This track was written for the Hello Suckers! musical with Joe Henry and was rehearsed for the Re-Invention Tour in the form of a bluesy torch song. For the Hard Candy album, it was reworked by Timbaland, Justin Timberlake & Danja.
Madonna named this song as one of her favourites from the album...
[Verse 1]
As quiet as it is tonight
You'd almost think you were safe
Your eyes are full of surprises
They cannot predict my fate
Waiting underneath the stars
There's something you should know
The angels, they surround my heart
Telling me to let you go
[Refrain]
I bet he couldn't
I bet he couldn't recognize
But I played right into it, who am I to criticize?
Somehow I'll get through it and you won't even realize
Falling through your own disguise
[Pre-Chorus]
It's like over and over
You're pushing me right down to the floor
I should just walk away
Over and over
I keep on coming back for more
I play into your fantasy
Now that it's over
You can lie to me right through your smile
I see behind your eyes
Now I'm sober
No more intoxicating my mind
[Chorus]
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you
But I do
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you
But I do
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you
But I do
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you
But I do, I do, I do
[Verse 2]
You almost fooled yourself this time, let all of the saints be praised
You hide your sadness behind your smile and you keep your lost heart raised (Your lost heart raised)
With steps that edge along the ledge is much higher than it seems
But I've been on that ledge before
You can't hide yourself from me
[Refrain]
I bet he couldn't
I bet he couldn't recognize
I still played right into it, who am I to criticize?
Somehow I'll get through it and you won't even realize
Falling through your own disguise
[Pre-Chorus]
It's like over and over
You're pushing me right down to the floor
I should just walk away
Over and over
I keep on coming back for more
I play into your fantasy
Now that it's over
You can lie to me right through your smile
I see behind your eyes
Now I'm sober
No more intoxicating my mind
[Chorus]
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you
But I do
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you
But I do
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you
But I do
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you
But I do, I do, I do
[Breakdown]
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
[Pre-Chorus]
It's like over and over
You're pushing me right down to the floor
I should just walk away
Over and over
I keep on coming back for more
I play into your fantasy
Now that it's over
You can lie to me right through your smile
I see behind your eyes
Now I'm sober
No more intoxicating my mind
[Chorus / Outro]
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you, you, you, you
Devil wouldn't recognize you, you, you, but, you, but, you, but
Devil wouldn't recognize you, you, you-you
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you, but I do, I-I, I do
You, you, you, you
Devil wouldn't recognize you (Recognize you, you, you)
But I do (You, you)
(You, you, you) Even the devil wouldn't recognize you (You, you)
But I-I-I-I-I do
Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You was written by Joe Henry & Timbaland & Danja & Justin Timberlake & Madonna.
Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You was produced by Danja & Justin Timberlake & Timbaland.
Madonna released Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You on Sat Apr 19 2008.
The “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” and “Voices” were both written in my first, like, chunk of writing time with Justin.
–via TrakTV (2008)
In discussing working with Justin Timberlake on the song:
We basically sat down together and every day and said, “okay, what, we always have to think of a concept, what do we wanna write a song about?” And the “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” is essentially a song about a person that, you know, and e...