Jóga

"Jóga"
Single by Björk
from the album Homogenic
B-side	"All Is Full of Love" "Sod Off" "Immature" "So Broken"
Released	September 22, 1997
Format	CD, Vinyl record (12")
Recorded	1996–1997
Genre	Electronica, ambient, Baroque pop, classical
Length	3:22 (video) 4:03 (edit) 5:01 (album version)
Label	One Little Indian
Writer(s)	Björk, Sjón
Producer	Björk and Mark Bell
Björk singles chronology
"I Miss You" (1997) "Jóga" (1997) "Bachelorette" (1997)

"Jóga" is a song by Björk, and the first single from her 1997 album Homogenic. It features a mix of classical string instruments with heavy electronic beats which is present in the whole album.

Background

The chorus has repetition of the phrase "state of emergency" but does not feature the song title. The song a dedication to Björk's close friend Jóhanna "Jóga" Jóhannsdóttir – the wife of of the future Mayor of Reykjavík Jón Gnarr and also her personal assistant during the shooting of Dancer in the Dark – and to their homeland Iceland. "Jóga" features electronic beats mixed with a classical string arrangement, as in the other tracks of the album Homogenic.

Björk explained about the song:

“

When I started preparing for Homogenic, it was very obviously supposed to be a love album to Iceland nature. I'd learned enough about studios and beats to make modern Icelandic pop music. I was doing a lot of experimenting with beats trying to make them sound volcanic. With this song, I really had a sort of National Anthem in mind. Not the National Anthem but certain classic Icelandic songs - very romantic, very proud.

”

Music video

The music video was directed by Michel Gondry and filmed in Iceland.

The video for "Jóga" is a departure from her other videos as it focuses primarily on different Icelandic terrains and landscapes with Björk's presence only in the beginning and towards the end. With the aid of computer animation, earthquakes begin to separate and shift the chunks of land along fault lines. The video ends with a computerized image of an island floating inside Björk's chest.

Single track listing

UK CD1

1. "Jóga" (Howie B Main Mix) – 5:00
2. "Jóga" (String and Vocal Mix) – 4:40
3. "Jóga" (Buzz Water Mix) – 5:06
4. "All Is Full of Love" (Choice Mix) – 4:35

UK CD2 / EU CD

1. "Jóga" – 5:00
2. "Sod Off" – 2:56
3. "Immature" (Björk's version) – 2:51
4. "So Broken" – 5:59

UK CD3

1. "Jóga" – 5:06
2. "Jóga" (Alec Empire Mix) – 8:44
3. "Jóga" (Alec Empire Digital Hardcore Mix 1) – 6:06
4. "Jóga" (Alec Empire Digital Hardcore Mix 2) – 6:06

EP (TPLP81CD)

1. "Jóga" (Howie B Main Mix) – 5:00
2. "Jóga" (String and Vocal Mix) – 4:40
3. "Jóga" (Buzz Water Mix) – 5:06
4. "All Is Full of Love" (Choice Mix) – 4:35
5. "Jóga" – 5:00
6. "Sod Off" – 2:56
7. "Immature" (Björk's version) – 2:51
8. "So Broken" – 5:59
9. "Jóga" (Alec Empire Mix) – 8:44
10. "Jóga" (Alec Empire Digital Hardcore Mix 1) – 6:06
11. "Jóga" (Alec Empire Digital Hardcore Mix 2) – 6:06

Remixes

• Sasha Raskin remix
• Alec Empire mix
• Alec Empire Digital Hardcore mix 1
• Alec Empire Digital Hardcore mix 2
• Alec Empire State of Emergency mix
• Alec Empire the Destroyer mix
• Alec Empire the Planet of Ice remix
• Buzz Water mix
• Howie B main mix
• String and vocal mix

Covers

• American jazz pianist Jason Moran covered "Jóga" on his 2000 album Facing Left. Moran also played on Greg Osby's cover of Bjork's "All Neon Like" off of Osby's Inner Circle album.
• The Italian jazz pianist Eric Legnini recorded a cover version of "Jóga" in his first solo album Miss Soul, released in April 2006.
• Scala Choir have also recorded a cover version of "Jóga" which is featured on their album One-winged Angel.
• German band Gregorian covered the song in their 2007 Masters of Chant Chapter VI.
• Benjamin Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service) and Ben Barnett (of Kind of Like Spitting and The Thermals) covered this song for Hush Records's compilation Read: Interpreting Björk.
• Floridian rock band New Found Glory have also covered "Jóga" for a Björk tribute record organized by guitarist Chad Gilbert that was never released. The song was subsequently included on the Japanese version of the band's Tip of the Iceberg EP as a bonus track.
• The PS22 chorus recorded a version of "Jóga" and posted it on YouTube. [1]
• Canadian pop singer Lights covered the song in a video posted to YouTube in 2011.

Charts

Chart Peak position Finnish Singles Chart 16 Swedish Singles Chart 37 New Zealand Singles Chart 43 Swiss Singles Chart 49 Australian Singles Chart 70 Dutch Singles Chart 95 UK Singles Chart 191 External links List of "Jóga" releases "Jóga" at Björk's official site