"Ray of Light" is a song by the American singer Madonna. It is the title track from her seventh studio album, Ray of Light (1998), and was released as the album's second single on April 27, 1998, by Maverick Records. The song was also included on the compilation albums GHV2 (2001), Celebration (2009) and Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones (2022). Written by Madonna, William Orbit, Clive Maldoon, Dave Curtiss, and Christine Leach and produced by Madonna and Orbit, "Ray of Light" is based on Curtiss Maldoon's "Sepheryn" and is an electronic dance song with techno, trance, Eurodance, and disco influences. "Ray of Light" consists of a main synth sound oscillating on the primary musical note and an electric guitar riff. Lyrically, the song has a theme of freedom.
The song has received critical acclaim by music critics for its club-friendly, electronic sound, lyrics, and "emotional warmth". The song was also nominated for three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Best Dance Recording, and Best Short Form Music Video, winning the last two at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards. "Ray of Light" debuted and peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Madonna's highest debut on the chart to date. It also reached number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Internationally, the song reached the top five in the Canada, Finland and on the United Kingdom Singles Chart, and peaked at number one in Croatia, Greece, Scotland, and Spain.
An accompanying music video for "Ray of Light" was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and shows scenes from different cities around the world, with Madonna singing the song in front of them. The video was critically acclaimed, receiving the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video, as well as winning five awards at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. Later, Stefano Salvati accused her of plagiarizing the concept of a music video for "Non é Mai Stato Subito" he directed for Biagio Antonacci in 1994. The song has been performed in four of Madonna's concert tours, the last being the Celebration Tour (2023–24). It has been covered by a number of artists, and has been featured in several elements of popular culture, such as on the FOX show Glee, as well as different advertising campaigns.
Background and release Since 1996, Madonna went through a number of "life-changing experiences" which included giving birth to her daughter Lourdes Leon, gaining interest in Eastern mysticism and Kabbalah, as well as earning the title role of Eva Perón in the film adaptation of the musical Evita (1996). A year later she started working on Ray of Light, her seventh studio album. Madonna wrote songs with William Orbit, Patrick Leonard, Rick Nowels and Babyface. The album would reflect the singer's changed perspectives about life. Author Carol Benson noted that it was a "deeply spiritual dance record", with the crux of it based on Madonna's career, her journey and the many identities she had assumed over the years. Motherhood had softened the singer emotionally, which was reflected in the songs. She started talking about ideas and used words which implied deep and personal thoughts, rather than the regular dance-floor anthemic tunes she had composed.
Madonna worked primarily with Orbit after Guy Oseary, Maverick Records' partner, phoned Orbit and suggested that he send some songs to the singer. He sent a 13-track digital audio tape (DAT) to Madonna, and "Ray of Light" was among these tracks. It is based on the track "Sepheryn" (1971), by English folk music duo Curtiss Maldoon (consisting of Dave Curtiss and Clive Maldoon). In 1996, English singer and songwriter Christine Leach, Maldoon's niece, had recorded her version of the track. Leach said she had always loved the duo's work and "Sepheryn" was her favorite. She worked for a time with Orbit and recorded a demo of "Sepheryn" over a melody on which he was working. Leach rewrote the chorus and also removed a few bits from the original composition. Orbit included it in the DAT thinking that Leach had written the song. After Madonna heard the demo she liked it, and reworked the lyrics to create "Ray of Light".
The track was released as the second single from the parent album on April 27, 1998, in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the single was released to retail on June 23, 1998, along with 40,000 copies of the song's music video. Curtiss was not aware of the fact that Madonna had recorded "Sepheryn" as "Ray of Light" and heard it for the first time being played on the radio. He "couldn't believe it" and was initially a bit annoyed, but became pleased when he learned that he would receive 15% of the royalties, as he had a songwriter credit. Madonna took 30% of the royalties, another 15% was given to Maldoon's estate and the rest was earned by Madonna's record company Warner Records. The singer said about the song: "It's totally out of control. The original version is well over 10 minutes long. It was completely indulgent, but I loved it. It was heartbreaking to cut it down to a manageable length." The original version was to be included on a compilation album titled Veronica Electronica, but it was not released. Curtiss confirmed in an interview with The Australian in January 2017, that he recorded a contemporary jazz version of "Sepheryn".
Recording and composition "Ray of Light" was recorded along with the rest of the album at Larrabee North Studio in North Hollywood, California during mid-1997. It was mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Studios in New York. The DAT contained the main portion of the song recordings, as well as preliminary demo sessions in Madonna's house in New York, as well as Hit Factory Studios where Madonna first sang the song. Like most of the album, the synth sounds recorded for "Ray of Light" were played on a Roland Juno-106. Madonna and Orbit had conducted a drummer session in Los Angeles, but it did not work out. So he contacted Fergus Gerrand who played drum samples for him in London. Orbit fed them in his workstation and cut them manually, instead of using auto-editing software like ReCycle.
An electronic dance music song, "Ray of Light" has stylistic influences from acid electronica. According to biographer Lucy O'Brien who wrote in Madonna: Like an Icon, Orbit created a sensurround like atmosphere in the track, which sees Madonna deepen her dance roots and go for a more electronic sound. According to the sheet music published by Musicnotes.com, the song is set in common time, with a moderately fast tempo of 126 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of B major, and has a basic sequence of B–E as its chord progression.
The song starts with an electric guitar riff comparable to the music of English alternative rock band Oasis. The chords harmonize with each other, continuing for 22 seconds. The techno melody then begins, consisting of a main synth sound oscillating on the primary musical note, with the EQ moving between the bass and the treble. The "restless" beat is accompanied by a rock-inspired chord riff, with Madonna's pitch being higher than the other tracks from the album. While recording, Orbit kept "Ray of Light" a semitone higher than the singer's limit, resulting in a strain added to the vocals. "She got frustrated when we were recording but you want that bit of edge with singers, that thing of reaching. You can't fake it, and you can hear it when she cracks it on the record," he recalled. Before the final chorus there is a synth solo again, reminiscent of a 1970s prog-rock record. According to Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, this was a link to the origin of the song from "Sepheryn".
Lyrically, the track is upbeat, keeping in theme with the music. According to Madonna the verses are a mystical look at the universe and how small we are compared to it. She wanted to capture a feeling of "wonderment" with the lyrics, as if some one has just opened their eyes and looked at the world for the first time. With NME, Madonna further clarified that the lyrics convey the feeling of being small in comparison to the vast universe. It also talks about how regular life goes on faster "than the speeding light", but one can get out of that journey and look at themselves from an outsider's perspective.
Critical reception
"Ray of Light" received acclaim from music critics. In a review of the album as a whole, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described it as "swirling". In a review of the maxi CD single, Liana Jonas of the same website called the track a "wickedly good club song" and "sonically progressive yet listener-friendly". She also praised Madonna's vocals, comparing them to those of a "club diva to celestial goddess". "The title track builds from another incongruously pretty guitar arpeggio into thumping rave anthem mode," Stuart Maconie wrote in a Q review of Ray of Light, "but always underscored with keen musical intelligence. It could be a lighter, less one-dimensional Chemical Brothers."
Larry Flick of Billboard described it as Madonna at her best, calling it a "spiritually charged, often poetic song". He especially mentioned the flexible vocals and Madonna's progression as a recording artist. British Music Week named it Single of the Week, adding, "Madonna is bang on form and this brilliant, anthemic, stand-out dance track [...] is further confirmation that motherhood and experience have only refuelled her creative ambition and commercial wisdom." Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone in his review for the album as a whole, wrote that, alongside other tracks such as "Swim" and "Drowned World/Substitute For Love", Madonna is "positively ferocious" sounding on "Ray of Light". Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine wrote that the song was a "celebratory tech-frenzy", and noted Madonna's elated singing. In a review of Madonna's second hits compilation, GHV2 (2001), Cinequemani wrote: Like no other Madonna hit in recent memory, the frenetic "Ray of Light" found the singer in a celebratory tech-frenzy. Whether it was an epiphany of the spiritual or sonic kind, her elation was unmistakable. Orbit's cycles of analog synths and electric guitar licks perfectly supplemented the elasticity of Madonna's newly-trained vocal chords. Not since "Deeper and Deeper" had she reached such dizzying heights. A reviewer from Sputnikmusic listed the track as a recommended listen from Ray of Light. O'Brien found the track to be an "ecstatic hymn to the skies". The A.V. Clubs Stephen Thompson commented that the "pumped-up title track is bound to be a deserving smash". J.D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun noted that Madonna's "newfound strength is particularly apparent in pulsing, rhythm driven tracks like ['Ray of Light'], which finds her soaring confidently at the top of her register on the busily percolating chorus, then whispering breathily on the brief, dream-like bridge". David Browne, while reviewing Ray of Light for Entertainment Weekly, deemed the song a "sirenlike techno-glitter-ball". Idolator's Stephen Sears explained that Madonna's vocals throughout the album were a "game-changer", including on the song, as she strengthened her voice while working on her film Evita. He ends his review by stating "Indeed, no choir is needed to lift 'Ray Of Light' into disco heaven. Madonna supplies the highs herself in some perfect moments: the extended, spiraling way she wails 'yea-ea-ears' at 3:27 or how her vocal spins out of control at 4:14, matched by Orbit's frenzied guitar work". Ranking Madonna's singles in honour of her 60th birthday, The Guardians Jude Rogers called it one of her "most joyous electronic pop singles".
Chart performance