Born and raised in Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy, she rose to solo stardom with her debut studio album, Madonna (1983). She followed it with a series of successful albums, including all-time bestsellers Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986) as well as Grammy Award winners Ray of Light (1998) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). Madonna has amassed many number-one singles throughout her career, including "Like a Virgin", "La Isla Bonita", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Take a Bow", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes".
Madonna's popularity was enhanced by roles in films such as Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), A League of Their Own (1992), and Evita (1996). While Evita won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, many of her other films received poor reviews. As a businesswoman, Madonna founded the company Maverick in 1992; it included Maverick Records, one of the most successful artist-run labels in history. Her other ventures include fashion brands, children's books, health clubs, and filmmaking. She contributes to various charities, having founded the Ray of Light Foundation in 1998 and Raising Malawi in 2006.
With sales of over 300 million records worldwide, Madonna is certified as the best-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records. She is the most successful solo artist in the history of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and holds the record for the most number-one singles by a female artist in Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. With a revenue of U.S. $1.5 billion from her concert tickets, she remains the highest-grossing solo touring artist of all time. Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, her first year of eligibility. She was ranked as the greatest woman in music by VH1 in 2012, and as the greatest music video artist of all time by MTV in 2003 and Billboard in 2020. Rolling Stone also listed Madonna among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.
Studio albums
Madonna (1983)
Like a Virgin (1984)
True Blue (1986)
Like a Prayer (1989)
Erotica (1992)
Bedtime Stories (1994)
Ray of Light (1998)
Music (2000)
American Life (2003)
Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005)
Hard Candy (2008)
MDNA (2012)
Rebel Heart (2015)
Madame X (2019)
Bittersweet
Madonna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I saw my beloved's flower garden
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
In my drunken haze
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel
I saw myself as the source of existence
I was there in the beginning
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
And the memory of love
And only the sorrow
I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says:
Look at me and hear me
Because I am here
Just for that
I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too
I have come all this way, eager for you
Without shoes or shawl
I want you to laugh
To kill all your worries
To love you
To nourish you
Oh sweet bitterness
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I, too, have been covered with thorns
The lyrics to Madonna's song Bittersweet are full of imagery and emotion. It appears to be about a person who is reflecting on a past love and the pain that comes from the loss of that love. In the singer's hallucination, she sees her beloved's flower garden, and in her dizziness and drunkenness, she feels like she is whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel. She then has a spiritual awakening where she sees herself as the source of existence and the spirit of love. However, now she is sober and left only with the hangover and the memories of love, which brings her sorrow.
The song speaks of yearning for happiness, asking for help, wanting mercy, and ultimately, finding comfort in the arms of a new lover who is there to heal and soothe the wounds that were left behind by the past love. The lyrics are full of metaphors, such as the singer's love being likened to the moon, the flower garden, and the water. The chorus is a declaration of love and the desire to bring joy to the lover's life, to help them laugh, kill their worries, love them, and nourish them. The final lines of the song bring the theme of bitterness and sweetness together, as the singer promises to bring roses despite being covered in thorns.
Line by Line Meaning
In my hallucination
During a vision or when I was daydreaming
I saw my beloved's flower garden
I saw the garden that belongs to someone I love
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
When I was experiencing intense feelings of dizziness or confusion
In my drunken haze
When I was intoxicated or under the influence of something
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel
I was twirling and dancing around like a spinning wheel
I saw myself as the source of existence
I realized that I am the root or cause of everything
I was there in the beginning
I existed at the start of something
And I was the spirit of love
I embodied the essence of love
Now I am sober
I am clear-headed and not under the influence of anything
There is only the hangover
I am only left with the after-effects of my intoxication
And the memory of love
All I have left is the recollection of love
And only the sorrow
All that's left for me is pain and sadness
I yearn for happiness
I crave joy and contentment
I ask for help
I plead for assistance
I want mercy
I am hoping for compassion and forgiveness
And my love says:
The person I love responded with these words:
Look at me and hear me
Pay attention to me and listen to what I have to say
Because I am here
I am present and available
Just for that
Only for the purpose of giving you what you need
I am your moon and your moonlight too
I light up your life and bring you comfort, like the moon
I am your flower garden and your water too
I provide you with beauty and sustenance, like a flower garden and water
I have come all this way, eager for you
I traveled far and am excited to be with you
Without shoes or shawl
I came without the protection of shoes or a shawl
I want you to laugh
I desire for you to be happy and find joy
To kill all your worries
To rid you of any anxieties or concerns
To love you
To give you my affection and care
To nourish you
To provide sustenance and support for you
Oh sweet bitterness
Referring to love, which can be both pleasurable and painful
I will soothe you and heal you
I will ease your pain and make you better
I will bring you roses
I will give you tokens of my love
I, too, have been covered with thorns
I have also experienced pain and obstacles, like thorns
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: STEVIN MCNAMARA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Barbara Bonelli

BITTERSWEET
In my hallucination
I saw my beloved’s flower garden
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
In my drunken haze
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel
I saw myself as the source of existence
I was there in the beginning
And I was the spirit of love
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
And the memory of love
And only the sorrow
I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says:
Look at me and hear me
Because I am here
Just for that
I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too
I have come all this way, eager for you
Without shoes or shawl
I want you to laugh
To kill all your worries
To love you
To nourish you
Oh sweet bitterness
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I, too, have been covered with thorns
Emperi dou Souleu
This is beautiful. Maulana Rumi's mentor Shams Tabrizi said:
"Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to look at the end of a process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be short-sighted as to not be able to see the outcome. The lovers of God never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full.
The midwife knows that when there is no pain, the way for the baby cannot be opened and the mother cannot give birth. Likewise, for a new self to be born, hardship is necessary. Just as clay needs to go through intense heat to become strong, Love can only be perfected in pain."
And in Rumi, Love answers to the pain-stricken:
"Oh sweet bitterness
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I, too, have been covered with thorns"
The Love in Muslim spiritual literature is the believer's yearning for God, and the Pain is the pain of separation from God, which is temporal existence for none can behold the splendour of the Eternal and remain in existence. Yet this pain and this separation are necessary since without it there would be no yearning, no blossoming of the soul and no self-realisation; and God would have remained a Hidden Treasure with no creature to know It, no mirror to reflect Its beauty.
Sebastian Correa
I am so grateful I found this video over a decade ago when I was a teenager. It changed my life. I still cry to this. It opens my heart. It’s so beautiful.
Lauren Raaijmakers
I had exactly the same, my friend who is the biggest Madonna fan found it again for me 💗
Barbara Bonelli

BITTERSWEET
In my hallucination
I saw my beloved’s flower garden
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
In my drunken haze
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel
I saw myself as the source of existence
I was there in the beginning
And I was the spirit of love
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
And the memory of love
And only the sorrow
I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says:
Look at me and hear me
Because I am here
Just for that
I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too
I have come all this way, eager for you
Without shoes or shawl
I want you to laugh
To kill all your worries
To love you
To nourish you
Oh sweet bitterness
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I, too, have been covered with thorns
ExquisiteCorpus
she is the most genuinely original of all the pop singers....ever. Through all of her videos, minus her brief years at the first record company she was on, she seems to be very true to her self in all of her images and words. She is a wonderful woman. Allowing her self to be sexual but not as a statue of untouchable gold, but as a raw adventurous woman. She made it so the rest of us can feel little shame when it comes to what we really want. Cheers Madonna, you are so very inspiring.
Faces And Places of New York
What a great poem Madonna never disappoints.
Rasiaty Pena
Madonna an amazing gifted artist. Everything she does is just mind blowing!!!!
dancinghiphop metalqueen
This is so beautiful!! Her face, her voice, the music. Beautiful Goddess of Pop!! :)
Prince Glenn
Wow, where has THAT SONG been on all the latest albums?? And why did she not put it on anything?? ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT AND HAUNTINGLY POETIC, BEAUTIFUL, MAGNIFIQUE
Adam.J. Music
Prince Glenn why was there Never an album Released during this 'mystical & eastern Era' 2004 (instead we got Amweican Life-why?) sometimes I detest the haste & speed of how Madonna chopd & changes (queen of invention) she jumps from one mood 2 another & from one album 2 next showing how much variety she has (from the 'reflective & epic' ROL to the 'average Country tip' of music) but I want her to find her look & sound & own it for a whole decade (not just one album)
J P
She didn't release this because this is from "Rumi, A Gift Of Love: Deepak & Friends"