Live To Tell

"Live to Tell" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 3rd studio album True Blue and was released on March 26, 1986 by Sire Records. It is the title song to the 1986 motion picture At Close Range and also appears remixed on the 1990 compilation album The Immaculate Collection and in its original form on the 1995 ballads compilation Something to Remember. The song appears in a live version on the 1995 US Maxi-single "You'll See" recorded from the 1987 Who's That Girl Tour which is also taken from the 1988 video release Ciao, Italia! - Live from Italy. A live edited version later appeared on the 1995 UK single "Oh Father" re-release.

Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, this was also the fourth Madonna single within two years which was affiliated with a motion picture soundtrack, and the first commercially available collaboration with Leonard, who would go on to become one of Madonna's most consistent and critically acclaimed collaborators.

"Live to Tell" was the title song of the film At Close Range, starring Madonna's then-husband Sean Penn. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of June 7, 1986, and reached number two on the UK singles chart (being blocked by Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus"). There was no soundtrack for the film At Close Range - it was included only on Madonna's 1986 studio album and then later on Madonna's compilations The Immaculate Collection and Something to Remember.

I have a tale to tell
Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well
I was not ready for the fall
Too blind to see the writing on the wall

Chorus:

A man can tell a thousand lies
I've learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell
The secret I have learned, 'till then
It will burn inside of me

I know where beauty lives
I've seen it once, I know the warm she gives
The light that you could never see
It shines inside, you can't take that from me

(chorus)

2nd Chorus:

The truth is never far behind
You kept it hidden well
If I live to tell
The secret I knew then
Will I ever have the chance again

If I ran away, I'd never have the strength
To go very far
How would they hear the beating of my heart
Will it grow cold
The secret that I hide, will I grow old
How will they hear
When will they learn
How will they know

(chorus)
(2nd chorus)