Bedtime Story
Lyrics
Today is the last day
That I'm using words
They've gone out
Lost their meaning
Don't function anymore
Let's
Let's
Let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious honey
Today is the last day
That I'm using words
They've gone out
Lost their meaning
Don't function anymore
Traveling
Leaving logic and reason
Traveling
To the arms of unconsciousness
Traveling
Leaving logic and reason
Traveling
To the arms of unconsciousness
Let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious
Let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious
Words are useless
Especially sentences
They don't stand for anything
How could they explain how I feel
Traveling, traveling
I'm traveling
Traveling, traveling
Leaving logic and reason
Traveling, traveling
I'm gonna relax
Traveling, traveling
In the arms of unconsciousness
Let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious
Let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious
And inside
We're all still wet
Longing and yearning
How can I explain how I feel
Let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious
Let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious
Traveling, traveling
Traveling, traveling
Traveling, traveling
Traveling, traveling
In the arms of unconsciousness
And all that you've ever learned
Try to forget
I'll never explain again
Credits
Written by Nellee Hooper, Björk and Marius DeVries
Produced by Nellee Hooper and Madonna
Album
Single
Nellee Hooper had written this song with Björk and then brought it to Madonna, who recorded it because she thought it was 'astonishing'. It eventually inspired the album title and was released as third single on February 13, 1995. The trance sound can be seen as an early preview of Madonna's electronic pop which she used years later on Ray Of Light.
To promote the Bedtime Story single, Madonna held a pajama party with friends and fans, where she read the bedtime story Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk. It didn't boast sales though: the single only reached #42 in the US, ending Madonna's record of 32 consecutive top-40 hits. The only top-10 listings were in the UK (#4), Finland (#4), Australia (#5), Italy (#8) and of course in the Hot Dance / Club Play, where it reached #1. Madonna realized that the song was mostly popular with dance audiences and gave a stunning performance of the fantastic Junior's Wet Dream Remix at the 1995 Brit Awards.
Video
The Mark Romanek video is - like the song - one of Madonna's most experimental. It visualizes the concept of the song, showing images that seem like a dream or some other state of 'unconsciousness'. Madonna - wearing a variety of spectacular blond wigs - floats through the air, gives birth to doves and lays down on a surreal operation table. At the end of the video, her face is shown, with eyes and mouth in switched position, inspired by Frida Kahlo's paintings.
Madonna herself named female surrealist painters Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo as sources of inspiration. Director Romanek was also influenced by Russian film directors Sergei Parajanov and Andrei Tarkovsky, for example for the scene of the bare foot crushing grapes.
The video - with a rumoured budget of $2 million - was subject to many discussions among fans. It has earned a place in the Museum of Modern Art and the School of Visual Arts, both in New York City.
Tour
This song was skipped on the Drowned World Tour, but it was the only track from the Bedtime Stories album that was included in the Re-Invention Tour setlist. But then it still wasn't a live performance. However, the stunning video, set to the Orbital Mix, easily made up for that. Having the same mysterious feel, it gives a nod to the original Bedtime Story video along with the Human Nature video. It shows M with straight blond hair, completely dressed in white and her reversed reflection, which gives a great effect. All through the video, there's a white horse running up a hill.
Director Dago Gonzalez saw the mare as a mirror soul of Madonna: beautiful, strong, indomitable and elegant. The interlude video allows her to keep eye contact with the audience while being off stage to change clothes. Meanwhile on stage, 3 female dancers performed on large swings, sometimes coming over the heads of the people in front rows. At the end, the large front screens cover up the stage like at the beginning of the show.