An EDM, diva house, disco and electropop track on which Madonna experimented with different musical genres, "Living for Love" contains instrumentation from percussion and piano by singer Alicia Keys, along with a gospel choir.

Madonna composed the track as a break-up song, however she wanted to deviate and make the lyrics as uplifting in nature, talking about counteracting negative thoughts with positive responses.

Interscope sent the song as a "soft sell" on December 22 to radio outlets, and it failed to receive airplay at the Top 40 formats, garnering a total of 10 plays due to the rushed out release and being on a Christmas week, when most programmers were on vacation.

Along with The London Community Gospel Choir, MNEK and Santell also provided backing vocals on the track, while Keys and Gad acted as additional musicians.

[22] Dean Piper from The Daily Telegraph explained that "Living for Love" has "some classic Madonna traits: religious references, a gospel choir, 1990s piano beats and a whirling bass", and was compared to her 1989 singles, "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself", by Jason Lipshutz from Billboard.

[25] Unlike Madonna's previous two lead singles, "4 Minutes" (2008) and "Give Me All Your Luvin'" (2012), "Living for Love" puts the emphasis on the lyrics and vocals, with the lines on the bridge going like "Took me to heaven, let me fall down/Now that it's over, I'm gonna carry on" and a "throbbing drop" in the middle.

[26] For Jon Lisi from PopMatters, "Living for Love" fitted with contemporary pop music releases and the DIY ethic they displayed, starting from Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off", to Ariana Grande's "Break Free" and Katy Perry's "Roar".

He said that the song sounded "like a giddy combination of Madonna's past and present, and represents an encouraging sign for a 2015 project that was unexpectedly thrown into jeopardy at the end of 2014.

Calling the song a "total beast of a collaborative effort", and ended his review saying "Fuck singing about Tanqueray in the club: This is the Madonna we've always known and lived to love, with flares of the future and nostalgic nods to the past.

[32] Writing for USA Today, Brian Mansfield complimented the optimistic and "self-assured" nature of the song, adding that "it's the sort of determined dance anthem Madonna does so well".

[33] The Dallas Morning News' Hunter Hauk described the song as a "solid melding" of different club musics and appreciated the dance break, and Madonna's singing attitude, calling it "less prickly or defiant than we see on Instagram these days".

"[36] Lewis Corner from Digital Spy listed it as one of the top ten tracks of the week, adding that the composition made it "an euphoric first cut from... Rebel Heart".

[37] Jed Gottlieb from Boston Herald described the track's beats as contemporary, while found the chorus and the hooks to be reminiscent of "old school" Top 40 songs.

[29] Jim Farber of New York Daily News found the song to be a return to form for the singer, describing it as "prime mix of club and pop music, with an old-school R&B piano, soaring backup vocals and a melody that keeps lifting you higher.

[40] Bernard Zuel from The Sydney Morning Herald believed that "Living for Love" embodied every aspect of Madonna's life, a mixture of her past, present and future.

[41] This view was shared by Lindsay Zoladz from New York, who had criticized the other five songs from the album, but called "Living for Love" as "an unexpectedly perfect balance between the ghosts of Madge past and future".

"[44] While ranking Madonna's singles, in honor of her 60th birthday, The Guardian's Jude Rogers placed "Living for Love" at number 23, writing that its "pulsing house piano, gospel vocals and boxfresh Diplo production sound fantastic".

[46] In August 2018, Slant Magazine's Ed Gonzalez placed "Living for Love" at number 56 of his ranking of the singer's singles, calling it a "straight shot of electro-fried love-as-religion theater that sounds too much like a remix of a true original for it to ever cast a lasting spell, nostalgic or otherwise".

[49] In January 2015, "Living for Love" debuted at number 32 on the Dance Club Songs chart, making it the singer's first appearance since her previous single "Turn Up the Radio".

[69] Verena Dietzel, creator of the fashion label V-Couture, who specializes in different kinds of corsets, were enlisted to create clothing for the video, as well as a Grammy Awards performance.

Dietzel explained that she had initially thought Madonna's e-mail as spam, however after confirmation from the singer's assistant stylist, B. Åkerlund, she started working on the designs.

Red roses fall around her and sound of applause is heard as a quote by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche flashes on screen, "Man is the cruelest animal.

He compared parts of the video with "Express Yourself" and "Hung Up", saying that Madonna emerging victorious among a flock of men dressed as bulls, evoked the leaks of Rebel Heart's songs.

Recalling the self-referential undertones in the videos for "Give Me All Your Luvin'" and "Girl Gone Wild", Jacobs explained that "Madonna presents herself as queen of the big top without relying on allusions to her own résumé to prove she is the master of the postmodern pop scene...

"[78] The Houston Chronicle's Joey Guerra gave another positive review, saying "we haven't already learned time and again – never underestimate Madonna" and describing the video as a "nice fit" for the song.

She confirmed her appearance at the ceremony, by uploading an image of the Grammy trophy wrapped with black strings like the Internet memes for the cover art of Rebel Heart.

[89] After being introduced by singers Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj, the performance began with images of Madonna on a kabuki screen talking about starting a revolution.

[93] Shauna Murphy from MTV News observed Illuminati symbolism with the performance, including rituals, organized religion homage and a metaphor for death.

[114] Jordan Zivitz of Montreal Gazette said that the performance was one of "the evening's minor victories" calling it a "sulphur-scented campiness", although he saw a smooth transition from "Living for Love" to the next section of the tour.

[115] The performance of the song at the March 19–20, 2016 shows in Sydney's Allphones Arena was recorded and released in Madonna's fifth live album, Rebel Heart Tour.