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Before I start the post, I just want to beg all of you to not bring religion into the discussion. I respect everyone's religious beliefs, and I'm just sharing what I have learnt recently. Gosh I am absolutely MIND BLOWNNNNNNN. The song and video completely took on a new meaning after I've read more about spirituality recently. I am absolutely in awe of the art she has created with the team, I never knew I could love this song even more. Please bear with me, you will appreciate and love ROL even more, and understand what Madonna really wants to say through the song. If you are not exposed to spirituality, the song can easily be misinterpreted. To the general public the song may seem to express how fast her life passes by, how she's got the whole universe as a successful person, how she feels like having a piece of heaven on earth, how her legacy will live on through the generations to come. But after learning more about spirituality, I finally understood the intricate meanings in the song and video. Before I dive into the lyrics, I'll try my best to explain some common understandings across spiritual teachings. Summary of my spirituality learnings When you are awakened spiritually, you are one with the universe. In the higher spiritual realm, there is no you, there is no me. There is no hate, there is no love. No past and no present, same for every other examples of duality you can think of. Each only exist because of the absence of the other, but in the spiritual world these dualities do not exist. Very much like how yin and yang are opposites, but becomes a whole when joined. We are one with everything that needs to be known and no explanation is needed anymore, you can be anything, you can do anything, you are in heaven. In the real physical world that we live in, concepts of dualities exist hence the chaos. You understand the meaning of peace, only when there is war in the world. You feel sadness, because you understand how happiness feels. Our spiritual self exists through various physical forms across time. A popular belief that also shares the same concept is reincarnation. In the spiritual realm everyone and everything is connected, so your spiritual self is also known as "God" in some religions. Song lyrics In summary, the whole meaning of the song is about her spiritual journey and how the Universe/God/Cosmic Energy/Spiritual Self welcomes her home. At the start she struggles in the physical world, and learns about spirituality. There are times she feels one with the universe but it's always gone quickly, it is not easy to always be spiritual in the real world. As the song progresses, we can tell that she is slowly becoming one with the universe. Towards the end, she has awakened and become one with the universe. The highlight in the song writing is when she uses third-person and first-person when referring to herself. When she uses "I", it is her true awakened spiritual self/God/Universe/CosmicEnergy that exist in various forms through time. When it comes to phrases with "she", it refers to Madonna that we all know of in the physical world. The music starts out peaceful and heavenly, like how we are born as pure and untainted. But with the rude awakening of the real world and what society teaches, our lives become very chaotic. This is the start of Madonna's spiritual journey where she questions the world she lives in. Zephyr in the sky, at night I wonder Do my tears of mourning sink beneath the sun "I", her spiritually awakened self, ponders on the troubles of the world which keeps her up at night. She wonders if all this sadness will magically disappear when she wakes up. She's got herself a universe gone quickly For the call of thunder threatens everyone Even though "She" manages to be one with the universe when she is spiritually aware, Madonna always snaps out of this awakened state due to various threats and fear in the real world. People's hate, war, cruelty, news, consumerism etc. And I feel like I just got home And I feel And I feel like I just got home And I feel A celebration of the start of her spiritual journey. "I" welcomes Madonna to her true spiritual self. Faster than the speeding light she's flying Trying to remember where it all began "She" is becoming much more spiritually aware as she learns about the truth, questioning religion, trying to understand her world. She's got herself a little piece of heaven Waiting for the time when earth shall be as one "She" enjoys a little piece of heaven, because she understand what it's like to be spiritually awakened. But the rest of the world is not aware, so she waits for the world to wake up and show more compassion, to be one and not separate. And I feel like I just got home And I feel And I feel like I just got home And I feel "I" welcomes Madonna to her true spiritual self. This welcoming occurs throughout the song as she gets closer to the truth/God/Universe. Quicker than a ray of light Quicker than a ray of light Quicker than a ray of light At this point at her highest pitch, it almost feels like she has awakened spiritually and is at peace. She is one with all that defies the logic of our physical world where speed of light is the fastest. 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 The music quietens to an introspective mode. A sombre final question at her deathbed if all the sadness of the world will indeed disappear in the afterlife. Again in a fearful state, this time the call of thunder is death in the physical world. She sings and drags "threatens everyone" like she is breathing her last. The music finally bursts into dizzying warped effects and high pitch bleeps, like an exhilarating journey to another realm. And I feel quicker than a ray of light Then gone for Someone else shall be there Through the endless years At her current afterlife spiritual state, she finally sees the truth. She understands that this spiritual state she's in will end, because she will exist in the physical world again in another form, and the cycle repeats over and over. She's got herself a universe She's got herself a universe She's got herself a universe This time her universe is not gone quickly, she is one with the universe. And I feel like I just got home And I feel And I feel like I just got home And I feel At this stage, "I" is indeed home. And Madonna screams her famous triumphant shriek of victory. Quicker than a ray of light she's flying Quicker than a ray of light I'm flying "She" and "I" has become one finally after the whole spiritual journey. Music Video In the music video, the span of a lifetime is shown through the concept of day to night. It starts with the sun rising peacefully, very much like our spiritual state when we are born. But the chaos and madness of the real world kicks in really rudely, if I may say, almost like the call of thunder. At moments throughout the music video, we see a transparent Madonna being spiritually aware of the world she is in at various stages of her life. This is her being ecstatic and dancing freely in her awakened state, where she can be her true self, hence the awkward spontaneous dancing. The journey progresses as she sings "And I feel like I just got home" against the backdrop of clear blue skies. She has got herself a piece of heaven, she has become more awakened spiritually. She is also becoming more and more ecstatic in her movements. At 2:45 after climatic fast cuts of life, we see Madonna doing an yin yang, as though she has become one with all that she has learned in her life. The sun sets as she solemnly sings at the end of her life. BAM! I love this part! She starts travelling to the spiritual realm after death and is absolutely ecstatic, the visuals and lights here are insanely trippy!!! Her expression is overwhelmed in this segment, she is gaining knowledge of all that is this universe. She has become one, she expresses this very obviously at 3:48 circular motion, again at 3:55 because this cycle is endless. Towards the end at the disco scene, she has arrived home. Everyone's blissful heaven. She has become one with everyone. A very nice touch at the end at 4:54 where she breaks the 4th wall and show the physical world spinning furiously through time. Almost to remind us how time does not exist in her heaven. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9pP0-LY9MA Check out this video of her explaining the song at the start of the interview. You can tell she really struggled to explain the spiritual meaning for the general public and decided to go with a more generic dumbed down explanation. She has a song to promote after all. It's a shame she can't dive into the art that she so masterfully pieced together. Many do not understand the meaning of ROL, and some find the lyrics nonsensical even. If you like my analysis, please share with other Madonna fans. Thank you for reading such a long post!

I really want the album version of Erotica done again! We've gotten Justify My Love in the 2010s. I want Erotica, the dirty version! She did bits and pieces of the lyrics it on the last tour. I think she even toyed with Fever. I'd love for her to toy with the Erotica album more! Deeper and Deeper for RHT was a breath of fresh air!

Yeah, it's hard to forgive people for getting old. Maybe you'll find it in you tho.

OH GOD. Not again.

Around 0:35 sec mark, you can hear Billy request Bad Girl.

lol is there any truth to this?

Sorry but a lot of incorrect info going on around here. MadonnaTribe confirmed Love Profusion was NEVER rehearsed. The setlist posted on the first page was simply a concept and when Madonna started to rehearse the songs, only I'm So Stupid, Dress You Up and maybe Devil... were there that did not make the final cut. http://www.madonnatribe.com/idol_03/songs.htm And if you have been wondering if that rumour of "Love Profusion" meant to replace "Crazy For You" during the European leg of the Tour was true, I can now tell you after chatting with a few people involved on the tour that it was not true, but I've been told the band indeed tried to convince Madonna to perform "Love Profusion" in Europe, but instead of "Nothing Fails", in a brand new acoustic version that was never managed to be rehearsed, and so we did never had the chance to enjoy it in the live show. Also, it was only a Brazilian fansite that talked about Nothing Really Matters, it was never confirmed by any official sources (i.e. Jamie King). I also remember Bad Girl was a fake report when DrownedMadonna admitted their source confused it with Hanky Panky ("treat me like I'm a bad girl). As for the rest, Some Girls was meant to be in the place of Vogue: http://www.madonnatribe.com/interviews/madonnatribe-meets-drew-dollaz/ MTribe admins talked about several songs that were considered for S&ST but it's doubtful any of them were rehearsed. TPOG was not one of them, but Open Your Heart was and I think some acoustic version leaked.

I feel like a snippet of waiting in human nature would've been sick

Actually, someone mixed those two facts up. Gaultier mentioned in an interview back then that Madonna wanted a shower on stage and that no costume would work for that. Then Madonna herself said she rehearsed La Isla Bonita. Years later, those two facts were combined in a bizarre way and have been diffused like that lol

This is such a fascinating thread to read. So many things that could've been that never were. I think Madonna should do an international tour of Tears Of A Clown and differentiate the setlist every night so that she'd be able to perform songs she's never performed live before or songs that only got the live treatment a handful of times.