FEATURE:
I Traded Fame for Love Without a Second Thought…
Madonna’s Drowned World / Substitute for Love at Twenty-Four: Ray of Light’s Perfect Opening Track
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WHEN I feature…
a Madonna song or album, it is usually on a big anniversary. There are a few smaller anniversaries in August. One of them, on 24th, is the twenty-fourth anniversary of Ray of Light’s opening track, Drowned World / Substitute for Love. Written by Madonna, William Orbit, Rod McKuen, Anita Kerr and David Collins, it is one of Madonna’s best opening tracks. It is the perfect way to introduce Ray of Light – an album that stunned critics and saw a huge evolution (after 1994’s Bedtime Stories, the Electronica and Trip-Hop was unexpected!). On 16th August, it will be Madonna’s sixty-fourth birthday. I am writing other features around that. I wanted to do a sort of double bill and mark the anniversary of this track – one that many might not be aware of. I am going to come to some Wikipedia information about its critical reception. Drowned World / Substitute for Love was the third single from Ray of Light. It reached number ten in the U.K. It is a fantastic song but maybe a surprise single. I love the video for the song, where Madonna is seen running from the paparazzi until she gets home. Maybe referencing her fame and how she can get no privacy or respect, maybe it is about running from an old way of life and embracing motherhood and spirituality. Since 1996, Madonna’s life changed hugely. She gave birth to her daughter Lourdes, invested herself in Eastern mysticism and Kabbalah, and was enlisted for the title role on the film adaptation of the musical, Evita (1996). It is only natural that she would want the opening song of this new album – which was a huge return and massive change of direction – to reflect her spirituality and new life. Drowned World / Substitute for Love was produced by Madonna and William Orbit. Madonna had been a fan of Orbit's work for a while. It is an inspired hook-up. You can hear Orbit’s magic touch throughout Ray of Light.
Frozen was the first song released from Ray of Light. That came out in January 1998, a month before Ray of Light. Rather than this being an upbeat or Pop-orientated opening track that we may have seen on earlier Madonna albums, it is clear that there was a lot of re-evaluation and growth following albums like Erotica (1992) and Bedtime Stories. The former courted attention from the press because of its sexual nature. The book, Sex, was released with the album and raised more than a few eyebrows. Whilst Bedtime Stories was not a reversal or a retreat into a safer sound and set of lyrics, Ray of Light was a rebirth and redirection. More positive, spiritual, and less sex/relationship-based than previous albums, this was a Pop queen who was a mother, embracing something different. Mixing something deeper with a real rush and sense of occasion, Drowned World / Substitute for Love earned positive press. Wikipedia collated some of the response:
“Kenneth Bielen, author of The Lyrics of Civility declared the record as a "slice of Madonna's autobiography", praising the lyrics for forecasting what the singer's life could become. Allen Metz wrote in the book, The Madonna Companion, that the lyrics did not give an impression of "sophisticated wordplay", but was commendable for telling the truth about Madonna's life and career. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic labelled the song as a "swirling" and "meditative opener". David Browne from Entertainment Weekly described the track, along with "Frozen" from the album, as "breathtaking", complimenting its beats. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine found Madonna's belting to be the most "emotionally candid" she has been since Like a Prayer (1989).
Other critics complimented the different nature of the song and its production. Reviewing the album for The Michigan Daily, Lark said, "['Drowned World/Substitute for Love'] [creates] a brilliant, ecstatic pop catharsis that all but eclipses every mistake she's ever made, including the virginal writhing, gold-tooth sporting and naked hitchhiking of her sordid past", the last part referring to Madonna's antics during her fifth studio album, Erotica (1992) era. Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone found it to be the "perfect opener" for Ray of Light and its various contradiction filled tracks. Noting the different musical elements, including drum loops, strings, computer bleeping as well as jungle snares, Sheffield compared them to a person's shopping experience and unpacking of the bags after the activity ends. The reviewer ended by saying that the track came off as "loud, tacky and ridiculous", but still exuded emotion in the music. In a review of Madonna's hits album GHV2 (2001), Charlotte Robinson from PopMatters commended Orbit's production work on the track along with others from Ray of Light. She added that the songs are "a testament to his ability to use gadgets and electronic wizardry not to alienate listeners, but to draw them in".
'Substitute for Love', Stuart Maconie wrote in a Q review of Ray of Light, "emerges languorously from a fog of enigmatic samples and the low-key burbling that are Orbit's forte… prayer bells tinkle and snare fills skim the surface tension of the song in a nod to drum 'n' bass." In 2003, fans voted for their top 20 Madonna singles in Q, and awarded "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" the number 17 spot. In a retrospective review of Ray of Light, Idolator's Stephen Sears described the track as "the first chapter of a great novel" setting the tone for rest of the record. Rolling Stone placed the track at number 20, on their ranking of Madonna's 50 Greatest Song in 2016, describing it as "a ballad exploring epiphanies about fame and family". While ranking Madonna's singles in honor of her 60th birthday, The Guardian's Jude Rogers placed the song at number 12, calling it "majestic, reflective and sung in a subdued style for Madonna [...] this meditation on fame with a Ballardian reference in its title soars quietly and gorgeously".
A brilliant song from Madonna, I was eager to explore ahead of its anniversary on 24th August, Drowned World / Substitute for Love opened one of her finest and most important albums. It announced an artist who was not only back, but one who was near the peak of her creative powers! Not talked about as much as other Ray of Light songs like Frozen, Ray of Light, The Power of Good-Bye and Nothing Really Matters, the majestic, uplifting, and evocative Drowned World / Substitute for Love is...
A masterful song.