 
Bedtime Stories GHV2: Greatest
1994 Hits Volume 2
2001
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VIDEO by Mark Romanek
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After the huge success of
"Take A Bow", Madonna's biggest chart hit to
date, one might argue that it
was the worst time to release her most experimental
single ever, "Bedtime Story".
Written by Bjork,
who has yet to have a hit song in America, the track was based in techno music and with the
lyric, "let's
get unconscious", suggested that we communicate only
through our dreams. The truly odd lyrics
found
in the song were complimented
perfectly by a truly odd video directed by Mark Romanek. The video
featured Madonna in a variety
of anomalous dreamscapes, including scenes in which Madonna can be
seen in front of a giant
rotating flower; surrounded by floating lights; floating through space; and
above
all, giving birth to doves;
amongst many others. At the time, its
rumored two million dollar price tag
made it the most expensive
video ever made. That record now goes to
Michael and Janet Jackson for
their video,
"Scream".
The video debuted on an MTV
special "Madonna's Pajama Party", where Madonna read a bedtime
story to an enthusiastic
audience of fans inside a club.
Following Madonna's "pajama party", the video
received a full month of
positive and extensive exposure on MTV.
Remixes of the song helped to
boost the track to #1 on the
Dance/Club Play chart. Its unusually
long sixteen-week run helped to push
the song to #3 on that chart's year-end tally. In fact, the song is Madonna's
longest-running
Club Play hit since the chart was changed in 1984 to include
only 50 songs instead of 80. Only
"Holiday"/"Lucky Star", with seventeen
weeks under the older chart, has had a longer
run.
Even with its groundbreaking video and enormous dance club success, the
performance of "Bedtime Story" on the charts was quite
dismal. The single
stands as Madonna's first to miss the Hot 100 top 40 since
her pre-"Holiday"
releases in 1983. Since then, only four other singles have
shared that dubious
fate: "Human Nature," "Love
Don't Live Here Anymore," "Nothing Really
Matters," and "Hollywood," which failed to chart at all
in 2003. In addition,
the song managed only a one week stay on the
airplay chart where it climbed
only a few
steps to #68. Despite its poor chart
performance, "Bedtime Story"
is, nonetheless, as Madonna herself put it: quite an "astonishing"
song.
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Madonna as she appeared on the
1995 MTV special, "Madonna's Pajama Party".
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