Who Is It (Björk song)
| "Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)" | ||||
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| Single by Björk | ||||
| from the album Medúlla | ||||
| Released | 2004 | |||
| Genre | Folk pop, beatboxing | |||
| Length | 3:57 | |||
| Label | One Little Indian | |||
| Writer(s) | Björk | |||
| Producer | Björk | |||
| Björk singles chronology | ||||
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"Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)" is a song by Björk, which was the second single to be released from her album Medúlla. The video was directed by Dawn Shadforth and shot outdoors in Björk's native Iceland. The video features the bell choir version of the song, which was re-recorded with the Bústaðakirkja Bell Choir, and is different from the album version.
The first version of the song was written with Bogdan Raczynski. Raczynski stated that he did not want this version to be made generally available. He was quoted as saying, "It was a beautiful thing we did together, but for that reason alone it should be left in the clouds. People need mystery and romance."[1] In spite of this, it did eventually receive a limited vinyl release on the Rephlex record label.[2]
Björk explains about the song
| “ | This is a song I wrote at the end on Vespertine, but I didn't put it there because I felt it was from a different family - Vespertine was introvert and shy and not very physical a record, and this was a very physical song that I wrote when I was feeling quite strong again. | ” |
The single was released on 18 October 2004 in the UK, where it peaked at #26 in the singles chart.
In 2011, Bon Iver performed a cover version of the song during a concert in Brooklyn, NY.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Music video
The video for Who Is It was shot in Hjörleifshöfði, Iceland and directed by Dawn Shadforth. In the video, Björk wears a bell-shaped dress designed by Alexander McQueen and several children are dressed in clothes covered in small jingle bells that fall off of them. The bell choir was formed by Salka, Júnia, Kaktus, Daði, Örnólfur and Gabríel of The Bústaðakirkja Bell Choir. The version of the song played in the video is different from the album version, removing almost all the vocal music and replacing it with bells, known as the Bell Choir Mix of the song.
[edit] Tracklist
[edit] UK CD1
[edit] UK CD2
- Who Is It (C2n Dattasette Mix)
- Who Is It (Fruit Machine Mix)
- Who Is It (Bell Choir Mix Featuring The Bústaðakirkja Bell Choir)
[edit] UK/EU DVD
- Who Is It (Video)
- Who Is It (Choir Mix)
- Mouth's Cradle (Cortejo Afro/Ilê Aiyê Mix)
[edit] EU/JP CD
- Who Is It (C2n Dattasette Mix)
- Who Is It (Fruit Machine Mix)
- Who Is It (Bell Choir Mix)
- Oceania (featuring Kelis)
[edit] Remixes
- Radio Edit - 3:25
- C2N Dattasette Mix - 4:15
- Fruit Machine Mix - 3:23
- Bell Choir Mix - 3:50
- Choir Mix - 7:38
- Vitalic Mix - 4:37
- Shooting Stars and Asteroids Mix - 5:19
- Video Version - 3:53
- Vespertine Tour - 6:34 (Only played live twice as this version, in Parma and Rome)
[edit] Live versions
- Teatro Regio in Parma (8 November 2001)
- Teatro dell'Opera in Rome (10 November 2001)
- Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (8 October 2004)
- Maida Vale Studios (10 October 2004)
- Canal+ Studios (15 October 2004)
- The song has been performed 19 times on the Volta tour
- The "Bell Choir" version was performed using the gameleste on the Biophilia tour
