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Bad Girl (Madonna song)

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"Bad Girl"
Song
B-side"Fever" (US, Japan)
"Erotica" (William Orbit Dub) (UK)
"Deeper and Deeper" (Shep's Deep Bass Dub) (Europe)
"Bad Girl"
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"Bad Girl" is a song by Madonna, released as the third single from her 1992 studio album Erotica in February 1993 by Maverick Records. Written by Madonna, Shep Pettibone, and Anthony Shimkin and produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone, the single was released a month after the controversial erotic thriller Body of Evidence, which also starred Madonna and has similar themes. The song was a modest success on the charts, reaching number 36 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100[1] and number ten on the UK Singles Chart, falling off the chart shortly after.[2] This caused the release of the next UK single "Fever" to be released only four weeks later.[3]

The music video to accompany the single was directed by David Fincher, who had previously collaborated on Madonna's "Express Yourself", "Oh Father" and "Vogue" videos. It also features the American actor Christopher Walken who plays "a guardian angel ".[4]

Madonna has only ever performed the song live once during an appearance on Saturday Night Live in January 1993. At the end of the performance, she referenced Sinéad O'Connor's actions of ripping a photograph of Pope John Paul II and yelling "Fight the real enemy" during O'Connor's Saturday Night Live performance in October 1992. The photograph Madonna ripped was of Joey Buttafuoco.[5] Bad Girl is the only single release off of Madonna's Erotica album that she did not perform on her The Girlie Show World Tour of 1993. In North America the single included remixes of the album track "Fever", which was released independently in Europe as the fourth single from Erotica.

Reception

Critical response

The single was a critical darling and was described by Rolling Stone magazine as "riveting" and describes "the mind of a girl who'd rather mess herself up than end a relationship she's too neurotic to handle, [and] the characters remain faceless. It's as if Madonna recognizes the discomfort we feel when sensing the human character of a woman whose function is purely sexual. A sex symbol herself, she coolly removes the threat of her own personality."[6] Entertainment Weekly reviewed it as a "lonely-at-the-top, lovesick-victim song."[7] Alfred Soto of Stylus Magazine praised the "sophistication" of the song, stating that it "puts the lie to those fools who (still) think Madonna has no input on her records." Soto goes on to say that the track is Madonna's most "cogent response to the wages of fame," adding that when Madonna "insists that she doesn’t want to cause you any pain, you believe it."[8] J.D. Considine of the Baltimore Sun gave the song a positive review, writing that it "shows the other side of the stereotypical good-time girl." Considine goes on to say that the song's chorus is "as sobering as it is sad," adding that "hearing the quaver in Madonna's voice as she insists 'You'll always be my baby' is enough to break any listener's heart."[9] John Myers of Yahoo! Music also gave the song a positive review, calling it "heartrending" and "tragic."[10]

Chart performance

In the United States, "Bad Girl" debuted at Billboard Hot 100 at number 75 in the issue dated February 20, 1993.[11] In its sixth week of charting, the song peaked at number 36, becoming Madonna's first single to miss the top 20 and breaking her streak of 27 consecutive top 20 hits that had begun with "Holiday", in 1983. The single remained on the chart for 11 weeks.[11] "Bad Girl" performed moderately well on the Hot 100 Singles Sales and Hot 100 Airplay charts, peaking at numbers 36 and 44 respectively.[11] However, it reached the top spot on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart, thanks to the remixes of "Fever", which were included on the maxi single.[11]

The song fared better in the other countries. In the United Kingdom, "Bad Girl" debuted at number 11 and reached its peak one week later, peaking at number ten on March 13, 1993 and remained on the chart for seven weeks.[12] The song also entered the top ten in Italy and top twenty in Canada, where it peaked at numbers eight and twenty respectively. Although "Bad Girl" was a hit in those countries, in others it failed to enter top ten but reached its peak within the top 40. In Australia, the song also reached the top 40, peaking at number 32.

Music video

Madonna as "Louise Oriole" in the "Bad Girl" music video. Also present in the background is actor Christopher Walken as Madonna's guardian angel.

The video features Madonna as "Louise Oriole" (Madonna's middle name is Louise and Oriole is a street she once lived on), a high-powered Manhattan female executive who is a chain smoking alcoholic that has a penchant for one-night stands with many different men (from affluent yuppies to shady low-lifes). She behaves this way in order to try and deal with her depression and sadness over a relationship with someone she loves deeply, but ultimately has no future. Through her days, Louise gets distracted by cigarettes, cocktails, and random hook-ups, as lamented in the song's lyrics. Christopher Walken plays her guardian angel, who watches over her self-destructive activities. In one scene Louise wakes up alone in her bed after a one-night stand and discovers a hand-written note laying on the pillow beside her. She is clearly upset after reading the note and she crumples it and throws it to the ground. The next scene shows her guardian angel reading the note which simply reads "thank you whoever you are." In a later scene her guardian angel delivers Louise with a "kiss of death" before her final encounter with a man, during which she is suggested to have been strangled with pantyhose. After her death, she reappears as a spirit alongside with her guardian angel overseeing the police taking her body away to the morgue.[13]

This is the first time to show Madonna wearing pencilled-on eyebrows after shaving them prior to the filming of the video for the previous single "Deeper and Deeper".

After Ellen von Unwerth and Tim Burton had rejected the offer to direct the music video, it was eventually directed by David Fincher, who worked with Madonna in her videos for "Express Yourself", "Oh Father" and "Vogue", and filmed on location in New York City from January 12–18, 1993. The video also features an uncredited cameo appearance from Matt Dillon, who plays a crime scene cop.[13] Madonna said her idea for the video was influenced by the film "Looking for Mr. Goodbar". John Myers of Yahoo! Music gave the music video a positive review, calling it "both poignant and melancholy.""[10]

  • Director: David Fincher
  • Producer: Oliver Fuselier
  • Director of Photography: Juan Ruiz-Anchia
  • Editor: Bob Jenkis
  • Production Company: Propaganda Films

Track listing

Official versions

Remix/Version Run time
Album version 5:23
Edit 4:37
Extended mix 6:29
Video instrumental 6:03
Video version 6:03

Charts

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Allmusic (1993). "Billboard Charts". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2008-07-16. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ a b Every Hit (1995). "UK Singles Chart (Search)". everyhit.com. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  3. ^ "Discography – Sticky & Sweet Tour". Madonna.com. 2010-04-06. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  4. ^ [1][dead link]
  5. ^ "Another 'Bad Girl' Rips Up a Photograph on 'SNL'". Deseret News. Deseret News Publishing Company. 1993-01-18. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
  6. ^ Berger, Arion (1992-11-26). "Erotica". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-02-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Reviewed by David Browne (1992-10-23). "Erotica Review | Music Reviews and News". EW.com. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  8. ^ Soto, Alfred (January 17, 2006). "Madonna: Erotica - On Second Thought". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved March 19, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ Considine, J.D. (October 18, 1992). "Madonna's 'Erotica' delivers more than just sexuality". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 19, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ a b Myers, John (April 09, 2009). "Classic 90's Music Reviews: Madonna's Erotica". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved March 19, 2014. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ a b c d themadonnabillboardarchieves.com
  12. ^ chartstats.com
  13. ^ a b "videography - bad girl". madonna-online.ch. 1993-02-11. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  14. ^ a b c d e Hit Parade (1993). "Madonna — Bad Girl (European Charts)". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  15. ^ Volume 57, No. 11, March 27 1993
  16. ^ Charts-Surfer (1993). "German Singles Chart (Search)". charts-surfer.de. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  17. ^ "Irish Singles Chart (Search)". irishcharts.ie. February 25, 1993. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  18. ^ "Madonna: Discografia Italiana" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. 1984–1999. Retrieved 2010-01-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  19. ^ "I singoli più venduti del 1993". Hit Parade Italia. Federation of the Italian Music Industry. 1996-12-31. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
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