Ray of Light/Has to Be [Single] by Madonna (CD, Jun-1998, Warner Bros. Records Record Label)

Being a huge Madonna fan and having grown up with her music and constantly changing personas, I've always been a big collector of her. Whatever the product was, be it music, movies, books or magazine covers, I've always been fascinated by her desire to push limits and set new boundaries. I recently purchased the cd single of Ray of Light. Like almost all of Madonna's previous work, the song and album still hold up even after a decade has passed since it's release. Usually when an artist, especially a dance artist releases a single from an album there are numerous remixes that go with the album version. Madonna has always released numerous remixes of the same song, and one of the Ray of Light versions that was released has the barely heard song Has To Be along with it. A song that was contained on the Japanese release of the album Ray of Light, but was not included in the U.S. album release. It's a beautiful ballad that is both inspiring and sad. As a big fan and supporter of Madonna, truth be told, she could release anything that I'd get excited for."There must be someone out there..There just has to be," Madonna sings in a very melancholy way. Hoping that a lover she has yet to meet is out there waiting. I recently played the song for someone who isn't really a fan of her work or pop music in general, and even he liked the song. At first listen, it almost doesn't even sound like her. It's too bad that Has To Be never made it onto a U.S. released album because it really is a very haunting song. Being the visual artist that she is, I would have loved to see what Madonna would have done for a video presentation of the song.

Love the Song Has To Be. It's a chant if you will. It's calling out to the universe to find someone. Something that we all have done one way or another. This Bonus track can also be found also and expressley on the Japanese Edition of Madonna's Ray Of Light album. Enjoy~