I saw a bit of a programme called The 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever on TV yesterday. Despite being just another of those inane knocked-up-in-ten-minutes list-shows presented by the observational comedian du jour, it proved to be vaguely interesting. And the fact that it featured about three Björk videos, one of which was “It’s Oh So Quiet”, reminded me of a conversation I had with my Björk-obsessed brother the other day.
He said “The only song of her’s I really don’t like is "It’s Oh So Quiet". It’s far too samey. Doesn’t have any of the experimentalism or electronic bits that make her other stuff so great.”
To which I replied, “Nah, she’s really doing something different there. It’s post-modern: taking a 1940s song out of context and performing it in a current-day pop style with a semi-old/semi-modern video and her unique vocals. That’s pushing the envelope when you think of the sort of identical note-for-note cover an American Idol contestant would do.”
“Yeah, but it’s sooo annoying”.
“Maybe, but post-modern art can be appreciated from various angles, not just pure aesthetics, but the concepts behind the art. And I appreciate the concept of what the song tries to be more than what it actually sounds like. Like a poem: you can't truly enjoy it until you understand what it's about, the context behind it, and what went into making it”.
“But is it even that different to the original?”
“Not hugely, but it's like the idea of “ready-mades” in modern art. Taking a household object and putting it in a gallery allows you to appreciate it from a different perspective, not for its usefulness but for its beauty. Like Marcel Duchamp’s "Fountain". In the same way, hearing an old big band song in a pop context allows you to appreciate it differently”.
Damn, I can be a pretentious bastard sometimes.
More posts like this on my music blog, Bloody Awful Poetry.
Edited: [GH]
Article comments
1 - Sterfish
I've always liked "It's Oh So Quiet." Bjork is such a unique vocalist that just about anything she sings will stand out whether it's done experimentally or "conventionally."