Line #3 Music/RayOfLight


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rayoflight.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''She’s got herself a universe gone quickly\
3	For the call of thunder threatens everyone'']]
4	->''Your heart is not open, so I must go\
5	The spell has been broken, I loved you so\
6	Freedom comes when you learn to let go\
7	Creation comes when you learn to say no\
8	\
9	You were my lesson I had to learn\
10	I was your fortress you had to burn\
11	Pain is a warning that something's wrong\
12	I pray to God that it won't be long\
13	Do you wanna go higher?''
14	-->-- '''"The Power of Goodbye"'''
15
16	''Ray of Light'' is the seventh studio album recorded by American {{pop}} musician Music/{{Madonna}}. It was released through Maverick Records on February 22, 1998.
17
18	The album spawned hits such as its TitleTrack and "Frozen". It was also Madonna's first record where she referenced Kabbala mysticism. It is notably only her third non-soundtrack album up until ''Music/AmericanLife'' that didn't contain a #1 US hit single -- "Frozen" stalled at #2 behind K-Ci and Jojo's "All My Life". In contrast, "Frozen" became Madonna's first #1 single in the UK since 1990's "Vogue", kickstarting a run of five straight Top 10s from the album and a renewed streak of chart-topping success into the new millennium. "Frozen" was also [[BannedInChina banned in Belgium]] from 2005 until 2014 because it was supposedly [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} plagiarized]] from a song by Salvatore Acquaviva, but this sentence was eventually overturned.
19
20	----
21	!!Tracklist:
22	# "Drowned World/Substitute For Love" (5:09)
23	# "Swim" (5:00)
24	# "Ray of Light" (5:21)
25	# "Candy Perfume Girl" (4:34)
26	# "Skin" (6:22)
27	# "Nothing Really Matters" (4:27)
28	# "Sky Fits Heaven" (4:48)
29	# "Shanti/Ashtangi" (4:29)
30	# "Frozen" (6:12)
31	# "The Power of Goodbye" (4:10)
32	# "To Have and Not to Hold" (5:23)
33	# "Little Star" (5:18)
34	# "Mer Girl" (5:32)
35	# "Has to Be" (Japanese CD release) (5:15)
36	-----
37	!! Frozen tropes:
38	* AlbumTitleDrop:
39	--> ''Quicker than a ray of light''
40	* BilingualBonus: "Shanti/Ashtangi" has lines in Sanskrit.
41	* ButNowIMustGo: "The Power Of Good-Bye" with its first line:
42	--> ''Your heart is not open, so I must go.''
43	* CameBackStrong: Many lyrics refer to rebirth and reincarnation. Interestingly enough the entire album was also a rebirth for Madonna's career.
44	* CameraAbuse: Madonna breaks the camera [[UseYourHead with her head]] in the video for "Ray Of Light" near the end.
45	* CarefulWithThatAxe: Madonna's high pitched scream in "Ray Of Light".
46	* DeathSong: "Mer Girl". It's an extremely creepy track with sinister minimal instrumentation and equally sinister lyrics. It was said that there was an eerie silence after Madonna recorded the vocals for the song.
47	--> ''And I smelt her burning flesh, her rotting bones, her decay. I ran and I ran. I'm still running away...''
48	* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: "Substitute For Love", in which the protagonist looks for a deeper meaning: "Now I find I've changed my mind/ This is my religion". "Has To Be" (a song that appears as a B-side to the "Ray Of Light" single and on the Japanese release of the album) deals with similar themes.
49	* EpicRocking: "Ray of Light" was orignally over ten minutes long; a version running 7:33 was leaked but this version remains unreleased. The producers cut it short in order for the song to fit the album.
50	** Additionally, "Skin" and "Frozen" each exceed 6 minutes.
51	* FaceOnTheCover: Madonna in close-up.
52	* FailuresOnIce: "Frozen", about a lover she's disappointed in, but nevertheless wants to "melt his heart".
53	* FishPeople: "Mer Girl". See UnscaledMerfolk.
54	* FlippingTheTable: Madonna and a boyfriend play a chess in the music video of "The Power Of Goodbye" and she flips the table with the chess board over near the end.
55	* TheGreatFlood: "Drowned World", "Swim", "Mer Girl".
56	* GriefSong: "Mer Girl", "The Power Of Good-Bye".
57	--> ''There's no greater power than the power of goodbye''
58	* HarmlessFreezing: "Frozen", though not as harmless as one would think. It deals with a lover not open to other people.
59	* HealingSpring: Water as a healing matter to make people reborn is a strong theme throughout the album.
60	* UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}: Inspired several lyrics on the album.
61	* InformedJudaism: Kabbala is referenced a few times in her lyrics.
62	* IntercourseWithYou: "Skin".
63	* LiteraryAllusionTitle: "To Have And Not To Hold" is a variant of the phrase used in the wedding vow from The Book of Common Prayer.
64	* MinimalisticCoverArt: Madonna, hair twirling in the wind.
65	* NewSoundAlbum: The album was considered to be a huge departure from her earlier output, with tracks that incorporate more electronic music influences from techno, trip hop, drum and bass, ambient, rock and classical music.
66	* NonAppearingTitle: "Mer Girl".
67	** Played with during "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" and "Shanti/Ashtangi", as only the second half of the former's title and the first half of the latter's title show up.
68	%% * OneWomanSong: "Candy Perfume Girl", "Mer Girl".
69	* OneWordTitle: "Swim," "Skin," "Frozen."
70	* ParentalLoveSong: "Little Star."
71	* PowerFloats: Madonna levitates in the music video of "Frozen".
72	* ThePowerOfLove: "Skin," "Nothing Really Matters."
73	* [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Real Life Writes The Song]]: "Sky Fits Heaven" and "Little Star" reference her then newborn daughter Lourdes. "Mer Girl" is about her mother's death.
74	* RecordProducer: Madonna, William Orbit, Patrick Leonard, and Marius de Vries.
75	* {{Shapeshifting}}: Madonna shapeshifts into black dogs and ravens in the music video for "Frozen", directed by Creator/ChrisCunningham.
76	* ShoutOut:
77	** The music video of "Ray Of Light" was inspired by the fast forward editing of ''Film/{{Koyaanisqatsi}}''.
78	** "Shanti/Ashtangi" has lyrical references lifted from the ''Literature/{{Shankaracharya}}'', taken from the Yoga Taravali.
79	** "Sky Fits Heaven" has lyrical references to the poem ''What Fits?'' by Creator/MaxBlagg.
80	** The music video of "Nothing Really Matters" was inspired by the novel ''Literature/MemoirsOfAGeisha''.
81	** "The Power Of Goodbye" contains a sample of "I Want to Become" by Love Kills.
82	** "Mer Girl" contains an interpolation and elements from "Space" performed by Gábor Szabó.
83	** "Drowned World" was inspired by ''J. G. Ballard'''s novel ''Literature/TheDrownedWorld''. It contains a sample of "Why I Follow The Tigers" by the San Sebastian Strings. The music video features Madonna running from paparazzi, in a controversial reference to the death of Princess Diana.
84	** WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy: Peter Griffin parodies the music video of "Ray Of Light" in the episode "New Kidney In Town", after drinking some Red Bull.
85	* SpecialGuest: Kroatian actor Goran Višnjić, best known as Luka in ''Series/{{ER}}'' has a cameo in the music video of "The Power Of Goodbye".
86	* StockSoundEffects: Telephone sounds in "Mer Girl".
87	* SuperSpeed: How life revolves around Madonna in the video for "Ray Of Light", until it eventually slows down when she's on the dance floor.
88	--> ''Quicker than a ray of light''.
89	* SurrealMusicVideo: "Frozen", "Nothing Really Matters".
90	* TitleTrack: "Ray of Light"
91	* {{Undercrank}}: "Ray of Light", features mostly sped-up film of everyday life.
92	* UnscaledMerfolk: "Mer Girl", about a mermaid girl.
93	* WordSaladLyrics: "Candy Perfume Girl".

Context Music / RayOfLight