What's the Big Deal with Björk?

News Type: Event — Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:31 PM EST

music, listen-in, bjork, whats-the-big-deal

I'll be honest with you: I don't really like Björk. I find her eccentricities irritating and there's something about the way she opens her mouth when she sings that makes me fear for my life. Her perpetual smile and that pleading countenance (why are there so few English words for a frown?) are equally cloying. And I know I'm not alone.

But her music--ah, that's a different matter, isn't it! Even the reluctant listener agrees that there's something unique about Björk's epic brand of pop music. Here's what I think it is: she succeeds at fusion in a way that "Fusion artists" have never approximated. She employs textures, timbres, instrumentation and arrangements, and a fabulous breadth of styles from hip hop to industrial to Broadway, that aren't simply layered or combined. Like the struts in a geodesic dome, they create balance and support. Like soul mates, they light each other up. They bring out the best in each other.

Like any performer, Björk presents to us a persona. While that persona may be closer to Björk the person, we can't ever assume that we know the Real Björk. As a longtime fan of Björk's music, I'm of the mind that it is best experienced without Björk, the person, in mind. So unless I indicate otherwise, from here on in, when I refer to "Björk", I'll be referring to her body of work, and not to her.

Throughout her career, Björk has been as much an illustrator as a musician. Songs on Debut (1993) were narrative, like "There's More to Life than This", about two people meeting in a club and going on an adventure. We hear the sound of the door shutting behind, and the music is attenuated for a moment as if by the walls of the club. "All the Modern Things" (Post, 1995) uses casual prose:

All the modern things, like cars and such, have always existed. They've just been waiting in a mountain for the right moment, listening to the irritating noises of dinosaurs and people dabbling outside.

This style has become less explicit over the years, but Björk is still intensely visual. Her lyrics have become increasingly abstract and expressionistic. Yet even, as in "All Neon Like", (Vespertine, 2001) when she paints with her words:

I weave for you the marvelous web: glow in the dark threads, all neon like.

...her nebulous melodies fill up your ears and dissolve your ideas. Elsewhere on Vespertine, like the foggy "Undo", each successive moment consumes and sponges the last away. Björk insinuates herself inside you and forces you to experience the music with more than just parts of you.

Björk makes music that is bigger than herself, bigger than me, bigger than you. Even if her songs are about her, they're dynamic, accessible, even universal, and they become intensely personal. She makes strange the familiar, and the familiar strange. In songs with drums, the beat becomes your heart. In tracks without, like meditating on a raga, your body, your breath, fill the space and provide the rhythm.

There are moments in my life, moments of stagnation, moments of change, moments of love and hurt and confidence and terror, and Björk has helped me to make sense of all these things. And yet, there are those who say that Björk isn't for everyone. That she's obnoxious, self-indulgent, over-the-top. That by defying genres, she makes music that's inaccessible and even corny.

Reviewers consistently award high marks and low praise to Björk. Christgau reviewed Debut with a frownie-face which, in spite of all my heartfelt outpourings and personal triumphs, made me wonder, well, so? Even though I have such big love, if nobody else "gets" Björk, if her music's not universal, then what's the Big Deal?

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{"commentId":1352813,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

Ryan Stolte-Sawa

So, what do you think? Is loving Björk like loving yourself--a self-involved and solipsistic enterprise? Or is there more to get here than simple gratification?

{"commentId":1352813,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

3 votes

#1 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:34 PM EST

{"commentId":1352832,"authorDomain":"deatienza"}

Eric Atienza

What's wrong with a little simple gratification as a result of loving yourself?

{"commentId":1352832,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"deatienza"}

5 votes

#1.1 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:39 PM EST

{"commentId":1352855,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}

Scott (Scoop) Butki

I think she's interesting but often annoying, doing her own thing (which can be good) but her music just underwhelms on a regular basis.
I looked her better when she was in the Sugarcubes.

{"commentId":1352855,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"sbutki"}

3 votes

#1.2 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:45 PM EST

{"commentId":1352869,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

Ryan Stolte-Sawa

underwhelms

Really? I feel ever overwhelmed by Björk's music, in spite of the fact that she herself is so over-the-top. Others agree with you, however.

I looked her better

Freudian slip? ;)

{"commentId":1352869,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

4 votes

#1.3 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:49 PM EST

{"commentId":1352890,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}

Scott (Scoop) Butki

Freudian slip? ;)

yes. Or maybe that slip - wasnt it like a swan or something around her neck - she wore to the Oscars that one year.

{"commentId":1352890,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"sbutki"}

3 votes

#1.4 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:55 PM EST

{"commentId":1352902,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}

Scott (Scoop) Butki

I did think she did an amazing job in Dancer in the Dark.

{"commentId":1352902,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"sbutki"}

5 votes

#1.5 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:58 PM EST

{"commentId":1352912,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

Ryan Stolte-Sawa

I did think she did an amazing job in Dancer in the Dark.

Ugh, what a depressing movie. A boyfriend I had once used to refer to it as "Watch Björk Get Victimized For Two Hours, Then She Gets Hanged At The End."

...I own it.

{"commentId":1352912,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

5 votes

#1.6 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:02 PM EST

{"commentId":1352982,"authorDomain":"kymlee"}

kymlee

her music just underwhelms

I have never been underwhelmed by Björk...although, I have only heard individual songs, never an entire album. Does that make a difference? I'm just trying to figure out how you could be underwhelmed with such a rich sound and a great voice...It has to be the persona...

{"commentId":1352982,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"kymlee"}

6 votes

#1.7 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:18 PM EST

{"commentId":1353016,"authorDomain":"tcervo"}

gecko85

I'm a fan. I've liked her since her Sugarcubes days. (I once saw an outdoor festival/concert featuring Sugarcubes, Public Image, De La Soul, and New Order.)

The thing about her music, for those not familiar, is that her style changes and evolves. So, sampling 1 or 2 CDs isn't really enough to form an overall opinion. Pre-Verpertine tends to be more accessible, while Vespertine really kicked off her more experimental period. Volta, though, is a nice "throwback" to her earlier work. I like them all, for different reasons, but it's often hard to explain her appeal to those who haven't heard a good chunk of her work and followed along as she's tried out new things.

{"commentId":1353016,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"tcervo"}

6 votes

#1.8 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:28 PM EST

{"commentId":1354650,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}

Scott (Scoop) Butki

Dancer in the Dark was less unsettling than Breaking the Waves, which is a bit like saying shooting yourself in the leg would hurt less than a shot elsewhere.

But those are two movies I'd never watch again - not because they were bad but because of the unsettling factor.

{"commentId":1354650,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"sbutki"}

2 votes

#1.9 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 11:32 PM EST

{"commentId":1357779,"authorDomain":"andocrates"}

Mike Lee-225498

I liked her hit with the Suger Cubes, man she was fine, her presence was so much bigger then the band. The next thing i remember about her was b-slapping a paparazzi or news person at an airport. I also seem to recall it was an airport in Asia. If you've ever had the misfortune of flying from America to Asia in an aircraft with room for 6 seats abreast.but has 10, it grinds on and on like ancient Chinese water torture. You want to slap everyone. But her music just never did anything for me, I still like her though.

{"commentId":1357779,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"andocrates"}

1 vote

#1.10 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:14 AM EST

{"commentId":1359794,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}

Scott (Scoop) Butki

Hmm, maybe Bjork read this discussion because she went ~~crazy~~ crazier
than usual - attacking a photographer.

{"commentId":1359794,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"sbutki"}

1 vote

#1.11 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:16 PM EST

{"commentId":1352847,"authorDomain":"MarxistMonkey"}

Marxist Monkey

Not every appreciation of a projection of the self reduces to self-love. Projection is never that clear, direct, straightforward, complete. IN the distortions that come from realizing a form of the ego-ideal through the consumption of an other come new understandings of the possibilities of others. Bjork's eccentricities are the key to her successes as well as her irritants. Like a few other really smart really self conscious folk I know. Her cleverness is a way of getting past the irritating constraints that too much self-consciousness can produce. When she succeeds is when that cleverness drops by the wayside and she sings, she musics, of those moments of darkness, longing, and joy that are so intense you wish they would disappear and never leave you. But you know that.

{"commentId":1352847,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"MarxistMonkey"}

1 vote

#2 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:43 PM EST

{"commentId":1352865,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

Ryan Stolte-Sawa

When she succeeds is when that cleverness drops by the wayside and she sings, she musics, of those moments of darkness, longing, and joy that are so intense you wish they would disappear and never leave you. But you know that.

You're pretty cool, Barry, you know what? Yeah, I feel you. I just wonder...you know? I mean, if Christgau doesn't get it...:P

{"commentId":1352865,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

1 vote

#2.1 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:48 PM EST

{"commentId":1352941,"authorDomain":"kymlee"}

kymlee

I only started listening to Björk recently at the insistence of a friend who loves her music. I love the way the music defies genre and the way she belts out the notes in a way that you can absolutely feel. One of my favorite songs is Oh So Quiet, its one of those songs you can really get a since of how powerful her voice is; it almost sounds like she sings from her throat. Another song I heard recently is Probably Maybe, so rich, despondent and beautiful.

{"commentId":1352941,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"kymlee"}

3 votes

#3 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:07 PM EST

{"commentId":1352997,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

Ryan Stolte-Sawa

"It's Oh So Quiet" was her biggest hit in the UK to date. As the story goes, when she was signed, spokespeople at the label told her that it was the "only good song" and that the rest of her sound would never sell. Joke's on them, I suppose.

"Possibly Maybe" is a good one. If you like her more low-key ethereal stuff, I recommend you pick up or download her album Vespertine from 2001. It's my favourite.

Oh, and, she totally sings from her throat.

{"commentId":1352997,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

4 votes

#3.1 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:22 PM EST

{"commentId":1353289,"authorDomain":"pobox522rlyeh"}

Smiling Jack

I agree completely about enjoying her work, but not so much her personal/style. She has an innovative style, doing whatever she likes with her voice, whenever she likes, without a thought to how it should be categorized. I really appreciate that, I like music which doesn't feel it needs to be categorized.

{"commentId":1353289,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"pobox522rlyeh"}

1 vote

#4 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:37 PM EST

{"commentId":1353360,"authorDomain":"tcervo"}

gecko85

but not so much her personal/style

You mean you didn't like the swan dress? ;-)

{"commentId":1353360,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"tcervo"}

1 vote

#4.1 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:54 PM EST

{"commentId":1353382,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

Ryan Stolte-Sawa

I hated that damn dress.

{"commentId":1353382,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

1 vote

#4.2 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:00 PM EST

{"commentId":1353403,"authorDomain":"MarxistMonkey"}

Marxist Monkey

It's not about the dress. It's about the swan.

{"commentId":1353403,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"MarxistMonkey"}

2 votes

#4.3 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:06 PM EST

{"commentId":1353413,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

Ryan Stolte-Sawa

It's not about the dress. It's about the swan.

Well, that depends on who you ask.

{"commentId":1353413,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

2 votes

#4.4 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:08 PM EST

{"commentId":1353440,"authorDomain":"MarxistMonkey"}

Marxist Monkey

Okay, whom do you ask?

{"commentId":1353440,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"MarxistMonkey"}

1 vote

#4.5 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:16 PM EST

{"commentId":1357579,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

Ryan Stolte-Sawa

I don't ask, I opine.

{"commentId":1357579,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

2 votes

#4.6 - Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:51 PM EST

{"commentId":1353699,"authorDomain":null}

Nobody gets the "ugly duckling in swan's clothing" thing to this day. That is the trouble for artist, they are likely to go over the heads of the masses.

{"commentId":1353699,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312"}

#5 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:34 PM EST

{"commentId":1353892,"authorDomain":"kevy6082"}

Kev.

"Bjork" describes pretty well my involuntary evisceral response my body wants to make every time I have the misfortune to hear her.

{"commentId":1353892,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"kevy6082"}

#6 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:38 PM EST

{"commentId":1354695,"authorDomain":"jtr789"}

rndrc

I like Bjork's music, it seems alive on it's own sometimes; but the human being, not so much. But really, if you were analyze the person/life of any person, especially if we not personally and closely know that person, would we still "like" them? I love the way hemingway wrote, then I read several biographies and picked up that he was fairly unpleasant and screwed up (aren't we all); Georgia O'keefe once smacked a small child across the face so hard that she knocked her down (the child called her "Aunt Georgia).

The point is that whatever someone creates, even if it is "of" them, it is separate when you make it "yours" by viewing, reading, listening, whatever, it. And that is all that counts, really.

{"commentId":1354695,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"jtr789"}

5 votes

#7 - Fri Jan 11, 2008 11:52 PM EST

{"commentId":1354984,"authorDomain":"justregularrobert"}

rob from oakland, ca.Deleted

{"commentId":1355295,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}

Scott (Scoop) Butki

Was Sinatra from Iceland too? Wait, is Bjork mobbed up?

So... many... ways... to respond

{"commentId":1355295,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"sbutki"}

3 votes

#7.2 - Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:59 AM EST

{"commentId":1355582,"authorDomain":"Lawrence777"}

Larry Sotoodeh

Bjork is probably the most innovative artist of the 20th century. It's her "time" insomuch that the marriage of teck and creativity have been explored continually to a level not seen since the industrial revolution. The woman can sing, and this understatement is the underpinning of her talent. It's what she hears in her head that I wish we could hear. Bjork is simply amazing! Still reeling over "Emergency"-Larry Sotoodeh / San Antonio / Texas

{"commentId":1355582,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"Lawrence777"}

2 votes

#8 - Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:17 AM EST

{"commentId":1358394,"authorDomain":"seward"}

Sandie Seward

I remember a few years ago, some bright wag came up with an article entitled "One Hundred and One uses for a Bjork".

Very strange, she is an enigma.

{"commentId":1358394,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"seward"}

1 vote

#9 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:40 AM EST

{"commentId":1358414,"authorDomain":"biggerthebetter"}

biggerthebetter

I like many styles of music. My own CD collection is so eclectic you'd think it belonged to a handful of people, not one. So I can appreciate nearly anything...except Bjork. She's the only artist I have ever banned my husband from sticking into the CD player when I am around. It's like nails on a chalkboard to me. LOL

But to each their own. If like her, enjoy her! I'm sure some of my musical choices would get you laughing at me!

{"commentId":1358414,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"biggerthebetter"}

1 vote

#10 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:51 AM EST

{"commentId":1371081,"authorDomain":"tanyapayne"}

Tanya Payne

I'm the friend who made Kymleee listen to Bjork, I own every single CD she's ever released, except live and best of recordings. Along with Radiohead and Missy Elliott she one of the few musicians whose work I'll buy without reading reviews, or really caring for that matter.

I have no problems with her eccentricities, at least they appear genuine to her personality rather than a calculated bid for media attention. So she's odd, there are worse things.

Homogenic is my favorite album, I cannot fathom a smarter relationship song than Immature, Fiona Apple's latest entry notwithstanding. But really, ranking them today means nothing, as I can already feel Homogenic being replaced by Selmasongs.

{"commentId":1371081,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"tanyapayne"}

4 votes

#11 - Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:26 PM EST

{"commentId":1378241,"authorDomain":"htaryn"}

Taryn it up

I love Bjork's music and I appreciate what I know and have seen of her as a person. Her music is incredibly brave, entertaining, and innovative. I'm a huge fan of hers I have all of her albums and many, many of her singles, a collection of magazines with her in/on them, and still, I can say that she gets on my nerves sometimes too! You know why? Because I'm human and so is she and everyone gets on everyone else's nerves at some point. I love her music, love her as a fellow human and I'm still annoyed by her from time to time!

{"commentId":1378241,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"htaryn"}

1 vote

#12 - Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:02 PM EST

{"commentId":1716197,"authorDomain":"mariaque"}

Maria A. Quevedo

I know I'm really late in the game but:
I cannot believe how many people have said that they don't like Bjork as a person (as much as is possible with people you don't get to know personally). How can you separate her music from her personality?

I admit to a biased point of view as I have absolutely adored her from her debut as a solo artist. However, there were songs I just didn't "get" like Pluto on Homogenic. Once I saw her perform it, my opinion completely changed. In fact, watching her perform has been a treat every single time (as I did last night - lucky me!) and shows what an amazing person she is... on top of her amazing music skills.

{"commentId":1716197,"threadId":"201484","contentId":"1210312","authorDomain":"mariaque"}

2 votes

#13 - Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:31 AM EDT

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"201484","isPrivate":false}

RYAN STOLTE-SAWA

Backyard

What's the Big Deal with Björk?

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