I’m in America! Oregon to be exact. So if you see a giant man in a Run DMC shirt buying records in Portland this Tuesday, say yo.
Sorry if tonight’s post is poorly written and/or stupid. I’m suffering from severe jet lag and slightly drunk.
Madonna
Ray Of Light (Sasha Strip Down Mix)
Ray Of Light (Sasha Twilo Mix)
Ray Of Light (Sasha Ultra Violet Mix)
Ray Of Light (Victor Calderone Club Mix)
Ray Of Light (Victor Calderone Drum Mix)
Ray Of Light (William Orbit Liquid Mix)
Ray Of Light (William Orbit Ultra Violet Mix)
This is easily one of my favorite Madonna singles, probably in my top ten between “Music” and “Don’t Tell Me.” It’s a wonderful song, and one of the most perfect dance tracks ever constructed.
That being said, let’s talk about the lyrics for a minute.
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
“Zephyr in the sky” is one of the strangest opening lines to any pop song outside of the 1960s psychedelic rock boom. The literal definition of “zephyr” in case you were wondering, is “a light wind.” So the opening line of the song is her pretty much saying “Hey wind, I have a question.” Or maybe she’s talking to a train. Who knows. I’m not even going to begin to attempt parsing the other lines of the chorus. I’m sure they’re not nonsense, but they definitely come off as such. I bet it’s deep and probably has to do with whatever religion Madonna was into that week, so I don’t want to knock them too much.
But that chorus.
“And I feel like I just got home.”
What does that even mean? Okay. Seriously. Let me think about how I feel when I walk in the door. These are the thoughts going through my head.
- Ugh, I gotta take this tie off.
- Oh my god I have to pee so bad.
- I wonder if I got any mail.
- When’s my boyfriend coming over?
- Oh well, might as well play some Rock Band for a bit. Or maybe Pac-Man.
- I want pizza.
Maybe the line means something like “I’m relieved” or “I’m at peace?” “I’m in a safe space?” Or maybe it’s like, she just got home after a long journey. But wouldn’t “I feel like I’m finally home” work better for that feeling?
It doesn’t really matter, of course. This is a rave track, and a late-90s one at that. And if “Blue” taught us anything, it’s that 90s dance music didn’t have to have any deep meaning behind it. In fact, it was probably better when it didn’t.
And these remixes are dope. I hope you all enjoy them and if I don’t get another post up before, I wish you all a merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. 🙂
My recollection is that Madge wrote this album just after she popped out her first kid, and she is trying to make us all believe that the experience has grounded her. Her Ray of Light is the baby, and she feels like she just got home, referring to what a great experience having the baby is for her. Truth is, in my observation, Ray of Light, the album, was an awesome album, lyrically, musically, and production wise. I am a huge dance music fan, starting in 83 when I bought Blue Monday. But I never bought Madonna records….it wasnt necessary, cause you heard all the songs all the time anyway. But I did buy RayOfLight, the album, because of it’s mature awesomeness. Undeniable. And a Merry Christmas to you, buddy, and a Happy New Year!
Great response to a stupid thing I wrote drunk, thanks!
Merry Christmas to you, your boyfriend and all of your family and thanks for the music and your always inspired writing.
Love that track, although more for Orbit than Madge tbh
Anyway, the point of posting was to mention that she didn’t write the lyrics for this track, you can here the original version on YouTube, which probably explains why it’s not quite in her usual style.
http://youtu.be/eQ5OtnBdcWw
Happy Xmas!