Lyrics

Your heart is not open

So I must go

The spell has been broken

I loved you so

Freedom comes when you learn to let go

Creation comes when you learn to say no

You were my lesson

I had to learn

I was your fortress

You had to burn

Pain is a warning that something's wrong

I pray to God that it won't be long

Do you wanna go higher?

There's nothing left to try

There's no place left to hide

There's no greater power than the power of good-bye

Your heart is not open

So I must go

The spell has been broken

I loved you so

You were my lesson

I had to learn

I was your fortress

There's nothing left to lose

There's no more heart to bruise

There's no greater power than the power of good-bye

Learn to say good-bye

I yearn to say good-bye

There's nothing left to try

There's no more places to hide

There's no greater power than the power of good-bye

There's nothing left to lose

There's no more heart to bruise

There's no greater power than the power of good-bye

Credits

Written by Madonna and Rick Nowels

Produced by Madonna, William Orbit and Patrick Leonard

String arrangement by Craig Armstrong

Album

Ray Of Light

GHV2

Single

This beautiful ballad about a painful breakup was the fourth single, released late 1998. Though Madonna's ballads usually do well in the charts (and this one deserved to), it only went to #11 in the US, #6 in the UK and Canada, and #7 in Japan.

Video

Director Matthew Rolston shot the blue-themed video at the 'Silver Top' mansion and Malibu beach in LA. Madonna says goodbye to her lover, who's played by actor Goran Visnjic. After a last confrontation between the lovers, Madonna sets for the beach, where she seems to drown herself at the end of the video. Whether she actually does, is a point of discussion among fans. Some scenes of the video (like the kiss and the chess game) are inspired by the original The Thomas Crown Affair movie (featuring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway), while the beach scene is a homage to Joan Crawford's performance in the 1946 movie Humoresque.