"Justify My Love" is a song by American singer Madonna from her first greatest hits album, The Immaculate Collection (1990). The song was written by Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez, with additional lyrics by Madonna; Kravitz also handled t…
"Justify My Love" is a song by American singer Madonna from her first greatest hits album, The Immaculate Collection (1990). The song was written by Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez, with additional lyrics by Madonna; Kravitz also handled the production alongside André Betts. It was released as the lead single from the album on November 6, 1990, by Sire and Warner Bros. Records. Chavez was not credited on the song, which led to a lawsuit against Kravitz, eventually reaching an out-of-court settlement. Musically considered as a hip hop, dance, trip-hop, and experimental pop track, it features spoken word vocals by Madonna as she releases her inner freak, touching on sexual fantasies and implying the position of a woman as the one sexually in control.
The song was a commercial success, becoming Madonna's ninth number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100, and also peaked at number one in Canada; it also reached the top 10 on several countries including Australia, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Ingrid Chavez, a singer who had worked with Prince, sued for royalties, claiming she wrote the song with Kravitz. According to Chavez, Kravitz came up with the title, but the rest of the lyric - minus one line Madonna changed - came from her. "Lenny recorded a synth line and then he asked me if I had something I wanted to say," she told Vibe. "I had a letter on me (my letters are like poems) and so I got on the mic and basically read the letter. One take and the rest is history."
The case was settled out of court in 1992, with Chavez getting a composer credit along with Kravitz and Madonna.
The video contains partial nudity - a female dancer flashes a bit of nipple under her suspenders. MTV banned it, but eventually agreed to play it late at night.
Lyrics:
Y-e-a-h...
I wanna kiss you in Paris
I wanna hold your hand in Rome
I wanna run naked in a rainstorm
Make love in a train cross country
You put this in me
So now what?
So now what?
Wanting needing waiting
For you to justify my love
(My love) Hoping
(My love) Praying
For you to justify my love
(Moaning)
Okay
I want to know you
Not like that
I don't wanna be your mother
I don't wanna be your sister either
I just wanna be your lover
I wanna have your baby
Kiss me that's right kiss me
Wanting needing waiting
For you to justify my love
(My love) Yearning
(My love) Burning
For you to justify my love
What are you gonna do?
What are you gonna do?
Talk to me
Tell me your dreams
Am I in them?
Tell me your fears
Are you scared?
Tell me your stories
I'm not afraid of who you are
We can fly
Poor is the man
Whose pleasures depend on the permission of another
Love me that's right love me
I wanna be your baby
M-m-m-m... y-e-a-h...
Wanting needing waiting
For you to justify my love
(My love) I'm open
(My love) Ready
For you to justify my love
(My love) To justify my love
(My love) Wanting to justify
(For you to justify my love)
Waiting (my love) justify my love
(My love) Praying to justify
(For you to justify my love)
To justify my love
I'm open to justify my love
(My love my love)
