February 13 1995 // Bedtime Story was released in Europe by Maverick Records.

“Bedtime Story” by Madonna was from her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories (1994). The song was released as the album’s third single on February 13, 1995 by Maverick Records. It also appears shortened on Madonna’s compilation album GHV2 (2001). Written by Björk, Nellee Hooper and Marius De Vries, it offered to Björk the chance to write a song for Madonna’s album. Björk then composed a demo which was later partially re-written and whose title was changed to the present one, after which the actual song was produced by Madonna and Nellee Hooper.

“Bedtime Story” is a mid-tempo electronic song with acid-influenced “pulsating” house beats, ambient and techno tendencies and an underlying skeletal synth melody influenced by minimal trance music. The song also contains the presence of a drum machine, organs, gurgles, handclaps and has an intricate rhythmic structure. Furthermore, it has drawn comparisons to the style of new-age music. A considerable departure from Madonna’s work at the time, the track abandoned the singer’s then pop-R&B-based repertoire in favor being more unconventional and electronic. The song starts with groans and eventually progresses into whispered speak-sung vocals, and the lyrics are about the joys of the unconscious world. However, scholars and academics have noted that the song contains lyrical subtexts.

“Bedtime Story” received favorable reviews from music critics, who praised the song’s hypnotic and electronic style, and deemed it an underrated song which could have had great potential. The song was a moderate international success, reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom, Italy and Australia, but missing the top 40 in United States. However, the song peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs. The music video for “Bedtime Story” was directed by Mark Romanek and is listed as one of the most expensive music videos of all time at a cost of $5 million ($7.74 million in 2014 dollars). It features surrealistic and new age imagery, with influences from artists such as Remedios Varo, Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington. The video received critical acclaim from critics and was stored in a collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

“Bedtime Story” was performed at the 1995 BRIT Awards in London with Madonna wearing white Versace dress and long hair extensions, becoming one of the 30 best moments of the awards show history. A remixed version of the track was also used as a video interlude on her Re-Invention World Tour in 2004, with a new video directed by Dago Gonzalez. “Bedtime Story” has left a legacy, with several critics, writers and scholars claiming that the song foreshadowed the singer’s move towards electronic music in her future work. It was also written that it was part of the singer’s influence in popularizing Sufism and the Mevlevi tradition in mainstream Western culture. Nevertheless, it has been described as one of her most unfulfilled potentially successful singles.

Today is the last day that I'm using words
They've gone out, lost their meaning
Don't function anymore

Let's, let's, let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious honey

Traveling, leaving logic and reason
Traveling, to the arms of unconsciousness
Traveling, leaving logic and reason
Traveling, to the arms of unconsciousness

Let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious
Let's get unconscious honey
Let's get unconscious

Words are useless, especially sentences
They don't stand for anything
How could they explain how I feel
Traveling, traveling, I'm traveling
Traveling, traveling, leaving logic and reason
Traveling, traveling, I'm going to relax
Traveling, traveling, in the arms of unconsciousness

And inside we're all still wet
Longing and yearning
How can I explain how I feel?

Traveling, traveling 
Traveling, traveling, in the arms of unconsciousness

And all that you've ever learned
Try to forget
I'll never explain again