If I take you from behind
Put myself into your mind
Put myself into your mind
Erotica is the fifth studio album recorded by American pop musician Madonna. It was released through Sire Records—along with Madonna's new label, Maverick Records—on October 20, 1992
It features hits such as: "Rain," "Deeper and Deeper," and "Erotica." Back then the album was released with a companion coffee table book, Sex, featuring stylish erotic photographs of herself and male and female models. The album was banned in several Asian countries, such as China and Lebanon.
Tracklist:
- "Erotica"
- "Fever"
- "Bye Bye Baby"
- "Deeper and Deeper"
- "Where Life Begins"
- "Bad Girl"
- "Waiting"
- "Thief of Hearts"
- "Words"
- "Rain"
- "Why's It So Hard?"
- "In This Life"
- "Did You Do It?"
- "Secret Garden"
Tropes that go deeper and deeper:
- Aggressive Submissive: "Erotica" summarizes the tone of most bondage inspired lyrics on this album best: "Do as I say."
- Alliterative Title: "Bye Bye Baby" and "Deeper and Deeper."
- Alter-Ego Acting: Dita, a reference to German actress Dita Parlo, and not Dita Von Teese as you might expect. Though Dita von Teese also lent her pseudonym from Parlo.
- Badass Boast:"Bitch! Which leg do you want me to break?"
- Bad Girl Song: "Bad Girl," though it's a morality tale about a girl who feels unhappy about her lifestyle.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: "Bye Bye Baby:""I know I love you because I hate you"
- Bowdlerise: This was Madonna's first album to receive an official Parental Advisory Lyrics warning sticker. It was also banned in several Asian countries, including China and Lebanon. Due to the controversy surrounding her photo book Sex and the "too hot for TV" music videos (the one for "Erotica" was even banned from MTV) a lot of media backlash and calls for censorship made the audience not really pay attention to the album itself.
- The F-bomb in the line: "You fucked it up." in "Bye Bye Baby" is bleeped out.
- But Now I Must Go: Madonna's character is about to leave her lover in "Bye Bye Baby," but not until after an interrogation. In "Bad Girl" and "Waiting" similar themes are explored.
- Call-Back: Many songs are a lyrical and musical extension of "Justify My Love."
- The opening line of "Bye Bye Baby" is: "This is not a Love Song," which was also the refrain of "Love Song" on Like a Prayer (1989).
- The line: "You just got to let your body move to the music / You just got to let your body go with the flow" in "Deeper and Deeper" is a throwback to "Vogue" from I'm Breathless.
- "Did You Do It?" features rappers Mark Goodman and Dave Murphy rapping over the track "Waiting." This was just done for fun, but Madonna liked it so much that she kept it on the album.
- Concept Album: All tracks deal with sex, from the viewpoint of a dominatrix Alter Ego called Dita. This is not to say that every track is meant to be erotic. "In This Life" deals with friends of Madonna who passed away from AIDS. "Bad Girl" is about a woman feeling guilt over her hedonistic lifestyle.
- Cover Version: A house beat cover of Peggy Lee's "Fever."
- Darker and Edgier and Hotter and Sexier: The album was sexually far more explicit than any other (female) pop star had been at the time, both in the lyrics and music videos.
- Department of Redundancy Department: "I'd like to direct your attention, to something that needs directing to" from "Where Life Begins."
- Despair Event Horizon: "Why is It So Hard?", about the struggles of life.
- Did You Just Have Sex?: "Did You Do It?" is a funny rap about this topic.
- Dominatrix: Madonna plays her alter ego, a woman named Dita, on this album who is into S&M. Several tracks, such as: "Bye Bye Love" and "Thief of Hearts" have her sing and insult in a commanding tone.
- Double Entendre: Naming a song "Deeper and Deeper" on an album named "Erotica" is bound to have some implications, but it's actually about "falling in love deeper and deeper." "Bad Girl" is not about evil being sexy, but a literally bad girl who leads an empty and unhappy life full of drugs and sex.
- "Where Life Begins:"
"Can you make a fire without using wood?" - Face on the Cover: Madonna's features.
- Gratuitous Spanish: The word "Adios" in "Bye Bye Love."
- Green-Eyed Monster: "Thief of Hearts:""Little miss thinks she can have his child / Well anybody can do it."
- Grief Song: "In This Life," about Madonna's friends who died from AIDS.
- How We Got Here: "Bad Girl" opens with the police finding Madonna's strangled body underneath some bedsheets.
- Manly Tears: "In This Life:""Have you ever seen a grown man cry?"
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: "In This Life," where Madonna sings how her friends died so quick that she hadn't had the chance to say goodbye to them.
- New Jack Swing: While not outright embracing the genre, several songs (including the title track, "Fever", and "Bye Bye Baby) take conspicuous inspiration from this genre, combining them with house music as well.
- Obligatory Bondage Song: Several songs are about S&M, including the title track. The music videos also play with this imagery.
- One-Word Title: "Erotica," "Fever," "Waiting," "Words," and "Rain."
- Precision F-Strike: "You fucked it up." is the final line of "Bye Bye Baby."
- Questioning Title?: "Why is It So Hard?" and "Did You Do It?"
- Record Producer: Madonna, Shep Pettibone, and Andre Betts.
- Sexophone: "Where Life Begins."
- Shout-Out:
- "When you know the notes to sing / You can sing most anything" in "Deeper and Deeper" references "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music.
- "Bye Bye Baby" samples LL Cool J's "Jingling Baby."
- "Secret Garden" refers to The Secret Garden.
- "Where Life Begins" has the following funny line: "Colonel Sanders says it best: "Finger lickin' good."
- The music video of "Deeper and Deeper" has Madonna playing a character inspired by Edie Sedgwick.
- "Erotica" contains a sample of "Jungle Boogie" performed by Kool and the Gang. Another sample, "El Yom 'Ulliqa 'Ala Khashaba" by Lebanese singer Fairuz was used which led to a lawsuit, this was settled out of court.
- The music video of "Erotica" was spoofed as "Neurotica" in a sketch from In Living Color!.
- Special Guest:
- Rappers Mark Goodman and Dave Murphy sing on "Did You Do It?"
- Big Daddy Kane, Naomi Campbell, and Isabella Rossellini appear in the music video of "Erotica."
- Christopher Walken appears as Madonna's Guardian Angel in the music video of "Bad Girl."
- The music video of "Deeper and Deeper" has guest appearances by Udo Kier, Sofia Coppola, and gay porn director Chi Chi La Rue.
- Ryuichi Sakamoto appears in the music video for "Rain", where he plays a film director.
- Stock Sound Effects: Some tracks have a scratchy sound, much like a radio transmission. "Waiting" has ticking clock sounds mixed in. "Thief of Hearts" starts with the smashing of glass. "Words" ends with typewriter sounds, while "Rain" ends with sound effects of a rainy thunder night.
- Super Sex Organs: "Secret Garden" is more or less a homage to the singer's vagina: "The secret place where she could enjoy herself."
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: "Thief of Hearts:""Bitch! Sit your ass down!"
- Title Track: "Erotica."
- Too Kinky to Torture:
- "Bye Bye Baby:"
"Does it make you feel good to see me cry?"- "Erotica:"
"Only the one that hurts you can make you feel better""Only the one that inflicts pain can take it away" - Trash Talk: "Waiting:""Next time you want pussy""Just look in the mirror"
- "Thief of Hearts" is a bitchy "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Unusual Euphemism: The lyrics use all kinds of clever euphemisms to describe various sexual activities.
- Visual Innuendo: Madonna poses with a cigar on the album single cover of "Deeper and Deeper." In the music video of "Deeper and Deeper" she eats a banana while watching a male stripper perform.
- Weakness Turns Her On: Alluded to in several lyrics.
