Nothing Really Matters (Ray of Light, Track 6)

I don’t want

To go on tour again

The last one was small

And we said--

We’re doing something new

It’s intimate

I knew what the problem was

We weren’t going to sell out arenas

With the new album

The one before that was more pop

We even got a single off it

I remember how excited everyone was

When I said I would be willing

To record that song what’s-her-name gave me

Because they knew it would chart

And once that happened

I was doing arenas again

I have enough hits like--

Like the Stones

The Stones can always play arenas

If you have enough hits

You play arenas no matter

How often you go out

Well, that’s not always true, but--

Sometimes all I have to say is--

I’ll sing…

And I throw out a song

I haven’t sung in years

And everyone gets excited

And they’re booking the Garden

They’re booking Dodgers Stadium

It’s my ninth comeback

But the last tour was--

It was kind of fun

I had fun

Hadn’t played venues

That small since my first tour

And even then

We were turning them away

At the door

Lines down the street

It’s not like that anymore

But once you decide

You don’t want to tour

That’s it

There are artists

Who don’t tour

But you can’t be

A rockstar if you don’t tour

Some people would probably say

I was never a rockstar

But I could make myself believe it

When I would walk out

And thousands and thousands of people

Would be cheering

Someone asked me once

If I was afraid

Stepping out there

All those people

I was never afraid

Because you…

A part of you

Believes that you deserve it

Once you reach that, uh

That pinnacle 

You really feel like

That’s where you’re meant to be

That there’s no way

You would ever have wound up

Anywhere else

And a part of you thinks

That you’ll never come down

If people love you that much

It’s--It’s like a relationship

When it’s good

You don’t ever believe

It won’t be good forever

And you’re never afraid

I wasn’t, anyway

But I don’t want to go

Back on tour

It’s diminishing returns

The first time around is the best time

And it never really--

Gets back to that again

But I love music

And I love making music

And I love knowing

Someone’s listening

That’s the part

Most people forget about

That you’re making it

For someone

That’s the part that

Really matters