Beautiful Stranger appreciation thread

[Pootz333 2,682]

One of her best.

Stunning eyes in the video.

The Calderone mix was a MONSTER here in NYC. Bigger than the original I'd say.

The Bigglesworth Mix should have been officially released. Would have been cool to hear what Club 69 or another of her faves at the time would have done with it too.

There's also a mashup of BS with Alice in Chains by the mashup artist, G3RST, that's so good. You can find on SoundCloud. Not sure how to link here.

P.s. She and Mike Myers should have done a Coffee Talk movie.

[Nowheretohide 249]

A proper way to close the Millennium...

[Ian 2,248]

I love everything about it! she looked great and the video was fun, both song and remixes had great sounds, etc

It deffo deserved a proper single release in the States. could've been a top 5 single

[Starchild 3,067]

Love to see all the Beautiful Stranger love here! And yes, 1999 was an incredible year to be an M fan.

Does anyone have any other factoids about the song/video?

I'm trying to find the interview where she talks about the making of the song. Does anyone know it?

I thought it was the 2000 Rolling Stone one but it's not, it turns out...

I know that Kevyn Aucoin did her makeup, right?

I disagree with this Wiki entry:

"Madonna's former boyfriend, British screenwriter Andy Bird, was reportedly the inspiration for "Beautiful Stranger."

To me, it's obviously about Guy Ritchie, whereas Time Stood Still seems to be about Andy.

[Starchild 3,067]

11 hours ago, Pootz333 said:

One of her best.

Stunning eyes in the video.

The Calderone mix was a MONSTER here in NYC. Bigger than the original I'd say.

The Bigglesworth Mix should have been officially released. Would have been cool to hear what Club 69 or another of her faves at the time would have done with it too.

There's also a mashup of BS with Alice in Chains by the mashup artist, G3RST, that's so good. You can find on SoundCloud. Not sure how to link here.

P.s. She and Mike Myers should have done a Coffee Talk movie.

Where can I listen to the Bigglesworth Mix?

[Drownedboy 1,657]

On 6/11/2022 at 4:45 PM, mikenmark said:

She comes in colours is the song that "inspired" beautiful stranger.  I think a mash up would be a great way to reinvent a classic.

Oh my god, I can´t believe BS it is such a copy of that, it´s the same song in parts. I can´t believe it...

[Prayer 14,272]

1 minute ago, Drownedboy said:

Oh my god, I can´t believe BS it is such a copy of that, it´s the same song in parts. I can´t believe it...

It was talked about at the time apparently. From Wikipedia:

USA Today's Ken Barnes has suggested that the chorus, riff, instrumentation and structure of "Beautiful Stranger" were based on American rock band Love's 1966 single "She Comes in Colors". The band's record company—Rhino Records—executive Gary Stewart stated that "Certainly, the riff and instrumentation [of 'Beautiful Stranger'] are reminiscent of 'She Comes in Colors,'" and that the "da da da da da" chorus on the track seems to be based upon "an instrumental flourish that's an integral part of the [Love] record. It may be a conscious or an unconscious homage." Madonna denied any such influence, claiming that she had never heard of Love.

There wasn't a lawsuit, so nothing more come from it. I believe her when she said she didn't knew anything and wrote the song over the instrumental but Orbit did her dirty with this one, of course he knew.

[mikenmark 422]

8 minutes ago, Prayer said:

It was talked about at the time apparently. From Wikipedia:

USA Today's Ken Barnes has suggested that the chorus, riff, instrumentation and structure of "Beautiful Stranger" were based on American rock band Love's 1966 single "She Comes in Colors". The band's record company—Rhino Records—executive Gary Stewart stated that "Certainly, the riff and instrumentation [of 'Beautiful Stranger'] are reminiscent of 'She Comes in Colors,'" and that the "da da da da da" chorus on the track seems to be based upon "an instrumental flourish that's an integral part of the [Love] record. It may be a conscious or an unconscious homage." Madonna denied any such influence, claiming that she had never heard of Love.

There wasn't a lawsuit, so nothing more come from it. I believe her when she said she didn't knew anything and wrote the song over the instrumental but Orbit did her dirty with this one, of course he knew.

I always thought he must've known too.  From other samples and influences he used around the time, it would be odd for Orbit to not know Love.

[mikenmark 422]

30 minutes ago, Drownedboy said:

Oh my god, I can´t believe BS it is such a copy of that, it´s the same song in parts. I can´t believe it...

I think it's pretty common for songwriters to go into sessions with a song/sample in mind and try to create something similar.  It was possibly the process for future lovers with I feel love.

Ray of light demo had a guitar riff from the mamas and papas and the guitar on the released version is a similar sound but not the actual sample.

It kinda makes sense to me that if M didn't know the Love song, she wouldn't alter Orbit's demo too much.

[chaosmen1984mk 793]

Beautiful Stranger, one of my favorite songs and which served to give us a break from so much spirituality that we were already tired and bored with. For the video of this fabulous song, Madonna returns to show that sensuality that characterizes her so much and that she had to keep repressed during the Ray of Light era and frees herself from those mystical clothes to start showing some skin (without becoming vulgar). With Beautiful Stranger we would wonder where the spiritual Madonna is (probably buried several meters under the ground by the Madonna herself) but in the end we wouldn't care as this Madonna is much more fun and entertaining to watch.

The irony of Beautiful Stranger is how a song so beautiful and loved by most fans could come out of such an ugly movie and that is why we regret that its live performance during Drowned World was so simple and insipid because for a song as beautiful and fun as Beautiful Stranger is, a better presentation should have been made. My hopes of this happening are still dormant.