I wanna kiss you in Paris
I wanna hold your hand in Rome
I wanna run naked in a rainstorm
Make love in a train cross-country
You put this in me
So now what, so now what?
Wanting, needing, waiting
For you to justify my love (my love, my love)
Hoping, praying
For you to justify my love
I want to know you
Not like that
I don't wanna be your mother
I don't wanna be your sister either
I just wanna be your lover
I wanna be your baby
Kiss me, that's right, kiss me
Wanting, needing, waiting
For you to justify my love (my love, my love)
Yearning, burning
For you to justify my love
What are you gonna do?
What are you gonna do?
Talk to me
Tell me your dreams
Am I in them?
Tell me your fears
Are you scared?
Tell me your stories
I'm not afraid of who you are
We can fly!
Poor is the man
Whose pleasures depend
On the permission of another
Love me, that's right, love me
I wanna be your baby
Mmm yeah
Wanting, needing, waiting
For you to justify my love (my love, my love)
I'm open and ready
For you to justify my love (my love, my love)
To justify my love
Wanting, to justify (for you to justify my love, my love, my love)
Waiting, to justify my love
Praying, to justify (for you to justify my love)
To justify my love
I'm open, to justify my love (my love, my love)
(Justify my love)
Credits
Written by Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez
Additional lyrics by Madonna
Produced by Lenny Kravitz and Andre Betts
Mixed by Shep Pettibone and Goh Hotoda
Background vocals by Madonna and Lenny Kravitz
Ingrid Chavez isn't mentioned in the original credits, because
Lenny Kravitz was afraid his affair with her would become public
that way. However, when the song became successful she stepped out
of the shadow to get her part of the royalties.
At
the end of 1990 Madonna released the first single of her collection
album. Teaming up with rockstar Lenny Kravitz, Madonna gave her
audience a preview of her upcoming raunchy sex period. This erotic
single dominated the US charts for two weeks. Selling over 1 million
copies, it became her third platinum single in two years time. It
reached #2 in Canada, Japan and the UK (in the latter, it was
beaten by Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby'). The maxi-single contains a fantastic remix, called The
Beast Within. Also notable is that Justify My Love was the first Madonna
single remixed by William Orbit, who would co-produce Ray
Of Light 7 years later.
Video
Although
the lyrics were already pretty clear, the video by Jean-Baptiste
Mondino emphasized on the erotic theme of the song. Madonna walks
through the halls of the Royal Monceau Hotel in Paris, wearing
a long raincoat. When she kneels down you can see her sexy lingerie
underneath. As she walks past the rooms, the viewer can peak through
the open doors and see people in some erotic adventures. Madonna
makes love with Tony Ward, porn star and then-boyfriend, but not
before he watches her kiss some androgynous person.
The video breaks all boundaries of sexuality. It's still seen
as one of Madonna's most controversial videos. No surprise that
it was banned from MTV. Instead it premiered on Nightline on December
3rd, followed by an interview in which Forrest Sawyer wondered
if Madonna had gone too far this time. Little did she know about
the Erotica period that was
still to come! Madonna turned the ban into her profit, releasing
the video on VHS. Justify My Love became the first ever video
single, as well as the best selling.
Madonna and Mondino got some of their inspiration in the 1973
movie The
Night Porter, which is also set in a hotel and which tells
the story of a strange, sadomasochistic relationship between a
former SS concentration camp officer and his victim-lover. » Watch on Youtube
Tour
Justify's
fantastic remix The Beast Within would turn
out more popular on tour, being used on the Girlie
Show and the Re-Invention
tour. But on the Girlie
Show, the original song (or rather the Orbit Remix of it)
made a great encore. With a staggering choreography in 1900s costumes, Madonna and her dancers paid homage to the Ascot Gavotte scene from the 1964 movie My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn. Erotica for the bourgeoisie!