| "Hyperballad" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Björk | ||||
| from the album Post | ||||
| Released | February 12, 1996 | |||
| Format | CD, 12" | |||
| Genre | Electronica, intelligent dance, alternative dance | |||
| Length | 5:21 (album version) 3:58 (radio edit) |
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| Label | One Little Indian | |||
| Writer(s) | Björk, Nellee Hooper, Marius De Vries | |||
| Producer | Björk Nellee Hooper |
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| Björk singles chronology | ||||
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"Hyperballad", also known as "Hyper-Ballad", is a song by Björk, released as the fourth single from her 1995 album Post.
Björk performed "Hyperballad" at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in New York in 1997, and this live version was subsequently included on the second disc of the Tibetan Freedom Concert album released later that year.
"Hyperballad" was the song receiving most votes from Björk fans on the overall survey for her Greatest Hits album's song list. In September 2010 Pitchfork Media included the song at number 11 on their "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s".[1]
Brodsky Quartet contributed their talents to a remix of the song, which first appeared on Björk's Post album, and later on Telegram. The song is mistitled "Hyperballad (Brodski Quartet Version)" on all pressings of the limited 2-CD edition Australian of Post.[2]
In the Volta Tour and in the Voltaïc DVD, the song is remixed by Mark Bell using a sample from LFO's song "Freak".
Contents |
In the lyrics, Björk talks about waking up early before her boyfriend and throwing small objects off a cliff, watching them smash. She imagines her body in their place, which makes her feel better about returning to her safe home and the arms of her lover.
Björk explains:
| “ | I guess that song is about when you're in a relationship and it's going really well and you're really happy and maybe you have given up parts of yourself. To fall in love and be in a relationship for a long time is like giving a lot of parts of you away because the relationship becomes more important than you as individuals. It's a bit of a tricky balance. I think everyone in a relationship needs to know not to forget themselves... | ” |
She also explained how the song relates to the hiding of an aggressive part of oneself from a lover.
| “ | Basically, 'Hyper-ballad' is about having this kind of bag going on and three years have passed and you're not high anymore. You have to make an effort consciously and nature's not helping you anymore. So you wake up early in the morning and you sneak outside and you do something horrible and destructive, break whatever you can find, watch a horrible film, read a bit of William Burroughs, something really gross and come home and be like, 'Hi honey, how are you?'[3] | ” |
The video was directed by Michel Gondry. It features Björk as a computer game character who runs through a obscure, two-dimensional landscape of pylons before throwing herself off a cliff. This sequence, along with several others (including blinking lights and some of herself performing the song), are projected onto a three-dimensional shot of Björk lying amongst a mountainous landscape.
The video was filmed at Telecine Cell in London, using a motion control system. The entire video and all the effects were shot on a single 400 ft roll of film, by multiple exposure and frame-accurate backwinding of the film strip. The graphics were shot as a series of secondary exposures using a TV monitor, and the flashing lights were created with an LED strip board, also exposed on the same piece of film. So, extraordinarily, there was no post-production or editing at all on this video, except the colour correction transfer to video. This was at the insistence, and under the technical direction, of Michel Gondry.
Actually, Björk sings live in the video. This new vocal take was later featured in the CD2 of the Hyperballad single, and in the 5.1 edition of Surrounded.
UK CD1
(192TP7CD; Released: 1996)
UK CD2
(192TP7CDL; Released: 1996)
UK CD
(576 1552; Released: February, 1996)
UK CD promo
(192TP7CDP; Released: 12 February 1996)
UK 12" vinyl
(193TP12GH; Released: 1997)
Side A
Side B
UK 12" vinyl
(193TP12TT; Released: 1997)
Side A
Side B
UK 12" vinyl promo
(192TP12DT; Released: 1996)
Side A
Side B
EUR CD
(576 1542; Released: February, 1996)
AUS CD
(576 1552; Released: 1996)
US CD
(66043-2; Released: 5 March 1996)
US CD promo
(PRCD 9475-2; Released: 1996)
US 12" vinyl
(0-66043; Released: 1996)
Side A
Side B
US 12" vinyl promo
(ED 5831; Released: May, 1996)
Side A
Side B
Side C
Side D
US 10" vinyl promo
(192TP12HT; Released: 1995)
Side A
Side B
US 10" vinyl promo
(192TP10LFO; Released: 1995)
Side A
Side B
US 10" vinyl promo
(192TP10OP; Released: 1995)
Side A
Side B
JPN CD
(POCP-7127; Released: 1996)
The song has been covered by many artists. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Ladybird Sideshow, and Glen Phillips covered it during their live shows. Peruvian band Ni Voz Ni Voto covered it for their Unplugged Album Acustico 2002, Greg Dulli and his band The Twilight Singers covered it in their 2004 album, She Loves You. John Nolan covered this song at Kevin Devine's Record Release Party in 2005. Big Heavy Stuff covers this song on Like a Version, a compilation album by the Australian radio station Triple J. Tori Amos covered parts of this song as an intro or bridge to Butterfly. She also covered a full version on her "Summer of Sin" tour.
Indonesian band Mocca covered this song on their 2007 album Colours. The same year also saw an Australian collaboration album named No Man's Woman, featured male vocalists covering some of the most famous songs performed by women. Folk singer Whitley delivered an arrangement of Hyperballad for this project. In 2008, the Spanish group Celtas Cortos made a cover of it in their album 40 de abril, under the title of "Abismo" (meaning "Cliff"). Dirty Projectors also covered the song on Enjoyed: A Tribute to Björk's Post.
In 2010 Robyn performed a cover of the song at the Polar Music Prize ceremony, when Björk and Ennio Morricone were awarded the prize.[4]
The song is also covered by Poland's Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz, and Michal Miskiewicz on their 2004 ECM release Trio.