Viðrar vel til loftárása

"Viðrar vel til loftárása"
Song by Sigur Rós from the album Ágætis byrjun
Genre Post-rock
Length 10:13
Label Fat Cat, Smekkleysa
Writer Sigur Rós
Producer Ken Thomas

Ágætis byrjun track listing
Music video
"Viðrar vel til loftárása" on YouTube

"Viðrar vel til loftárása" (Icelandic for "Good Weather for an Airstrike"; pronounced [ˈvɪðrar vɛl tʰɪl ˈlɔftʰaʊraʊsa]) is a song written and recorded by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós for their second studio album Ágætis byrjun. The song appears as the seventh track on the album. It was also released as the B-side of Sigur Rós' debut single "Svefn-g-englar".

Background

The band named the song after a quote sarcastically spoken by an Icelandic weatherman during the war in Kosovo: "í dag viðrar vel til loftárása" (meaning "today is good weather for an airstrike").[1]

Music video

"Viðrar vel til loftárása" spawned a cinematic and controversial[2][3] music video. Set in 1950s Iceland, it features a football match between two teams of young boys. As one team scores a goal and celebrates, two young boys on the same team begin to kiss. The kiss is eventually broken up by the boys' fathers. All band members appear in cameo[4][5] in the video: Jónsi is the soccer team coach, Orri is the scorekeeper, Georg is the referee, and Kjartan is one of the spectators. Moreover, the fetus design from the Ágætis byrjun album cover is shown on a bottle from which one of the boys drinks.

Production for the music video began in the autumn of 2001. A general casting call was held in the city of Reykjavík,[6] Iceland, which was also the place of principal photography. The video was directed by Arni & Kinski,[7] Icelandic directors Stefán Árni Þorgeirsson and Sigurður Kjartansson (Siggi Kinski). The video won an Icelandic Music Award for "Best Video" in 2002.[8]

The idea for the video came from Sigur Rós' former drummer Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson.[9]

Accolades

Year Ceremony Award Result
2002 Samtónn Íslensku tónlistarverðlaunin Best Video Won

References

  1. "sigur rós - trivia". sigur-ros.co.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  2. "eighteen seconds before sunrise - sigur rós news » 2002» April» 15". sigur-ros.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  3. "Is This The Most Controversial Video EVER?". nme.com. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  4. "eighteen seconds before sunrise - sigur rós news » 2001» August» 24". sigur-ros.co.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  5. "FatCat Records : Media". fat-cat.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  6. "eighteen seconds before sunrise - sigur rós news » 2001» July» 13". sigur-ros.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  7. http://www.arniandkinski.com/
  8. "eighteen seconds before sunrise - sigur rós news » 2002» February» 10". sigur-ros.co.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  9. "sigur-ros.co.uk interviews georg & orri". sigur-ros.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2010.