However, a quick search of the lyrics soon made me realise that Jónsi is instead repeating the made-up Hopelandic word ‘tjú’. Before I found this out, I rather egotistically thought that the second track Svefn-g-englar was repeating the phrase ‘it’s you’ over and over again in a falsetto voice, as if the band were trying to tell me and each of their listeners something directly about us.
Therefore the band gift their audience not only with a stunningly beautiful album, but they also allow them to draw their own conclusions regardless of their nationality, making this a truly globally-accessible album.
#SIGUR RÓS ÁGÆTIS BYRJUN ALBUM COVER FULL#
The use of Hopelandic means that the only people who know the intended meaning of the album in full are the band themselves. This is because lead-singer Jónsi Birgisson often sings in his invented language Vonlenska (Hopelandic) as well as in Icelandic. The potency of Sigur Rós as a band and their 1999 album Ágætis byrjun comes from the utterly contemplative nature of their music, as not even Icelandic compatriots are able to understand them. This was the first time I heard the music of Sigur Rós and little did I know that they would rightly have the label ‘high-art’ attributed to them once again soon after. The song that was playing over this powerful scene was Varúð which comes from the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós' sixth studio album, Valtari. The dance, which left its audience to decide on their own meaning, portrayed a figurative nakedness and an immense vulnerability that was perpetuated by the music which accompanied it. The character of Mac, who had been suppressing his homosexuality for the length of the show, performed an interpretative dance in which he came out as gay to his father, his friends, God, and himself. The show which is typically grounded in shock-humour from its grotesque characters’ behaviour and outlook on life culminated in a scene which, unusually for the show, presented ineffable beauty. Just like art that might be found in a gallery, other creative endeavours such as literature, drama and music also have the capacity of reaching these dizzying heights, especially when they place the onus on the audience to decide on the meaning and significance of what is on display.Īnother classic example of ‘high-art’ on television that I witnessed not too long ago, surprisingly came from the final scene of the season 13 finale of the American sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Having recently completed the final episode of the show, whilst I am keen to not give any spoilers away, it is safe to say that the contemplative state that it left me in, as well as a myriad of other factors, indicates that the show must be attributed the honour of being viewed as ‘high art’.
#SIGUR RÓS ÁGÆTIS BYRJUN ALBUM COVER TV#
During the lockdown I took on the mammoth task of completing the hit TV show The Sopranos. a valid contender to be considered as deserving of this level of high-praise it must not spoon-feed its audience and should allow them to make their own mind up on its meaning or conclusions. Whilst I acknowledge that I am not the objective arbiter of such labels, for me there is one thing that makes a sculpture, a painting etc. Yet, I do feel that assessing something as ‘high art’ is perhaps a term that gets bandied around a bit too easily by some.
Labelling something as ‘art’ does not bother me, so long as the subject in question demonstrates an element of creative expression and imagination by its creator.
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