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Summer 1996. The girl enters the room, closes the door behind her and stops to look at herself in the mirror. It's an intimate yet everyday gesture, seemingly normal, yet something in her is changing. Not just her body, which has been hosting two lives for five months; all of a sudden, she realized that everything she has done so far—the frantic rush to appear on the front page, the urge to become a star—was nothing but a silly game.
So she decides to take singing lessons and go to yoga, she begins to study the Jewish Kabbalah and lets herself be carried away by that ray of light that has opened new scenarios in her life. For almost two weeks, she locks herself in her friend Rick Nowels' house for four hours a day, him at the piano and her looking for inspiration. The sessions produce seven tracks, excellent starting material, but she feels something is still missing.
The following spring, one of her record label managers puts her in touch with William Orbit, a keen and experienced electronic music composer, who working on the demos manages to translate into sound the emotions she feels inside. They work hard for almost another five months, then, in late autumn, they deliver all the material composed in the recording sessions to the producer, the eclectic Marius De Vries, for mixing.
Preceded by the single Frozen, and brought to global success by tracks like The Power of Goodbye, Nothing Really Matters, and the title track itself, Ray of Light—which sees the light in February 1998 and will sell over twenty million copies worldwide—is an innovative and experimental electronic-spiritual journey, which mixes, in the thirteen tracks that compose it, ambient music and techno music, trip hop and drum and bass, rock and disco.
Above all, the funereal and apocalyptic Swim, spontaneously written by the artist after hearing the news on the radio of the death of her friend Gianni Versace: "Kids are killing kids / while the students rape their teachers / Comets are crossing the sky / while churches burn their preachers."
Simply, Madonna's best album.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Swim (05:00)
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
Bridge:
I can't carry these sins on my back
Don't wanna carry any more
I'm gonna carry this train off the track
I'm gonna swim to the ocean floor
Chorus:
Mmmmm
Crash to the other shore
Mmmmm
Swim to the ocean floor
Children killing children
While the students rape their teachers
Comets fly across the sky
While the churches burn their preachers
Bridge2:
We can't carry these sins on our back
Don't wanna carry any more
We're gonna carry this train off the track
We're gonna swim to the ocean floor
(chorus)
Let the water wash over you
Wash it all over you
Swim to the ocean floor
So that we can begin again
Wash away all our sins
Crash to the other shore
Mmmmmm
(bridge)
(chorus)
(bridge2)
Crash to the other shore
Swim to the ocean floor
Mmmmmm
03 Ray of Light (05:20)
Verse:
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
Chorus:
And I feel like I just got home
And I feel
And I feel like I just got home
And I feel
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
(Chorus)
Quicker than a ray of light
Quicker than a ray of light
Quicker than a ray of light
(Verse)
And I feel
Quicker than a ray of light
Then gone for
Someone else shall be there
Through the endless years
She's got herself a universe
She's got herself a universe
She's got herself a universe
And I feel
And I feel
And I feel like I just got home
And I feel
Quicker than a ray of light she's flying
Quicker than a ray of light I'm flying
05 Skin (06:21)
Chorus:
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]
[Put your hand on my skin]
[Put your hand on my skin]
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
I close my eyes
I close my eyes
(chorus)
Touch me, I'm trying
To see inside of your soul
I've got this thing
I want to make a correction
I'm not like this all the time
You've got this thing
You've got this thing
(chorus)
Kiss me, I'm dying
Put your hand on my skin
I close my eyes
I need to have your protection
I close my eyes
I close your eyes
[Kiss, kiss, kiss me]
(chorus, repeat)
Kiss me, I'm dying
Touch me, I'm trying, ohhh
I'm not like this all the time
I'm not like this all the time
Put your hand on my skin
Put your hand on my skin
Put your hand on my skin
Touch me, I'm trying, ohhh
Put your hand on my skin
Put your hand on my skin
I'm not like this all the time
I'm not like this all the time
I'm not like this all the time
06 Nothing Really Matters (04:27)
When I was very young
Nothing really mattered to me
But making myself happy
I was the only one
Now that I am grown
Everything's changed
I'll never be the same
Because of you
Chorus:
Nothing really matters
Love is all we need
Everything I give you
All comes back to me
Looking at my life
It's very clear to me
I lived so selfishly
I was the only one
I realize
That nobody wins
Something is ending
And something begins
(chorus, repeat)
Nothing takes the past away
Like the future
Nothing makes the darkness go
Like the light
You're shelter from the storm
Give me comfort in your arms
(chorus, repeat and fade)
07 Sky Fits Heaven (04:47)
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
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
Traveling down my own road
Watching the signs as I go
Traveling down my own road
And I'm watching the signs as they go
Traveling, traveling
Watching the signs as I go
Hand fits giving so do it
That's what the Gospel said to me
Life fits living so let your judgments go
That's how our future should be
(chorus)
Traveling down my own road
Watching the signs as they go
Traveling down my own road
And I'm watching the signs as I go
Traveling, traveling
Watching the signs as I go
08 Shanti/Ashtangi (04:29)
Vunde gurunam caranaravinde
Sandarsita svatma sukhavabodhe
Nihsreyase jangalikayamane
Sansara halahala moha santyai
Hala hala
Ahahu purusakaram sankha cakrasi
Ahahu purusakaram sankha cakrasi
Dharinam dharinam sahasra sirasam
Dharinam dharinam sahasra sirasam
Vande
''(Translation:
I worship the gurus' lotus feet
Awakening the happiness of the self revealed
Beyond comparison, working like the jungle physician
To pacify loss of consciousness from the poison of existence
In the form of a man up to the shoulders
Holding a conch, discus and sword
Thousand headed, white
I bow respectfully
Peace)''
Om Shanti, Om Shanti
Shanti shanti
Shantay Om
Om Shanti, Om Shanti
Shanti shanti
Shantay Om
(REPEAT ENTIRE SONG)
09 Frozen (06:12)
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
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
Now there's no point in placing the blame
And you should know I'd suffer the same
If I lose you... my heart will be broken
Love is a bird... she needs to fly
Let all the hurt inside of you die
You're frozen... when your heart's not open
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
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
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
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
If I could melt your heart
10 The Power of Good-Bye (04:12)
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 you wanna go higher
There's nothing left to try
There's no place left to hide
There's no greater power
Than the power of goodbye
Your heart is not open, so I must go
The spell has been broken, I loved you so
You were my lesson, I had to learn
I was your fortress
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...good...bye
I yearn...to...say...good...bye
There's nothing left to try
There's no more places to hide
There's no greater power
Than the power of goodbye
There's nothing left to lose
There's no more heart to bruise
There's no greater power
Than the power of good-bye
11 To Have and Not to Hold (05:22)
To have and not to hold
So hot, yet so cold
My heart is in your hand
And yet you never stand
Close enough for me to have my way
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
Chorus:
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
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
(chorus)
You're to have, not to hold
You're to have, not to hold
(chorus)
You're to have, not to hold
You're to have, not to hold
You're to have, not to hold
To break my heart
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Other reviews
By lovi
Madonna will never make an album like this again!
This album moves me, and that’s not a small thing for me.
By pluto1992
"There are few songs that give you chills (at least for me), and 'Ray of Light' is one of them."
"Quicker than a ray of light, I’m flying... Quicker than a ray of light, she’s flying."
By pluto1992
It remains, in fact, one of the best pop albums in history, considered by VH1 among the 10 best albums ever.
When I first listened to 'Ray of Light,' this feeling (of ridiculousness in maturing artists) disappeared.
By Darius
Ray Of Light represents, or should represent, the Summa of her artistic journey.
This album is a dedication to all those fanatical Madonna detractors who intend to deny the goodness of her art because of its extremely commercial and poppish side.
