Justify My Love Lyrics

Madonna lyrics to the notorious “Justify My Love” single from Madonna’s 1990 The Immaculate Collection album.

Justify My Love Lyrics:

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
Hoping, praying
For you to justify my love

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 be your baby
Kiss me, that's right, kiss me

Yearning, 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

I'm open and ready
For you to justify my love
To justify my love
Wanting, to justify
Waiting, to justify my love
Praying, to justify
To justify my love
I'm open, to justify my love

Justify My Love: Background
Madonna’s lead single off her first greatest-hits album The Immaculate Collection was the new song “Justify My Love.” The controversial song was written by up-and-coming rock’n’roll guitarist Lenny Kravitz and Madonna who were inspired by a poem written by former Prince protégé and friend of Lenny Kravitz, Ingrid Chavez. Rocker Lenny Kravitz used a sample from the influential hip-hop group Public Enemy’s song “Security of the First World” as the basis for Madonna’s “Justify My Love.”

Justify My Love: Controversy
Released to the world on November 6, 1990, Madonna’s single “Justify My Love” shocked audiences around the world with its sexually explicit music video. The steamy video for “Justify My Love” became the first music video to ever be banned by MTV and would not be the last Madonna video banned by the network. Other Madonna videos banned by MTV were 1992’s “Erotica,” 2001’s “What It Feels Like For A Girl” and 2003’s “American Life.” Other networks such as MuchMusic in Canada joined MTV in banning “Justify My Love” from the video airwaves. Despite the controversy, Madonna fans eagerly purchased Madonna tickets to her subsequent The Girlie Show World Concert Tour in 1993.

Justify My Love: Success
“Justify My Love” peaked at No. 1 on several US charts including the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Dance Music/Club Play Charts. “Justify My Love” also peaked in the Top 10 in other countries including the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany and France. According to the UK magazine Q, Madonna fans ranked “Justify My Love” No. 12 on a list of Top 20 Madonna singles. Because of the MTV ban, Madonna released “Justify My Love” as a video single. The VHS became a top-selling video single. “Justify My Love” was ranked No. 1 on VH1’s 50 Sexiest Video Moments Countdown.

Justify My Love: On Tour
Material Girl fans with Madonna tickets first heard “Justify My Love” live on Madonna’s 1993 The Girlie Show World Tour. The 39-date Madonna concert tour took the Material Girl all over the world to North and South America, Europe, Australia and Japan. Only those fans with Madonna tickets for the 2008 Sticky & Sweet World Tour know for sure whether Madonna will perform “Justify My Love.”