| "Erotica" | ||||
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| Single by Madonna | ||||
| from the album Erotica | ||||
| B-side | "Erotica" (Instrumental) | |||
| Released | October 11, 1992 | |||
| Format | CD single, 7" single, 12" maxi, cassette single | |||
| Recorded | January 15–16, 1992[1] (Manhattan, NY) June 8, 1992 Soundworks Recording (Astoria, NY) |
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| Genre | Trip hop, new jack swing, porn groove | |||
| Length | 5:20 (album version) 4:30 (edit) |
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| Label | Maverick, Sire, Warner Bros. |
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| Writer(s) | Madonna, Shep Pettibone, Anthony Shimkin (uncredited) | |||
| Producer | Madonna, Shep Pettibone | |||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |||
| Madonna singles chronology | ||||
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"Erotica" is the lead single from American singer-songwriter Madonna's fifth studio album, Erotica (1992). The single was released in October 1992 by Maverick Records, and later included on her greatest hits albums GHV2 (2001) and Celebration (2009). Released amidst a blaze of publicity and hype for the single and other projects at the time, "Erotica" became her first lead single from an album not to hit number one in the U.S. since her debut album in 1983. Fourteen years after its original release, the song received renewed attention with its inclusion in the set list for the Confessions Tour. The song, along with "Secret Garden", were the only Madonna songs used in her feature film debut as a director, Filth and Wisdom (2007).
"Erotica" continued Madonna's exploration of potent spoken-word vocals (as introduced in "Justify My Love") and was highly controversial when it was released due to its sexual theme and suggestive lyrics. Upon the song's release, the Vatican banned Madonna from entering the state and her music was banned on its radio stations. The song and its accompanying album are also banned in Lebanon.
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There are three different versions of this song: the original demo, the album version, and the song "Erotic", which was created during the Erotica album sessions exclusively to accompany the 1992 book Sex. It was producer Shep Pettibone's idea to have the writing from the book included in the song, and the result was more "erotic", broken down and raw than "Erotica". These lyrics can also be heard in the William Orbit remixes on the single. In the original demo for the song, which leaked to the Internet in February 2008, the lyrics of the opening and chorus differ from those of the final recorded version. The lyrics "My name is Dita, I'll be your mistress tonight" are omitted. The chorus is also substantially different. Madonna performed "Erotica" as the opening song on her 1993 Girlie Show Tour.
For Madonna's 2006 Confessions Tour, Madonna and Stuart Price created a remix of "Erotica", which used the demo chorus. This version mixes a different verse and chorus with the original album version's chorus ("Erotic/Erotic/Put your hands all over my body"). It also uses the bridge "Erotica/Romance/Erotica/I'd like to put you in a trance". While listed as "Erotica" in the Confessions Tour program, most fans know the song as "You Thrill Me" after its unique chorus:
Some of the lyrics from the original demo of "Erotica" can also be heard in the "Jeep Beats" remix on the "Erotica" maxi-single. Madonna can be heard singing "I'm so in love with you" and "You thrill me" in this mix - lyrics not used in the album cut of "Erotica".
The album version of "Erotica" contains a sample of the 1974 hit song "Jungle Boogie", performed by Kool and the Gang. In addition, the song samples "El Yom 'Ulliqa 'Ala Khashaba" ("Today, He Is Held to a Cross") by Lebanese singer Fairuz from her 1962 album Good Friday - Eastern Sacred Songs. Madonna used that prayer more prominently in her "The Beast Within" track. Fairuz sued Madonna for $2.5 million for plagiarism over the section/sampling. In "Erotica", Madonna repeatedly chants over Fairuz's voice "All over me". An undisclosed settlement was eventually reached between Fairuz and Madonna, but the scandal caused both the single and the album to be banned in Lebanon.
The song has been remixed by William Orbit, who would later become Madonna's main collaborator on her 1998 album Ray of Light, and prolific DJs Masters at Work.
In the sleeve notes to I'm Going to Tell You a Secret and the live CD The Confessions Tour it credits an additional composer to have written this song: Antony Shimkin. ASCAP have officially confirmed this.
The single was the first of Madonna's releases to feature the label of her new record company, Maverick. However, the German 7" still has the old-style Sire label although the German 12" features the new Maverick label. Germany also pressed a second 12" of four of the Masters at Work remixes. The sleeve is identical to the first 12" but has a gold rim round the edge of the sleeve.
A 12" limited edition picture disc was pressed by WEA in England and then withdrawn and destroyed as it depicted Madonna sucking Naomi Campbell's toe. Owing to the recent royal scandal of The Duchess of York being caught topless by paparazzi engaging in a similar act with her then-financial adviser, John Bryan, the pressing of 50,000 copies was recalled and destroyed to avoid embarrassing the British Royal Family, and, to avoid accusations that WEA was cashing in on the scandal. There are less than 150 copies known to be in existence. Slant Magazine listed "Erotica" as the 34th "Best Singles of the '90s".[2]
A version of "Erotica" was included as a promotional, single-track CD that accompanied her infamous Sex book. The track, entitled "Erotic", was produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone. This version is quite not so different from "Erotica"; although "Erotic" has less instrumentation and its lyrics are passages from Sex.[3] The CD came in a special re-sealable mylar wrapper sleeve resembling a condom. The reason for this was to promote safe sex. Although "Erotic" has never been commercially released, a remix by William Orbit can be found on the maxi CD/12" single of "Erotica". The CD is now out of print along with the book.
"Erotica" debuted at a high number 13 in the U.S., which at the time of its release placed Madonna in a fifth place tie with Mariah Carey's "I'll Be There" as the highest debut for a song in Billboard Hot 100 chart history.[4] It sky-rocketed to its peak of number three the following chart week and charted for a total of 18 weeks. "Erotica" also made the highest debut in the history of the Hot 100 Airplay chart, entering at its peak position of number two, and it also reached number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and number four on the Hot 100 Singles Sales charts. The single was certified gold by the RIAA on December 10, 1992. Internationally, "Erotica" became another big hit for Madonna, hitting the top five in many markets including the U.K., Ireland, and Australia and topping the charts in Italy. It also topped the Eurochart Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks, becoming her eighth number one hit in Europe.
The music video for "Erotica" is one of Madonna's most infamous videos, directed by fashion photographer Fabien Baron. The clip depicts Madonna as a mask-wearing dominatrix; interspersed are scenes from the making of the Sex book. The American MTV aired it a total of three times (all of these in the "safe harbor") due to its highly charged sexual content, and it was eventually Madonna's second video to be banned from airing by that channel. There are two versions of the video - the "standard" version which contained no nudity was released in the United States (it can be viewed on Madonna's official web page); and a more explicit version of the video was released only in Europe and Australia, which contained full-frontal nudity of Madonna and variation in the editing. The video was ranked #16 on VH1's "50 Sexiest Video Moments". An uncensored version was also made available and features full nudity, fellatio, anal sex and extreme bondage.[5]
Naomi Campbell, Isabella Rossellini, and Big Daddy Kane appeared in Madonna's music video for "Erotica". The footage of Madonna performing the song in her S&M dominatrix costume was shot on August 22, 1992 at The Kitchen in New York City. The rest of the footage for the video was shot during the New York City photo sessions for her infamous book Sex (many of the photographs in the book are actually stills from this footage) - an hour of this footage was compiled by Madonna and Baron for a film that was made for the party she gave at Industria in New York for the release of Sex, a film that included a soundtrack of French music from the 1920s and 1930s that included songs from such singers as Charles Trenet, Mistinguett, Maurice Chevalier, Edith Piaf, and Josephine Baker. This film was also given by Madonna to her closest friends. It later leaked out to the public and copies of it were sold on eBay for some time. Today this film, known as the Sex Book Video can be found circulating on the internet in low quality.
Major formats released for "Erotica":
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(Included with Sex)
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Year-End charts
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| Preceded by "It's My Life" by Dr. Alban |
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single October 17, 1992 – October 31, 1992 |
Succeeded by "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men |
| Preceded by "It's Probably Me" by Sting and Eric Clapton |
Italian Singles Chart number-one single October 24, 1992 – November 14, 1992 |
Succeeded by "Don't You Want Me" by Felix |
| Preceded by "Saved My Life" by Lil Louis & the World |
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single November 21, 1992 |
Succeeded by "Are You Ready to Fly" by Rozalla |
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