Erotica (song)

"Erotica" is a song by American singer Madonna from her fifth studio album of the same name (1992). It was written and produced by both Madonna and Shep Pettibone, with additional writing from Anthony Shimkin. In Australia and most European countries, the song was released as the album's lead single on September 29, 1992; in the United States, it was set to be released the following day, but after being leaked and played on several radio stations, the release date was held back until October 13. The song continued Madonna's exploration of spoken word vocals, which she had introduced in "Justify My Love" (1990). A pop hip-hop and dance song with Middle Eastern influences, its lyrics talk about S&M, with the singer using the pseudonym Dita and inviting her lover to be submissive while she makes love to him.

Upon release, "Erotica" was generally well received by music critics, with some deeming it one of Madonna's darkest and most experimental songs; in retrospective reviews, the song is now considered one of her best singles. It performed well commercially, debuting at number 13 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ―becoming one of the highest debuts on the chart history at the time― and peaking at number three. It also saw success on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, where it reached the top position. Overseas, the song was also successful, peaking in the top 10 of several countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, and Portugal. In Finland, Italy and Greece, it peaked at number one.

The accompanying music video was directed by Fabien Baron, and features scenes of Madonna dressed as a masked dominatrix interspersed with footage of the making of her ''Sex'' book; it is combined with appearances by Naomi Campbell and Isabella Rossellini, among others. The video was highly controversial, being aired by MTV only three times, all after the 10pm watershed, before being completely banned. Madonna has included "Erotica" in three of her concert tours, the last being The MDNA Tour of 2012. It was also included on Madonna's compilations, ''GHV2'' (2001), and '' Celebration'' (2009), and has been covered and parodied by several artists, including Julie Brown and Sandra Bernhard.

Background and development

In 1992, Madonna founded her own multi-media entertainment company Maverick, consisting of a record company (Maverick Records), a film production company (Maverick Films), and associated music publishing, television broadcasting, book publishing, and merchandising divisions. The first two projects from the venture were her fifth studio album ''Erotica'' and a coffee table book of photographs featuring Madonna, entitled ''Sex''. For ''Erotica'', Madonna primarily collaborated with American producer Shep Pettibone; Pettibone first began working with the singer during the 1980s, providing remixes for several of her singles. Pettibone would build the base music of the songs in a style similar to his remixes, while Madonna wrote the melodies and lyrics. According to the producer in an article titled "Erotica Diaries", published on Madonna's ''Icon'' magazine, he created a tape of three tracks for Madonna to listen to; he traveled to Chicago, where she was filming ''A League of Their Own'' (1992), played the songs for her and she liked all of them. In October 1991, Madonna met with Pettibone in New York City to start working on demos. According to Mark Bego, the first batch of songs they worked on were "Erotica", "Deeper and Deeper", " Bad Girl", "Thief of Hearts", and "Rain". Anthony Shimkin, who also worked on the album, recalled that Madonna had with her a "book full of lyrics and melody ideas".

At first, the singer did not like the songs she had recorded. She wanted ''Erotica'' to have a raw edge, as if it were recorded in an alley in Harlem, and not a light glossy production, according to Pettibone. In the case of the title track, the producer revealed that it underwent "numerous radical changes" during the recording process, with four different version being recorded; Madonna would first sing it one way, and then decide to erase everything and start all over again. Shimkin affirmed that the original version was not "as slinky and sexy and grimy and dirty", until the mixing process; at that stage, the song was still an "experimentation", but when they realized it was going to be the lead single from the album, a "different, darker vibe" was taken on. While recording ''Erotica'', Madonna was also working on ''Sex''; for the book, she incorporated a dominatrix alter-ego named Mistress Dita, heavily inspired by German actress Dita Parlo. To accompany the book, Madonna had recorded a song titled "Erotic", described by Pettibone as an "ode to S&M". However, after actually seeing the book, Pettibone suggested that the singer incorporate the dominatrix theme into the song's lyrics: "'You have all these great stories n the book, I told her, 'Why don't you use them in the song?'". Madonna left the studio with a copy of ''Sex'' with her, came back and recorded her vocals to "Erotica" in a "very dry" way; Pettibone then realized the song "would never be the same again". The chorus and bridge were changed entirely and the song's "psyche" became "sexier, more to the point".

Composition and release

"Erotica" was written and produced by both Madonna and Pettibone, with additional lyrics by Shimkin. Recording took place at Astoria's Sound Work Studios on June 8, 1992; personnel working on the song included Pettibone on the sequencing, keyboard arrangement, and programming, alongside Shimkin and Joe Moskowitz; Dennis Mitchell and Robin Hancock worked as recording engineers, while George Karras was the mixing engineer. The track continued Madonna's exploration of potent spoken-word vocals, which she had previously introduced in her 1990 single "Justify My Love". It samples Kool and the Gang's "Jungle Boogie" (1973), and "El Yom 'Ulliqa 'Ala Khashaba" by Lebanese singer Fairuz. The former sample was Pettibone's idea, as he felt it gave the song a "dark, mysterious" vibe, while the Fairuz sample caused controversy after she stated her vocals had been used without her consent, and said the lyrics " He was crucified today", sung in Arabic, were taken from a religious song that is traditionally heard during Good Friday services. This led to a lawsuit that was settled out of court; however, both the single and the album were banned in Lebanon.

Musically, "Erotica" has been described as a pop hip-hop dance song with "scratchy, trip-hop loops" and Middle Eastern influences. According to the sheet music published by Alfred Publishing Inc., "Erotica" is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute; composed in the key of F-sharp minor, Madonna's vocals span from F₃ to A₄. It follows a chord progression of D/F–Fm–D/F–Fm in the introductory verses. Lyrically, it talks about S&M and begins with a "put-a-record-on scratchiness" sound that mimics a record player; 40 seconds in, the "Jungle Boogie" sample plays in a "disembodied and eerie" way. Madonna invites her lover to be submissive while she makes love to him, and suggesting him to explore boundaries between pain and pleasure, demanding: "Give it up, do what I say/ Give it up and let me have my way". The song features "taunting, aggressive" sexually suggestive lyrics, such as, "Will you let yourself go wild/Let my mouth go where it wants to", and "Put your hands all over my body" during the refrain. Also present are maracas and "shimmying horn riff . "Erotic", the version recorded for ''Sex'', described as "more hardcore" by academic Georges-Claude Guilbert, includes lyrics not heard in the final version, such as "We could use the cage/I've got a lot of rope/I'm not full of rage, I'm full of hope/This is not a crime and you're not on trial/Bend over baby, I'm going to make you smile".

In Australia and most European countries, "Erotica" was released as the album's lead single on September 29, 1992. In the United States, the planned release date was September 30, but five days prior, several radio stations were already playing the song. According to '' Billboard'', on September 25, Don Stevens from CFTR Toronto had obtained a copy of the single and played it at 10:30 a.m., before getting a cease and desist by Warner Bros. Stevens then accused the label of leaking the single to "benefit from the accompanying publicity", which was denied by Warner Music Canada VP Kim Cooke. In Los Angeles, both KIIS-FM and Power 106 played the song once, but stopped at "the request" of the label. ''Open House Party'' aired the single at night on September 26 and 27, via 150 affiliates. "Erotica" was officially released in the US on October 13, 1992. Afterwards, it was included on Madonna's compilation albums ''GHV2'' (2001), and '' Celebration'' (2009).

Critical reception

Upon release, "Erotica" was generally well received by music critics. For ''Billboard'', Larry Flick referred to it as a "sensual slice of aural sex" that "twists the vibe of 'Justify My Love'", and highlighted the "deep and complex" arrangement. From the same magazine, Joe Lynch named the song a "bold sonic departure" for the singer. Writing for AllMusic, Jose F. Promis classified it as one of the "darkest, most sinister, and most interesting" singles in her catalog. ''Rolling Stone''s Arion Berger wrote that, unlike "Justify My Love", which gathered its "heat from privacy and romance", " he Madonna of'Erotica' is in no way interested in your dreams .. he songdemands the passivity of a listener, not a sexual partner". Berger concluded his review by referring to "Erotica" as "insistently self-absorbed — 'Vogue' with a dirty mouth, where all the real action’s on the dance floor". '' Slant Magazine''s Sal Cinquemani deemed it "brilliant". J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of '' Madonna: An Intimate Biography'', pointed out that " Erotica'wasn't a surprise for anyone who had been paying attention to adonna'srecent music. She had shown her hand earlier with '' Breathless'' when she sang ' Hanky Panky', the song about spanking ..then there was her single 'Justify My Love' ..'Erotica' though, was the full-blown music exploration, an ''exhibition'', of what we were to believe was Madonna's sexual reality." ''The New York Times'' Stephen Holden praised the singer's "foggy growl hatcontrasts dramatically with the shrill little-kid voice from erearliest records". For Gavin Martin from ''The Seattle Times'', the singer's voice "sounds as though it's coming from somewhere dark and menacing: as far as you can tell it sounds like a man".

Allen Metz and Carol Benson, authors of ''The Madonna Companion: Two Decades of Commentary'', said the track was "a bondage update on 'Justify My Love'". Similarly, while reviewing ''GHV2'', Cinquemani called it a sequel to "Justify My Love", that is "as distantly icy as it was erotic", and a "creative high for a career on the verge of public turmoil". At ''Blender'', Tony Powers considered the song one of the album's standout tracks. In less favorable comments, Anthony Violanti from ''The Buffalo News'' said the track was the album's weakest, and dismissed it as a "carbon copy" of "Justify My Love". '' Cashbox''s Randy Clark said that, musically, the single did not offer anything new, and called it a "melody-less 'Vogue'". Charlotte Robinson of ''PopMatters'' was also negative on her review; she felt the song did not age well, and referred to it as a "cold, dispassionate sexual fantasy" with "adolescent" lyrics intended to shock. Jude Rogers, writing for ''The Guardian'', opined "Erotica" is an "oddly sexless ''Sex''-era single, not helped by awkward synthesised sighs". Finally, ''Entertainment Weekly''s David Browne panned it as "depressingly trite ..between its frigid melody and your scary 'My name is Dita' spoken bits, it’s about as sexy as an episode of the Shelley Hack-era '' Charlie's Angels''".

Retrospective reviews have been positive. In 2011, ''Slant Magazine'' placed the song at number 34 on their list of "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s"; Ed Gonzalez praised Madonna's "throaty" vocals for making the song's "taunting, aggressive lyrics —an elaborate exploration of sex, from seduction to disease— feel unmistakably honest". Matthew Jacobs from ''HuffPost'' placed the song at number 23 of his ranking of Madonna's singles, calling it a "a period of innovation for the singer". On ''Gay Star News'' ranking, the single came in at number 17; Joe Morgan called it "daring, sexy, and unabashed". ''Entertainment Weekly''s Chuck Arnold considered "Erotica" Madonna's 10th greatest song, and ''PinkNews'' Nayer Missim her sixth; the former opined it was "the boldest move she could have made at the height of her career", while the latter said the song was among the "most carefree, unpretentiously sexy music ever released". Arnold also pointed out that with "Erotica", the singer "introduced the pop-diva alter ego: Before Mariah gave us Mimi and Beyoncé gave us Sasha Fierce, adonnagave us the dominatrix Dita". This opinion was shared by Louis Virtel, writing for The Backlot, who named the song Madonna's eight best, and a "hot, smutty grind of a dance anthem". For ''Idolator''s Mike Wass, the song is Madonna's seventh best lead single, and one of her most "wildly experimental" and interesting. Morgan Troper, for ''Portland Mercury'', named "Erotica" an example of "scary-sexy" Madonna, and one of her "five sexiest songs that aren't ' Like a Virgin'". Scott Kearnan from ''Boston.com'' wrote that, "No pop star of her fame has been this sexually transgressive before or since .. Rihanna sings about ' S&M' like it’s a song about My Little Pony, but adonnadishes on pain, pleasure, and power with the conviction of a whip crack"; he named "Erotica" the singer's sixth best. The song came in the 22nd position of ''Billboard'' magazine's list of Madonna's singles, with Lynch hailing it "the boldest, riskiest reinvention in a career full of them ..An icy declaration that it was time to kick open the doors on kinks and own them without shame". For ''The Tab''s Harrison Brocklehurst, it's "one of the sexiest songs of all time". El Hunt from ''NME'' wrote: "Defined by sleazy Shep Pettibone beats, orgasmic gasps, and choice lyrics .. Erotica'makes '' 50 Shades of Grey'' look tamer than a fully-domesticated alpaca". From the Official Charts Company, Justin Myers considered the ''Sex'' version of "Erotic" to be one of Madonna's "hidden gems". WatchMojo's Lisa Yang placed "Erotica" among Madonna's most underrated songs, adding that it "has aged gracefully thanks to its progressive lyrics and seductive sound". Chuck Arnold, in an article for ''Billboard'', named it the best song on the album and said it foreshadowed the "sonic adventurism" Madonna would explore on ''Ray of Light'' (1998).

Commercial performance

On October 17, 1992, "Erotica" debuted at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, tying with Mariah Carey's " I'll Be There" as the highest-debuting single in the chart since 1970. One week later, the single peaked at number three behind Boyz II Men's " End of the Road", and "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" by Patty Smyth and Don Henley. "Erotica" was the first song to reach the Hot 100's top three in just two weeks since Michael Jackson's "Black or White", released in November 1991; nonetheless, it was also Madonna's first lead single to not top the chart since 1983. By October 31, 1992, sales took a dip and the single dropped two positions in the chart. Jose F. Promis pointed out that "Erotica" was one of the fastest-rising singles in the chart's history, but also had one of the biggest drops; he attributed this to a backlash the singer faced from the general public, who decided she had gone "too far" following the release of the ''Sex'' book. Overall, "Erotica" spent eighteen weeks on the chart, and received a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 10, 1992, for shipment of 500,000 copies. The song also saw success on ''Billboard''s Dance Singles Sales and Dance Club Songs charts, reaching the first position of both; it became Madonna's 13th chart-topper on the latter chart. "Erotica" came in at number 48 on the Dance Singles Sales year-end chart for 1993. In March 2014, ''Billboard'' reported that the song held the record for the highest debut in the history of the Hot 100 Airplay chart, having entered at number two. In Canada, the single debuted in the 58th position of ''RPM''s Top Singles chart on the week of October 17; it peaked at number 13 the week of November 21, 1992.

In the United Kingdom, "Erotica" debuted at the 11th position of the UK Singles Chart on October 17, 1992, and, 2 weeks later, peaked at number 3; it spent 9 weeks on the chart overall. According to ''Music Week'' magazine, 270,800 copies of the single have been sold in the UK as of 2008. In Australia, "Erotica" entered the ARIA Singles Chart at number 16 on the week of October 25, 1992, eventually peaking at 4 and lasting 11 weeks on the chart. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified it Gold for shipments of over 35,000 copies in Australia. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number eight the week of November 1, 1992 and, a week later, reached its peak of number three. "Erotica" saw success across Europe as well; it reached the top three in Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. It topped the charts of Finland, Greece and Italy, and reached the top 10 in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain. The single was less successful in Austria and France, peaking at numbers 15 and 23, respectively. "Erotica" reached the first position of both the European Hot 100 Singles chart and the European Dance Radio Chart.

Music video

Background and broadcast

The music video for "Erotica" was shot in August 1992 and directed by fashion photographer Fabien Baron. ''Billboard''s Deborah Russell had previously reported that the singer would shoot two videos for the single: an X-rated one, that would be released as a commercial single, and a G-rated version for broadcast. In order to imitate the look of old home movies and stag films, the entire video was shot with super 8 mm film. Madonna later explained that she visualized the clip by closing her eyes and thinking of what was erotic to her, though not necessarily having experienced such things. Inspired by the films of Andy Warhol and The Factory, the video intercalates scenes of Madonna dressed as a masked dominatrix with a gold tooth, with actual footage of the making of the ''Sex'' book; in these scenes, the singer is seen sitting topless in the lap of an older man, kissing model Naomi Campbell, wearing BDSM gear, and riding a bicycle in the nude. Vanilla Ice, Big Daddy Kane, and Isabella Rossellini all make appearances. The scenes of Madonna as a dominatrix were shot in New York's The Kitchen, while shootings for ''Sex'' took place at Hotel Chelsea and Times Square's all-male burlesque Gaiety Theatre. Richard Harrington from ''The Washington Post'' gave a description of the visual:

"In the video, adonnabecomes Dita Parlo, a masked, gold-toothed dominatrix from an indeterminate age, ready to help us cross the street at the corner of Pleasure and Pain ..assuming different dominatrix roles and investigating assorted bondage scenarios before finishing up with some nude hitchhiking on a street remarkable free of pile-ups. Shot in grainy black and white, 'Erotica' has the feel of a stag film, though its quick cuts keep the viewer from seeing all that much".

The video had its world premiere on MTV, on midnight October 2, 1992; following a "mercifully short" lecture on BDSM, host Kurt Loder explained that because some people may find the video's content "repellent", it would only be shown at night and not in regular rotation. "Erotica" was shown a total of three times on MTV, all three after midnight, before being completely retired from airing; it became Madonna's second video to be banned by the channel, following "Justify My Love". MTV spokesperson Carole Robinson said that the video would never air in its entirety during days or evenings, but selected parts would air on afternoon dance show '' The Grind''; also from the channel, Linda Alexander explained that the video's themes were "clearly aimed at a more adult audience", lacking appropriateness for the general public. Madonna herself said she understood the channel's ban, as " TVplays to a huge audience and a lot of them are children, and a lot of themes I'm exploring in my videos aren't meant for children, so I understand that they say I can't show it".

Other networks such as NBC and the Times Square screens also refused to air the visual after finding its content "too racy"; Pearl Liebermen, a producer of NBC's ''Friday Night Videos'', found "Erotica" to be "very stimulating", and said that although the network would not air the video, they would report on it. One of the few networks that aired the video was The Box, where it became the number-one music video; the channel's president Vincent Monsey found the clip to be "very well-produced" and did not see any problem with it. On October 19, 1992, MTV began airing the video on its entirety again after midnight, this time with a disclaimer warning viewers of the sexually explicit themes. "Erotica" can be found on Madonna's 2009 compilation '' Celebration: The Video Collection''.

Reception and analysis

Initial reaction to the music video ranged from mixed to negative; ''Rolling Stone''s Anthony DeCurtis noted it was "pretty much normal Madonna fare", but wondered how much longer would she be able to "continue mining sexuality", concluding: "At what point does it just stop being interesting?" Similarly, Michele Romero, writing for ''Entertainment Weekly'', asked, "Haven’t we seen most of this stuff before? Can we be bored with the subject matter already?", and gave the clip a B- rating; Romero furthered criticized the "choppy editing" and the lack of emotion that makes it "difficult to identify with or care about" the video's characters. She concluded her review by deeming the video a "litany of television taboos atherthan a titillating expression of her sexual fantasies". Anthony Violanti panned it as a "musical and visual dud" that's "about as sexy as Ross Perot". " Erotica' isanother example of her video overkill .. adonnahas hyped sex to the point of boredom and has become a caricature of herself", Violanti wrote. In a more positive review, former pornographic actress Candida Royalle applauded the singer for "helping women find equal footing in society" by presenting the subject of erotica and "unconventional sexual behavior". Retrospective reviews towards the visual have been similarly positive; ''Parade''s Samuel Murrian named it Madonna's 20th best music video. Virtel and ''Idolator''s Mike Nied both considered "Erotica" to be Madonna's 17th best video; the former deemed it a "seedy sight, but one that forces you to wonder: Would you let yourself go wild?", while according to the latter, the visual "brought soft porn to the mainstream". For MTV's Kyle Anderson, " he videostill feels controversial all these years". "Erotica" was considered one of Madonna's most controversial music videos by Cinquemani and ''HuffPost''s Daniel Welsh. At the 1993 Billie Awards, "Erotica" was nominated in three categories: Consumer print, trade print (music) and consumer print (retail), the most for a single entry; it was also included on VH1's ''50 Sexiest Video Moments'' at number 16. For Eric Henderson, from ''Slant Magazine'', "Erotica" is Madonna's 15th greatest music video.

In ''Justify My Love: Sex, Subversion, and Music Video'' (2019), Ryann Donnelly wrote that the music video "expands and proliferates" the queer imagery from "Justify My Love"; this can be seen in scenes where Madonna kisses and gropes Campbell and Rossellini, two "classic objects of desire for heterosexual men", according to Donnelly. The author also went on to explain how the singer generates "shock and sexual arousal" by exposing sexual activities usually kept hidden from heteronormativity: drag, bondage, roleplay, homosexuality, and group sex; " adonnaunveils honest facets of sexuality, rarely seen in mainstream media .. heelevates and legitimizes these truths and fantasies through her extreme visibility and success".

Live performances

"Erotica" has been included on three of Madonna's concert tours: The Girlie Show (1993), Confessions (2006), and MDNA (2012). On the first one, it was performed as opening number, beginning with a topless dancer sliding down a pole dangling high above the stage; then, Madonna emerged dressed as a short-haired dominatrix, wearing a domino mask, sequined black hotpants and bra, long gloves, knee-high boots, and brandishing a riding crop. She rubbed the crop between her legs as she sang, while dancers posed and danced suggestively in the background. On his review of the concert in New York's Madison Square Garden, Jon Pareles

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