Madonna (56 page)

On “Swim” she sings about diving into the ocean and washing away all of the sins of the 1990s: killings by children, rape, and the hypocrisy of modern-day preachers and churches. “Swim” was actually recorded on the day Gianni Versace was killed. Madonna went into the recording studio knowing that her friend had just been senselessly murdered on the streets of Miami—a city she now called home for part of the year. According to her, “I think that explains why the track has an emotional resonance to it. It was intense to record.” (278)

“Ray of Light,” with its danceable beat, sounds more like the old Madonna. She sings of the unbridled energy that has come with her new enlightenment. Then there are songs that make no earthly sense, except what they say at face value. “Candy Perfume Girl” is one of those songs. To me, it sounds like a billboard in Tokyo written in the English language and losing linguistic correctness in the translation.

On “Skin,” Madonna longs to make a human connection, commanding one to put one's hands on her skin like a faith healer. On “Nothing Really Matters” she confesses her obsession with making herself happy. On “Sky Fits Heaven” she expounds about not judging others and making it her life's motto for the future—that and following her own instincts.

On the Far East India-sounding song “Shanti/Ashtangi,” Madonna actually sings in the ancient lost language of Sanskrit. If anyone could have predicted this at the dawn of the 1990s, they would have been laughed at as a heretic, a drunk, or a nut. What's next for her, an album in Croatian? In the song she quotes traditional Sanskrit text, part of which reads, “I worship the guru's lotus feet.” As Christopher John Farley in
Time
wryly pointed out, “Madonna in only six years has gone from sucking on feet to using them as catalysts for spiritual revelation.” (278)

In “Frozen,” Madonna sings about opening one's heart, or else all emotions are “on ice.” According to her, the song's initial recording went on and on. “It's totally out of control, the original version is well over ten minutes long. It was completely indulgent, but I loved it. It was heartbreaking to cut it down to a manageable length.” (277) The finished product logged in at six minutes and twelve seconds. When it was released as a single, four separate mixes were included, tallying 31 minutes and 36 “Frozen” seconds.

“Retaliation, revenge, hate, regret, that's what I deal with in ‘Frozen,' “ Madonna explained. “Everybody's going to say, ‘That's a song about Carlos,' but it's not really; it's just about people in general.” (276)

“The Power of Goodbye” deals with knowing when to turn one's back on a person or a phase in one's life, and walk away. “To Have and Not to Hold” is about being unable to capture another's affections. “Little Star” represents finding renewed meaning in life from someone's presence—little Lourdes is the likely inspiration for this song.

The album ends with “Mer Girl,” a song with rambling narrative verse, in which Madonna sings about running from her house as though in a dream. Her dead mother, her insomniac daughter, and other aspects of her real life are all discussed as the singer claims to be running and running and running in the quest of some sort of unattainable truth. Referring to “Mer Girl” in a
TV Guide
cover story, Madonna explained, “That is an encapsulated view of me and my life.” (258)

Ray of Light
is a deeply personal album for Madonna. Upon initial listening, it does leave a chill. However, with subsequent listenings, it grows on one and becomes a thought-provoking milestone in a career that seems to know no boundaries.

Thanks to her
Evita
experience, and all the work she did to stretch and train her voice, she brought to
Ray of Light
a new, more finely tuned instrument. “Training my voice has opened me up immeasurably, and it's allowed me to do things with my voice that I never thought were possible. I'm so proud of the way the album came out. But for a moment, after I first finished it, I thought, ‘What have I done?' Emotionally and sonically, it went in such a different territory for me.” (277) However, risk-taking was a trademark Madonna move by now.

A haunting album of over an hour of music,
Ray of Light
was inspired by as many ideologies as Madonna had explored over the last few years. In her quest for spirituality she examined the teachings of several Far Eastern cultures. Her subsequent videos and television performances in which she promoted this album reflected the cultures of several of these Asian countries.

According to William Orbit, there was actually another whole album's worth of tracks left on the editing room floor, so much in fact that it was under consideration to release an album of unreleased Madonna out-takes. “It would be like the play
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
. You'd see the original album from a slightly different angle.” (278)

Among the songs missing from
Ray of Light
is “Has To Be,” a haunting Madonna-William Orbit-Patrick Leonard composition, which finds the singer pondering the existence of God and contending that there has to be “someone out there” watching life on Earth. The song's only appearance is as the “B” side on the single CD of “Ray of Light.” Although it is much too slow to be a hit single, “Has to Be” makes one wonder what other goodies were omitted from this undeniably creative album.

Regarding the somber nature of the material on
Ray of Light
, Madonna proclaimed in her typically blunt fashion, “You can't help being sad and lonely when you're going through self-examination. Because, at the end of the day, you're going to be buried alone.” (276)

Ultimately,
Ray of Light
hit Number Two on the
Billboard
LP chart, and tallied a triple platinum certification for sales of more than three million copies in the United States alone. She continued her magic for pulling one hit single after another from the album: “Frozen” peaked at Number Two on the singles charts in America, followed by “Ray of Light” (Number Five), “The Power of Goodbye” (Number Nineteen), and “Nothing Really Matters” (Number One).

Ever the promoter, Madonna kept herself in the public eye. On April 12, 1998, she starred in the hour-long VH1 special
Madonna Rising
. The documentary, in which she and her new best friend, gay British actor Rupert Everett, and a video cameraman visited New York City, brought back memories of her early days in Manhattan.

To usher in the new album and her new-found religious philosophies, the first video from
Ray of Light
was “Frozen,” which added a whole new “look” to Madonna's sketchbook of styles. Dressed in something that looked like it came from a Goth-Girl—long black hair, mehndi henna tattoos on her hands, and severe black nail polish—this was a look radically different for Madonna.

In August 1998 Madonna reached a major milestone in her life: she turned forty. Reaching this dramatic birthday slowed neither her pace nor drive. For many media stars of the twentieth century, their forties often became their most productive artistic period. Madonna was determined to maintain her breakneck pace of producing albums, videos, and movies.

When pressed about reaching an age where playing comedy ingenue roles would become increasingly difficult, Madonna snapped, “It's not like I'm in a position where I go, ‘Oh God, in a couple of more years I'm not going to be able to get those parts,' and I wouldn't want them. I'm not insanely jealous of the movies that Sandra Bullock and Demi Moore are making. What is that anyway? It's not acting, it's not cinema, it's not art. In the end, the art I make is the art I make.” (246) Unlike wine, time will never mellow the outspoken Madonna.

Having already embroiled herself in controversy in the past with her response to the Catholic church, Madonna's
Ray of Light
musings providing an excellent opportunity to challenge and outrage religions. In September 1998, appearing on the annual
MTV Music Video Awards
telecast, with the help of four dancers positioned behind her, Madonna performed a song from her latest album as the multi-armed Indian goddess Shiva. To complete the look, her hands were temporarily henna tattooed. This time around, the Vatican didn't care less, however the Hindu group, World Vaishnava Association, demanded that she apologize publicly. Instead, she blasted back, “If they're so pure, why are they watching MTV?” (275)

Regardless of her critics, Madonna was winning popularity awards hands down. That night at the
MTV Music Video Awards
, she walked away with an astonishing six awards, including Best Video of the Year for “Ray of Light.”
Ray of Light
was not only a testament to her newfound spiritual awareness, it was also creating a watershed of acceptance for her.

When Cher's
Believe
album became the comeback recording of the decade, everyone was listening with fascination. Cher publicly admitted that she too was amazed at suddenly having the biggest-selling single and album of her long career. It was also announced that Madonna was in love with the Spanish Flamenco, guitar-driven dance song “Dov'e L'A-more” from Cher's 1999 hit album. According to Cher, Madonna approached her and said that she was interesting in directing a video version of it, which sounded like a great idea at the time, as Madonna is certainly a pro when it comes to music videos. However, it never transpired.

In the past Madonna had been the queen of MTV, winning one video award after another, demonstrating her creativity and, most of all, her popularity. While selling millions of records, in the past Madonna had been largely overlooked by the Grammy Awards. Although nominated for eight Grammys, thus far, her only trophy was the Best Long Form Video in 1991
ior Madonna Blonde Ambition Tour Live
. Apparently, many Grammy Award voters viewed her as a studio-created pop phenomenon; her recordings and her career in general did not seem to win the respect of her peers. All this changed in 1999.

When the nominations were announced in January 1999, Madonna was up for five separate awards, including top prizes: Record of the Year and Album of the Year. Her other nominations were for Best Dance Recording, Best Pop Album, and Best Short Form Music Video for “Ray of Light.”

Grammy Awards/Recording Academy president Michael Greene, in a press release on
www.grammy.com
said, “Madonna has always been a trendsetter, a risk taker and multifaceted performance artist. The Recording Academy is very proud of her contributions to music and is looking forward to what promises to be a dynamic and exciting appearance on the 41st Grammy awards telecast.” (280)

Madonna opened the 1999 Grammy Awards show with “Nothing Really Matters.” Having mined just about every other Asian culture for fashion ideas for her
Ray of Light
videos and performances, this time around she performed the number with a decidedly Japanese flair, in a bright red kimono, Oriental makeup, and straight black hair right out of Tokyo.

At the Shrine Auditorium that night, when the Grammy Awards took their first commercial break, all anyone in the star-studded live audience could talk about was, “What's up with Madonna and that kabuki number?” It certainly attracted everyone's attention.

Despite the success of her
Ray of Light
LP, critics still ripped into her as a performer who took herself way too seriously. In an amusing piece from the next morning's
Detroit Free Press
, entitled, “Lauryn's Sermon, Madonna's Misfire,” writer Kelley L. Carter claimed, “It's official. If there was any doubt Madonna's singing voice is miserably flat, her show-opening song, ‘Nothing Really Matters,' blatantly exposed her off-key warble to the world.” (281)

That evening she won three separate Grammy Awards in the latter three categories. Album of the Year went to Lauryn Hill for
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
, and Record of the Year went to Celine Dion for “My Heart Will Go On.” However, Madonna was bowled over by her achievement, especially the Grammy for Best Pop Album. She felt like she had truly won the respect of her peers and was proud that this very personal album had done it for her.

Besides Madonna's kabuki production number on the Grammy Awards telecast, the most talked-about event that evening was the explosive reception that Latin superstar Ricky Martin garnered, performing his song “The Cup of Life.” After wowing the audience with his Spanish-language hit, backstage he felt a pair of hands covering his eyes from behind. The cheery “guess who” that accompanied the gesture came from none other than Madonna. That particular performance on the Grammy telecast made Ricky Martin an overnight superstar, and Madonna recognized it instantly. Martin was just finishing up recording his first English-language album for Columbia Records, and he asked her to perform a duet with him on the album. Not only did she agree, but she and William Orbit wrote a song especially for the occasion. The song, “Be Careful
(Cuidado Con Mi Corazon)
” is one of the highlights of the album.

It was fascinating to see that Madonna knew exactly whose rocket to hitch herself to and at exactly the right moment. The resulting
Ricky Martin
album went all the way to Number One in
Billboard
, selling in excess of six million copies in the United States alone. In other words, twice as many people heard Madonna singing with Ricky Martin on their duet than those who purchased
Ray of Light
. Even when she shares the spotlight, Madonna is always working overtime for Madonna.

Speaking of incredibly good instincts, while all of these endeavors were netting her millions of dollars annually, her own record label, Maverick, was something of a 1990s success story as well. The most notable person she had signed to Maverick Records was Canadian singer/song-writer Alanis Morissette. Her album
Jagged Little Pill
has sold 27 million records worldwide (as of January 2000), surpassing Madonna's
Like a Virgin
LP. She always knew a winner, and in Morissette she found exactly that.