1995

1995-02-13

United States

"Bedtime Story" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her sixth studio album, Bedtime Stories (1994). It was released as the third single from Bedtime Stories on February 13, 1995, by Maverick Records. "Bedtime Story" was written by Björk, Nellee Hooper and Marius De Vries; it was the only time Björk wrote a song for a Madonna album. She re-wrote a demo of the song to the current version, which was then produced by Madonna and Hooper. A mid-tempo electronic and house song with acid, ambient and techno influences, "Bedtime Story" has an underlying skeletal synth melody influenced by minimal trance music. The track's unconventional, electronic sound was a departure from the pop-R&B-based tracks throughout the rest of the album. Lyrically, the song talks about the joys of the unconscious world. "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. Commercially, the single reached the top-ten in the record charts of the United Kingdom, Italy and Australia, but missed the top 40 in the United States, while peaking at number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. The accompanying music video for "Bedtime Story" was directed by Mark Romanek and is listed as one of the most expensive music videos of all time with a cost of $5 million ($8.49 million in 2020 dollars[1]). It features surrealistic and new age imagery, with influences from artists such as Remedios Varo, Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington. The video received acclaim from critics and is permanently displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. "Bedtime Story" was performed at the 1995 Brit Awards in London with Madonna wearing a silver Versace dress and a long wig, becoming one of the 30 best moments of the awards show history according to Marie Claire. A remixed version of the song was also used as a video interlude on her Re-Invention World Tour in 2004. Critics and scholars noted that the song foreshadowed Madonna's move towards electronic music in her future work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedtime_Story_(Madonna_song)