Born and raised in Reykjavík, Björk began her music career at the age of 11 and gained international recognition as the lead singer of the alternative rock band the Sugarcubes, by the age of 21. After the Sugarcubes disbanded in 1992, Björk began a solo career. She came to prominence with albums such as Debut (1993), Post (1995), and Homogenic (1997), collaborating with a range of artists and exploring a variety of multimedia projects. Her other albums include Vespertine (2001), Medúlla (2004), Volta (2007), Biophilia (2011), Vulnicura (2015), Utopia (2017) and Fossora (2022).
Several of Björk's albums have reached the top 20 on the US Billboard 200 chart. As of 2015, she had sold more than 20 million records worldwide. Thirty-one of her singles have reached the top 40 on pop charts around the world, with 22 top-40 hits in the UK, including the top-10 singles "It's Oh So Quiet", "Army of Me", and "Hyperballad" and the top-20 singles "Play Dead", "Big Time Sensuality", and "Violently Happy". Her accolades and awards include the Order of the Falcon, five BRIT Awards, and 16 Grammy nominations. In 2015, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Rolling Stone named her the 60th greatest singer and the 81st greatest songwriter.
Björk starred in the 2000 Lars von Trier film Dancer in the Dark, for which she won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "I've Seen It All". Biophilia was marketed as an interactive app album with its own education program. Björk has also been an advocate for environmental causes in Iceland. A retrospective exhibition dedicated to Björk was held at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2015.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Björk
Studio albums
Debut (1993)
Post (1995)
Homogenic (1997)
Vespertine (2001)
Medúlla (2004)
Volta (2007)
Biophilia (2011)
Vulnicura (2015)
Utopia (2017)
Fossora (2022)
Solstice
Björk Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pause on the ball
That hangs on the third branch
From the star
You remember why it is dark
And why it gets light again
The earth like the hearts
And like that it travels
Along an elliptical path
Drawn into the darkness
An unpolished pearl
In the sky black in palm of hand
Flickering sun flame
And then you remember
That you yourself
You are a light bearer, a light bearer
Receiving radiance from others
Flickering sun flame
Unpolished earth in the palm of hand
Björk’s song Solstice is a mesmerizing and poetic exploration of our relationship to light and darkness, to nature and the cosmos, as well as to ourselves and our own internal light. The lyrics invite the listener to contemplate the mystery and beauty of the solstice, the turning point of the year when the sun appears to stand still, marking the shortest day and the longest night. The imagery is rich and evocative, blending elements of astronomy, mythology, and spirituality.
The opening lines of the song set the tone for a deep and introspective reflection on the cycles of light and dark that govern our lives. When the eyes pause on the ball that hangs on the third branch from the star, we are reminded of the cosmic dance that we are part of, the eternal movement of the universe. The ball may be a reference to the sun, the moon, or some other celestial body, and the third branch could be a tree or a constellation. Regardless of the specifics, the image suggests a moment of wonder and awe at the vastness and complexity of the cosmos.
As the song progresses, we shift our focus from the external world to the internal world, from the macrocosm to the microcosm. The earth is compared to the human heart, both sloping in their seat and traveling along an elliptical path. This metaphor suggests a sense of harmony and resonance between the earth and our own bodies, as if we were mirroring each other's movements. We are also drawn into the darkness, just like the earth, but this darkness is not something to be feared or avoided. It is part of the natural cycle of life and death, of growth and decay.
The final lines of the song bring us back to the theme of light and our own capacity to shine. We are reminded that we are all light bearers, receiving radiance from others and reflecting it back in our own unique way. We are like flickering sun flames, unpolished pearls in the palm of God's hand. This image suggests a sense of vulnerability and fragility, but also of beauty and uniqueness. We may not be perfect, but we are precious and worthy of love and appreciation.
Line by Line Meaning
When your eyes
As you gaze upon something
Pause on the ball
Fixate on a spherical object
That hangs on the third branch
Suspended from a third branch
From the star
Derived from a stellar object
You remember why it is dark
Recall the reason for darkness
And why it gets light again
Understand the return of light
The earth like the hearts
The planet and human emotions
Slopes in its seat
Tilts on its axis
And like that it travels
Moves according to its nature
Along an elliptical path
Traversing an orbital trajectory
Drawn into the darkness
Pulled towards absence of light
An unpolished pearl
Rough, unrefined gemstone
In the sky black in palm of hand
Held aloft in a dark expanse
Flickering sun flame
Glinting rays of light
And then you remember
Recollection comes to mind
That you yourself
Realization of one's own identity
You are a light bearer, a light bearer
Someone who carries illumination
Receiving radiance from others
Accepting brilliance from external sources
Flickering sun flame
Intermittent light flicker
Unpolished earth in the palm of hand
Raw planet held in one's grasp
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Bj�rk Gudmundsdottir, Sigurjon Sigurdsson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@pratamadanterakhir
Lyrics:
When your eyes pause on the ball
That hangs on the third branch from the star,
You remember why it is dark
And why it gets light again.
The Earth, like the heart, slopes in it's seat
And, like that, it travels along an elliptical path
Drawn into the darkness.
An unpolished pearl
In sky-black
Palm of hand
Flickering sun-flame.
And then you remember
That you, yourself, you are a light-bearer, a light-bearer
Receiving radiance from others
Flickering sun-flame.
Unpolished Earth in palm of hand.
@einweieskaninchen413
Biophilla is like detailed musical female answers to MJs powerful agressive "Earth song"!
Took a long time with more nature catastrophs and burning forests til in we got it!
"Alarm Call" has also a MJ Reference!
Björk has many things in comman with Michael in her beatiful personna!
So glad that we still have her!
"This is an Alarm Call! So wake up, wake up now!"
"Free the Human Race from suffering!"
"Love is the answer!"
" We all must unite to turn darkness to light!"
"Heal the world....
Make it a better place .... for the entire Human Race"!
Don' t stop listening to THE EARTH SONG!!!
https://youtu.be/R-qZqU3g0do
UNITE and HEAL!
@Krazeebaby77
Bjork makes me feel a way that no other artist can touch
@mrlybra7709
We all must remember that we are light-bearer if we receive radiance from others. Make no war, make bjork things.
@inherewithus
I sang this to my dog as he was passing away :C
@marcoalvarez642
Wow…
@cleopatraleons
This song is in such a high vibration that it just makes me cry of happiness. thank you Bjork for sharing your knowledge with such simplicity.
@3Dartist247
Just as I've described Imogen Heap, Björk is one-of-a-kind. There is no other singer who sounds like her or has a similar style. Not everyone will like it, but that would be their loss. The video imagery is a perfect match. It's hard to imagine how an official video could top it...which may explain why there is none. Great job.
@pratamadanterakhir
Lyrics:
When your eyes pause on the ball
That hangs on the third branch from the star,
You remember why it is dark
And why it gets light again.
The Earth, like the heart, slopes in it's seat
And, like that, it travels along an elliptical path
Drawn into the darkness.
An unpolished pearl
In sky-black
Palm of hand
Flickering sun-flame.
And then you remember
That you, yourself, you are a light-bearer, a light-bearer
Receiving radiance from others
Flickering sun-flame.
Unpolished Earth in palm of hand.
@circolombisque2285
I always listen to this while watching the sunset. Truly a beautiful song and experience.
@vermilionskin
Another amazing song... her voice adds the magic touch to the profound lyrics of all her songs, can't have enough of Bjork.
@wakkio
pure genius... thanks for the light and the dark, bjork