4 Minutes
Lyrics
(Timbaland:)
I'm outta time and all I got is 4 minutes
4 Minutes, hey
(8x)
Come on
Yeah
Break down
Come on
(Justin:)
Hey uh, come on, Madonna
Take it
(Madonna:)
Come on boy
I've been waiting for somebody
To pick up my stroll, uh
(Justin:)
Well don't waste time
Give me the sign
Tell me how you wanna roll
(Madonna:)
I want somebody to speed it up for me
Then take it down slow
There's enough room for both
(Justin:)
Well, I can handle that
You just gotta show me where it's at
Are you ready to go
(Are you ready to go)
(Madonna & Justin:)
If you want it
You already got it
If you've thought it
It better be what you want
If you feel it
It must be real just
Say the word and imma give you what you want
(Madonna & Justin:)
Time is waiting
We only got 4 minutes to save the world
No hesitating
Grab a boy
Grab a girl
Time is waiting
We only got 4 minutes to save the world
No hesitating
We only got 4 minutes, 4 minutes
(Madonna & Justin:)
Keep it up, keep it up, don't be a pri, hey
Madonna, uh
You gotta get 'em a hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock
That's right, keep it up, keep it up, don't be a pri, hey
Madonna, uh
You gotta get 'em a hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock
(Madonna:)
Sometimes I think what I need is a you intervention, yeah
(Justin:)
And you know I can tell that you like it
And that it's good, by the way that you move, ooh, hey
(Madonna:)
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, yeah
(Justin:)
But if I die tonight
At least I can say I did what I wanted to do
Tell me, how bout you?
(Madonna & Justin:)
If you want it
You already got it
If you've thought it
It better be what you want
If you feel it
It must be real just
Say the word and imma give you what you want
(Madonna & Justin:)
Time is waiting
We only got 4 minutes to save the world
No hesitating
Grab a boy
Grab a girl
Time is waiting
We only got 4 minutes to save the world
No hesitating
We only got 4 minutes, 4 minutes
(Madonna & Justin:)
Keep it up, keep it up, don't be a pri, hey
Madonna, uh
You gotta get 'em a hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock
That's right, keep it up, keep it up, don't be a pri, hey
Madonna, uh
You gotta get 'em a hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock
(Timbaland:)
Breakdown
Yeah
(tick tock tick tock tick tock)
Yeah, uh huh
(tick tock tick tock tick tock)
I only got 4 minutes to save the world
Credits
Written by Madonna, T. Mosley, J. Timberlake and N. Hills
Produced by Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and Danja
Programmed and mixed by Demacio "Demo" Castellon
Protools editing by Ron Taylor
Drums by Timbaland
Keyboards by Danja
Scratching by DJ Demo
Featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
Album
Single
The lead-off single from Hard Candy was this duet with Justin Timberlake, which featured Timbaland's signature heavy hip hop and bhangra beats and usual shout-outs. Lyrically the song is a sexual but playful teasing between Madonna and Justin. The single premiered on radio on March 17, 2008, was released digitally on March 25 and was available as a physical single from April 21 (29 in the US). Remixes of the song were made by Peter Rauhofer, Tracy Young, Bob Sinclar, Junkie XL & Marcos Castellon.
The track debuted at #7 on the UK chart and #68 on Billboard Hot 100, and in its second week, it became Madonna's all-time record breaking 37th Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (a record previously held by Elvis Presley) when it jumped to #3! In the UK, it got to #1 in its fifth week, became her 13th UK #1 hit and stayed there for 4 weeks and became Madonna's longest running single in the Top 10, with 12 weeks! It also charted at #1 in Australia (her 11th #1 there), Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain and Switzerland.
4 Minutes eventually became Madonna's second double Platinum single in the US in August 2008, for selling 2 million paid downloads, making it her best selling US single ever, alongside Vogue.
Video
While Justin & Timbaland helped Madonna to spice up the song, she turned to French masterminds Jonas & François to direct the video of this duet. It was shot in London late January 2008 and premiered on iTunes on April 3. Matching this bouncy hip hop-esque song, the video is fully charged with hot imagery of Madonna and Justin in action. As the world around them dissolves, a sexy black-clad Madonna and Justin jump through a variety of decors, that represent some of our daily consumption routines. While Timbaland tells them to 'break it down', Madonna and Justin compete with their hip & groovy dance moves. In the background of the performance scene, a giant clock counts down the 4 minutes they have to save the world, before they dissolve themselves in a close liplock.
Tour
The final segment of the Sticky & Sweet Tour arrives with the heavy beats of 4 Minutes. Madonna appears as a superhero wearing shoulder pads and breastplate. Justin Timberlake joins her on the moving video screens for a virtual duet. These screens make up an active part of the choreography, as they turn around to bring out the dancers and slide over the stage. Madonna humps Justin's video image and performs parts of the video choreography. The duet became real when Justin made a guest appearance at the LA show. Timbaland joined Madonna and his video alter-ego during the show in Miami.