Venus as a Boy
"Venus as a Boy" is a song by Icelandic musician Björk, released as the second single from her 1993 album, Debut. The song was written by Björk and was produced by Nellee Hooper, who produced the majority of her debut album. The single was released in August 1993 by One Little Indian, a month after the release of the album. The song was inspired by a boy who saw everything from a "beauty point of view".[3]
This article is about the Björk song. For the novella by Luke Sutherland, see Venus as a Boy (novella). For the 2021 film, see Venus as a Boy (film)."Venus as a Boy"
- "Stígðu Mig"
- "I Remember You"
- "There's More to Life Than This"
- "Anchor Song"
- "Violently Happy"
23 August 1993[1]
- Olympic (London)
- Beats (Mumbai)
- 4:42 (album and video version)
- 4:07 (edited LP version)
Björk
"Venus as a Boy" is an ambient and chill-out song that features a musical ensemble made up of Indian instruments like tablas. The song received mixed reviews from critics, who discussed Björk's musical shift. Despite becoming a chart-topping hit in Björk's native Iceland, the song did not chart well internationally apart from entering the UK Singles Chart top 30.
The accompanying music video was directed by the British music video director Sophie Muller. The clip shows Björk in a kitchen cooking eggs, and was inspired by the singer's favorite book Story of the Eye. Björk performed the song on different TV appearances, including Top of the Pops, and sang it during the course of her Debut tour.
The song was later chosen by fans to be included in her greatest hits album, Greatest Hits, and also appeared in her Family Tree Box Set which contained a "greatest hits" disc on which the songs were chosen by Björk. In 2003, Q Magazine ranked "Venus as a Boy" at number 610 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[4]
Background and inspiration[edit]
The song was written by Björk and was produced by Nellee Hooper. It was one of the last tracks to be recorded for the album.[5]
The song was inspired by a "specific person"[5] but Björk never revealed who it was. Although, it is supposed that this specific person is Dominic Thrupp (also known as Dom T.) with whom Björk had a relationship at the time of writing.[3] Moreover, the song talks about a boy who saw everything from a "beauty point of view, and not superficial beauty but the beauty of brushing your teeth and the beauty of waking up in the morning in the right beat and the beauty of having a conversation with a person." as revealed by the singer.[3]
The B-sides were "Stígðu Mig" ("Step Me"), a song originally recorded by The Elgar Sisters; a group formed in the early eighties by guitarist Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson and Björk, written by Björk, Guðlaugur and Thór Eldon.[6] The other B-side is "I Remember You", a cover of the classic love song written by Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer, that was recorded together with "Like Someone in Love", but did not make the cut as the latter did. In both songs Corky Hale plays the Harp.[7]
Live performances[edit]
On 13 August 1993, Björk performed the song on the UK show The Beat, in one of her first TV appearances.[29][30] She performed the song on Top of the Pops,[30] on 120 Minutes along with "Come To Me"[30] and on 3 From 1 with "Violently Happy".[30]
Björk appeared on the fifth season of the British television show Later... with Jools Holland, singing "Hyperballad", "Possibly Maybe" and a version of the song accompanied by Guy Sigsworth on the Harpsichord. The performance was released on Björk's DVD Later with Jools Holland; this version was also included on Live Box. The song was part of her MTV Unplugged setlist.[30]
The singer performed the song during all of her tours (excluding her Greatest Hits tour). During the Debut tour, she performed the song with Indian instruments. During the Post tour, the song's performance was enhanced with an accordion. Most recently, during her Volta tour and Biophilia tour, she performed the song with harpsichord accompaniment by Jónas Sen.
Covers[edit]
The song was covered by Nils Landgren - 5000 Miles (1999); Sneaker Pimps (2004); Corinne Bailey Rae (2007) and as an instrumental by Australian jazz pianist Barney McAll, on his album Mother of Dreams and Secrets (2005), as well as American jazz pianist Geoff Keezer on his albums Zero One (2000) and Wildcrafted: Live at the Dakota (2005). A version in Japanese was recorded by Zoey (2003) and released as a single with accompanying music video. It was also covered by The Mike Flowers Pops (1996). On Andy McKee's album Gates of Gnomeria (2007), there is an instrumental version of the song, titled "Venus as a Girl". Other artists who have covered Venus as a Boy include Ásgerður Júníusdóttir, Serena Fortebraccio, Wildlife, E-Clypse, The Da Capo Players, Björkestra, Don Swanson, The Kate Peters Septet, The Violet Jive, Howl, Iris Ornig, Joo Kraus, Lars Duppler, Las Damas Y La Orquesta Invisible, Coparck, Workshy, Squid Inc., Realistic Orchestra, Sole Giménez, Sharon Sable, 2nd Backyard Junk, Camila Meza, and Kali Uchis.