In April 2009, Brandon Stosuy from Stereogum.com asked Dave Longstreth, fro… Read Full Bio ↴In April 2009, Brandon Stosuy from Stereogum.com asked Dave Longstreth, frontman of Dirty Projectors if they wanted to play a benefit concert at a bookstore in New York. They said yes. He asked Björk the same thing, and she said yes. Then he asked them if they wanted to collaborate, and they said yes. Björk asked Dave what they should do, and he said, “I don’t know, I guess I’d really love to write a bunch of new songs for us to sing together?” And she said yes.

That same month, Amber from Dirty Projectors was walking along a ridge on Mount Wittenberg, north of San Francisco. She was looking out at the ocean and saw a little family of whales, as you sometimes do in April on the Northern California coast. Dave wrote some songs about it and sent them to Björk, who agreed to sing the part of the mom whale. The songs became Mount Wittenberg Orca. Amber and Angel and Haley sang the part of the kid whales, and Dave sang the part of Amber.

Mount Wittenberg Orca was released on June 30. All the money that it generates goes to the project of creating international marine protected areas.

No Embrace
Dirty Projectors + Björk Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I don't see
Water images appear in front of me
I am free
I am not bound to the difference between
The real and the real to me

And the only other one who I could ever believe
Is the one that I could feel but never really see

Looking from the island at the peak

You won't say why you would deny me your embrace
Swimming in the sea
I think I understand why you hate me
For what I've done, for what I haven't done

And the only other one who I could ever believe

Is the one that I could feel but never really see
Looking from the island at the peak

Overall Meaning

No Embrace, a collaboration between Dirty Projectors and Björk, is a song that speaks to the elusive nature of love and the tenuousness of relationships. The song opens with the lines, "I don't see/Water images appear in front of me/I am free/I am not bound to the difference between/The real and the real to me." Here, the singer suggests that their perception of reality is not constrained by external stimuli. They are free to imagine and perceive their own reality, which can be both liberating and disorienting.

The second verse introduces a theme of distance and separation in a relationship. The singer says, "You won't say why you would deny me your embrace/Swimming in the sea/I think I understand why you hate me/For what I've done, for what I haven't done." Here, the singer acknowledges that there is tension and perhaps resentment in the relationship, though they are unsure of the exact source of the problem. The final lines repeat the sentiment from the first verse, underscoring the idea that the singer is isolated in their own reality.

Line by Line Meaning

I don't see
I lack a visual perception of my surroundings

Water images appear in front of me
However, I am experiencing the illusion of water within my field of vision

I am free
I am devoid of external constraint

I am not bound to the difference between
I am not restricted by any apparent variation

The real and the real to me
I perceive reality in my own unique way

And the only other one who I could ever believe
The only individual who I have faith in and trust is

Is the one that I could feel but never really see
The one who I cannot definitively observe yet can sense emotionally

Looking from the island at the peak
Observing from a distance, without the ability to interact

You won't say why you would deny me your embrace
You refuse to provide a reason for withholding physical affection

Swimming in the sea
Despite being surrounded by vast waters,

I think I understand why you hate me
I believe I comprehend the reason for your animosity towards me