Last Thursday I went to the Sigur Ros concert. It was perfect. More about that later, right now I'd like you to listen to one of my new favourite songs by Sigur Ros: Ny Batterí:
The lyrics in Icelandic:
Heftur með gaddavír í kjaftinum sem blæðir mig
Læstur er lokaður inn í búri
Dýr nakinn ber á mig
Og bankar upp á frelsari
Ótaminn setur í ný batterí
Og hleður á ný
Og hleður á ný
Og hleður á ný
Og hleður á ný
Við tætum tryllt af stað
Út í óvissuna
Þar til að við rústum öllu og reisum aftur
Aftur á ný
Aftur á ný
Aftur á ný
Aftur á bak Þar sem við ríðum
Aftur með gaddavír
Í kjaftinum sem rífur upp gamalt gróið sár
Er orðinn ryðguð sál
Rafmagnið búið
Mig langar að skera
Og rista sjálfan mig á hol
En Þori Það ekki
Frekar slekk ég á mér
Aleinn á ný
All kind of cool and stuff, but what do they really sing? Prepare to sob violently:
Barbwire stapled in my bleeding mouth
Locked in a cage
Naked animals beat me
A liberator knocks
An untamed inserts new batteries
And charges once again
And charges once again
And charges once again
And charges once again
We set off
Into the unknown
Until we destroy everything and are dominant
Once again
Once again
Once again
Once again in the back where we ride
The barbwire returns
In my mouth, ripping up an old healed wound
My soul has grown rusty
The electricity is gone
I want to cut
And slice myself to death,
But daren't risk it.
Instead I turn myself off,
Alone again.
Can you hear the pain when Jonsi sings this? Did you feel how emotional the song was, even before you read the English lyrics? I could. This song has literally blown my mind.
I hope you enjoyed this Icelandicness,
Love,
Mia
More on Sigur Ros here
Hi Mia! It's a sad song, I can hear the pain in his words, in the tone of voice. It's striking right to/in my heart. I had more questions than answers, after I read the English lyrics. It's a suicide-message/song/letter to himself, but he's afraid to do it and he's turning himself off. In which way is your mind 'blowned away'? Because his fear or his choice to turn himself off?
ReplyDeleteWhat are you feeling, when you're listening to this song?
Hey, I got your text ;) I prefer replying like this, in English because I'm weird like that and I know I can express my thoughts better in English.
DeleteThe way I see it, it's a circle. I don't know exactly what's happening/happened to the character, but at the start he's alone in a cage. Then someone sets him free and he's almost ecstatic about it. He's dominant for a while, but then the old wounds return. He's reminded of what and who he is and it hurts. He falls back in old mistakes and finally realises it. He's afraid of more pain, instead he retreats back into himself and locks himself there. Back to the loneliness and captivity.
The fact that he (the singer) stuffs so much pain and sadness and loneliness into his voice blows my mind. And all the instruments that work together to produce such a sound just make my heart melt. My heart melts a lot when listening to Sigur Ros.
Usually when I listen to this music, it doesn't make me depressed or anything. It makes me sad, but a good sad.
Is that the answer you were looking for?
See ya on Tuesday!