"
Take a Bow" is a song by American singer
Madonna from her 1994 Studio album
Bedtime Stories and 1995 Compilation album
Something to Remember. It is also Madonna's longest-running number-one hit in the United States. The song was released as a
single in December 1994. Madonna performed "Take a Bow" with
Babyface at the
1995 American Music Awards.
Song information
"Take a Bow", the second single from the
Bedtime Stories album, became Madonna's eleventh number-one single in America, remaining at the summit of the
Billboard Hot 100 chart for a seven-week run, the longest of her career thus far. Co-written by
Babyface (who also provides backing vocals), the ballad became the singer's first United States number one in almost three years and became the highest-selling single of 1995. Despite its success on the charts, Madonna has never played the song on any tour.
"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 for promos for the final season of
Beverly Hills, 90210.
Chart performance
"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. "Take a Bow" became Madonna's fifth number-one single on the
Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S., 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 forty of the U.S.
R&B chart. The single received the
remix treatment from prominent DJ and record producer
Steve Hurley. Madonna won
Best Female Video honors at the
1995 MTV Video Music Awards.
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 thirty-five consecutive top ten hits. Sales, however, were buoyed by the Christmas period and "Take a Bow" still sold 102,739 copies which was more than several of Madonna's other top ten hits. In Canada the song topped the charts, becoming her twelfth number-one single in that country.
Music video
140px|left|thumb|Madonna 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 the bullring of
Antequera, Spain. The plot saw Madonna as a
bullfighter's (played by real-life Spanish bullfighter
Emilio Muñoz) neglected lover, yearning for his presence. Others, however, saw it as a statement on classism, as the bullfighter arguably felt threatened and angered by the aristocrat's station, resulting in his physically abusing and then coldly abandoning her. Madonna's 1995 single "
You'll See" is considered a follow up to "Take a Bow" as the singer and Emilio Muñoz reprised their roles in the music video. 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.
This video was ranked number twenty-seven on
VH1's 50 Sexiest Video Moments.
- Director: Michael Haussman
- Producers: Paul McPadden, Donnie Masters
- Executive Producer: Roberto Cecchini
- Director of Photography: Harris Savides
- Production Company: The A+R Group
Critical reception
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. No such protests seem to have been made, however, about the narrative showing a man physically abusing a woman, as the bullfighter does to the aristocrat portrayed by Madonna. The bulls that were used in the video were never harmed in any way and were sent to live out the rest of their lives on a farm.
Track listings
- "Take a Bow" [Indasoul Remix] - 4:58
- "Take a Bow" [Indasoul Instrumental] - 4:58
- "Take a Bow" [Album Version] - 5:21
- "Take a Bow" [Instrumental] - 5:21
- "Take a Bow" [Silky Soul Mix] - 4:12
- "Take a Bow" [Silky Soul Instrumental Mix] - 4:20
Official versions and remixes
- Album Version - Edit (4:31)
- Album Version - Instrumental (5:21)
- In Da Soul Remix - Edit (4:02)
- In Da Soul Remix - Instrumental (4:57)
- Silky Soul Remix - Instrumental (4:10)
Charts
Chart procession and succession
Cover versions
- Korean rock band Jaurim covered the song on their album "The Youth Admiration".
- Trisha Yearwood and Babyface covered the song on CMT "Crossroads" airing September 21, 2007.
- Melissa Totten did a Hi-NRG cover for her 2008 dance album Forever Madonna.
