| Lyrics: Ray of Light |
Performed by: Madonna
Written by: Madonna Louise Ciccone; Dave Curtiss; Christine Leach; Clive Maldoon; William Orbit
Credits: Ciccone, Madonna Louise (Songwriter); Curtiss, Dave (Songwriter); Leach, Christine (Songwriter); Maldoon, Clive (Songwriter); Orbit, William (Songwriter); GUERILLA STUDIOS LTD (Publisher); WB MUSIC CORP. (Publisher); WEBO GIRL MUSIC (Publisher)
| Wikipedia: Ray of Light (song) |
| "Ray of Light" | ||||
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| Single by Madonna | ||||
| from the album Ray of Light | ||||
| B-side | "Has to Be" | |||
| Released | May 6, 1998 (Europe) May 11, 1998 (United States) |
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| Format | CD single, CD maxi-single, Video single, Cassette single, 7" Single, 12" maxi-single | |||
| Recorded | 1997 | |||
| Genre | Pop, electronica, dance pop, house music | |||
| Length | 5:20 (Album Version) 4:35 (Radio Edit) |
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| Label | Maverick, Warner Bros. | |||
| Writer(s) | Madonna William Orbit Clive Muldoon Dave Curtiss Christine Leach |
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| Producer | Madonna William Orbit |
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| Certification | Gold (U.S., Australia) Silver (United Kingdom) |
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| Madonna singles chronology | ||||
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"Ray of Light" is the second single by American singer Madonna from her 1998 album of the same name, and is based on Curtiss Maldoon's "Sepheryn", although other than the first verse the comparison is loose. The song was written by Madonna, William Orbit, Clive Muldoon, Dave Curtiss and Christine Leach, and was produced by Madonna and Orbit.
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The song is based on the track "Sepheryn", which was originally written by Clive Maldoon and Dave Curtiss, but with a different melody and instrumentation. All five (Madonna, Orbit, Maldoon, Curtiss and Leach) are credited for the song. The song was remixed by Victor Calderone, Sasha and Orbit. Madonna's vocal range spans from Bb3 to F5, with the latter note sung on the last syllable of "feel" near the end of the song.
Madonna performed "Ray of Light" with Lenny Kravitz at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards (where it won six awards including "Best Female Video" and "Video of the Year" awards), at an Oprah Winfrey show in 1998, and at the 2006 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. "Ray of Light" was also performed during the Drowned World Tour, the Confessions Tour [1], the Sticky & Sweet Tour, Live 8 and Live Earth.
The song was used by Microsoft in its 2001 advertising campaign for Windows XP, in combination with an image named Bliss, as well as a campaign for Sunsilk shampoo in 2008. Premiering on Super Bowl Sunday, the Sunsilk ad included shots of Marilyn Monroe and Shakira with songs well known by them, and ends with several video shots of Madonna to the sounds of "Ray of Light".
The song was voted #100 on VH1's 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years. In 2005, the song placed at #401 on Blender Magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". [1]
"Ray of Light" debuted at #2 in the UK and has been certified silver, selling 262,514 copies to date. It also became another big hit for Madonna in the U.S., peaking at #5 on July 11, 1998. The RIAA certified it gold on September 10th, 1998.
The single managed to break two Madonna records by selling 73,000 copies in its first week, and entering both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot 100 Singles Sales at #5. The song also did well on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, becoming another number-one hit for Madonna. "Ray of Light" went on to become the top Hot Dance Music/Club Play single of 1998.
In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time by Q-Magazine. "Ray of Light" was allocated the #4 spot.
"Ray of Light" was also noted for its Koyaanisqatsi-esque music video, featuring time-lapse images of daily life, from people riding a subway, ordering food, bowling, and children in a classroom to sped-up city-scapes and freeways at night. It should be noted that in almost every scene with people in it, such as in the club or classroom, one person was staring directly at the camera, while everyone else went on with their daily lives.
The video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund, with Madonna's scenes being shot on March 25-26, 1998 at Raleigh Studios and at a nightclub in downtown Los Angeles. The images of various cities included Los Angeles, New York, London, Las Vegas and Stockholm, Sweden. It also featured a couple of clips from the Swedish television game show Bingolotto, which is broadcast from Gothenburg, Sweden. Alternate remix versions, set to Sasha's Ultraviolet Mix and Victor Calderone's Club Mix of the track feature additional footage of both Madonna and of the environment. Footage from the making of this video was also used for the Screen Projection of 'Runaway Lover' During the Music Promo Tour
In June 1998 Italian director Stefano Salvati accused Madonna's imprint Maverick Records of plagiarizing the concept of a music video he directed for Biagio Antonacci's 1994 single "Non e Mai Stato Subito." [2] According to Salvati copies of his videos were submitted to Maverick before the "Ray of Light" video was shot and requested that the clip be pulled from distribution. [3] Both videos featured the respective singers performing at regular speed against a backdrop of high-speed images. [2][4]
The video was ranked #40 on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos, listed #1 on Back In... 98's Top 5 Best Videos, ranked #7 on Listed's Top 40 Memorable Videos Pt. 1 & 2, on MuchMoreMusic, and ranked #26 on MuchMusic's 100 Best Videos.
It won the Video of the Year award at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards along with a list of technical and directorial awards.
A live performance video of "Ray of Light" was released on January 24, 2007 to promote The Confessions Tour CD+DVD. It was filmed on August 16, 2006 at Wembley Arena in London, England. The video was made available to download on iTunes (UK), Spike (US), MuchMusic and MusiMax (Canada) and shown on many music channels.
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The commercial for Windows XP features a clip of this song. [39]
| Preceded by "Sunchyme" by Dario G |
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single June 20, 1998 - July 11, 1998 |
Succeeded by "Sweet Freedom" by Shawn Christopher |
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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