Hits of Sunshine
Sigur Rós
Amy Salisbury
Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
I've always held firm to the belief that a song is made good by its lyrics. Best-case scenario: recitation of the lyrics could pass as a poem (a well-crafted poem, specifically). Granted, there are plenty of artists out there whose real talent is musical composition. Call me biased, call me crazy, but I'll get defensive if you call me wrong.
Of course, this is a bit of an irrational claim. Considering a lot of the most popular musicians don't even write their lyrics (a la Britney Spears, anyone?), I'm sure my feeble views aren't the consensus of the listening world. After I realized that, I figured a little self-reflection was in order.
There are 62 Sigur Rós tracks in my music library. I know there are more to be had, but I'd say a collection of that many songs provides a decent knowledge of the band. Something that just happened to get past me for a time is that the song lyrics are in Icelandic.
Ok, big deal. I don't understand the meaning of the words, but they sure sound nice. And Jónsi Birgisso, lead singer and lyricist, is so creative that he crafted an entire album without actual lyrics. Guitarist Goggi Hólm makes strange, howling noises by dragging a cello bow across his strings, while Kjarri Sveinsson and Orri Páll Dýrason add more interest with keyboards and percussion.
Now is the point of no return. I actually think I may need to rework my claim a little bit. The album ( ) is easily the band's most inventive work. In Sigur Rós's 2006 documentary, Heima, Birgisso said the human voice is too separate from the music it accompanies. In other words, the nonexistent lyrics of ( ) are the most refined gibberish on the planet. Birgisso calls the emotive "language" Hopelandic, or Vonlenska in Icelandic.
Incidentally, ( ) just happens to be my favorite Sigur Rós album. And look at that, there are no lyrics to speak of. Notice that it's even a mystery how to actually say ( ) aloud.
Sigur Rós's four other studio albums have lyrics, but the majority of them are in Icelandic. Their meanings are only accessible through shoddy translations from fans on the internet, so the real effect of the words is simply masked by translation. On their latest album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (translation: With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly), there is one song in English, called "All Alright."
As per the norm, the song is an instrumental beauty. But the lyrics, some of which hardly make sense, don't propel the song the way the ambient sounds do. Did you catch that? It's the music that makes the song.
I set out writing this with the objective of proving myself wrong, and this unassuming Icelandic band helped me do it. Innovation is the name of the game here, and if an artist can write a successful song using all of three words, he must be doing something right. Sigur Rós, you're doing it right.
Of course, this is a bit of an irrational claim. Considering a lot of the most popular musicians don't even write their lyrics (a la Britney Spears, anyone?), I'm sure my feeble views aren't the consensus of the listening world. After I realized that, I figured a little self-reflection was in order.
There are 62 Sigur Rós tracks in my music library. I know there are more to be had, but I'd say a collection of that many songs provides a decent knowledge of the band. Something that just happened to get past me for a time is that the song lyrics are in Icelandic.
Ok, big deal. I don't understand the meaning of the words, but they sure sound nice. And Jónsi Birgisso, lead singer and lyricist, is so creative that he crafted an entire album without actual lyrics. Guitarist Goggi Hólm makes strange, howling noises by dragging a cello bow across his strings, while Kjarri Sveinsson and Orri Páll Dýrason add more interest with keyboards and percussion.
Now is the point of no return. I actually think I may need to rework my claim a little bit. The album ( ) is easily the band's most inventive work. In Sigur Rós's 2006 documentary, Heima, Birgisso said the human voice is too separate from the music it accompanies. In other words, the nonexistent lyrics of ( ) are the most refined gibberish on the planet. Birgisso calls the emotive "language" Hopelandic, or Vonlenska in Icelandic.
Incidentally, ( ) just happens to be my favorite Sigur Rós album. And look at that, there are no lyrics to speak of. Notice that it's even a mystery how to actually say ( ) aloud.
Sigur Rós's four other studio albums have lyrics, but the majority of them are in Icelandic. Their meanings are only accessible through shoddy translations from fans on the internet, so the real effect of the words is simply masked by translation. On their latest album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (translation: With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly), there is one song in English, called "All Alright."
As per the norm, the song is an instrumental beauty. But the lyrics, some of which hardly make sense, don't propel the song the way the ambient sounds do. Did you catch that? It's the music that makes the song.
I set out writing this with the objective of proving myself wrong, and this unassuming Icelandic band helped me do it. Innovation is the name of the game here, and if an artist can write a successful song using all of three words, he must be doing something right. Sigur Rós, you're doing it right.
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