For the baroque pop ballad, Madonna uses a contrast of timbre, her higher smoother voice with her lower one. The song begins with the sound of violins for about 20 seconds. After this, drums, string arrangement and piano ushers on top of the violins, as Madonna sings the chorus line "You can't hurt me now, I got away from you, I never thought I would." The violins and the drum beats drop after the chorus, but come back again during the next bridge. As Madonna sings the verse "Oh father I have sinned", the violins change their pitch to a higher one. After the second chorus, there is an instrumental break where she sings about the realization that her father did not want to hurt her but she still ran away. The song ends with the guitar and violins fading out with Madonna's voice. In an interview with Paul Zollo, Madonna commented that the "Father" can refer to Tony, God or all the "authorities in her life". In a 2014 interview with "Billboard" celebrating the 25th anniversary of "Like a Prayer", Leonard explained the recording process of the song: