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APPRECIATE: "Forbidden Love (94)"


MCHL

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I do love "Forbidden Love (05)" but let's talk about this underappreciated gem from the divine Bedtime Stories era.

Such a romantic song, such a yearning song.

I've always had the imagery of a video in my head of Madonna as a singer in a speakeasy with various taboo couples (for the 30's when speakeasies were around) performing intricate, sultry choreography with Madonna eventually joining in pairing with a black lesbian woman.

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Guest Rachelle of London

Beautiful song! I love the whisper bits. Baby face is brill, Madonna has so much emotion on this track. It's truly stunning

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Guest Rachelle of London

My favorite part:

Love without guilt, love without doubt

Love should always feel like this

Heaven forgive me, never forbid me

:wow:

Definitely!

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It makes me particularly happy that this was included in SOmething To Remember. I always loved this song.

Love without guilt, love without doubt

That whispering is orgasmic! :wow:

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Guest Sweet Tooth

should have been a single

I think the radio would have eaten it

Yes...would be top 5 or dare I say it #1 smash if released after "Take A Bow". Babyface produced/co-written tracks was big in the mid-90's.

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Thanks for making this thread. I was just thinking about it the other day because I couldn't find my Bedtime Stories album and I wanted to listen to some underrated gems like this one or Sanctuary again. I think I'm one of the few who actually prefer this Forbidden Love to the other one. Not that they can't be compared but anyway.

I believe it has hit written all over it and would have been a perfect follow-up to Take A Bow back then. It would have been a top 10 hit for sure. Then again, I love her for having the balls and release the uncommercial Bedtime Story instead.

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Loved it from first listen, should have been released in America.

One of Warners MANY fuck ups.

I remember the wait between singles in 95 was excruciating. There was plenty of time to release this.

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I believe it has hit written all over it and would have been a perfect follow-up to Take A Bow back then. It would have been a top 10 hit for sure. Then again, I love her for having the balls and release the uncommercial Bedtime Story instead.

Indeed. Ideally, this should have followed "Take a Bow" as the third single from "Bedtime Stories" in the USA, at least for radio. Perhaps the best choice, assuming that she did not wish to film a video for it, would have been to send "Forbidden Love" to radio only and use "Bedtime Story" as a promotional video only for video outlets. "Bedtime Story" was never going to be a huge radio song, so it would have made sense from a commercial standpoint to have released "Forbidden Love" to radio instead. The single release could have been a double A-side, "Forbidden Love [LP Version]"/"Bedtime Story [Album Edit]". However, clearly Madonna had the say in this one and was looking at the single release from an artistic perspective and wanted "Bedtime Story" for both radio and video outlets. I remember hearing "Bedtime Story" once or twice on the radio. I always thought that "Forbidden Love" would have made a great single, regardless. Clearly, momentum was lost by releasing "Bedtime Story" (U.S. No. 42) since "Human Nature", although not exactly radio friendly either, only made U.S. No. 46 (but charted much longer than "Bedtime Story").

On the other hand, I think that if it weren't released during the initial "Bedtime Stories" era, it definitely should have been the follow-up to "You'll See" in order to promote the "Something to Remember" compilation. "Love Don't Live Here Anymore [soulpower Remix]" would have made a great b-side for a "Forbidden Love" single release.

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From a strictly COMMERCIAL standpoint the singles from Bedtime Story should have been as follows:

1. Secret

2. Take a Bow

3. Forbidden Love

4. Don't Stop

5. Survival

end

luckily Madonna made decisions based on artistic merit not hit-chasing.

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Loved it from first listen, should have been released in America.

One of Warners MANY fuck ups.

I remember the wait between singles in 95 was excruciating. There was plenty of time to release this.

I'm not sure when "Forbidden Love" could have been released. After "Human Nature"? "Human Nature" peaked in late July 1995. "You'll See" entered the Hot 100 in early December 1995. I guess that "Forbidden Love" could have been pushed as a single come early August 1995. However, if it had become a hit, then it may have interfered with the "Something to Remember" release. Then again, who knows? I read somewhere that "Forbidden Love" was slated to become the fifth single from "Bedtime Stories" but was ultimately cancelled due to the "Something to Remember" collection plan instead. Let's not forget that the "I Want You" video found its way in between "Human Nature" and "You'll See" as well.

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From a strictly COMMERCIAL standpoint the singles from Bedtime Story should have been as follows:

1. Secret

2. Take a Bow

3. Forbidden Love

4. Don't Stop

5. Survival

end

luckily Madonna made decisions based on artistic merit not hit-chasing.

I agree.

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