad that explores themes related to nostalgia, grief, and heartbreak [...] the best ballad of her career and one of the best ballads of the 90s". Louis Virtel, from TheBacklot.com, placed "This Used to Be My Playground" at number 52 of his list "The 100 Greatest Madonna Songs". He wrote; "The theme to Madonna’s best movie is nostalgic and sweet, and it gave her a major hit that utilized the lachrymose qualities in her voice." Mary Ann A. Bautist, from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, called it one of the singer's "alternative tunes [...] that can be as romantic and touching as any ballad". Liz Smith, from The Toledo Blade, called it an "exquisite ballad". On his review of the compilation Barcelona Gold, The Daily Gazettes Bill Rice wrote: "Madonna's plaintive single 'This Used to Be My Playground', is one medal winner". Music Week stated that "this is Madonna at her most grown up on a thoughtful, downtempo and tender track". A negative review came from Stylus Magazines Alfred Soto, who dismissed the song as a "slushy rewrite of Like a Prayers 'Promise to Try'". Also negative was Stereogums Tom Breihan, who pointed out that it lacked "the dreamy sweep of older Madonna ballads like 'Crazy For You' and 'Live to Tell'. Instead, it sounds cheap and chintzy". Breihan also deemed it "exactly the wrong song for a singer like Madonna", that should've been sung by a "grand ’90s balladeer" like Whitney Houston or Celine Dion. "This Used to Be My Playground" was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Original Song, but lost to "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. It won two accolades at the ASCAP Awards, in the categories of Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures and Most Performed Pop Song. == Chart performance ==

(picture) as the female artist with the most number one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the United States, "This Used to Be My Playground" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 35, for the week of July 4, 1992. The debut was aided by just airplay points which enabled it to enter the Hot 100 Airplay chart at number 14. The song received immediate heavy rotation in US radio stations like Hot 97 in New York and Wild 107 in San Francisco. One week later, the song jumped to number 17 on the Hot 100, having had the largest sales and airplay gain of any record on the chart. On August 8, 1992, the song reached the top of the chart for one week, becoming Madonna's tenth number one single, breaking her tie with Whitney Houston as the female artist with the most number one singles at that time. The song spent a total of 20 weeks on the chart and ranked at number 21 on the Hot 100 year end chart for 1992. In Canada, the song debuted at number 60 on the RPM Top Singles chart on July 4, 1992. After seven weeks it reached the top of the chart and was present for a total of 19 weeks. It also reached number two on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart. In Italy, the song spent 4 consecutive weeks at the top of the Musica e dischi charts. The song also achieved great success across Europe, hitting number one in various countries including Finland and Sweden and charting within the top ten in other countries. It resulted in the song achieving a peak of number two on the European Hot 100 Singles chart. In Australia the song reached a peak of number nine on the ARIA Charts and received a gold certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 35,000 copies. == Music video ==

The music video for "This Used to Be My Playground", directed by Alek Keshishian, was filmed in June 1992 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California, and Malibu Beach. It premiered on MTV on June 30, 1992, a day before the release of A League of Their Own. According to Rettenmund, unlike most music videos related to film soundtracks, "This Used to Be My Playground" did not give emphasis on having shots from the film in the video itself. Instead Keshishian and Madonna chose introspection as the theme, with simple images to portray them. Rettenmund notes, "At the end, the man who has been looking back at his scrapbook of Madonna lays his head down, sealing the video with the perfect bit of sadness to resonate with Madonna's ennui." == Live performance ==

Madonna performed "This Used to Be My Playground" live for the first time on February 2, 2024, during the Chicago concert as a part of The Celebration Tour. She sang an acapella excerpt, following the speech about the memories of filming A League of Their Own in Chicago. == Track listings ==

• US 7-inch and cassette single; Japanese 3-inch CD single • "This Used to Be My Playground" (single version) – 5:08 • "This Used to Be My Playground" (the long version) – 6:03 • European 12-inch vinyl and CD single • "This Used to Be My Playground" (single version) – 5:08 • "This Used to Be My Playground" (instrumental) – 6:54 • "This Used to Be My Playground" (long version) – 6:03 • Digital Single (2024) • "This Used to Be My Playground"  – 5:10 • "This Used to Be My Playground" (long version) – 6:04 • "This Used to Be My Playground" (instrumental Version) – 6:56 == Credits and personnel ==

• Madonna – songwriter, producer, vocals • Shep Pettibone – songwriter, producer, programming • Jeremy Lubbock – string arrangement, programming • Al Schmitt – engineer, mixing • Jeri Heiden – designer Credits adapted from the liner notes of Something to Remember and the single release of "This Used to Be My Playground". == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts == Certifications and sales ==