The music video was listed as one of the most expensive music videos of all time.
"Bedtime Story" is written in the key of G minor and has a moderate tempo of 108 beats per minute.
The track was a departure from Madonna's pop-R&B-based outputs in favor of unconventional and electronic music.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, in a review for the parent album, wrote that "Bedtime Story" was among the "best songs on the album" and that it "slowly works its melodies into the subconscious as the bass pulses"
In Australia, the song debuted and peaked at number five on April 9, 1995, where it stayed in that position for three weeks.