Madonna – Bad Girl

Something's missing and I don't know why
I always feel the need to hide my feelings from you
Is it me or you that I'm afraid of
I tell myself I'll show you what I'm made of
Can't bring myself to let you go

I don't want to cause you any pain
But I love you just the same
And you'll always be my baby
In my heart I know we've come apart
And I don't know where to start
What can I do, I don't want to feel blue

Bad girl, drunk by six
Kissing someone else's lips
Smoked too many cigarettes today
I'm not happy when I act this way

Bad girl, drunk by six
Kissing some kind stranger's lips
Smoked too many cigarettes today
I'm not happy, I'm not happy

Something's happened and I can't go back
I fall apart every time you hand your heart out to me
What happens now, I know I don't deserve you
I wonder how I'm ever gonna hurt you
Can't bring myself to let you go

I don't want to cause you any pain
But I love you just the same
And you'll always be my baby
In my heart I know we've come apart
And I don't know where to start
What can I do, I don't want to feel blue

Bad girl, drunk by six
Kissing someone else's lips
Smoked too many cigarettes today
I'm not happy when I act this way

Bad girl, drunk by six
Kissing some kind stranger's lips
Smoked too many cigarettes today
I'm not happy, I'm not happy, this way

I don't want to cause you any pain
But I love you just the same
And you'll always be my baby
In my heart I know we've come apart
And I don't know where to start
What can I do, I don't want to feel blue

Bad girl, drunk by six
Kissing someone else's lips
Smoked too many cigarettes today
I'm not happy when I act this way

Bad girl, drunk by six
Kissing someone else's lips
Smoked too many cigarettes today
I'm not happy when I act this way

I'm not happy this way

Bad girl, drunk by six
Kissing someone else's lips
Smoked too many cigarettes today
I'm not happy when I act this way

Bad girl, drunk by six
Kissing someone else's lips
Smoked too many cigarettes today
I'm not happy, I'm not happy this way
I'm not happy this way
Kissing some kind stranger's lips


Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21

"Bad Girl" as written by Anthony Shimkin Shep Pettibone

Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Bad Girl song meanings
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13 Comments

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  • +2
    General CommentI agree with Daria about the video.

    BUt the song is basically about someone with a closed heart. She may like to party or drink and have different men but there is this ex that is head over heels for her. But although she is searching for love, she can't open up to this guy. She will always consider him the one and her 'baby' but she just knows she'll hurt him because of actions she can't control.
    sixedhearton January 03, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Commentskater, I don't think the message in the video is as preachy as you make it sound.

    It's about an emptyness that she feels, which leads to self-destruction
    chasemiceon June 09, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Commentthis song is sad.
    dark_eyez_666on December 28, 2009   Link
  • +2
    Song MeaningThe video featured Madonna as "Louise Oriole" (Madonna's middle name is Louise and Oriole is a street she once lived on), a high-powered Manhattan female executive who was an alcoholic and had a penchant for one-night stands with many different men (from affluent yuppies to shady low-lifes). She behaved this way in order to try to deal with her depression and sadness over a relationship with someone she loved deeply, but ultimately had no future. Through her days, Louise got distracted by cigarettes, cocktails, and random hook-ups, as lamented in the song's lyrics. Christopher Walken played her guardian angel, who watched over her activities and delivered Louise with a "kiss of death" before her final encounter with a man, during which she is suggested to have been strangled with pantyhose.
    flectoron February 06, 2011   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +1
    General CommentThis is one of those songs that just makes me want to sit in a corner and just think about my own life. I love the video since it has Christopher Walken in it as Madonna's watchful angel. The song is so meaningful since Madonna seems to be telling her audience that even though she has everything...its still is not enough nor does it make her happy.
    Daria_Deeon April 21, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI love this song, it's very underrated. Really beautiful. About a women who's a chronic cheater and knows she needs to stop, but can't. She also knows it's over between here & her partner but she can't break up with him..."can't bring myself to let you go." She still loves him, but it's time to start over...and she can't quite do it.
    missmeon August 19, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI agree with missme. "Bad Girl" is about a woman who is in a relationship with a man that she loves very much, but cannot seem to open up to and be intimate with. As a result, she feels empty inside, and tries to fill the void of emotional intimacy with sex with other men. Her actions keep driving a wedge in between herself and her boyfriend, and she knows that she's hurting him, but she can't bring herself to let him go.
    out of the skyon February 04, 2007   Link
  • +1
    My InterpretationI think this song is about smoking addiction. Not only the chorus, but other parts of the song, ex. "Can't bring myself to let you go/I fall apart each time you hand your heart out to me/Is it me or you that I'm afraid of". The line "I tell myself I'll show you what I made of" indicates trying to overcome the addiction.
    MasterSkymningon May 15, 2014   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General CommentThe melody almost sounds Chinese.
    elephant_rangeon July 11, 2011   Link
  • 0
    MemoryBad Girl is Madonna's ultimate cheating song-it's about a Bad Girl who doesn't want to be a Bad Girl anymore. Madonna is alive today because as she has become the Good Lady, she has kept Her Rebellion as an Unreformed Outsider who walks along the Razor's Edge of Danger. As she does that, Our Madge, starts Crying Wet Tears of Sadness-in the end, the sad ballad Bad Girl is ultimately heartbreaking. In the end, Sadness and Heartbreak are Lady Madonnna's better qualities. Bad Girl is one of the saddest Madonna ballads I've ever heard! In Madonna's world, it's perfectly alright to cry sometimes and let the Ciccone cry out! Advantage: Madonna.
    rabbitbunnyon May 22, 2012   Link

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