Frozen (Madonna song)

"Frozen" is a song by American singer and songwriter Madonna from her seventh studio album, ''Ray of Light'' (1998). Maverick and Warner Bros. Records released it as the album's lead single on January 23, 1998. The song was also included on the compilation albums, ''GHV2'' (2001) and '' Celebration'' (2009). "Frozen" was written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, who both produced it in collaboration with William Orbit. The mid-tempo electronica ballad, which has a layered sound enhanced by synthesizers and strings, lyrically addresses a cold and emotionless man.

"Frozen" received acclaim from music critics, some of whom deemed it as a highlight from ''Ray of Light''. The song was described as being a masterpiece, and its melodic beat and sound were defined as "cinematic". "Frozen" was also a global commercial success. In the United States, it became Madonna's sixth single to peak at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, "Frozen" became Madonna's first single to debut at number one on the UK Singles Chart, while also reaching number one in Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Scotland and Spain, and the top-five elsewhere.

The accompanying music video for "Frozen", directed by Chris Cunningham, was filmed at Cuddeback Lake in California, and features Madonna as an ethereal, witch-like, melancholy persona, who shapeshifts into a flock of birds and a black dog. The music video won a Moonman for Best Special Effects in a Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. To promote ''Ray of Light'', Madonna performed the song live in several occasions, including its first world premiere on Sanremo Music Festival in Italy and on '' Wetten, dass..?'' in Germany. Additionally, it was performed in several of her concert tours. "Frozen" has been covered by many artists, such as Swedish hard rock band Talisman, and Polish industrial metal band Thy Disease.

In 2021, a trap remix of "Frozen", made by Canadian DJ Sickick, became viral on TikTok. On December 3, 2021, it was officially released as the first single from Madonna's entire-catalog reissue project. Madonna and Sickick released three further renditions of the remix—the version featuring Nigerian singer Fireboy DML, the version featuring American rapper 070 Shake, and the version featuring vocals from Sickick himself titled "Frozen on Fire"—all of which were supported by music videos. The Sickick remix charted within the top-ten of the ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Songs chart, and was certified Gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) in France.

Background and release

By the mid to late 1990s, Madonna was in a more mature and introspective mood, after giving birth to her daughter Lourdes, gaining interest in Eastern mysticism and Kabbalah, and earning the title role in the film adaptation of the musical ''Evita'' (1996). In 1997, Madonna began working on ''Ray of Light'', her seventh studio album and wrote songs with William Orbit, Patrick Leonard, Rick Nowels. The album would reflect the singer's changed perspectives about life. Author Carol Benson noted that it was a "deeply spiritual dance record", with the crux of it based on Madonna's career, her journey and the many identities she had assumed over the years. Motherhood had softened the singer emotionally, which was reflected in the songs. She started talking about ideas and used words which implied deep and personal thoughts, rather than the regular dance-floor anthemic tunes she had composed. The singer began introspecting herself with motherhood being a "big catalyst for me. It took me on a search for answers to questions I'd never asked myself before", she said to '' Q'' magazine.

Madonna worked primarily with Orbit after Guy Oseary, Maverick Records' partner, phoned Orbit and suggested that he send some songs to the singer. He sent a 13-track digital audio tape (DAT) to Madonna, and "Frozen" was among these tracks. "I was a huge fan of William's earlier records. ..I also loved all the remixes he did for me and I was interested in fusing a kind of futuristic sound but also using lots of Indian and Moroccan influences and things like that, and I wanted it to sound old and new at the same time", Madonna said. The singer drew inspiration from Bernardo Bertolucci's 1990 British-Italian drama film, ''The Sheltering Sky'', which dealt with a couple trying to save their marriage during a trip to Africa. She wanted to have the "whole Moroccan/orchestral/super-romantic/man-carrying-the-woman-he-loves-across-the-desert vibe" for the track. Still continuing work with Leonard on some of the tracks, Madonna asked him to give her a composition with "tribal feel, something really lush and romantic". They composed the melody on the DAT and recorded the demo, which stretched to over 10 minutes due to Madonna continuing to write the track.

A low quality snippet of "Frozen" was leaked by fans on January 23, 1998, after it debuted on radio in Singapore, and posted it on the Internet. They said they knew what they were doing was wrong, but that they hoped it would simply generate interest from Madonna. The song was played on US radio, including WKTU New York radio. Warner Bros. Records enlisted the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)'s Anti-Piracy Unit to delete the Internet downloads of the song. Erik Bradley, musical director of Chicago B96, classified "Frozen" as a "the mark of a smash. Clearly, American pop radio needs Madonna", after he played the track on his station. According to Jon Uren, marketing director of Warner Music Europe, the song also had "fantastic" early support across Europe, where the song was added to radio the same day that the snippet was leaked. Shortly after the leak, a remix version of "Frozen" was broadcast by the BBC website, and was also previewed on the soundtrack at the 1998 Versace fashion spring parade. In the United Kingdom, "Frozen" was issued as a CD single, a 12-inch vinyl single, and a cassette single on February 23, 1998. The track was officially serviced to radio in the United States on February 19, 1998, and was released commercially on March 3, 1998.

Composition and recording

"Frozen" is a downtempo electronica ballad which has a layered sound enhanced by synthesizers and strings, arranged by Craig Armstrong. It was composed using common time in the key of F minor, with a moderate tempo of 102 beats per minute. "Frozen" has a basic sequence of Fm–E–D–E as its chord progression. The chorus, however, has the chord progression of Fm–Bm–D–A. Madonna's vocals range from the lower octave of F₃ to the higher note of A₄.

The song begins with austere, classical strings while the chord progression emphasizes tonic, submediant and flattened leading-tone chords. For the second phrase, which includes a dramatic crescendo, rhythm and ambient electronic effects are added gradually. Santiago Fouz-Hernández and Freya Jarman-Ivens, authors from ''Madonna's Drowned Worlds'', commented that the song is strongly inspired by different forms of classical music, notably contemporary classical music such as neoromanticism, as well as Italian opera composers and pieces such as Giacomo Puccini's ''Madama Butterfly'' and Giuseppe Verdi's ''Aida''. Madonna's vocals throughout the song lack vibrato, and have drawn comparisons to medieval music.

Tom Ewing of ''Freaky Trigger'' described Orbit's drum and electronic programming as "extraordinarily abstract for a global smash – a kind of cold, bassless dub approach, where the gaps, echoes and drop-outs matter as much as the beats, which spread sharply, like sudden cracks on a frozen surface. They need Armstrong's strings to hold the song together. And those strings in turn – a dark, Arctic sea of swells and crests – need the beats to sound more perilous than comforting."

Lyrically, the song is about a cold and emotionless man. In the first verse, Madonna enters in a medium range, 'You only see what your eyes want to see'. In the chorus, dance rhythm and ambient sounds are added. In the second verse, more visceral lyrics are added, like 'Love is a bird, she needs to fly'. During the bridge, a broad, string lines provide instrumental commentary on the lyrics. The song ends with a string ostinato that simply fades away, without fully resolving to the tonic chord. In an interview with ''The New York Times'', Madonna commented that the lyrics to "Frozen" are built around "Retaliation, revenge, hate, regret, that's what I deal with in "Frozen". Everyone's going to say, 'That's a song about Carlos' er ex-boyfriend but it's not really; it's just about people in general".

"Frozen" was recorded along with the rest of the album at Larrabee North Studio in North Hollywood, California. It was mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Studios in New York. The DAT contained the main portion of the song recordings, as well as preliminary demo sessions in Madonna's house in New York, as well as Hit Factory Studios where Madonna first sang the song. Like most of the album, "Frozen" was recorded on a Roland Juno-106. Madonna and Orbit had conducted a drummer session in Los Angeles, but it did not work out. So he contacted Fergus Gerrand who played drum samples for him in London. Orbit fed them in his workstation and cut them manually, instead of using auto-editing software like ReCycle.

Critical reception

"Frozen" received acclaim from music critics. Sal Cinquemani of ''Slant Magazine'' complimented the track's production and deemed it "one of the great pop masterpieces of the late 1990s", adding "Its lyrics are uncomplicated but its statement is grand." ''Billboard''s Paul Verna described the song as "smashing". In a separate review, Larry Flick called it a "stunning foray into the realm of electronica hich ..underground purists and unwavering popstars will equally applaud". Rob Sheffield from ''Rolling Stone'' commented positively about the "arctic melancholy" of the song. ''The Baltimore Suns J.D. Considine called it a word-focused, emotionally nuanced ballad.

Jon Pareles'' said that on ''Ray of Light'', only "Frozen" achieves a "state of divine balladry", recalls the "emotional pitch" and simmers the "beauty of 1986's 'Live to Tell' with a dark, lush string section, the smash and patter of a lone drum, and an ominous, pulsing buzz". In his review of ''Ray of Light'', Neil Spencer of ''The Observer'' commented, "it's sensuous songs such as ..'Frozen' that stand out; music for the chill-out room." ''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide'' agreed that the song was appropriate for chilling out.
Elysa Gardner, writing in the ''Los Angeles Times'', said "Madonna's enduring knack for incorporating hip and exotic textures into accessible pop tunes is evident on the plaintive single 'Frozen'".
Sputnikmusic viewed the track as the singer "at her soothing best", highlighting its "interesting percussion backing" and "beautiful use of strings with techno effects".

David Browne of ''Entertainment Weekly'' described the song as a "wuthering-beats melodrama that's often breathtaking." Also from ''Entertainment Weekly'', Chuck Arnold wrote: "sounding unlike anything Madonna had ever done before, and creating a mystical forest of sonic wonder — sweeping strings and all — 'Frozen' possesses an almost operatic grandeur that never fails to give you chills". Stephen Thompson from ''The A.V. Club'' wrote, "the atmospheric 'Frozen' is a great first single despite lyrics like, 'Love is a bird / She needs to fly.'"
Conversely, ''NME'' called the song "another pile of her usual weepy old bollocks". Jim Farber of the '' Daily News'' wrote that "Frozen" compromises its electronic style with "too much tepid pop". ''The Guardian''s Caroline Sullivan regarded it as a tremulous song ''Ray of Light'' could have done without.
Jose F. Thomas from AllMusic rated the song two stars out of five, describing it as "chilly".

Accolades

In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their "Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time", by '' Q'' magazine. "Frozen" was allocated the number ten spot on the list. ''Billboard'' also ranked "Frozen" at number 25 on a list containing Madonna's 40 hits, stating that the song marked a sonic change in Madonna's career. ''Rolling Stone'' also ranked the song as Madonna's sixth best song of all time according to a readers' poll, saying that the song strikes "the perfect balance of pop accessibility, sophisticated balladry and cutting-edge electronic textures". VH1's Mark Graham included "Frozen" on his list of his favorite songs from Madonna at number 36 during a list compiled in honor of the singer's 53rd birthday.

In May 2018, ''Billboard'' ranked the top songs of 1998, ranking "Frozen" at number 31. Frank Digiacomo from the publication asserted that the composition showed "a wiser, more mature Madonna, one still at the top of her game". While ranking Madonna's singles, in honor of her 60th birthday, ''The Guardian''s Jude Rogers placed "Frozen" at number 7. She wrote: "Dark, orchestral ambient is a mood at which Madonna excels. 'Frozen' marries the different temperatures of 90s pop stunningly – the faltering chill of William Orbit's electronica with the dusty, cinematic heat of North African melodies and strings". Finally, in August 2018, ''Entertainment Weekly'' listed it as the singer's 18th best single.

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Frozen" debuted at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and reached the number two position on the chart in the issue dated April 4, 1998, behind the K-Ci & JoJo song " All My Life". The song became the sixth single by Madonna to peak at the number two position, surpassing Elvis Presley and the Carpenters for the most number-two songs at the time. "Frozen" topped the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, while reaching number eight on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart. "Frozen" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in April 1998, and was ranked at number 32 on the Hot 100 year-end chart of the same year. In Canada, the song reached a peak of number two on the ''RPM'' Singles Chart in its seventh week, being held off from the top position by Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn".

In the United Kingdom, "Frozen" entered the UK Singles Chart at number one on March 7, 1998. It was later certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). According to Official Charts Company, the song has sold 560,000 copies. In Belgium's region of Flanders, the song debuted at number 23 on February 22, 1998, and reached a peak of number three. Similarly in Wallonia, "Frozen" debuted at number 29 and later reached number two. In the Netherlands, the track debuted at number 27 on the Dutch Top 40, and reached a peak of number two on March 7, 1998. The song reached a peak of number two in Germany, where it remained for six weeks, before spending a total of nineteen weeks on the chart. In Italy, with just one day in the stores it already had 30,000 ordered copies. On the Swiss Singles Chart, "Frozen" debuted at number four in the issue dated March 1, 1998. After one week, the song reached number two, remaining there for eight weeks. The song peaked at number one in Spain.

In Australia, "Frozen" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at its peak of number five on March 1, 1998. The next week it descended at number nine, returning to its peak on March 15, 1998, and stayed there for another three weeks. It was present for a total of 16 weeks on the chart, and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). In New Zealand, the song had a similar run as in Australia, by debuting at its peak of number five on the RIANZ Singles Chart. It was present for a total of 12 weeks on the chart.

Music video

Directed by British artist Chris Cunningham, the music video for "Frozen" was filmed at Cuddeback Lake in the Mojave Desert in California during January 7–11, 1998. In an interview with Kurt Loder on the set of the video, Madonna described herself as a "mystical creature in the desert". It was inspired by the 1996 film ''The English Patient'' and Martha Graham's work. The music video premiered on February 16, 1998, on MTV at 4 p.m. The black dress Madonna wears on the video was designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. In an interview with MTV News, Cunningham stated about his work with Madonna that she became interested in working with him after seeing his Aphex Twin-directed music video, " Come to Daddy" (1997).

Madonna stated that she and her team initially thought of filming the video in Iceland, as the idea of the video was to go someplace cold with snow, but decided against the idea. She said she thought:

The video introduces a sober, contemplative Madonna, revealing a mature mysticism. It begins with the camera skimming along a cracked, desiccated desert floor, and within seconds Madonna appears, hovering just above the ground in the distance. Her hands are covered with mehndi and an Om symbol on one palm. In the video, she slowly gestures and sways her arms towards the sky, desperately pleading to her cold lover cited in the song. At one point, she falls backward, hits the ground, and transforms into a flock of large, dark birds. Later, she transforms into a black dog. Three Madonnas also appear walking and crawling amidst the desert throughout the video. As the song progresses, the sky darkens, and the singer levitates from the ground. Her form then changes to a shiny black liquid, which runs along the desert floor and appears to be absorbed by the tattooed hands of another version of herself, curled up on the crenellated ground. The video ends with a desperate and melancholy Madonna.

Jim Glauner from MTV News commented that from the first scene of the video, the viewer discovers that this is not "Holiday" (1983). Matthias Groß of ''Madonna On the Couch: A psychoanalytic view on Madonna's music videos'', argued that it is interesting to look at the video as a dream, and noted that in the video, Madonna was presented as a witch or an uncanny creature, by the technique of the central perspective. He concluded that the viewers find themselves in control of their view, of the situation in general, and are conveyed the impression to follow a realistic depiction of a mere melancholic woman in the desert, according to him. Henry Keazor and Thorsten Wübbena of ''Rewind, Play, Fast Forward: The Past, Present and Future of the Music Video'' said that the large panels of cloth that gather and wind around Madonna gain an even more obvious independent movement quality. ''Billboard'' considered it Madonna's third-best video noting that it "conveys the song's bleak heartbreak perfectly" with Madonna's persona in the video. Steve Murgatroyd, Dan Williams, Steve Hiam, and Anthony Walsham received the MTV Video Music Award for Best Special Effects for "Frozen". The video can be found on the Madonna compilations, '' The Video Collection 93:99'' (1999) and '' Celebration: The Video Collection'' (2009).

Sickick remixes

On March 30, 2021, Canadian producer Sickick posted a video of him in a mask remixing "Frozen" on a video sharing app TikTok. This rendition has been used in over 125,000 TikTok clips, based around cooking and hair-pulling challenge; and has been watched over 26 million times. On December 3 of the same year, the remix was officially released on digital and streaming music platforms, as the first release of Madonna's plan of re-releasing of her entire catalogue. This rendition impacted Italian radio airplay next month, on January 24, 2022. In March 2022, two additional remixes were released, the first one featuring Nigerian singer Fireboy DML, and American rapper and singer 070 Shake on the second; both of them received visuals. On May 19, fourth rendition of the remix was pushed to the digital retrailers and streaming media. Entitled "Frozen on Fire", it features Sickick vocals, while Madonna re-recorded some parts of the song. This iteration was supported by a music video and a lyric video.

Sickick's rendition of "Frozen" is predominantly a trap song, but it also has been described as EDM, minimal, and electro. It consists of Madonna's chopped up vocals taken from the original version of the track, which has been called "now-iconic" by ''The Fader''s Raphael Helfand. The remix begins with a line "How can life be what you want it to be? You're frozen, when your heart's not open." ''Billboard''s Gil Kaufman called the rendition "slowed-down" and "gauzy". Shaad D'Souza of ''The Fader'' and Sebas Alonso of ''Jenesaispop'' critisizied Madonna for releasing too many renditions of the remix, the former's problem was over-promotion, while the latter's point was that they were short.

Commercial performance

Commercially, "Frozen (Remix)" debuted at number 20 on ''Billboard''s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, gathering 496,000 U.S. streams and 1,800 units. On April 16, 2022, the rendition ascended to number ten on the chart, becoming Madonna's third top ten song on the survey, while being first for Sickick. In the week, it gained 2.3 million streams―which is a 45% gain―and 1,000 paid downloads―gain of 15%. Additionally, the remix peaked at number 5 on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart. Until May 2022, the song received over 125 million global streams across all streaming platforms, with 8.4 million of them coming from the United States, until March 2022.

Fireboy DML remix

On March 1, 2022, Madonna shared a picture of her and Nigerian singer Fireboy DML on her Instagram, announcing new remix. Two days later, aforementioned remix has been released for digital download and streaming through Artist Partner Group and Warner Records. On the same day, both artists teased a music video on Instagram calling each other "fire", whilst Fireboy DML wrote: "Love to the queen for having me on this classic." This rendition starts with Madonna vocals, later featuring new lyrics performed by the featured artist, which talk about heartbreak: "Don't make me waste my time / I've been waiting all my life". He later croons "I thought you loved me / I thought you trusted me / I tried to take care of your heart / but it's frozen." For the outro, the song returns to Madonna's vocals.

Writing for ''Variety'', Mike Wass commented that Fireboy DML "laments over Sickick's sweeping trap beats" and takes the song to "soulful direction, plunging deeper into heartbreak territory". George Griffiths of Official Charts Company called the rendition "TikTok friendly" and additionally wrote: "The song morphs from Madonna's ice-cold, electronica-influenced vocals, shifting into something of trap beat for Fireboy DML's verse." Hannah Dailey from ''Billboard'' described Firboy DML's vocals as "smooth". Kaufman of the same publication called the rendition "hypnotic". ''Jenesaispop''s Iker Oroz called this remix "insubstantial" while Sebas Alonso writing for the same publication, opined that the performers are lacking chemistry on the track.

The music video for the rendition has premiered on Madonna's YouTube channel on March 10, 2022. It has been directed by Ricardo Gomes and spans for almost three minutes. During the shooting, Madonna jokingly mentions being drunk and called herself "Merdonna". First 25 seconds of the clip focus on Madonna's eye and road imagery. When the beat kicks in, a shot of black doberman

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