"Erotica" is a song by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It is the title track from her fifth studio album, Erotica (1992), and was released as the album's lead single on September 29, 1992 by Maverick Records. It was later included on her greatest hits albums GHV2 (2001) and Celebration (2009). The song was written by Madonna, Shep Pettibone and Anthony Shimkin, while production was handled by the singer and Pettibone. Musically, "Erotica" contains spoken word vocals, and is an ode to S&M, with Madonna using a pseudonym called "Dita". She invites her lover to be passive while making love to her and leads him to explore boundaries between pain and pleasure.
The song debuted at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of the highest debuts on the chart history at the time, eventually peaking at number three. Additionally, it became a success on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, reaching the top position. "Erotica" also found commercial success internationally, peaking in the Top 10 in several countries including Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In Italy and Greece it peaked at number one.
The accompanying music video for the song was directed by fashion photographer Fabien Baron, and features Madonna dressed as a masked dominatrix interspersed with footage of the making of the singer's Sex book, with cameos by celebrities such as Naomi Campbell and Big Daddy Kane. The video was highly controversial, being aired by MTV only three times, all after the 10pm watershed, before being completely banned. Madonna performed "Erotica" on three of her concert tours, the first being on The Girlie Show World Tour (1993), the Confessions Tour (2006) and most recently on The MDNA Tour (2012). The song has also been covered and parodied by several artists.
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