Take a Bow (Madonna song)

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"Take a Bow"
Single by Madonna
from the album Bedtime Stories
B-side "Take a Bow" (InDaSoul Mix)
Released December 6, 1994
Format CD, CD maxi single
Recorded 1994
Genre Pop, R&B
Length 5:21
Label Maverick, Sire, Warner Bros.
Writer(s) Madonna, Babyface
Producer Madonna, Babyface
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Madonna singles chronology
"Secret"
(1994)		 "Take a Bow"
(1994)		 "Bedtime Story"
(1995)

"Take a Bow" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories. Released as the second single from Bedtime Stories in December 6, 1994, the song appears on her compilation albums Something to Remember (1995), GHV2 (2001) and Celebration (2009). It was written and produced by Madonna and R&B singer-songwriter Babyface and became her longest-running number-one hit in the United States. It was her first single to reach number-one in the United States after "This Used to Be My Playground" (1992), and it was her last number-one song in the United States in the 1990s.

The music video for "Take a Bow" was directed by Michael Haussman in Ronda and the bullring of Antequera, Spain. The plot sees Madonna as a bullfighter's neglected lover, played by real-life Spanish bullfighter Emilio Muñoz, yearning for his presence. The video won Best Female Video honors at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. Madonna performed "Take a Bow" live with Babyface at the 1995 American Music Awards and at the 1995 San Remo Festival in Italy.

After Rihanna hit number 1 on the Hot 100 in 2008 with her own unrelated song titled Take a Bow, the two songs became one of the rare pairs of songs with the same title to both hit number 1.

Contents

Composition [edit]
"Take a Bow"
Co-written by Babyface (who also provides backing vocals), the Canto-pop styled ballad became Madonna's first US number one in almost three years.
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The song contains oriental pentatonics and strings, giving the impression of Chinese or Japanese nights and their opera.[1] Madonna sings the song in the sleepy languid mood that characterises the songs from Bedtime Stories.[1] The chorus expresses the theme of saying goodbye to a lover who had taken her for granted. The title plays upon the verse in the song "all the world is a stage and everyone has their part," a reference to the line by William Shakespeare in his play As You Like It, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women mere players".[1]

Reception [edit]

Critical response [edit]

Billboard gave the single a very positive review, calling the song a "plush pop ballad" that's "as close to perfect as top 40 fare gets." Adding that it has a lead vocal that is "both sweet and quietly soulful".[2][3]

Chart performance [edit]

"Take a Bow" was a huge success for Madonna on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It topped the chart for seven weeks and is her longest-running number-one single on this chart.[4] "Take a Bow" became Madonna's fifth number-one single on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, following "Live to Tell", "La Isla Bonita", "Cherish", and "I'll Remember". The song is also notable as Madonna's last single (to date) to make the top 40 of the U.S. R&B chart. The single received the remix treatment from prominent DJ and record producer Steve Hurley. On February 27, 1995, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping 500,000 copies.[5]

Although the single was a major hit in the United States, garnering gold accreditation, it became one of only a handful of her releases not to reach the UK top ten and ended a ten-year run of 35 consecutive top ten hits. According to The Official Charts Company, "Take a Bow" has sold 102,739 copies in the United Kingdom, as of August 2008.[6] In Canada the song topped the charts, becoming her 12th number-one single in that country.

Music video [edit]

Madonna as the mistress of a Spanish bullfighter in the music video for "Take a Bow"

The music video (directed by Michael Haussman) was a lavish period-style piece filmed from November 3–8, 1994 in Ronda and in the bullring of Antequera, Spain.[7] The plot depticts Madonna as a neglected lover of a bullfighter, played by real-life Spanish bullfighter Emilio Muñoz. Madonna's character yearns for the bullfighter's presence, with erotic anguish. However, others understand the video as a statement on classism, supposing the bullfighter feels threatened and angered by the aristocrat's station, resulting in his physically abusing and then coldly abandoning her. Madonna requested that Haussman give the video a Spanish theme because, at the time, she was lobbying for the role of Eva Perón in the film version of Evita. She subsequently sent a copy of the video to director Alan Parker as a way of "auditioning" for the role. Madonna eventually won the role of Perón.

Madonna's 1995 single "You'll See" is considered a follow up to "Take a Bow", as Madonna and Emilio Muñoz reprise their roles in the music video.

Reception [edit]

Madonna won Best Female Video honors at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards for the "Take a Bow" music video. It was also nominated for best art direction in a video but lost to Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson's "Scream". The video came in at number 27 on VH1's 50 Sexiest Video Moments.[8]

The video generated some controversy with animal rights activists who accused the singer of glorifying bullfighting. In Australia, music video program Video Hits ran a ticker along the bottom of the screen when the video was playing, stating that the producers of the program did not endorse the glorification of the sport portrayed in the video, while ABC TV video program rage simply refused to play the video at all during their G-rated Top 50 program.

Cover versions and usage in media [edit]

See also: List of Madonna tribute albums
  • Serbian pop singer Bebi Dol released Serbian language-cover literally titled "Pokloni se", on her 1995 album Ritam srca.
  • Philippine bossa nova singer Sitti recorded a cover of this song for her second album My Bossa Nova.
  • Korean rock band Jaurim covered the song on their album The Youth Admiration.
  • Trisha Yearwood and Babyface covered the song on CMT's Crossroads, which aired on September 21, 2007.
  • Melissa Totten did a Hi-NRG cover for her 2008 dance album Forever Madonna.
  • American pop folk singer Matt Alber plays an acoustic cover on his 2011 album Constant Crows.
  • "Take a Bow" was featured in the final episode of the first season of Friends, "The One Where Rachel Finds Out", when Rachel goes to the airport to tell Ross that she knows he is in love with her. "Take a Bow" was also used in promos for the final season of Beverly Hills, 90210.

Track listings [edit]

[9]

US promo CD
  1. "Take a Bow" (edit) – 4:31
  2. "Take a Bow" (album version) – 5:21
US single
  1. "Take a Bow"
  2. "Take a Bow" (Indasoul Mix) – 4:57
US/Australia maxi-CD
  1. "Take a Bow" (Indasoul Mix) – 4:57
  2. "Take a Bow" (Indasoul Instrumental) – 4:56
  3. "Take a Bow" (album version) – 5:20
  4. "Take a Bow" (album instrumental) – 5:20
  5. "Take a Bow" (Silky Soul Mix) – 4:11
UK/Australia/Europe CD
  1. "Take a Bow" (edit) – 4:25
  2. "Take a Bow" (album version) – 5:20
  3. "Take a Bow" (album instrumental) – 5:20
Japan remixes
  1. "Take a Bow" (Indasoul Mix) – 4:57
  2. "Take a Bow" (album edit) – 4:31
  3. "Take a Bow" (Silky Soul Mix) – 4:11
  4. "Take a Bow" (Indasoul Instrumental) – 4:56
  5. "Take a Bow" (Silky Soul Instrumental) – 4:11
  6. "Take a Bow" (album instrumental) – 5:21
  7. "Bedtime Story" (album edit) – 4:08
  8. "Bedtime Story" (Junior Wet Dream Mix) – 8:33
Single
  1. "Take a Bow" (Indasoul Remix) – 4:58
  2. "Take a Bow" (Indasoul Instrumental) – 4:58
  3. "Take a Bow" (album version) – 5:21
  4. "Take a Bow" (instrumental) – 5:21
  5. "Take a Bow" (Silky Soul Mix) – 4:12
  6. "Take a Bow" (Silky Soul Instrumental Mix) – 4:20

Charts [edit]

Chart (1994/1995) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[10] 15
Austrian Singles Chart[10] 22
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[11] 19
Canadian RPM Singles Chart[12] 1
Dutch Singles Chart[13] 34
French Singles Chart[10] 25
German Singles Chart[14] 18
Irish Singles Chart[15] 17
Italian Singles Chart[16] 2
New Zealand Singles Chart[10] 9
Norwegian Singles Chart[10] 13
Swedish Singles Chart[10] 19
Swiss Singles Chart[10] 8
UK Singles Chart[17] 16
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 1
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[18] 40
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[18] 1

Year-end charts [edit]

End of year chart (1994) Position
Italian Singles Chart[19] 37
End of year chart (1995) Position
Canadian RPM Singles Chart[20] 3
Swiss Singles Chart[21] 37
US Billboard Hot 100[22] 8

Decade-end charts [edit]

Chart (1990–1999) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[23] 24

Certifications [edit]

Country Certifications
United States Gold[24]

Chart procession and succession [edit]

Preceded by
"Creep" by TLC		 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
February 25, 1995 – April 8, 1995		 Succeeded by
"This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan
Preceded by
"Love Will Keep Us Alive" by The Eagles		 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one single
February 18, 1995 – April 15, 1995		 Succeeded by
"In the House of Stone and Light" by Martin Page
Preceded by
"Bang and Blame" by R.E.M.		 Canadian RPM Singles Chart number-one single
March 6, 1995 – March 13, 1995		 Succeeded by
"Strong Enough" by Sheryl Crow

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c Rooksby, Rikky (2004). The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna. pp. 49–50. 
  2. ^ Album Reviews. Billboard. Promethus Global Media. p. 74. Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
  3. ^ Single Reviews. Billboard. Promethus Global Media. 1994-12-10. p. 79. Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
  4. ^ "Madonna's 40 Biggest Billboard Hits". Billboard. Promethus Global Media. Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
  5. ^ "Madonna – Take a Bow". Recording Industry Association of America. 1995-02-27. Retrieved 2009-06-03. 
  6. ^ Jones, Alan (2008-08-19). "The Immaculate Guide To 50 Years Of Madonna". Music Week (UBM plc). Retrieved 2011-06-11. 
  7. ^ Narváez, Diego (1994-11-02). "Madonna, torea en Ronda". El País. Ediciones El País, S.L. Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
  8. ^ "‘50 Sexiest Video Moments (50-1) (2 Hours)’". VH1. Viacom. Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
  9. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Madonna-Take-A-Bow/master/34863
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "Madonna — Take a Bow (European Charts)". hitparade.ch. 1994. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 
  11. ^ Radio 2 top 30
  12. ^ "Top Singles – Volume 61, No. 5, March 6, 1995". RPM. 1995-03-06. Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
  13. ^ "Top40 week 2 van 1995 (14-01-1995)". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
  14. ^ Charts-Surfer (1995). "German Singles Chart (Search)". charts-surfer.de. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 
  15. ^ "Irish Singles Chart (Search)". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 
  16. ^ "Madonna – Take a Bow" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Retrieved 2010-01-08. 
  17. ^ Every Hit (1995). "UK Singles Chart (Search)". everyhit.com. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 
  18. ^ a b c Allmusic (1995). "Billboard Charts". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 
  19. ^ "I singoli più venduti del 1994". Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
  20. ^ "RPM's Top 100 Singles Of 1995". RPM. RPM Music Publications Ltd. 1995-12-18. Retrieved 2010-12-27. 
  21. ^ "Swiss Year-End Charts 1995". Retrieved 2011-10-21. 
  22. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1995". Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
  23. ^ Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade – The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010. 
  24. ^ "Madonna-Take A Bow-Single Certification". Recording Industry Association of America. 

External links [edit]

Steve "Silk" Hurley discography
songwriter
remixer
producer
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