"HUMAN BEHAVIOUR" BJORK (1993)

The moment a song is born, the world is different. It’s now a part of our lives. We sing it in the shower. We dance to it at our wedding. We get pumped with it. We break up to it. We memorize it. We try to forget it. We rediscover it. This month, I’m joining Arron Wright’s Twitter music challenge: ##Popiversary2. Because why the hell not. Songs deserve their own anniversaries, too.

Year: 1993

I’ll admit, while I liked a small handful of Sugarcubes tracks (“Hit”, “Leash Called Love”, “Motorcycle” to name a few), the band as a whole were just a little too cooky for me. Especially with the guy exclaiming random things into the mic. Why not just leave the vocals to Bjork? So, the minute Bjork went solo, I think that’s when things got a whole lot better. I thought her music got instantly stronger, smarter and more poignant. It all started with an opening track called “Human Behaviour”.

Like her vocals with the Sugarcubes, the song still had her signature vocal gymnastics. It’s like she’s warming up in front of us and blowing our minds from the get go. And the singing is gorgeous. But where things diverge are in the instrumentation. “Human Behavior” was still experimental and imaginative, but it wasn’t fraught with a dual personality dynamic. The song, in its entirety, was going in a single direction that was exciting and cool.

“If you ever get close to a human and human behavior, be ready, be ready to get confused and me and my here after. There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic to human behavior.”

"HUMAN BEHAVIOUR" BJORK (1993)

Great album openers get the listeners to keep on listening. They can do this in any number of ways. Some openers set the tone by easing us in. Others jump right in and blow our minds from the very beginning. A great album opener isn’t an easy thing to create. More than a great song, it’s all about the sequence. Track 1 has to be the perfect starter. This month, I’m highlighting my favorites. #AlbumOpeningSongs

I’ll admit, while I liked a small handful of Sugarcubes tracks (“Hit”, “Leash Called Love”, “Motorcycle” to name a few), the band as a whole were just a little too cooky for me. Especially with the guy exclaiming random things into the mic. Why not just leave the vocals to Bjork? So, the minute Bjork went solo, I think that’s when things got a whole lot better. I thought her music got instantly stronger, smarter and more poignant. It all started with an opening track called “Human Behaviour”.

Like her vocals with the Sugarcubes, the song still had her signature vocal gymnastics. It’s like she’s warming up in front of us and blowing our minds from the get go. And the singing is gorgeous. But where things diverge are in the instrumentation. “Human Behavior” was still experimental and imaginative, but it wasn’t fraught with a dual personality dynamic. The song, in its entirety, was going in a single direction that was exciting and cool.

“If you ever get close to a human and human behavior, be ready, be ready to get confused and me and my here after. There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic to human behavior.”

"IT'S OH SO QUIET" BJORK (1995)

Inspired by Albumism, I’m doing my own version of Flying Solo with individual tracks. Band breakups and hiatuses are never fun, but these solo jams were defining moments in my life’s soundtrack.

By the time, “It’s Oh So Quiet” was released, Bjork had been blasting through the music world with her playful brand of electro-pop for quite some time. We got a taste of it on Debut, and it continued on with Post. But on “It’s Oh So Quiet”, Bjork abandons this musical direction and jumps into the world of big band era brass.

While it may not be my favorite track from the artist, I picked “It’s Oh So Quiet” today because it’s the epitome of Bjork from a vocal standpoint. Every sung syllable carries an emotion—from whimsy to delight to ecstasy. The range of emotions jump up and down without warning, making for an unpredictable ride and an unexpected cover of the 50’s classic.

“You fall in love. Zing boom. The sky up above. Zing boom is caving in.”

"HUMAN BEHAVIOUR" BJORK (1993)

Inspired by Albumism, I’m doing my own version of Flying Solo with individual tracks. Band breakups and hiatuses are never fun, but these solo jams were defining moments in my life’s soundtrack.

I’ll admit, while I liked a small handful of Sugarcubes tracks, the band as a whole were just a little too cooky for me. But the minute Bjork went solo, I thought her music got instantly stronger, smarter and more poignant. It all started with a track called “Human Behaviour”.

Like her vocals with the Sugarcubes, the song still had her signature vocal gymnastics. It’s like she’s warming up in front of us and blowing our minds from the get go. But where things diverge are in the instrumentation. “Human Behavior” was still experimental and imaginative, but it wasn’t fraught with a dual personality dynamic. The song, in its entirety, was going in a single direction that was exciting and cool.

“If you ever get close to a human and human behavior, be ready, be ready to get confused and me and my here after. There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic to human behavior.”