| "Little Star" | ||||
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| Single byMadonna | ||||
| from the albumRay of Light | ||||
| A-side | "The Power of Good-Bye" | |||
| Released | November 23, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1997 | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:18 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters |
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| Madonna singles chronology | ||||
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"Little Star" is a song recorded by American singerMadonna for her seventh studio albumRay of Light (1998). It was written by Madonna andRick Nowels, and was produced by the singer withMarius de Vries. It is the only track on the album not to have production credits fromWilliam Orbit. Lyrically, the track is an ode to Madonna's first child,Lourdes Leon. Theambientlullaby is driven by skitteringdrum and bass beats, dreamybasslines, and sweepingstrings. Worldwide, "The Power of Good-Bye" was released as the fourth single fromRay of Light. In the United Kingdom, however, "Little Star" was issued as adouble A-side with "The Power of Good-Bye" and released as the fourth single fromRay of Light in the country on November 23, 1998, byMaverick Records andWarner Bros. Records.
"Little Star" received acclaim frommusic critics, with praise going to its instrumentation and Madonna's vocal delivery. The song attained commercial success, peaking at number 6 in the United Kingdom and at 5 in Scotland.
Between 1996 and the release of this song's associated album in 1998, Madonna went through a number of "life-changing experiences" including giving birth to her daughter Lourdes, interest inEastern mysticism andKabbalah, as well as playing the title role in thefilm adaptation of the musicalEvita (1996).[1] A year later, following the promotion of theEvita soundtrack, she started working onRay of Light; the album would reflect her changed perspectives about life. Madonna wrote songs withWilliam Orbit,Patrick Leonard andRick Nowels.[1]
I was driving to the studio and played back the demo in my car. I started crying because it was so beautiful. I affected me - to be able to create a song about a child that was so moving and carefully expressed.
Madonna wrote "Little Star" with Rick Nowels. Nowels had always wanted to work with Madonna, admiring her previous work with Leonard,Stephen Bray, as well asNile Rodgers. The songwriter was in New York for the Grammy Awards, and during a shopping expedition inBarneys, he met Madonna. Nowels commended the singer on her songwriting skills, being later invited to Los Angeles for writing sessions.[3] The two were both new parents at the time, and bonded over their shared experience.[4] The writing for "Little Star" emerged following an unsuccessful attempt at incorporating a soundtrack sample from the cult seventies filmVampyros Lesbos into a song. "I was panicking a bit [...] then I just started playing three chords, and Madonna started singing," Nowells noted. "I followed her, and the rest was stream of consciousness".[4]
Nowels was impressed by Madonna's work ethic, noting: "Before I worked with Madonna, I never believed you could get a song together in an hour, but she would channel it. We'd have a melody within half an hour. She would always leave bang on 7pm to go to seeLola, but we'd always have a song written and demoed. We wrote nine songs in ten days".[4] Of these nine songs, three songs from their sessions were selected for the final track list: "The Power of Good-Bye", "Little Star" and "To Have and Not to Hold".[3]
After issuing "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" as the third single fromRay of Light outside North America,[5] "The Power of Good-Bye" was chosen to be released as the fourth single, but in the UK, the single was distributed as adouble A-side with "Little Star".[6][7] The record label promoted it as "a perfect Christmas track".[8]
After the songwriting sessions ended with Nowels, Madonna started collaborating with Orbit, de Vries, and Leonard for recording the tracks.[9] Around June 1997, the singer entered the Larrabee North Studio,Universal City, California to record the album.[1] Marius de Vries's contributions to the album were sequenced usingProTools.[10] Marius de Vries described the song: "It's a delicate tune. I knew it had to be handled with butterfly-like delicacy, but also knew it needed an engine room to it, an energy, so it didn't become mawkish. That's why I did something with this skittery, unsettled, never quite resolving beat to counteract the warmth and coziness of the central idea."[2]
"Little Star" is the only track on the album not to have production credits from William Orbit, instead being soley produced by Madonna and Marius de Vries. Orbit noted: "I had nothing to do with this track, apart from being around when it was done. [...] I walked by, loved it and gave them the thumbs up."[1] Steve Sidelnyk was responsible for additional drum programming.[11] It was written in thetime signature ofcommon time, and is composed in the key ofE major with a fasttempo of 140beats per minute.[12]
It is anambientelectronicalullaby, with itsarrangement being "an understated affair that combines skittering drum and bass beats with dreamy fretless basslines and strings that soar like a songbird".[13][1] Rikky Rooksby, author ofThe Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, compared "Little Star" to Madonna's previous single "Dear Jessie", but called it "not as inventive". They described it as having a "lighter touch" than other songs on the album. They highlighted the "high-pitched electric piano chords" and a "drum-beat that remains a rapid rustling rather than a dance beat".[14] Johnny Black ofQ described it as "the most ambient track" with "restrained beats and complex effects held back by sweeping strings."[1]
Lyrically, the track is an ode to Madonna's first child,Lourdes Leon.[15] Eric Mason ofSlant Magazine felt that the song represented Madonna's experience of losing her own mother and a "desire to shield her daughter from the inevitable experience of loss".[16] Madonna categorized "Little Star" as the "one super-sentimental song" onRay of Light.[17]
Passionate peaks like "Drowned World" and "Little Star" remind you that for all the years Madonna has spent chasing art, class and fashion, the reason we still care about her eccentricities is the emotion in her music; all her desperately chic decor can’t hide her rock & roll heart."
"Little Star" received generally positive reviews frommusic critics.Billboard's Jon O'Brien compared the song to others about parenthood and said that it was not a "typical schmaltzfest". He felt that despite the track not having production from William Orbit like the other songs on Ray of Light, the "enchanting alt-lullaby still fits in seamlessly."[13] Rob Sheffield fromRolling Stone described "Little Star" as a "spacey, utterly convincing lullaby" and felt that it was one of the standouts on the album.[18] Elysa Gardner of theLos Angeles Times felt that Madonna's "wonderfully emotive" vocals came across as "tender and nurturing on the gentle, shimmering 'Little Star'".[19]
Eric Mason ofSlant Magazine described the song as a "superficially sweet lullaby".[16] Bryan Lark ofThe Michigan Daily felt that the song was one of the "most sentiment-filled" songs on the record which was "teetering on the edge of cheese" but that it had a "subtle, restrained arrangement".[20] In a more negative sentiment, Garry Mulholland fromThe Guardian wrote that the song shows that "Madonna struggles most when trying to say something nice about a real person".[21]
In the United Kingdom, the double A-side with "The Power of Good-Bye" debuted at number six on theUK Singles Chart, and was present for a total of 11 weeks, selling 175,095 copies as of August 2008, according to theOfficial Charts Company.[22][23] It became Madonna's 36th best-selling single in that country and in May 2018 was certified Silver by theBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI).[24][25] In Scotland, the release peaked at number 5.[26]
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Madonna performed "Little Star" onThe Oprah Winfrey Show on May 29, 1998, along with "Ray of Light".[27] The performance of "Little Star" was initially reported to have been selected for inclusion on the commercial single of "The Power of Good-Bye" in the United States, but it was ultimately excluded from the release.[28]
During the opening concert of theCelebration Tour in London, on October 14, 2023, Madonna performed "Little Star"a cappella to commemorate the 27th birthday of her daughterLourdes Leon.[29]
Credits are adapted from the liner notes ofRay of Light.[11]
| Chart (1998–1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Scotland Singles (OCC)[26] with "The Power of Good-Bye" | 5 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[22] with "The Power of Good-Bye" | 6 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[25] with"The Power of Good-bye" | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | November 23, 1998 |
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