The band was formed in August 1983 when Ásmundur Jónsson from Gramm Records wanted to create an avant-gard supergroup to perform on the final episode of a radio show called Áfangar. He assembled Björk Guðmundsdóttir, vocalist of Tappi Tíkarrass; Einar Örn Benediktsson, a trumpeter and vocalist in Purrkur Pillnikk; keyboardist Einar Arnaldur Melax, from the surrealistic group Medúsa; Birgir Mogensen, the bassist from Spilafífl; and finally drummer Siggtryggur Baldursson and guitar player Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson (a.k.a. Godkrist), both from the band Þeyr.
Anna
K.U.K.L. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Looking, knowing
Never the less
On the other side of a big river
Monster hidden behind a tree
Anna knew....
Anna doesn't see never the less
So nice hands
Me touch you
No no what
So nice hands
With me
I am it
Cuts through the water
Shaken out of rising standing
Sense, touch
Not for the first time
No no what
Tie
So nice hands
Not touch that
The neck
Anna, I am it
Move, move, move
No not longer what
On the other side o a big river
Lies her own body
Anna, sinking
Anna is not here, sinking deeper
The lyrics of K.U.K.L.'s song "Anna" are cryptic and open to interpretation, but they seem to refer to a woman or girl named Anna who is crossing a river, encountering danger, and perhaps experiencing some form of physical or sexual assault. The imagery of a "big river" and a "monster hidden behind a tree" seems ominous and foreboding, as if Anna is navigating a treacherous landscape. The repeated phrase "so nice hands" could be interpreted as the words of someone assaulting Anna, or as Anna trying to persuade herself that the touch is consensual ("me touch you"). The line "Anna, sinking" implies that something terrible has happened to her, and the final repetition of the phrase "Anna is not here" suggests that she may have disappeared or died.
The lyrics of "Anna" are ambiguous and unsettling, leaving much to the listener's imagination. It's unclear who the singer of the song is or what their relationship to Anna might be. The use of pronouns like "me" and "it" further complicates the narrative, blurring the boundaries between self and other. Overall, the lyrics suggest a sense of confusion and disorientation, as if the characters are struggling to make sense of their surroundings and their actions.
Line by Line Meaning
Scatters from a bigger hole
Something is escaping from a large opening
Looking, knowing
Observing and understanding the situation
Never the less
Despite this, the situation continues
On the other side of a big river
Across a large body of water
Monster hidden behind a tree
A dangerous creature is concealed near a tree
Anna knew....
The character Anna is aware of something
Anna doesn't see never the less
Despite not being able to see clearly, Anna is still present
So nice hands
Hands that are pleasing to the touch
Come to me
Approach and interact with me
Me touch you
The artist desires physical contact
No no what
Uncertainty about what is happening or what to do
So nice hands
Reiteration of desirable hands
With me
In the company of the singer
I am it
The singer declares their identity or importance
Cuts through the water
An object is moving swiftly through water
Shaken out of rising standing
A sudden movement from a stationary position
Sense, touch
A connection between the senses of touch and feeling
Not for the first time
This has happened before
No no what
Reiteration of uncertainty
Tie
The act of binding or restraining
So nice hands
Still desirable to touch
Not touch that
A warning to avoid touching a specific area
The neck
Referring to the area of the body
Anna, I am it
The artist addresses Anna directly, reinforcing their own identity
Move, move, move
Urging action and movement
No not longer what
Lack of understanding what is happening or what to do is no longer an issue
On the other side o a big river
Across a large body of water
Lies her own body
Anna's body is located at a different location
Anna, sinking
Anna is drowning and sinking deeper
Anna is not here, sinking deeper
Anna is absent and unreachable, and her situation is worsening
Contributed by Keira G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@hrafnkellhelgason9129
Full Icelandic/English lyrics
Saw many people asking for this so I did my best.
This was really hard, and it's definitely not perfect. Björk deliberately distorted her words, like she always says "Svimó!" instead of "skima" She also whispers some words, so they're almost inaudible, and then she cuts and joins two words into one. And since these are mostly not full sentences, some of those lines could be anything. After a long time, I have gotten this almost perfect, only the first 30 seconds are still a little mystery to me, the rest should be mostly correct.
Qualification: am Icelandic.
Enjoy.
Einar:
kondútí (komdu út í, Eng. Join me in the water. Einar's English lines are omitted from this transcript, this was his only Icelandic line, so here it is.)
Björk:
Hríslast um í stórri holu
eng. Shivering in a big hole
hrabbast (gibberish, could be a distortion of a real word I can't make out) upp úr (þessari) holu (pronounced here tolu, like a condensed "þessari holu" to þolu/tolu)
eng. .... comes out of that hole
skima! skimar enginn sér
eng. Scans! Scans nobody sees
Þekkja!
eng. To know!
Eng'að síður
(Engu að síður)
eng. Nevertheless
Hinu megin stórrar árar
eng. On the other side of a big river (because of the wrong use of grammar she actually is singing about the other side of a big paddle, but she most likely means river here. "Á" means river, and here needing a genitive form, which is "ár" but she sings "the other side of an "árar" which is the genitive of the word "ár" meaning a paddle, but we'll forgive her that, Icelandic is very hard.
p... falinn bakvið trénu (no clue, listened to this a 100 times at least in a row, Björk sings pos'falinn, or almost poss'malinn, this could be anything that is hiding behind that tree)
eng. p... hidden behind the tree
Anna, Anna ekki sér,
eng. Anna, Anna can't see
að vita, eng'að síður
(engu að síður)
eng. to know, nevertheless
Stingur gegnum vatnið,
eng. cuts through the water
hristist upp úr, stendur
eng. comes shaking onto dry land, stands
Skynja! Skynja ekki vel
eng. Sense! Sensing poorly
Snerta! Ekki í fyrsta sinn.
eng. Touch! Not for the first time
Hinu megin stórrar árar,
eng. On the other side of a river,
er líkami hennar sjálfrar,
eng. is her own body
Anna! Anna er ekki hér!
eng. Anna! Anna is not here!
Sökkva! Að sökkva dýpra!
eng. To sink! To sink deeper!
@macacoartico42
Einar
Manos tan bonitas Manos
tan bonitas
Ven a mí
Te toco
No no qué
Manos tan bonitas
No no qué
Conmigo lo soy
Manos tan bonitas
Te toco
Manos tan bonitas
Corbata
Corbata
Toca
Toca toca corbata
Manos tan lindas
Ven a mí
Toca
Anna
toque
Anna
soy que
toque el cuello
toque toque toque
Anna
Mover
Mover
Anna
mover mover mover
Anna
mover mover mover
Sin
Sin
Sin
falda
tan agradable manos
tan agradables manos
toque
táctil
Tie
Neck
Touch
LETRAS EN EL FOLLETO
Dispersos de un agujero más grande
Mirando, sabiendo
Sin embargo
Al otro lado de un gran río
Monstruo escondido detrás de un árbol
Anna sabía que
Anna no ve nunca menos
Manos tan bonitas
Ven a mí
Te toco
No, no, qué
Manos tan bonitas
Conmigo
lo soy
Corta el agua
Sacudido para levantarse
Sentir, tocar
No es la primera vez
No no qué
Atar
Manos tan bonitas
No tocar eso
El cuello
Anna, lo soy
Muévete, muévete, muévete
Ya no lo que
al otro lado de un gran río
yace su propio cuerpo
Anna, hundiéndose
Anna no está aquí, hundiéndose más profundamente
@hrafnkellhelgason9129
Reposting this to some fans who asked for it, this is my original post to a previous comment I made, but posting individually so you definitely see it:
This was really hard, and it's definitely not perfect. Björk deliberately distorted her words, like she always says "Skimó!, Þekkjó! and Annó! instead of skima, þekkja and Anna. She also whispers some words, so they're almost inaudible, and then she cuts and joins two words into one. And since these are mostly not full sentences, some of those lines could be anything. After a long time, I have gotten this almost perfect, only the first 30 seconds are still a little mystery to me, the rest should be mostly correct.
Einar:
kondútí (komdu út í, Eng. Join me in the water. Einar's English lines are omitted from this transcript, this was his only Icelandic line, so here it is.)
Björk:
Hríslast um í stórri holu
eng. Shivering in a big hole
hrabbast (gibberish, could be a distortion of a real word I can't make out) upp úr (þessari) holu (pronounced here tolu, like a condensed "þessari holu" to þolu/tolu)
eng. .... comes out of that hole
skima! skimar enginn sér
eng. Scans! Scans nobody sees
Þekkja!
eng. To know!
Eng'að síður
(Engu að síður)
eng. Nevertheless
Hinu megin stórrar árar
eng. On the other side of a big river (because of the wrong use of grammar she actually is singing about the other side of a big paddle, but she most likely means river here. "Á" means river, and here needing a genitive form, which is "ár" but she sings "the other side of an "árar" which is the genitive of the word "ár" meaning a paddle, but we'll forgive her that, Icelandic is very hard.
p... falinn bakvið trénu (no clue, listened to this a 100 times at least in a row, Björk sings pos'falinn, or almost poss'malinn, this could be anything that is hiding behind that tree)
eng. p... hidden behind the tree
Anna, Anna ekki sér,
eng. Anna, Anna can't see
að vita, eng'að síður
(engu að síður)
eng. to know, nevertheless
Stingur gegnum vatnið,
eng. cuts through the water
hristist upp úr, stendur
eng. comes shaking onto dry land, stands
Skynja! Skynja ekki vel
eng. Sense! Sensing poorly
Snerta! Ekki í fyrsta sinn.
eng. Touch! Not for the first time
Hinu megin stórrar árar,
eng. On the other side of a river,
er líkami hennar sjálfrar,
eng. is her own body
Anna! Anna er ekki hér!
eng. Anna! Anna is not here!
Sökkva! Að sökkva dýpra!
eng. To sink! To sink deeper!
@hrafnkellhelgason9129
Reposting this to some fans who asked for it, this is my original post to a previous comment I made, but posting individually so you definitely see it:
This was really hard, and it's definitely not perfect. Björk deliberately distorted her words, like she always says "Skimó!, Þekkjó! and Annó! instead of skima, þekkja and Anna. She also whispers some words, so they're almost inaudible, and then she cuts and joins two words into one. And since these are mostly not full sentences, some of those lines could be anything. After a long time, I have gotten this almost perfect, only the first 30 seconds are still a little mystery to me, the rest should be mostly correct.
Einar:
kondútí (komdu út í, Eng. Join me in the water. Einar's English lines are omitted from this transcript, this was his only Icelandic line, so here it is.)
Björk:
Hríslast um í stórri holu
eng. Shivering in a big hole
hrabbast (gibberish, could be a distortion of a real word I can't make out) upp úr (þessari) holu (pronounced here tolu, like a condensed "þessari holu" to þolu/tolu)
eng. .... comes out of that hole
skima! skimar enginn sér
eng. Scans! Scans nobody sees
Þekkja!
eng. To know!
Eng'að síður
(Engu að síður)
eng. Nevertheless
Hinu megin stórrar árar
eng. On the other side of a big river (because of the wrong use of grammar she actually is singing about the other side of a big paddle, but she most likely means river here. "Á" means river, and here needing a genitive form, which is "ár" but she sings "the other side of an "árar" which is the genitive of the word "ár" meaning a paddle, but we'll forgive her that, Icelandic is very hard.
p... falinn bakvið trénu (no clue, listened to this a 100 times at least in a row, Björk sings pos'falinn, or almost poss'malinn, this could be anything that is hiding behind that tree)
eng. p... hidden behind the tree
Anna, Anna ekki sér,
eng. Anna, Anna can't see
að vita, eng'að síður
(engu að síður)
eng. to know, nevertheless
Stingur gegnum vatnið,
eng. cuts through the water
hristist upp úr, stendur
eng. comes shaking onto dry land, stands
Skynja! Skynja ekki vel
eng. Sense! Sensing poorly
Snerta! Ekki í fyrsta sinn.
eng. Touch! Not for the first time
Hinu megin stórrar árar,
eng. On the other side of a river,
er líkami hennar sjálfrar,
eng. is her own body
Anna! Anna er ekki hér!
eng. Anna! Anna is not here!
Sökkva! Að sökkva dýpra!
eng. To sink! To sink deeper!
@hrafnkellhelgason9129
This was really hard, and it's definitely not perfect. Björk deliberately distorted her words, like she always says "Skimó!, Þekkjó! and Annó! instead of skima, þekkja and Anna. She also whispers some words, so they're almost inaudible, and then she cuts and joins two words into one. And since these are mostly not full sentences, some of those lines could be anything. After a long time, I have gotten this almost perfect, only the first 30 seconds are still a little mystery to me, the rest should be mostly correct.
Einar:
kondútí (komdu út í, Eng. Join me in the water. Einar's English lines are omitted from this transcript, this was his only Icelandic line, so here it is.)
Björk:
Hríslast um í stórri holu
eng. Shivering in a big hole
hrabbast (gibberish, could be a distortion of a real word I can't make out) upp úr (þessari) holu (pronounced here tolu, like a condensed "þessari holu" to þolu/tolu)
eng. .... comes out of that hole
skima! skimar enginn sér
eng. Scans! Scans nobody sees
Þekkja!
eng. To know!
Eng'að síður (Engu að síður)
eng. Nevertheless
Hinu megin stórrar árar
eng. On the other side of a big river (because of the wrong use of grammar she actually is singing about the other side of a big paddle, but she most likely means river here. "Á" means river, and here needing a genitive form, which is "ár" but she sings "the other side of an "árar" which is the genitive of the word "ár" meaning a paddle, but we'll forgive her that, Icelandic is very hard.
p... falinn bakvið trénu (no clue, listened to this a 100 times at least in a row, Björk sings pos'falinn, or almost poss'malinn, this could be anything that is hiding behind that tree)
eng. p... hidden behind the tree
Anna, Anna ekki sér,
eng. Anna, Anna can't see
að vita, eng'að síður (engu að síður)
eng. to know, nevertheless
Stingur gegnum vatnið,
eng. cuts through the water
hristist upp úr, stendur
eng. comes shaking onto dry land, stands
Skynja! Skynja ekki vel
eng. Sense! Sensing poorly
Snerta! Ekki í fyrsta sinn.
eng. Touch! Not for the first time
Hinu megin stórrar árar,
eng. On the other side of a river,
er líkami hennar sjálfrar,
eng. is her own body
Anna! Anna er ekki hér!
eng. Anna! Anna is not here!
Sökkva! Að sökkva dýpra!
eng. To sink! To sink deeper!
@hrafnkellhelgason9129
Reposting this to some fans who asked for it, this is my original post to a previous comment I made, but posting individually so you definitely see it:
This was really hard, and it's definitely not perfect. Björk deliberately distorted her words, like she always says "Skimó!, Þekkjó! and Annó! instead of skima, þekkja and Anna. She also whispers some words, so they're almost inaudible, and then she cuts and joins two words into one. And since these are mostly not full sentences, some of those lines could be anything. After a long time, I have gotten this almost perfect, only the first 30 seconds are still a little mystery to me, the rest should be mostly correct.
Einar:
kondútí (komdu út í, Eng. Join me in the water. Einar's English lines are omitted from this transcript, this was his only Icelandic line, so here it is.)
Björk:
Hríslast um í stórri holu
eng. Shivering in a big hole
hrabbast (gibberish, could be a distortion of a real word I can't make out) upp úr (þessari) holu (pronounced here tolu, like a condensed "þessari holu" to þolu/tolu)
eng. .... comes out of that hole
skima! skimar enginn sér
eng. Scans! Scans nobody sees
Þekkja!
eng. To know!
Eng'að síður
(Engu að síður)
eng. Nevertheless
Hinu megin stórrar árar
eng. On the other side of a big river (because of the wrong use of grammar she actually is singing about the other side of a big paddle, but she most likely means river here. "Á" means river, and here needing a genitive form, which is "ár" but she sings "the other side of an "árar" which is the genitive of the word "ár" meaning a paddle, but we'll forgive her that, Icelandic is very hard.
p... falinn bakvið trénu (no clue, listened to this a 100 times at least in a row, Björk sings pos'falinn, or almost poss'malinn, this could be anything that is hiding behind that tree)
eng. p... hidden behind the tree
Anna, Anna ekki sér,
eng. Anna, Anna can't see
að vita, eng'að síður
(engu að síður)
eng. to know, nevertheless
Stingur gegnum vatnið,
eng. cuts through the water
hristist upp úr, stendur
eng. comes shaking onto dry land, stands
Skynja! Skynja ekki vel
eng. Sense! Sensing poorly
Snerta! Ekki í fyrsta sinn.
eng. Touch! Not for the first time
Hinu megin stórrar árar,
eng. On the other side of a river,
er líkami hennar sjálfrar,
eng. is her own body
Anna! Anna er ekki hér!
eng. Anna! Anna is not here!
Sökkva! Að sökkva dýpra!
eng. To sink! To sink deeper!
@basic_chain
This was so good, I've only passively listened to björk but this vibe fits her vocals perfectly. I like how unsettling the instruments get as the song progresses. Plus bjork goes the distance with the vocal performance.
@carboneroa.a.9210
Björk simplemente Björk fue y es capaz de estas metamorfosis!! Estilos múltiples y voz única.
@GudmundurKristjansson
Kind a cool to see my class mate there in the opening shot! I remember that we even formed a band when we were in 5th or 6th grade. Great performance by the band KUKL
@zararity
Very cool indeed. Did you ever get to see KUKL live back in the day?
@GudmundurKristjansson
@zararity Yes I and no. I saw them one life concert and one when they came to play in the TV where I used to work as a sound man.
@eelnorris8196
I certainly envy you. For someone born in another country, nearly 10 years after the death of KUKL, the live experience is something that will forever and always remain a dark mystery to me. All that I have is what I can extrapolate from the few existing live videos and bootleg tapes here, online. But man do I wish I could've witnessed with my own eyes this brief explosion of Dada and punk rolled into one concise anarchic A-Bomb.
@tenenieldjoandthenightsist5109
Arguably one of the best bands crass has ever produced
@gbowles
this is bjork's best band of all
@michaeld2519
I'm one of Björk's biggest fans, so this was marvelous to find! Thank you very much!!
@berserkberserk3493
Never heard a voice like hers that's why I like