I have to confess something: I like Björk. Shhh, shhh, especially the young Björk. Shhh, shhh nobody should read this, because it's a secret that I have to keep. Shhhh, shhhh, especially a secret that I have left out of my Facebook. And, almost no one of the Icelandic people that I have met (I know, it is not that many people, and I have to do a real survey to check the following) likes Björk.
It's my secret and I have to keep it.
I like her for a while now, but I have to accept that it is an acquired taste. I remember watching her on MTV, the Army of Me video, it was quite scary to be honest. And still, I kept watching the video, there was something in the song, which made me finish watching it. But I can't say I liked it. Over time, and while watching videos directed by Sophie Muller, I came across with Björk again. Already older, and with other tastes that go beyond my Spanish pop music, I started to understand her. I have met few people who openly like Björk, and they are the same as me: snobs and mass consumers. There was a time when I listened to her on an infinite loop. He believes in a beauty. The lyrics, together with her strange way of pronouncing them, is music from another world. The sounds, the very sharp voice, the instruments she has created, the Alexander McQueen dress from the Pagan Poetry video, her role in Dancer in the Dark. Everything, I had read and seen all of it. And the funny thing is that it had nothing to do with her being Icelandic.
When I met my husband, one of the first things we talked about was her, and how much he and his friend (who is also my friend) hated her. Gradually, when we started our relationship, I have been adding Icelandic people to my Facebook, from whom I know that they share a similar opinion about the singer. One day, of those in which I want to sing my songs as loud as I can, I was chanting the cover It’s oh so quiet. Right in the “Shhh shhh it's oh so still”, my boyfriend interrupts me to chant “it's oh so weird”
One day, of those in which I want to sing my songs as loud as I can, I was chanting the cover It’s oh so quiet. Right in the “Shhh shhh it's oh so still”, my boyfriend interrupts me to chant “it's oh so weird”
And it seems that this is the national trend. The same goes for Sigur Rós, a group from which I learned that sometimes they forget the lyrics of their own songs and sing it in gibberish ... in the end, who will understand them? It seems peculiar to me the love-hate relationship they have with their celebrities. And in the end, it makes sense. The Icelanders seem not interested in fame and fortune, they don't see celebrities as gods and maybe that explains why they try to turn off the light of their biggest star.
But it happens that they also like to say one thing and do another. Something similar to the case of the troll's houses, from which I will not say more, out of respect of their tradition.The hate is just a pose, because in reality, they rejoice at every mention of their country. Every time someone is recognized internationally, people rejoice. And I suppose that Björk is a hated treasure, because they like her, but they have to hate her, because she is one of the 338,349 people who live in Iceland, and no one, NO ONE, can be above the rest. Moreover, if you do not believe me, check out this video in which she appears in an Icelandic show, and one of the characters has this hostile attitude, demeriting the singer's talent, but when the singer appears well... he cannot hide his emotion. The video is with English subtitles. Enjoy