"Keep It Together" is a song by American singer Madonna from her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer (1989). It was released as the fifth (sixth overall) and final single from the album in the United States, Canada and Japan on January 30, 1990, by Sire Records. Written and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray, the main inspiration behind "Keep It Together" was Madonna's relationship with her family—whom she dearly missed during her divorce from Sean Penn. The song was dedicated to the American band Sly and the Family Stone. The lyrics deal with the realization of how important Madonna's family has been to her life. A pop, funk and deep funk song consisting of an upbeat rhythm and groove, "Keep It Together" features instrumentation from percussion, banjo and a conga.

In United Kingdom and Europe, "Dear Jessie" served as the final single from Like a Prayer and "Keep It Together" was not released there. Some critics alluded that "Keep It Together" was simply Madonna's version of Sister Sledge's hit song "We Are Family". "Keep It Together" was a commercial success, reaching a peak of number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Canada chart, while topping the Billboard Dance Club Play chart. In Australia, the song reached the top of the charts as a double A-side single with "Vogue". "Keep It Together" was performed as the closing song of the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour. The performances were inspired by the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange and during the introduction, Madonna sang a verse from "Family Affair" by Sly and the Family Stone.

When Madonna started work on her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, she was already in an emotional state of mind, following her split with then-husband Sean Penn, her thirtieth birthday, and unfavorable reviews for her acting endeavors. She had certain personal matters on her mind that she thought could be the musical direction of the album. But she understood that as she was growing up, so was her core audience. Feeling the need to try something different, Madonna wanted the sound of her new album to indicate what could be popular in music. However, being raised as a Catholic, Madonna felt guilty about the failure of her marriage. She said, "Because in Catholicism you are a born sinner and you are a sinner all your life. ... I could not escape my past, nor could I relax". Saddened by what was happening with her, Madonna missed her family, her father and her siblings. She confessed to Becky Johnston for Interview magazine:

I didn't feel close to anybody in my family when I was growing up. [...] I didn't feel close to my older brothers, they were just typical older brothers who tortured me all the time. And I didn't feel close to my sisters. There was a lot of competition in our family, [...] so, I worked really hard in school. I was a straight-A student, and they all hated me for it because I did it more for the position I was going to have in my father's eyes that for whatever I was going to learn by studying. Then when I got a little older—when I was in high school and started dancing really seriously—I'd say I got closer to my brothers. My oldest brother opened my eyes to lots of things [...].

The song was released as the fifth (sixth overall) and final single from the album on January 30, 1990, by Sire Records. "Keep It Together" was one of the first singles to be released in a CD maxi format, accompanied by an assortment of remixes. The radio mix stripped the track of its original instrumentation and added an R&B-House beat with the 12" mixes following this style. In Australia, it was released as a B-side with "Vogue" and charted as so; however it was distributed as a standalone 12" single by WEA Records International and later released as a standalone CD Maxi single in 1993. It was not released in the United Kingdom at all, where "Dear Jessie" served as the album's fourth single instead of "Oh Father" and "Keep It Together" respectively.

"Keep It Together" is a pop, funk and deep funk song with an upbeat rhythm and groove. It was produced by Madonna and Bray, and features Paulinho da Costa on percussion, brass playing by David Boruff and Steven Madaio, Bill Bottrell as the audio engineer and guitars by Chester Kamen. Prince also played guitar on the song according to Madonna, though he was not credited.

Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine noted that the song is influenced by the Sly and the Family Stone track "Family Affair" (1971). It starts as the sound of slap bass plays along with sequenced synth bass, as Madonna sings the opening lines, "Keep, keep it together, keep people together forever and ever". As the first verse starts, a guitar comes into play with Madonna's voice being backed by percussion and banjo. After the second chorus comes near the end, Madonna utters the line "Brothers and sisters, They hold the key, To your heart and your soul, Don't forget that your family is gold", the percussion sound is thinned out and a mixture of the sound from a live drummer and conga comes into the picture. The song ends with the main groove sound gradually fading out.

According to Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, although "Keep It Together" sonically pays tribute to Sly and the Family Stone, the lyrics talk about the realization of how important Madonna's family has been as a form of stability in her life, especially in the line "Brothers and sisters, They've always been there for me, We have a connection, Home is where the heart should be". The lyrics follow the course of Madonna's rise from figuratively being a "hungry sibling" ("I'm gonna leave this place, So I can forget every single hungry face") to being a superstar ("I hit the big time but I still get the blues, Everyone's a stranger, City life can get to you").