The Drowned World of Madonna's 'Ray of Light'
How motherhood and a spiritual awakening led to her greatest reinvention and sole rebirth.
On February 22, 1998, pop music legend Madonna released her seventh (tenth, if you consider her soundtrack albums) studio album Ray of Light. Based on general consensus between Madonna fans and music critics, it is the best, and most introspective, album in her 40-year career.
I hadn’t listened to Madonna until the beginning of college. Until then, I only knew her biggest hits like “Hung Up”, “Like A Virgin”, “4 Minutes”, “Material Girl”, “Vogue” (and “La Isla Bonita”, but I never knew it was her singing it). Truthfully, I only began appreciating albums around that time as well; I used to concentrate my music listening around singles and playlists. I gradually became interested in listening to an artist’s entire catalog and Madonna was definitely on my list of artists to get through. Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) was my first stop because of my obsession with “Hung Up”, but I knew Ray of Light was the next album I’d delve into. I had heard the rumblings about its ambient and psychedelic nature, a sonic characteristic that I was becoming interested by, so I was naturally very excited to listen.
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
- “Drowned World / Substitute for Love”, track 1 from ‘Ray of Light’
The lush instrumentation of “Drowned World / Substitute for Love” washes over you in its first few seconds. You’re immediately transported to another world, Madonna’s world. A world that she has built for herself following the birth of her daughter Lourdes. Madonna seemingly rejects the previous world she wishes she had never entered in the first place. A world that demanded a lot from her, and that she was depending on for love and acceptance. Now, she trades fame for Lourdes, her newfound love. The paradisiacal trip-hop / ambient record eases listeners into a project filled with introspection and musical experimentation. The end of the track has Madonna declaring that “this is [her] religion”, both in reference to Lourdes and her recent study of the Kabbalah and Buddhism.
Ray of Light was released at the tail end of a chaotic decade for Madonna. The ‘90s acted as a turning point for Madonna’s image and sound. She went full throttle on being an empowered sex icon. In 1990, she embarked on the iconic Blond Ambition World Tour, where she simulated masturbation during the “Like A Virgin” section of the show which almost got her arrested in Toronto, detailed in the Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) documentary. In the same year, MTV pulled the “Justify My Love” music video because of its sexual and androgynous themes, forcing her to release the video as a VHS tape. In 1992, Madonna released her fifth studio album Erotica, coinciding with the release of her coffee table book Sex. The book, filled with softcore porn and nude photos taken by her friend Steven Meisel, garnered immense backlash from news outlets, the public, and even some fans. This was Madonna at her freest, at least sexually.
General consensus is that the early ‘90s was a dark period for Madonna’s career. But, the Blond Ambition Tour was almost sold out and a commercial success, “Justify My Love” is still the best-selling video single ever with a million copies sold, and Sex is still the best-selling coffee table book ever with nearly two million copies sold, remaining in high-demand despite being out of print. The sales for Erotica were admittedly quite low for a superstar like Madonna, but the album is now celebrated as one of her best, along with the era itself. So, Madonna may have lost the battle, but she definitely won the war. Let’s be honest, modern-day pop stars would not be able to be as liberated as they are without albums like Erotica and people like Madonna.
Nonetheless, backlash was swift at the time. Madonna’s next album Bedtime Stories, a venture into a Babyface-produced sound, was her attempt at softening her image, to arguable success. Released in 1994, the album included one of her biggest (and best) songs, “Take a Bow”. Madonna continued her efforts with the ballad compilation album Something to Remember in 1995 and her role in Evita as Eva Perón in 1996. The vocal training she had undergone for the role acted as necessary preparation for the recording of Ray of Light. And her hard work paid off.
You’re probably asking yourself how any of this is relevant to Ray of Light. Her career in the early-to-mid-'90s is such a crucial part to the album’s conception and reception. The autobiographical and increasingly personal nature of Madonna’s lyrics on Bedtime Stories is continued throughout Ray of Light, but at a more profound level. This is not to say that her earlier work wasn’t personal or autobiographical, but you can tell that there was a shift to more thoughtful and introspective themes. Madonna’s sexually liberated image portrayed throughout Erotica and Sex only adds to the essence of mystification many feel towards Ray of Light. There was the slight assumption that an artist like her wasn’t capable of making an album as experimental as this; as great as this. I can’t help but feel that these sentiments of shock are rooted in the notion that artists who venture into both pure pop music and erotic art (two fields that Madonna had mastered by this stage in her career) can’t and shouldn’t be taken seriously. Ray of Light further proved Madonna’s staying power and her ability to keep evolving as one of music’s greatest artists, more than 15 years in the industry.
“Ray of Light” is my earliest memory of anything related to Ray of Light. The iconic music video inspired by Koyaanisqatsi (1982) shows Madonna dancing before a time-lapse of an entire day shot in cities across the world. The video captivated me as a kid; it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The track, based on Curtiss Maldoon's "Sepheryn", and video stresses the importance of freedom and self-realization in a universe that is moving faster than the speed of light. Musically, it is undoubtedly one of the best club songs ever; those synths and guitar riffs are so powerful, allowing you to get lost in the song and the trance sound is just as quick and dizzying as the lyrics suggest. You can tell by watching her performances for this era that Madonna is having the best time with this new sound and experimentation into electronic music.
The grunge-like “Candy Perfume Girl” demonstrates Madonna’s appreciation for the UK rock music scene of the late ‘90s, while still staying within the confines of electronica. “Skin” truly feels like a fever dream. The track is a chaotic cacophony of sound in the best possible way. Singing about yearning for love and the need for intimacy, listening to “Skin” is a clear indication of Björk’s influence on the record, especially considering Madonna’s fondness towards Homogenic (1997) and the elements of glitch in Björk’s music. This is the point of the record where the genius of Madonna and William Orbit’s collaboration clicks; an unlikely pairing creating magic.
“Nothing Really Matters” is the most Madonna song on the album. A track about maturation and learning love through motherhood, it has a classic EDM and house sound with some elements of techno and a rather long ambient intro. “Nothing Really Matters” blends well into the tracklist and provides listeners with a breather from the harsher sounds on the record. The music video is nothing short of bizarre. Unique filming style, costumes, and props, but a plot that I haven’t quite wrapped my head around yet. It’s visually stunning and adds to the enlightened character Madonna has created throughout the Ray of Light cycle. The video and Grammy performance also gave Madonna one of her most recognizable looks: the red kimono.
Controversy is seemingly synonymous with Madonna and her artistry, as I’ve detailed previously, and Ray of Light wasn’t an exception. The geisha outfit she wore in the music video for “Nothing Really Matters” and the Grammy performance, the traditional Hindu dress and mehndi she sported during her 1998 VMA Awards performance, and the track “Shanti/Ashtangi” sung in Sanskrit were subject to criticism by Hindu people and organizations. While some retracted their statements, they accused Madonna of cultural appropriation and appropriating their language, their dress, using their religion as a form of reinvention, and especially not amused by her gyrating to “Ray of Light” with Lenny Kravitz while the mehndi was still on her hands. In true Madonna fashion, she responded by writing, "The essence of purity and divinity is non-judgment, they should practice what they preach. If they're so pure, why are they watching MTV?"
Other Hindu groups and spokespeople welcomed Madonna’s efforts to learn their religion, adopt their faith, and show appreciation to their culture. Madonna claims to have genuinely appreciated Buddhism and Hinduism, as she wanted to incorporate some elements of South Asian culture into her music and visuals. She also took linguistic classes before the recording of “Shanti/Ashtangi” to ensure correct pronunciation of the lyrics written in Sanskrit. With themes of prayer and yoga, the lyrics of “Shanti/Ashtangi” are extracted from the ancient composition “Yoga Taravali” from Hindu scholar Adi Shankara. Its techno rhythm, pulsating beats, and increasing tempo (especially in the thrilling second pre-chorus), coupled with the spiritual lyrics are an interesting, yet brilliant, dichotomy.
Most people’s first introduction to Ray of Light was this next song on the tracklist. Picture this: you turn MTV on in mid-February of 1998 and the following commercial for Madonna’s newest single is shown.
“Frozen” is special. I will never forget my first time listening to it; I was in my early stages of getting into Madonna’s discography and I hadn’t had the time to listen to an entire album of hers just yet. So, on a dark and cold winter evening, I played “Frozen” because it was the last of Madonna’s listed hits that I had never heard before. I felt as if I was transported into a movie; the opening strings are smooth and dramatic. Madonna’s whispery vocals are just as important in creating the cinematic and ethereal sound of “Frozen” as the instrumentation. I just remember looking out of the bus window and feeling as if I were going through an existential crisis. It may be cliché saying that “music moves people”, but this track truly blew me away. About being in a relationship with an emotionless partner, “Frozen” has clear inspiration from classical and ambient music, and a vocal performance in the chorus that borrows from South Asian singing techniques. The music video is filmed in the Mojave Desert; it’s dark, gothic, and entrancing. Madonna turns into a flock of crows, a black dog, and a black liquid that seeps down the cracks of the desert ground. She then levitates into the dark night sky. It’s as chilling and cold as the music and lyrics are. It’s Madonna at her absolute best.
The latter half of the record is reserved almost exclusively to ballads. But, at this stage of the album, ballads from Madonna have never sounded better. “The Power of Good-Bye” is another masterpiece, both musically and visually. A break-up song, the music video, taking inspiration from Joan Crawford in Humoresque (1946) and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), sees Madonna and her love interest playing chess and embracing, with other shots showing her walking on the beach while crying. It’s both sensual and agonizing. I’ve always wondered what the blue-green colour grade adds to the video, but even if for visual beauty, it’s an added touch I didn’t know I needed.
It’s no coincidence that the last two songs deal with life and death, respectively. “Little Star”, a dreamy downtempo track, acts as a beautiful lullaby for Lourdes. It describes a mother’s undying love for her child; a feeling that she conveys magnificently with her airy vocals and lovely lyrics. This song has always felt like a warm embrace and Lourdes is fortunate to have such a precious song written in her honour.
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
- “Little Star”, track 12 from ‘Ray of Light’
If you thought “Frozen” was frightening or chilling, “Mer Girl” is in another dimension of eeriness. Madonna’s mother died at the age of 30; Madonna was only five years old. The song paints a grim picture of her reflecting on her mother’s death as she reaches a sea of tombstones while running through a forest. The lyrics originate from a visit to her father’s house in Michigan where her late mother is buried. In the final moments of “Mer Girl”, you’re left with Madonna’s isolated vocals where she speaks about “burning flesh” and “rotting bones”, words we’ve heard before in “Little Star” where she references the “flesh and bones” God gave to her in the form of Lourdes. It’s an excerpt that genuinely made my eyes widen on first listen. It’s unsettling and uncomfortable, as was Orbit in the studio, “Everybody was rooted to the spot. It was just one of those moments. Really spooky.” She’s grappling with death; something she’s been familiar with from an early age, something that haunts her, something she feels she’s being pulled into and must run away from. There’s an inherent and unprecedented realness in the track.
And the ground gave way beneath my feet
And the earth took me in her arms
Leaves covered my face
Ants marched across my back
Black sky opened up, blinding me
I ran to the forest, I ran to the trees
I ran and I ran, I was looking for me
I ran to the lakes and up to the hill
I ran and I ran, I'm looking there still
And I smelled her burning flesh
Her rotting bones, her decay
I ran and I ran
I'm still running away
- “Mer Girl”, track 13 from ‘Ray of Light’
Ray of Light continues to intrigue me to this day, even after having learned so much about it. The experimentation into electronica, trip-hop, and techno is just as compelling as knowing that Madonna was behind it. Madonna has always shown great talent and musical intellect since she released “Everybody” in 1982, but an album as perfectly curated as this one sometimes requires maturation and a certain level of self-fulfillment. The four-time Grammy Award winning album is Madonna’s greatest musical achievement and she’d tell you that herself, as she’s mentioned on several occasions that this was the most satisfying moment of her career.
Its impact in my life is extensive; an album that set my obsession with trip-hop and psychedelic music in motion and acts as a mainstay of my music library. The album was released in the late ‘90s, an era dominated by girl groups, boy bands, and teenage stars. Some of her pop contemporaries struggled to find their place amongst newer artists, but Ray of Light proved Madonna’s resilience in the mainstream pop landscape. As Mariah Carey once said, “You can’t write off talent”. From its influence on bringing electronica from the United Kingdom to the American mainstream to providing inspiration to best-selling albums like Nelly Furtado’s Loose (2006) and tracks like “Million Years Ago” from Adele’s 25 (2015), Ray of Light is used as a benchmark in pop music. Listening to this record is a journey into Madonna’s most innovative reinvention, not only as a popstar but as a human being. Reborn.
If you enjoyed Ray of Light, I suggest listening to the bonus track, “Has To Be”, that was made available on the Japanese release of the album. Orbit and Madonna recorded many demos throughout the recording process that did not make it onto the album, but I’d like to pay extra attention to a song titled “Arioso”. I adore the track’s melody and her vocal performance is outstanding. The duo would continue their collaboration on Madonna’s next album Music (2000) on great songs like “Runaway Lover” and “Amazing”, but “Beautiful Stranger”, a track recorded for the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) soundtrack, is where they truly strike gold again. Madonna’s next and last collaboration with Orbit would be on her 2012 album MDNA, a project I prefer to ignore in her discography. Even if it doesn’t seem likely that a new studio album from Madonna is coming anytime soon, I hope that her and Orbit will make magic once again in the future.
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