Bedtime Story

"Bedtime Story" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories. The song was released as the album's third single on February 13, 1995 by Maverick Records. The song also appears in a shortened version on Madonna's 2001 compilation album GHV2. Written by Björk, Nellee Hooper and Marius De Vries, it offered Björk the chance to write a song for Madonna's album. Björk then composed a demo which was later partially re-written and whose title was changed to the present one, after which the actual song was produced by Madonna and Nellee Hooper. "Bedtime Story" is a mid-tempo electronic song with acid-influenced "pulsating" house beats, ambient and techno tendencies and an underlying skeletal synth melody influenced by minimal trance music. The song also contains the presence of a drum machine, organs, gurgles, handclaps and has an intricate rhythmic structure. Furthermore, it has drawn comparisons to the style of new age music. A considerable departure from Madonna's work at the time, the track abandoned the singer's then pop-R&B-based repertoire in favor being more unconventional and electronic. The song starts with groans and eventually progresses into whispered speak-sung vocals, and the lyrics are about the joys of the unconscious world. However, scholars and academics have noted that the song contains lyrical subtexts. "Bedtime Story" received favorable reviews from music critics, who praised the song's hypnotic and electronic style, and deemed it an underrated song which could have had great potential. The song was a moderate international success, reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom, Italy and Australia, but missing the top 40 in United States. However, the song peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs. The music video for "Bedtime Story" was directed by Mark Romanek and is listed as one of the most expensive music videos of all time at a cost of $5 million. It features surrealistic and new age imagery, with influences from artists such as Remedios Varo, Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington. The video received critical acclaim from critics and was stored in a collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. "Bedtime Story" was performed at the 1995 BRIT Awards in London with Madonna wearing white Versace dress and long hair extensions, becoming one of the 30 best moments of the awards show history. A remixed version of the track was also used as a video interlude on her Re-Invention World Tour in 2004, with a new video directed by Dago Gonzalez. "Bedtime Story" has left a legacy, with several critics, writers and scholars claiming that the song foreshadowed the singer's move towards electronic music in her future work. It was also written that it was part of the singer's influence in popularising Sufism and the Mevlevi tradition in mainstream Western culture. Nevertheless, it has been described as one of her most unfulfilled potentially successful singles.

[Verse 1] Today is the last day that I'm using words They've gone out, lost their meaning Don't function anymore [Refrain] Let's Let's Let's get unconscious, honey Let's get unconscious, honey [Verse 1] Today is the last day that I'm using words They've gone out, lost their meaning Don't function anymore [Chorus] Traveling Leaving logic and reason Traveling To the arms of unconsciousness Traveling Leaving logic and reason Traveling To the arms of unconsciousness [Refrain] Let's get unconscious, honey Let's get unconscious Let's get unconscious, honey Let's get unconscious [Verse 2] Words are useless, especially sentences They don't stand for anything How could they explain how I feel? [Chorus] Traveling I'm traveling Traveling Leaving logic and reason Traveling I'm gonna relax Traveling In the arms of unconsciousness [Refrain] Let's get unconscious, honey Let's get unconscious Let's get unconscious, honey Let's get unconscious [Bridge] And inside we're all still wet Longing and yearning How can I explain how I feel? [Refrain] Let's get unconscious, honey Let's get unconscious Let's get unconscious, honey Let's get unconscious [Chorus] Traveling, traveling Traveling, traveling Traveling, traveling In the arms of unconsciousness [Outro] And all that you've ever learned Try to forget I'll never explain again