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What do you think the meaning behind the Bedtime Stories album theme was? What was the secret? Can any secret be a good one?


byebyebaby
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On 6/5/2021 at 3:17 PM, byebyebaby said:

First, it's a R&B album. That says a lot already. Was she trying to cater to a certain audience with this album on purpose?

It seems this album wasn't made for her core audience on purpose. 

Say freedom, brotherhood
Justice, just say "yes"
Say freedom, brotherhood
Justice, just say "yes"

Survival In this album feels like she's talking about white supremacy/dating a black men. 

Secret Her lover showed her a (secret) that she didn't realize until she met him, gave her different perspective on life that she will never forget. It showed her how different her life was  and her upbringing from him. 

I'd Rather Be Your Lover Her lover was Tupac (I'd Rather Be Your Lover w/ Tupac) (hints the reason Tupac version never released)

Don't Stop

Inside Of Me (understanding the reason behind her mom Dying of breast cancer and accepting it)

Human Nature "You didn't want to see life through my eyes I'm breaking all the rules I didn't make" what rule did she break?  was it dating Tupac?

Forbidden Love Love Tried To Welcome Me (Their relationship didn't work because of race issues, outside people not understanding their relationship) 

"Is it all worth fighting for?
It all comes down to
Who's black or white" by madonna

Sanctuary (the cycle never stops) "Is all of this pain so necessary You are my sanctuary"

Bedtime Story (letting logic go, what I know, it's to much to handle , im letting it go trying to let it go) what i know you can know as well if you just open your eyes. the whole world is sleep walking.

Take A Bow "Hide behind your smile, all the world loves a clown" (Elusions under more elusions)

 

She's never explaining again. Can you help me solve this puzzle?

This is just a discussion.

As in many cases with Madonnas songs, they can mean multiple things.

I don’t think Survival has anything to do with racial issues or dating a black man. It’s a straightforward prologue to the album and era, about her coming out of the Erotica backlash and her general survival in the music industry.

The bulk of Bedtime Story was written by Bjork with minor alterations by Madonna, that Bjork said she didn’t like haha. Here’s what Bjork said about the meaning of the song 

“when everything about [Madonna] seemed very controlled. I think she’s a very intuitive person, and definitely her survival instinct are incredible…. At the time, the words I thought [she should] say were, ‘I’m not using words anymore, let’s get unconscious honey. F*ck logic. Just to be intuitive. Be more free. Go with the flow.’ Right now, she seems pretty much to be going with the flow.'” 

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On 6/6/2021 at 6:25 PM, Aiwa08 said:

I always thought in Frozen like a second part of "Open Your Heart" years later (in a dark/sad tone after the rupture). I'm not joking.

"Open Your Heart with the key...  /// You're frozen... when your heart's not open"

"I follow you around but you can't see /// You only see what your eyes want to see"

 

I love to find "second parts" in her songs. Something like "Take A Bow"-"You'll See"

how many of these have you seen? i love these type of things myself.

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1 hour ago, Chris Morlock said:

how many of these have you seen? i love these type of things myself.

It's no easy, and I think it's unintentional. 

* "La Isla Bonita"-"Pray For Spanish Eyes" (in Spain, many people called "Pray for Spanish Eyes",  "La Isla Bonita 2")

* "Thief of Hearts"-"Gang Bang" (First she warns that bitch, going crazy , ending in passional crime killing the lover and the bitch   )

* "True Blue"-"Till Dead do us Part" (in a very dark way, The story of a marriage and a divorce).

* "Burning Up"-"Fever" (unintentional, but the poor girl lives her life like a volcano and drinking Paracetamol).

There are more, but I can't remember right now...

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3 hours ago, Aiwa08 said:

It's no easy, and I think it's unintentional. 

* "La Isla Bonita"-"Pray For Spanish Eyes" (in Spain, many people called "Pray for Spanish Eyes",  "La Isla Bonita 2")

* "Thief of Hearts"-"Gang Bang" (First she warns that bitch, going crazy , ending in passional crime killing the lover and the bitch   )

* "True Blue"-"Till Dead do us Part" (in a very dark way, The story of a marriage and a divorce).

* "Burning Up"-"Fever" (unintentional, but the poor girl lives her life like a volcano and drinking Paracetamol).

There are more, but I can't remember right now...

What would be the lyrical continuation of La Isla Bonita / Spanish Eyes?

Seems like one is about a girl craving an escape to a tropical island and the other about a mother losing her son in war…

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10 minutes ago, thegoldencalf said:

What would be the lyrical continuation of La Isla Bonita / Spanish Eyes?

Seems like one is about a girl craving an escape to a tropical island and the other about a mother losing her son in war…

A mother losing her son in war? I always thought the song was about her boyfriend who died in the "barrio" (war between Latino gangs or something similar). And La Isla bonita about a girl who meets the love (a latin boyfriend) when she traveled to the "beautiful island". That's the conection. Her boyfriend who meet in the "beautiful island" dies years later in the "barrio". But you know, english is not my first language. 

Anyway, "Spanish Eyes" it's like the perfect B-Side of "La Isla Bonita". 

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9 minutes ago, Aiwa08 said:

A mother losing her son in war? I always thought the song was about her boyfriend who died in the "barrio" (war between Latino gangs or something similar). And La Isla bonita about a girl who meets the love (a latin boyfriend) when she traveled to the "beautiful island". That's the conection. Her boyfriend who meet in the "beautiful island" dies years later in the "barrio". But you know, english is not my first language. 

Anyway, "Spanish Eyes" it's like the perfect B-Side of "La Isla Bonita". 

Haha I don’t know where I got the mother/son thing from. I just read the lyrics and could be either

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On 7/12/2021 at 12:36 PM, Jet said:

I wondered if it was Kabbalah related. I know she wasn’t INTO IT too much at the time but I remember her saying somewhere around that time that a friend (ingrid?) introduced her to a new spiritual thing that made her see things a different way. I think it was the beginning of what was to come.

Madonna wasn’t into Kabbalah then. The album is simply a summary of what happened during the Sex period. It’s a masterpiece, went to #1 on iTunes last year and Madonna now recognizes it for how amazing it was. 

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20 hours ago, Jet said:

She wasn’t into it properly at that point but  I remember an interview where she said she had been introduced to a “new way of thinking” by a friend. I think it was the very beginning of the Kabbalah interest.

Didn't that happen after she had Lourdes though? She said that after becoming a mother she became more curious about the meaning of our existence and was wondering what she could teach her daughter (or something to that effect). 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/6/2021 at 1:31 AM, steady75 said:

I think Secret is about her relationship with Ingrid tbh. A sexual and spiritual rebirth. 

Human Nature is pretty transparent.

Love Tried To Welcome Me is supposedly about a prostitute.

I don't think Madonna has too much affection for this album and referred to it as a Frankenstein album of two sounds no? Saying she doesn't want that situation to happen again. 

I adore this album because its such a great relaxing mood piece listen unlike anything else in her discography. But it sure felt tepid at the time. Very subdued, a weird whispery voice, some dodgy self reference, some insipid melodies and lyrically a bit duff in places. 

I don't think it's much more than the sound of a woman cocooning herself in mellow sounds of the time, ready to be born again a few years later with Ray Of Light

'Love Tried To Welcome Me is supposedly about a prostitute.' -no. It is closely inspired by a poem from George Herbert

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1 hour ago, into the erotico said:

'Love Tried To Welcome Me is supposedly about a prostitute.' -no. It is closely inspired by a poem from George Herbert

I’m sure I read Madonna said this somewhere which is why I mentioned it. 
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” is also an inspiration 

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1 hour ago, steady75 said:

I’m sure I read Madonna said this somewhere which is why I mentioned it. 
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” is also an inspiration 

You're right. This is from an exclusive Fan Club Q&A from 1996:

Q: What is the most unusual person, place or thing that has inspired you to write a song?

M: A stripper in a topless bar inspird me to write "Love Tried To Welcome Me". I felt sorry for her and made up her interior dialogue.
ICON-Issue 22

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