Hyperballad

"Hyperballad" (sometimes written as "Hyper-Ballad") is the fourth single from "Post", a studio album by Icelandic musician and recording artist Björk. The song was written by Björk and co-produced by long time collaborator Nellee Hooper. The recording sessions of "Post" and hence "Hyperballad" took place in Compass Point Studios, The Bahamas, allegedly to save tax money. "Hyperballad" infuses folktronica, acid house and synth-pop.
The lyrical content discusses a dream that Björk experienced, in which she wakes early before her lover and throws 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.
"Hyperballad" was heavily lauded by contemporary music critics, who stated that it was the best song of Björk's career. The song's lyrical content, vocal performance and experimentation in its production and composition were also highly praised.
The song was moderately successful in the countries it charted in, including Finland, Australia, United States, Sweden and the United Kingdom (where it was the last of three top ten hits, after "Army of Me" and "It's Oh So Quiet"). A music video was released for the single, featuring a digitalized Björk running and falling from a cliff.
Björk performed the song at the 1997 Tibetan Freedom Concert in New York, which was recorded by Sylvia Massy for Capitol Records. This live version was subsequently included on the second disc of the Tibetan Freedom Concert album released later that year.
Composition.
Production and musical influence.
"Hyperballad" was written by Björk and co-produced by her and Nellee Hooper, who had contributed to other Björk albums. The chords and lyrics in the verses move in three bar phrases; the choruses are in four bar phrases. It combines a house beat with a string section conducted by Brazilian musician Eumir Deodato. Heather Phares from AllMusic compared the song to the work of Aphex Twin.
Lorraine Ali from "Rolling Stone" said that Björk "turns fantasy into morbid but honest wonderment for 'Hyperballad.' Here's what she sings over a sweeping, panoramic vista: 'I imagine what my body would sound like slamming against the rocks, and when it lands, will my eyes be closed or open?'"
Lyrical content.
In the lyrics, Björk describes living at the top of a mountain and going to a cliff at sunrise. She throws objects off while pondering her own suicide. The ritual allows her to exorcise darker thoughts and return to her partner. Björk stated that "I feel that words can have a mysticism or a hidden meaning. On Hyperballad, the idea that I'm throwing car parts from a cliff is about getting out my frustrations."
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..." (from an interview by David Hemingway)
She also explained how the song relates to the hiding of an aggressive part of oneself from a lover.
Critical reception.
"Hyperballad" was heavily acclaimed from music critics. Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine was favorable, saying "Without missing a beat, Björk puts herself into the role of fragile suicidist on "Hyper-Ballad," as she throws tchotchkes over a cliff to approximate the nature of her own plunge. A phenomenal journey, the track begins with lightly shuffling drum n' bass before expanding into an immense house groove."
Mike Diver from BBC Music said "Hyper-Ballad – single four of six taken from this 11-tracker – is similarly striking, and remains among the very finest songs in Björk’s canon [...] perfectly is an indelibly excellent example of music meeting art. It’s a benchmark of successful audio-visual synergy." Glenn Swan from AllMusic gave it a separate review, and awarded it 4 stars out of five, making it Björk's highest viewed single on the website.
"Drowned In Sound" listed it at number #8 on their top ten Björk singles. "XFM Radio" listed it at number 686 on their The XFM Top 1,000 Songs Of All Time.
"NME" listed the song as the 69th best song of the 1990s, stating that "'Hyperballad' was an earnest attempt to try and make old love alive once more. She said it was about the art of "not forgetting about yourself" in a relationship and this was reflected in the music which altered from gentle folktronica to drum and bass-tinted acid house." "Diffuser.fm" described the song as "lush, sweeping cinematic synth-pop."
"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 included the song at number #11 on their "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s".
Music video.
The video was directed by Michel Gondry. It features Björk as a video game character who runs through an 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 television monitor, and the flashing lights were created with an LED strip board, also exposed on the same piece of film. At Gondry's insistence, no edits were made after the film was exposed; the only post processing consisted of colour correction during transfer of the piece to videotape.
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". Mike Diver from BBC Music gave it a positive review, saying "its accompanying video is a masterstroke of suggestive simplicity, evocative elegance; that it suits its skittering beats and contorting vocal [...]"
A reviewer, D File, wrote: "Due partially to my personal puzzlement in understanding this video and the construction of its imagery, I’ve concluded that 'Hyperballad' is, if nothing else, one of the most avant-garde pieces of music video in the late 20th century. At one glance, the composites completely coalesce with the elements of the song. Yet the imagery is so transcendent of any other pop promo. Upside, inside out."
Track listing.
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Hyperballad".
Covers.
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 album of 2004, "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.
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 two CD edition Australian of "Post".
Indonesian band Mocca covered this song on their album of 2007, "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".
Japanese singer-songwriter UA covered Hyperballad on her 2010 album .
In 2010, Robyn performed a cover of the song at the Polar Music Prize ceremony, when Björk and Ennio Morricone were awarded the prize. In jazz, the song has been covered by Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz, and Michal Miskiewicz on their album of 2004, "Trio", and by the Verneri Pohjola Quartet on the album of 2012 "Ancient History".
British singer Matt Fishel recorded a choral a cappella cover of the song. After receiving numerous requests from his fans to release it officially after he originally uploaded it to his MySpace page in the mid 2000s, Fishel's cover was eventually released on his 2014 covers EP "Cover Boy".
In July 2014, Tori Amos covered the song on her "Unrepentant Geraldines Tour".