Erotica (Madonna Album) - Music Structure and Lyrics

Music Structure and Lyrics

"It started out as a joke. We were mixing 'Waiting', and she wanted to go out to eat. While she was out, I just started rapping over the music. When she came back, I played it for her, and she liked it. Next thing I knew, it was on the album. That's a perfect how low-key we were."

Producer André Betts talking about the rap on the track "Did You Do It?".

According to Allmusic, the album is mostly influenced by pop, dance, house, new jack swing, lounge music. "Erotica", the title track, is the first featured on the record. It uses spoken word vocals, and is described as "an ode to S&M." Starting with Madonna saying, "My name is Dita", she invites her lover to be passive and childlike while she makes love to him and leads him to explore boundaries between pain and pleasure. The song has suggestive lyrics, as "Will you let yourself go wild/Let my mouth go where it wants to." The following track, the Little Willie John 1956 cover version "Fever", is described as a "sassy, house-style remake" of the pop standard. The third track "Bye Bye Baby" starts with the declaration, "This is not a love song," and goes on to ask questions of a lover she is about to abandon. Madonna asks angrily, "Does it make you feel good to see me cry?" The song has a dense, gimmicky groove, as noted by J. D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun. The fourth track and second single, "Deeper and Deeper", is one of the pure disco moments of the album. Its bridge features a flamenco guitar. Its lyrics talk about sexual obsession. The following track, "Where Life Begins", Madonna promises to teach "a different kind of kiss." In the song, Madonna talks about the pleasures of oral sex and is noted to be "the album's most overtly sexual track." After "Where Life Begins", the following track is "Bad Girl", that talks about a woman that uses drugs for cure her pain. Its chorus, "Bad girl, drunk by 6/Kissing someone else's lips" was noted by The Baltimore Sun "as sobering as it is sad". The seventh track from Erotica, is "Waiting". The song is described as a "yearning ballad" and she sings, "Life has taught me that love/With a man like you/Is only gonna make me blue."

The eighth track, "Thief of Hearts", is a dark and rumbling song. It uses tough hip-hop language to ward off a rival for her lover's attention. It opens with the smashing of a glass, and Madonna shouting, "Bitch!" She asks, "Which leg do you want me to break?" She sneers, "Little miss thinks she can have his child/Well anybody can do it." The song is described as a veritable sequel to "Justify My Love" (1990). Track nine "Words" was compared to track eight "Thief of Hearts", with music critics finding similarity in scope, each with sharp lyrics and catchy beats. The song features clattering programs and icy synth block-chords. "Rain" is the tenth track and fifth single from Erotica. Its lyrics talks about waiting and hoping for love. The song features crescendo towards the end, and according to John Myers of Yahoo! Music, it signifies an escape from the deluge of the rain with the breaking of the sun. The following track, "Why's It So Hard", was compared to Madonna's 1990 single "Keep It Together". In its lyrics, she asks, "Why's it so hard to love one another?" The song is the album's plea for solidarity with her audience. Track twelve "In This Life" was written in memory of friends who Madonna had lost to the AIDS epidemic. Madonna sings, "Sitting on a park bench /Thinking about a friend of mine/He was only 23/Gone before he had his time/It came without a warning/Didn't want his friends to see him cry/He knew the day was dawning/And I didn't have a chance to say goodbye.../In this life I loved you most of all/What for?/'Cause now you're gone and I have to ask myself/What for?" The song is described as a sincere song. The thirteenth track, "Did You Do It?", features rappers Mark Goodman and Dave Murphy. The song was censored and an edition of Erotica was released omitting the track. The last track of the album, "Secret Garden", is described as Erotica's most personal track. The song features jazz-house beat.