Human Behaviour: Björk - the Stories Behind Every Song

by gittins-ian

A skilled and evocative wordsmith and songwriter who made her first at 11 years old, and since then has built up a compelling, fascinating body of work, Björk, uniquely among muti-million-selling international artists, has always maintained a defiantly experimental edge to her music. Human Behaviour is a detailed analysis and celebration of Björk's career and musical history to date, delving into her creative processes and motivations with the same insight with which she tackles the human condition. From her precocious pre-teen debut through the giddy electro-leaning delights of Debut to current hit Vespertine, Human Behaviour will be the definitive companion to Björk's musical output - and a must-have for her legion devoted fans.

Genres: Music

Paperback

First published August 19, 2002

Reviews

[Joe Richards · Rating 2 out of 5]

A chronological, album-by-album, song-by-song appraisal of Björk from the beginning of her career up until her fourth official record 'Vespertine' (2001).

Obviously as a piece of work based on a still-active artist, it is now extremely outdated and in need of a renewed edition. Further to this however is an unfortunate lack of proofreading throughout, with words, entire paragraphs and even pictures sometimes being repeated a page or two apart.

The book also relies too heavily on quoting from other biographies, providing next to no new information. What is does provide is 140 pages of relentless praise for an artist who is certainly deserving of admiration, but is also probably deserving of a more insightful examination.

[Steve Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I niche read, but I love her music and it was interesting to get some background on how it came about. It got me listening to it again and I checked out some I hadn't heard before.

[Vanessa (V.C.) · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a longtime hardcore Bjork fan - I basically knew everything about Bjork's history and catalogue before reading this book, hence was why I read through this in one sitting. I didn't learn anything new, but a lot was gained from this though, like how Gittins explained the meaning behind the Icelandic songs and lyrics that before, I had no clue what even the title translated to, but now I do. I also liked the general writing style, how Gittins captured the very essence of Bjork musically, lyrically, and personality wise so well. The book was a little bit all over the place somehow though despite how it carefully stayed in chronological order. He didn't really explain the story behind EVERY Bjork song. He mentioned Tappi Tikarass and how rare their albums are, but he didn't dive into the lyrics there. He entirely skimmed over the KUKL albums, didn't mention any of their songs and what they were about, and those albums are attainable. I liked the addition of explaining the meaning behind the b-sides, but I was confused as to why it was scattered and not chronological in its presentation. There were a few typos (at the back of the book, they call "Bukolla" Bukokka...). But all in all, this was a satisfying book for even the hardcore Bjork fan like me. The pictures alone are worth it, but the contents of it all, despite some of the shortcomings, are also worth reading - and owning as part of your Bjork collection.

[lynnee denise]

looking forward to understanding the method to her magic. this creature of a soul being and the rhythm she travels with is transformative.