Ray of Delight| Revisiting the genius that was the 1998 reinvention of Madonna on Ray of Light
Madonna is has been a malleable force through her reign has the queen of the pop charts. She’s also been quite provocateur. Coming from a very high point off the success of “Vogue” and her Blonde Ambition tour, she would dive in full force into whatever creative outlet felt right. The early nineties saw Madonna at her most scandalous period yet as she would explore sexuality up to and through its most explicit and sometimes taboo nature on Erotica and her subsequent Sex book. Although the shock value brought many eyes to the project, it would not be as popular as her prior ventures. Her follow up album, the R&B influenced Bedtime Stories, would also see mixed reception. That said, the ballad “Take a Bow” would be a radio success. In 1996 Madonna was cast to play the role of Eva Perón for Andrew Lloyd Webber a Tim Rice screen adaptation of Evita. She would study with a vocal coach for the movie which would give her some of the richest and polished vocals of her career. These new polished vocals would go into her 1998 album Ray of Light. When discussing how her approach to singing on this album, Madonna told Spin:
“I studied with a vocal coach for Evita and I realized there was a whole piece of my voice I wasn’t using. Before, I just believe I had a really limited range and was going to make the most of it. Then I started studying with a coach.. At the end of my lesson my teacher would let me sing Italian operetta. Maybe that affected me unconsciously.”
Her richer singing style aside, Ray of Light would see a much more introspective and spiritual side of Madonna. She had recently devoted herself to the practice of Kabbalah and had her first child, daughter Lourdes. These aspects of her life are expressed throughout the record. She also effortless moved into a new era in her career, a mature maternal Madonna had arisen. Ray of Light delves deep into the trip-hop sound that artists like Portishead, Bjork, and Massive Attack had pioneered earlier in the decade. This interest in the genre seems to have started around 1994 when she dipped her toes into this sound with the Bjork/Nellee Hooper co-writer track “Bedtime Stories”. She brought up Bjork along with artists like Goldie, Tricky, and Everything But the Girl as recent inspirations. She would tap producer William Orbit to co-write and produce on this record. Having enjoyed the sound that Orbit had created, she wanted to tap him to create the instrumental backdrop to the album. When asked about the writing process behind this record, she told Spin:
“I let William [Orbit] play Mad professor. He comes from a very experimental, cutting-edge sort of place — he’s not a trained musician, and I’m used to working with classically trained musicians — but I knew that’s where I wanted to go,so I took a lot more risks Oftentimes the creative process was frustrating because I wasn’t used to it; it took a lot longer than usual to make this record. But I realize now that I need that time to get where I was going.”
The album would prove to be a huge success going multi-platinum worldwide and spawning 4 top 10 singles in the United States and 5 in the United Kingdom.She would also continue to make striking and influential music videos to accompany these singles. This album is by far my favorite in her catalog. Although it has been heavily discussed in through the music sphere, I wanted to breakdown each song on the album in more detail and introduce hopefully more to the beauty of this record.
“Drowned World (Substitute for Love)” is the first track to open up the album. The track slowly swirls into the first verse. The electronic instrumentation washes over you like hot water from spring. This track would be our first look into an introspective Madonna. Here, we are focused on happiness and fame, “I traded fame for love without a second thought/ It all became a silly game, some things cannot be bought/ I got exactly what I asked for, wanted it so badly/ Running, rushing, back for more, I suffered fools so gladly/ And now I find, I’ve changed my mind”. This change in priorities is focused around the birth of her first child. The chorus takes on admiration and praise as her substitute for love, “The face of you, my substitute for love/ My substitute for love/ Should I wait for you, my substitute for love/ My substitute for love”. The bridge dives into all the vices that can’t satiate the void of love in her life, “Famous faces, far off places, trinkets I can buy/ No handsome stranger, heady danger, drug that I can try/ No ferris wheel, no heart to steal, no laughter in the dark/ No one-night-stand, no far off land, no fire that I can spark”. The music video of the song shows this warped and invasive world that Madonna lives in as she tries to find some compassion and privacy. It would receive some controversy around the paparazzi chase scene as it drew comparisons to the events that surrounded the death of Princess Diana a month prior.
“Swim” eases in with the sound soft ocean waves as an electric guitar takes us into the pool of cool synths and beats. The subject matter delves tragedy and coping with these ills. Madonna is able to balance a sense of caring and mourning very well here, “Put your head on my shoulder baby/ Things can’t get any worse/ Night is getting colder sometimes/ Life feels like it’s a curse”. This miasma of sin makes her want to escape as far from this as possible, “I can’t carry these sins on my back/ Don’t want to carry any more/ I’m gonna carry this train off the track/ I’m gonna swim to the ocean floor”. She discusses some of the horrors that plague the world, “Children killing children while the/ Students rape their teachers/ Comets fly across the sky/ While the churches burn their preachers”. This much more caring and mature side of Madonna is extremely refreshing to hear. Orbit’s production adds in eastern instrumentation to the track a smooth rich texture.
“Ray of Light” is the most driving track off the album. The opening guitar and keys are reminiscent of the wash of sunlight over the world as morning breaks. This only explodes into more raucous guitar and electronic instrumentation. The song is a reinterpretation of Curtiss Maldoon’s 1971 folk track “Sepheryn”, with some lyrical changes and additions. It is a vast departure from the original. The song seems to see a woman at a transition between a dark period of her life into period of bliss and happiness. The opening lines call on this low period, “Zephyr in the sky at night I wonder/ Do my tears of mourning sink beneath the sun/ She’s got herself a universe gone quickly/ For the call of thunder threatens everyone”. This transitions into this period of happiness where she hopes the rest of the world can find this unity and bliss, “Faster than the speeding light she’s flying/ Trying to remember where it all began/ She’s got herself a little piece of heaven/ Waiting for the time when Earth shall be as one/ And I feel like I just got home/ And I feel/ And I feel like I just got home/ And I feel/ Quicker than a ray of light”. The song is manic in the best way possible. It’s one of those song’s that you hear and just feel commanded to dance. The video, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, sees Madonna dancing behind these scenes of fast moving day to day activities. It may not be the most advanced looking video, but does a great job of visually showing this fast motion that the sound of the song provides. It is no wonder that this song was a hit.
“Candy Perfume Girl” is the dullest track on the album. The soft electric guitar and electronic undertone give the song a sort of dark cocooned vibe. It’s similar to looking through shear fabric in a darkened room. I also don’t connect with the lyrics on this track. The song is clearly discussion on amorous love between a man and a woman. The song opens with the lines, “Young velvet porcelain boy/ Devour me when you’re with me/ Blue wish window seas/ Speak delicious fires/ I’m your candy perfume girl”. With lines like “Moist warm desire” and “Throb the oceans”, Madonna takes a much more metaphoric take on sexuality here. The song isn’t the worst, but when compared to the other songs on this record, it feels a bit stale.
“Skin” is a much more dance oriented trip-hop/pop track. The song pours in with thick synth that rushes forward as the song progresses. Compared to the prior track, “Skin” see Madonna yearning to be touched and kissed by her lover while also aching for a connection with this person. The opening lines call on this attraction she has towards this person, “Do I know you from somewhere?/ Why do you leave me wanting more?/ Why do all the things I say/ Sound like the stupid things I’ve said before?/ Put your hand on my skin”. She then moves into this ache she has to both make a connection with this person that she so desperately wants, “Kiss me, I’m dying/ Put your hand on my skin/ I close my eyes/ I need to make a connection/ I’m walking on a thin line”. This song works much better than the prior track to marry her lyricism with Orbit’s music.
“Nothing Really Matters” takes on a more club inspired iteration on this smooth trip-hop and ambient sound. Lyrically, the song speaks to Madonna’s change in priorities since having her daughter. The opening verses discuss how she used to see the world, “When I was very young/ Nothing really mattered to me/ But making myself happy/ I was the only one”. This then moves into how life has changes since she had a child, “Now that I am grown/ Everything’s changed/ I’ll never be the same/ Because of you”. She echos this change in mindset in the following verses seeing that her prior focuses were much more selfish now that she is a mother. The song gets fully moving in a more pop/dance/trip-hop feel into the choruses where she focuses on all the rewards motherhood has brought her, “Nothing really matters/ Love is all we need/ Everything I give you/ All comes back to me”. The song is definitely a great dance track and received several remixes. The music video sees Madonna taking on a more Geisha inspired look. She told Larry King that the book Memoirs of a Geisha was a big inspiration for her at the time:
“I read a book called ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’…there was a character in the book called Hutsie Momo and she’s been my muse for the past six months.”
“Sky Fits Heaven” is one of the most pumping tracks on the album. If the other tracks swirl around, this track is the waterspout. The beat gives a feeling of non-stop motion forward as the synths provide stability to the cyclone of lucid house beats. This song takes on inspiration from Madonna’s interest in eastern religions like Buddhism along with other forms of spirituality. The track opens with the lines, “Sky fits heaven so fly it/ That’s what the prophet said to me/ Child fits mother so hold your baby tight/ That’s what my future could see/ Fate fits karma so use it/ That’s what the wise man said to me/ Love fits virtue so hold on to the light/ That’s what our future will be”. This spiritual side of Madonna comes through beautifully through the lyricism that both her and Patrick Leonard crafted. The song really blossoms into this electric lotus of color at the songs chorus, “Traveling down this road/ Watching the signs as I go/ I think I’ll follow the sun/ Isn’t everyone just/ Traveling down their own road/ Watching the signs as they go/ I think I’ll follow my heart/ It’s a very good place to start”. This mellows into wash of a trance like repeating lines, “Traveling, traveling/ Watching the signs as I go”, after each chorus. The song is one of my favorites off the album for its lyrical content and Orbit’s gorgeous swirl of sound.
“Shanti/ Ashtangi” is sung entirely in Sanskrit. This song is adapted from text by Shankaracharya. The track shows Madonna’s interest in eastern sounds and religions such as Buddhism. The rhythmic nature of the programming beats provide an almost trance like feel. It definitely feels like a religious experience. You can also hear samples of Indian strings, vocals, and instrumentation that float throughout the track. The lyrics to the song translate as the following:
Peace / He Who Practices Ashtanga
I bow to the lotus feet of the gurus/ who awakens insight into the happiness of pure being/ and like the Jungle Healer/ brings great well-being and relief from the poison of conditioned existence/ The upper body having a human form/ holding a conch, discus, and sword,/ Having a thousand branched heads of white light/ I bow to you
Om, peace peace/ peace, peace, peace om/ Om, peace peace/ peace, peace, peace om
This is an incredibly enjoyable track.
“Frozen” would be the first single off of the album. It is stark change from any of her work prior. The track is a dark mix of cold electronic/trip-hop beats and strings. Madonna’s vocals are crystalline in their perfection here. She told Spin magazine the following about the making of the track:
“For ‘Frozen’, a song wrote with Pat Leonard, I was obsessed with the movie The Sheltering Sky and the whole Moroccan/orchestral/superromantic/man-carrying-the-woman-he-loves-across-the-desert vibe. So I told Pat that I wanted something with a tribal feel, something really lush and romantic. When he started playing some music, I just turned the DAT on and started free associating and came up with the melody.”
The song is a beautifully dramatic track. Madonna breathes warmth through is cold darkness to let go of all this resentment and anger to heal and find compassion, “You only see what your eyes want to see/ How can life be what you want it to be?/ You’re frozen/ When your heart’s not open/ You’re so consumed with how much you get/ You waste your time with hate and regret/ You’re broken/ When your heart’s not open”. The Moroccan vocal inspirations come in the song’s chorus, “Mmm mmm mmm/ If I could melt your heart/ Mmm mmm mmm/ We’d never be apart/ Mmm mmm mmm/ Give yourself to me/ Mmm mmm mmm/ You hold the key”. The Chris Cunningham directed music video provides further visual beauty to the song. In an odd bit of trivia on the track, the song was originally commissioned for the ice cream company Haagen Daas, but was ultimately decided against in the end.
“The Power of Good-bye” blends in a mix of eastern and western influences. The track was co-written with Rick Nowels. Nowels told Songwriter Universe the following on working with Madonna on Ray of Light:
“I always wanted to work with Madonna. I loved her voice, her songwriting, and the great records she made with Pat Leonard, Stephen Bray and Nile Rodgers. In 1997 I was in New York for the Grammys…I was in Barney’s getting a tie for the Grammys and I saw Madonna there. I introduced myself, and I told her that she didn’t get the credit she deserved as a songwriter… I ended up getting a meeting with her in L.A. a few weeks later. We wrote nine songs together — three made the Ray of Light album: ‘The Power of Goodbye’, ‘Little Star’ and ‘To Have and Not To Hold’.”
Here, she takes on the end of a relationship and the power that letting go and moving on has on healing. This can be heard in the opening verses, “Your heart is not open, so I must go/ The spell has been broken, I loved you so/ Freedom comes when you learn to let go/ Creation comes when you learn to say no/ You were my lesson I had to learn/ I was your fortress you had to burn/ Pain is a warning that something’s wrong/ I pray to God that it won’t be long/ Do ya wanna go higher?”. The drama of the strings and synth programming give the song both an urgency and resolute feeling. The chorus presses on to let you know to let go and heal as there is nothing left here to salvage, “There’s nothing left to lose/ There’s no more heart to bruise/ There’s no greater power/ Than the power of goodbye/ Learn to say goodbye/ I yearn to say goodbye”. It is a very lush and beautiful song. The Matthew Rolston directed video gives an icy feeling between a raven haired Madonna and Croatian actor Goran Višnjić.
“To Have and Not to Hold” opens up from a gentle hum into a eastern inspired beat with a wash of synths. She also echos the lyrics of “Shanti/Ashtangi” throughout the song. She grapples with this relationship that she can not have. This distance in her lover can be seen in the second verse, “To love but not to keep/ To laugh, not to weep/ Your eyes, they go right through/ And yet you never do/ Anything to make me want to stay”. This dissolution of hope of capturing this fleeting relationship is further explored in the third verse, “To look but not to see/ To kiss but never be/ The object of your desire/ I’m walking on a wire/ And there’s no one at all/ To break my fall”. The song’s chorus sees Madonna coming to the realization that she must let go of these hopes for having this person as her own. “Like a moth to a flame/ Only I am to blame/ Ba ba da ba ba ba/ What can I do?/ Ba ba da ba ba ba/ I go straight to you/ Ba ba da ba ba ba/ I’ve been told/ You’re to have, not to hold”. It’s a wonderfully smooth track that is a delight to listen to.
“Lucky Star” is an ode to the birth of her daughter and the love she has for her. Madonna pours out her love and admiration for her daughter throughout the song. She opens the song by telling her daughter to never forget how special and loved she is, “Never forget who you are/ Little star/ Never forget how to dream/ Butterfly/ God gave a present to me/ Made of flesh and bones/ My life, my soul/ You make my spirit whole”. She continues to provide words of encouragement and love towards her daughter throughout the song, “May the angels protect you/ And sadness forget you/ Little star/ There’s no reason to weep/ Lay your head down to sleep/ Little star/ May goodness surround you
My love I have found you/ Little star/ Shining bright/ You breathe new life/ Into my broken heart”. It’s a very sweet almost lullaby of love from mother to daughter that is a delight to hear.
“Mer Girl” is the final track on the record. Madonna told Spin this of writing the track:
“I decided I would write a song to the music as given to me, and when William asked me if I wanted to do something with it, I said, “I want it just like it is, I want you to put the tape up right now and I’m gonna sing to it.” And did it in one take.”
The track is a dark atmospheric song that almost puts you in this icy trance like state. Madonna focuses on the loss of her mother that haunts her, “I ran from my house/ That cannot contain me/ From the man that I cannot keep/ From my mother who haunts me/ Even though she’s gone/ From my daughter that never sleeps/ I ran from the noise and the silence/ From the traffic on the streets”. The song opens up more with the sound of thicker synths as she opens up about her sadness over this loss, “I ran to the cemetery/ And held my breath/ And thought about your death/ I ran to the lake/ Up into the hills/ I ran and I ran/ I’m looking there still/ And I saw the crumbling tombstones/ All the forgotten names/ I tasted the rain/ I tasted my tears/ I cursed the angels/ I tasted my fears/ And the ground gave way beneath my feet/ And the earth took me in her arms”. Out of all the songs on the album, this one is the most personal and best written track by Madonna. You get a sincere feeling for how broken and lost she still feels over this loss of her own mother. This has to be a personal best in Madonna’s catalog of songwriting.
The album is a beautiful testament to Madonna’s inspirations and was a fantastic sea change in her career. It’s warm and fluid sound stands up pretty well up to the present day. The biggest highlight is both her vocal presence and lyrical skill here. It comes off authentic and beautiful. The album could have come off cheesy done any other way, but if we have learned anything about Madonna throughout her career is that she knows how to craft her sound with a great team around her. Her following album, Music, continued to show a creative renaissance in her career. She would move into a more dance oriented and country sound that worked well. It is no mystery why Ray of Light is on many best album lists. I highly recommend giving this record a full listen. My favorites off this record:
- “Drowned World/Substitute for Love”
- “Ray of Light”
- “Sky Fits Heaven”
- “Frozen”
- “The Power of Good-bye”
- “Mer Girl”
My overall rating: 9.5 out of 10 rays of light…
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