Drowned World/Substitute for Love

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"Drowned World/Substitute for Love"
Single by Madonna
from the album Ray of Light
B-side(s)	"Sky Fits Heaven" (Sasha Remix Edit)
Released	August 24, 1998 (Europe) September 25, 1998 (Japan)
Format	CD Single 12" Vinyl Single Cassette Single
Genre	Pop / Dance
Length	5:09
Label	Maverick Records Warner Bros. Records WEA International
Writer(s)	Madonna William Orbit Rod McKuen Anita Kerr David Collins
Producer(s)	Madonna William Orbit
Chart positions
#1 (Spain) #10 (United Kingdom)
Madonna singles chronology
"Ray of Light" (1998)	"Drowned World (Substitute for Love)" (1998)	"The Power of Good-Bye" (1998)
Ray of Light track listing
	"Drowned World/Substitute for Love" (1)	"Swim" (2)
GHV2 track listing
"What It Feels Like for a Girl" (album version) (13)	"Drowned World/Substitute for Love" (album version) (14)	"Music" (album version) (15)

"Drowned World/Substitute for Love" is a pop song written by American singer Madonna, William Orbit, Rod McKuen, Anita Kerr and David Collins for Madonna's seventh album Ray of Light (1998). It was produced by Madonna and William Orbit, and received a positive reception from music critics. The song was released as a single in the summer of 1998 (see 1998 in music) and was a hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number ten. The title of the song was changed to "Drowned World (Substitute for Love)" for its single release.

[edit] Song information

Since the album's second single "Ray of Light" was released with a one month delay in the U.S., Madonna's record label decided to release "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" as a single only in Canada, Europe and Asia to close the time-gap between the next international single-release, "The Power of Good-Bye".

The song begins with a male voice saying "You see", which is a sample of the song "Why I Follow the Tigers", performed by The San Sebastian Strings. The author of the song, Rod McKuen, explains:

"The voice belongs to Jesse Pearson and the repeated phrase is 'You see'. If you follow the lyrics on 'Drowned World' and 'Why I Follow the Tigers' you'll find 'Drowned' follows the plot line of 'Tigers', which is why Anita [Kerr] and I receive co-author credit on the song and not merely 'sampling mention'." ^[1]

The original title for this song was No Substitute For Love which had slightly different lyrics to the completed version. A demo with the original lyrics and different musical set up has been leaked to the internet. Some differences in lyrics are: "I face the truth, No substitute for love". The final song contains the lyrics "The face of you, My substitute for love".

In 2001, Madonna named her tour after the song and used it to open the tour as well.

Drowned World was also part of the setlist of her Confessions tour in the summer of 2006. The song was cut from the NBC special, The Confessions Tour - Live from London on November 22nd, 2006.

[edit] Music video

Madonna, in the back of a car, trying to escape the paparazzi who are following her in the music video for her single "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" (1998).

"Drowned World/Substitute for Love" featured a music video that was directed by Walter Stern and was filmed in June 1998 in and around London's famous Savoy Hotel. The video features Madonna leaving her home and being chased by paparazzi. She is constantly running, even from the other celebrities in a hotel bar. In this scene all the celebrities faces, except Madonna's, are distorted to make everyone look demonic. One of the most striking and memorable moments of the video occurs when Madonna passes a hotel maid, smiling at her. Madonna returns the smile. Then the camera goes off; the maid had just taken a picture of her. Madonna flees, running all the way home to her daughter's (not played by Madonna's real daughter, Lourdes) arms, singing that she's "changed her mind" about being a celebrity.

The video created a lot of controversy in 1998 due to the scenes that feature Madonna being chased by paparazzi on motor-bikes, a scenario similar to Diana, Princess of Wales's death in 1997. The video premiered in Europe on July 25, 1998 and remained unavailable in North America until the release of Madonna's Video Collection 93:99 DVD.

[edit] Chart performance

In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number ten, but after five weeks quickly fell off the singles chart. Elsewhere the song was a minor success, usually charting within the top twenty. The song charted in the top twenty in Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, China, and Japan.

[edit] Charts

[edit] Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Drowned World/Substitute For Love".

• UK 2-CD single

CD1:

1. Drowned World (Substitute For Love) (Album Version) 5:08
2. Drowned World (Substitute For Love) (BT & Sasha's Bucklodge Ashram Remix) 9:26
3. Sky Fits Heaven (Sasha Remix Edit) 4:09

CD2:

1. Drowned World (Substitute for Love) (Album Version) 5:08
2. Sky Fits Heaven (Sasha Remix) 7:21
3. Sky Fits Heaven (Victor Calderone Remix Edit) 5:49

• Cassette single

1. Drowned World (Substitute For Love) (Album Version)
2. Sky Fits Heaven" (Sasha's The Drug Fits Face Mix - Edit)

• Limited edition 12" single

1. Drowned World (Substitute For Love) (BT & Sasha's Bucklodge Ashram Remix)
2. Drowned World (Substitute For Love) (Album Version)
3. Sky Fits Heaven" (Sasha Remix Edit)4:09

[edit] Mixes

• Album Version (5:09)
• Radio Edit (4:46)
• Video Version (4:59)
• Video Version Instrumental (4:59)
• Instrumental from William Orbit Promo CD (4:09) Promo Only
• BT & Sasha's Bucklodge Ashram Mix (9:28)
• No Substitute For Love (Demo Version) (4:56) Unreleased
• Drowned World Tour Studio Version (6:01) Unreleased
• Confessions Tour Rehersal (mixed with Nothing Fails) (5:13) Unreleased

[edit] Notes

1. ↑  Drowned World/Substitute for Love 1. Mad-Eyes.net. Feb. 24, 2006. Retrieved Feb. 25, 2006.

[edit] References

• MoCaW: Madonna on Charts around the World. link. Last accessed on Feb. 25, 2006. - Worldwide chart positions and certifications.
• EIL.com. link. Last accessed on Feb. 25, 2006. - Formats and track listings.