Justify My Love
Lyrics
I wanna kiss you in Paris
I wanna hold your hand in Rome
I wanna run naked in a rainstorm
Make love in a train cross-country
You put this in me
So now what, so now what?
Wanting, needing, waiting
For you to justify my love (my love, my love)
Hoping, praying
For you to justify my love
I want to know you
Not like that
I don't wanna be your mother
I don't wanna be your sister either
I just wanna be your lover
I wanna be your baby
Kiss me, that's right, kiss me
Wanting, needing, waiting
For you to justify my love (my love, my love)
Yearning, burning
For you to justify my love
What are you gonna do?
What are you gonna do?
Talk to me
Tell me your dreams
Am I in them?
Tell me your fears
Are you scared?
Tell me your stories
I'm not afraid of who you are
We can fly!
Poor is the man
Whose pleasures depend
On the permission of another
Love me, that's right, love me
I wanna be your baby
Mmm yeah
Wanting, needing, waiting
For you to justify my love (my love, my love)
I'm open and ready
For you to justify my love (my love, my love)
To justify my love
Wanting, to justify (for you to justify my love, my love, my love)
Waiting, to justify my love
Praying, to justify (for you to justify my love)
To justify my love
I'm open, to justify my love (my love, my love)
(Justify my love)
Credits
Written by Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez
Additional lyrics by Madonna
Produced by Lenny Kravitz and Andre Betts
Mixed by Shep Pettibone and Goh Hotoda
Background vocals by Madonna and Lenny Kravitz
Ingrid Chavez isn't mentioned in the original credits, because Lenny Kravitz was afraid his affair with her would become public that way. However, when the song became successful she stepped out of the shadow to get her part of the royalties.
Album
Single
On October 30, 1990 Madonna released Justify My Love as the first single to promote The Immaculate Collection. Teaming up with rockstar Lenny Kravitz, Madonna gave her audience a preview of her upcoming raunchy sex period.
This erotic single dominated the US charts for two weeks. Selling over 1 million copies, it became her third Platinum single in two years time and her ninth #1 in the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #2 in Canada, Japan and the UK (in the latter, it was beaten by Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby').
The maxi single contains the fantastic remix The Beast Within, which quotes the Book of Revelations. Also notable is that Justify My Love was the first Madonna single remixed by William Orbit, who would co-produce Ray Of Light 7 years later.
Video
Although the lyrics were already pretty clear, the video by Jean-Baptiste Mondino emphasized on the erotic theme of the song. Madonna walks through the halls of the Royal Monceau Hotel in Paris, wearing a long raincoat. When she kneels down you can see her sexy lingerie underneath. As she walks past the rooms, the viewer can peak through the open doors and see people in various erotic adventures. Madonna makes love with Tony Ward, porn star and then-boyfriend, but not before he watches her kiss some androgynous person.
The video breaks all boundaries of sexuality, playing with themes such as sadomasochism, voyeurism and bisexuality. It's still seen as one of Madonna's most controversial videos. No surprise that it was banned from MTV.
Instead it premiered on Nightline on December 3rd, followed by an interview in which Forrest Sawyer wondered if Madonna had gone too far this time. Little did she know about the Erotica period that was still to come! Madonna turned the ban into her profit, releasing the video on VHS. Justify My Love became the first ever video single, as well as the best selling.
Madonna and Mondino got some of their inspiration in the 1973 movie The Night Porter, which is also set in a hotel and which tells the story of a strange, sadomasochistic relationship between a former SS concentration camp officer and his victim-lover.
Tour
Justify's fantastic remix The Beast Within would turn out more popular on tour, being used on the Girlie Show and the Re-Invention tour. But on the Girlie Show, the original song (or rather the Orbit Remix of it) made a great encore. With a staggering choreography in 1900s costumes, Madonna and her dancers paid homage to the Ascot Gavotte scene from the 1964 movie My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn. Erotica for the bourgeoisie!
Tom Munro directed an interlude video for the MDNA Tour, set to a new remix of Justify My Love by William Orbit. Much like the original music video, Madonna finds herself again in a hotel room, dressing up in sexy lingerie. But this time, she's alone in the room, hiding from dark creatures wearing freaky masks, who chased her through the hallways.
On stage, 8 dancers re-enact these masked creatures in an impressive dance routine. The video is said to be a metaphor for all the fake people who try to take advantage of Madonna, judge her or exploit her private life. When she locks herself in the hotel room to have some fun, it's her way to escape from it all. At the end, she puts on a mask herself, perhaps indicating that nobody really knows her.