Chun's best Bjork songs - COMPLETE

[Chun]

To celebrate the advent of her new album Biophilia, I made a ranking of Bjork songs. I included every song (starting with Human Behaviour) I could find. The search for unknown songs from B-Sides and movies turned into great fun for me.

The ranking is based on points from 0.0 to 10.0 in 12 categories. I needed that to avoid draws. The categories are rather exchangeable. I named them intro, verse, chorus, bridge (I don't know if this is the expression I meant), finale, vocals, lyrics, instruments, rhythm, technicality, overall, and lifetime.

I'll start the countdown soon, beginning in the middle and I'll work my way up and down the list, revealing three songs at a time.

In the meantime, you can influence my listing if you post your favorite and least-favorite Bjork songs here: maybe I'll reconsider my order of songs, because decision making is really hard for me.


Table of revealed tracks - COMPLETE
Debut Post Homogenic SelmaSongs Vespertine Medúlla Drawing Restraint 9 Volta Biophilia other tracks


IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #1 Aurora <---- highest entry from Vespertine

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #2 Pagan Poetry

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #3 The Triumph Of A Heart <---- highest from Medúlla

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #4 The Dull Flame Of Desire <---- highest from Volta

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #5 Bachelorette <---- highest entry from Homogenic

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #6 Innocence

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #7 Wanderlust

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #8 Play Dead <---- highest entry from Debut

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #9 Oceania

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #10 Cocoon

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #11 An Echo, A Stain

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #12 Where Is The Line

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #13 Hunter

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #14 I've Seen It All <---- highest entry from Dancer In The Dark

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #15 Crystalline

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #16 Big Time Sensuality

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #17 Frosti

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #18 The Pleasure Is All Mine

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #19 Cosmogony

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #20 Undo



IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #21 Earth Intruders
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #22 In The Musicals
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #23 Heirloom
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #24 Who Is It
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #25 Pluto
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #26 Declare Independence
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #27 Scatterheart
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #28 Cvalda
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #29 Jóga
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #30 It's Not Up To You
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #31 Army Of Me <---- highest entry from Post
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #32 Unravel
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #33 Hyperballad
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #34 Enjoy
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #35 All Is Full Of Love
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #36 Hidden Place
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #37 Desired Constellation
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #38 New World
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #39 The Modern Things
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #40 Náttúra
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #41 Isobel
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #42 Harm Of Will
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #43 107 Steps
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #44 Come To Me
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #45 Sun In My Mouth
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #46 Violently Happy
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #47 Sonnets/Unrealities XI
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #48 Human Behaviour
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #49 Sod Off (Homogenic b-side) <---- highest entry from a b-side
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #50 It's Oh So Quiet
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #51 The Comet Song
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #52 Ambergris March <---- highest entry from Drawing Restraint 9
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #53 Verandi (Vespertine b-side)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #54 All Neon Like
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #55 My Spine (Post b-side)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #56 Venus As A Boy
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #57 Five Years
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #58 Unison <---- lowest entry from Vespertine
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #59 My Snare (Homogenic b-side)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #60 I Miss You
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #61 Possibly Maybe
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #62 Ouverture <---- lowest entry from Dancer In The Dark
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #63 Show Me Forgiveness
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #64 Headphones
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #65 Öll birtan
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #66 One Day
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #67 It's In Our Hands
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #68 Storm
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #69 There's More To Life Than This
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #70 Crying
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #71 Pneumonia
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #72 Vökuró
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #73 Batabid
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #74 Leaving London
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #75 Ancestors
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #76 Immature
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #77 Foot Soldier
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #78 Karvel
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #79 So Broken
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #80 Opening Titles




IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #81 Amphibian
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #82 I Go Humble
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #83 Mother Heroic
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #84 Scary
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #85 Alarm Call <---- lowest entry from Homogenic
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #86 Domestica
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #87 Vessel Shimenawa
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #88 Mouth's Cradle
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #89 Hunter Vessel
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII#90 Hope
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #91 Vertebrae By Vertebrae
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #92 Pearl
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #93 Sweet Intuition
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #94 Miðvikudags
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #95 Bath
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #96 You've Been Flirting Again
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #97 Submarine <---- lowest entry from Medúlla
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #98 Gratitude
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #99 I See Who You Are
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII #100 Cetacea
IIIIIIIIIIIIII #101 Generous Palmstroke
IIIIIIIIIIIII #102 My Juvenile <---- lowest entry from Volta
IIIIIIIIIIII #103 Cover Me <---- lowest entry from Post
IIIIIIIII #104 Siðasta Ég
IIIIIIIII #105 Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu
IIIIIIIII #106 Aeroplane
IIIIIII #107 Like Someone In Love
IIIII #108 Stigdu Mig
I #109 Shimenawa
I #110 Glóra
#111 Antarctic Return
#112 The Anchor Song <---- lowest entry from Debut
#113 Holographic Entrypoint <---- lowest entry from Drawing Restraint 9

[CrazyCrazy]

Ooooh interesting I love Björk!!

[ThomyX]

Woo, can't wait! I love me some Björk!

[Chun]

That's the list, 113 songs.

Human Behaviour
Crying
Venus As A Boy
There's More To Life Than This
Like Someone In Love
Big Time Sensuality
One Day
Aeroplane
Come To Me
Violently Happy
The Anchor Song
Play Dead
Stigdu Mig
Glóra
Siðasta Ég
Opening Titles
Leaving London
Army Of Me
Hyperballad
The Modern Things
It's Oh So Quiet
Enjoy
You've Been Flirting Again
Isobel
Possibly Maybe
I Miss You
Cover Me
Headphones
I Go Humble
My Spine
Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu
Sweet Intuition
Hunter
Jóga
Unravel
Bachelorette
All Neon Like
Five Years
Immature
Alarm Call
Pluto
All Is Full Of Love
Scary
So Broken
Sod Off
My Snare
Karvel
Ouverture
Cvalda
I've Seen It All
Scatterheart
In The Musicals
107 Steps
New World
Hidden Place
Cocoon
It's Not Up To You
Undo
Pagan Poetry
Frosti
Aurora
An Echo, A Stain
Sun In My Mouth
Heirloom
Harm Of Will
Unison
Mother Heroic
Verandi
Foot Soldier
Generous Palmstroke
Batabid
Domestica
Amphibian
It's In Our Hands
The Pleasure Is All Mine
Show Me Forgiveness
Where Is The Line
Vökuró
Öll britan
Who Is It (Carry My Joy On The Left, Carry My Pain On The Right)
Submarine
Desired Constellation
Oceania
Sonnets/Unrealities XI
Ancestors
Mouth's Cradle
Miðvikudags
Triumph Of A Heart
Gratitude
Pearl
Ambergris March
Bath
Hunter Vessel
Shimenawa
Vessel Shimenawa
Storm
Holographic Entrypoint
Cetacea
Antarctic Return
Earth Intruders
Wanderlust
The Dull Flame Of Desire
Innocence
I See Who You Are
Vertebrae By Vertebrae
Pneumonia
Hope
Declare Independence
My Juvenile
Náttúra
The Comet Song
Crystalline
Cosmogony

[Chun]

#40 Náttúra I looove nature. Someday I will travel to Iceland and go hiking all around the island. She worked together with Thom Yorke here, but his voice is barely recognizeable. I like the drums (!!!), makes me dance, and her voice is on point here, singing in Icelandic.
Edit: I really love those drums, maybe I put this too low at #40?

~


#41 Isobel


#42 Harm Of Will

[Star]

Are these her best or worst?
I love Isobel <3

[Chun]

Are these her best or worst?

The countdown starts in the middle. The best is #1 and the worst is #113.

[skapunk]

Oh my!! So excited to for this. Glad to see you doing this.

Nattura is so intense and madness. Love it.

I definitely love Isobel and Harm of Will more. I remember Harm of Will giving me freaky dreams, just because Vindrag said it scares him. But I love it.

[Chun]

Yes, skapunk, it is madness! That's the word. And I forgot to mention that Náttúra is the highest non-album entry in the list. I'm playing it on repeat today!

Great to see you here, by the way. It would have been sad to do a countdown without you. I guess I heard Isobel too often in the 90ties and got bored of its rhythm, strings and the na-na-naaaa-naaaa. Also, the nanana intents to take away your focus. And I love to be focused.
Harm of Will is a bit slow for my liking, but I loove her soft voice on it.

[ThomyX]

I'm not a huge fan of Náttúra (it's simply a good song for me), and expected Isobel to be higher. Anyway, I can't wait to see the rest!
*wonders where Ancestors will show up*

[Chun]

#39 The Modern Things She's got a fantastic animism theory going on here. I love how she conserved her childhood dreams and put them in her music. This got to #39 mostly because of the lyrics and the way she sings them (the first half of the song) and.. because of the last 15 seconds!! I was not aware that she sings Icelandic in the middle of the lyrics - my English skills must have been very bad in the 90's.


#43 107 Steps


#44 Come To Me

[Chun]

I'm not a huge fan of Náttúra (it's simply a good song for me), and expected Isobel to be higher. Anyway, I can't wait to see the rest!
*wonders where Ancestors will show up*

Yes, and that's why there are 39 songs higher. I used to like Isobel very much, but not any more. I can assure you that Ancestors is somewhere below.

[Blondini]

Are these her best or worst?

The countdown starts in the middle. The best is #1 and the worst is #113.

A very Bjorkian way of presenting a chart!
Which ones would you consider "bad"? The bottom ten?

I would rank Nattura far lower and Come To Me and Isobel quite a bit higher. Harm Of Will and 107 Steps seem about right - the latter only makes sense with seeing the film.

[Blondini]

BTW, you missed the 1977 album and Gling Glo (i have both).

[Chun]

^ Blondini, thank you for drawing my attention to Gling-Gló. I listened to it and will not include it to the list, because it is kind of a jazz/Islandic folk album and does not reflect the creativity from Björk's solo stuff. Funny, she covered the German song "Oh mein Papa" (Pappi minn). I could not find her 1979 album on the internet.

I'm happy you like that I started in the middle. I'm not sure where to draw the line between bad and better than bad, but there are lots of songs I don't like. Maybe the bottom 20. I would not categorize them as bad, they just hurt my ears - others may like it.

[Chun]

I'm already bored of the last three # and turned back to Náttúra, my favorite of today. Time to move on to the next triple.


#38 New World I love the bugle. I just watched the first seconds (only the first seconds!!) of the final scene of Dancer In The Dark because I was looking for a picture and now I've got a stomachache.


#45 Sun In My Mouth


#46 Violently Happy

[skapunk]

Come To Me is great! Relaxing song.

New World is so low! It is my fav song on Selmasongs after ISIA. I agree with Blondini about 107 Steps.

I like The Modern Things, but would've been lower if I did one list.

Sun In My Mouth is a great track, from the greatest album. Though it pales a little in front of the other tracks on the album, on the whole, its a great track.

Was never fond of Violently Happy.

[CrazyCrazy]

Yay! Glad someone appreciates 'Modern Things' and that it's in the 'good' side of the chart!! However sad to see 'Isobel', 'Violently Happy' & 'Come To Me' in the descending chart!

[Chun]

Thank you for your comments!


#37 Desired Constellation This is very comforting & relaxing. I love the whole arrangement of the song, and the repeated "How am I going to make it right?". Is it the only song on Medúlla using instruments? There is an instrument in the background, is it? Something like a keyboard.


#47 Sonnets/Unrealities XI


#48 Human Behaviour

[skapunk]

Yes, there is a synthesizer on Desired Constellation. But, the atmospheric haze that dominates "Desired Constellation" was created from a sample of Björk singing the phrase "I'm not sure what to do with it" from "Hidden Place" on her previous album, Vespertine.

I just love that song. One of the highlights of Medulla. I was addicted to it so much.

Human Behaviour is a Bjork classic. This is where it all started, so it is always special.

Sonnets is a nice song, but I play it only when I play the whole album.

[Chun]

Yes, there is a synthesizer on Desired Constellation. But, the atmospheric haze that dominates "Desired Constellation" was created from a sample of Björk singing the phrase "I'm not sure what to do with it" from "Hidden Place" on her previous album, Vespertine.

I just love that song. One of the highlights of Medulla. I was addicted to it so much.

That's great, you like it too! Yeah, I remember there was a sample of a Vespertine song on Medúlla.. Thank you for clearifying.

[Chun]

#36 Hidden Place Lead single from Vespertine. I really like the background choir in the chorus. I love her whispery and soft Vespertine voice. All in all, the track is a bit too heavy/noisy and filled with rather strong drums when compared with the overall Vespertine feeling.


#49 Sod Off - The highest entry from a b-side, and I just started to like this more and more while writing this post.


#50 It's Oh So Quiet

[ThomyX]

Hidden Place is one personal favourite of mine, I wanted to see it a bit higher! But true, it's quite different in sound from the rest of Vespertine.
Shocked to see that Sod Off is the highest B-side, now I'm so curious where Verandi will appear as that's another one of my favourite Björk songs.

[Chun]

^ Verandi is a bit farther down the list. Do you remember our conversation about Ancestors? It's somewhere around there.

[Chun]

#35 All Is Full Of Love This was much lower until I watched the video again which has the original version of the song and which I like much more: the harp and those rhythmic heart-beat-like noises put some life into this song!

Every time I post the next triple I listen closely to their neighbours to be sure I put them on the right spot and realize that there are still so many things to explore in her discography!
I like the two songs below very much, however, they rank below others


#51 The Comet Song


#52 Ambergris March - highest entry from Drawing Restraint 9