Sigur Ros: Brennisteinn Lyrics Breakdown

We cut            
The look
Now it stings in
Blinding light

Now it melts
At last
And flow in
Daylight

Now drag and stretch oneself
And drag out the arm
Try to receive
And brake over falling places (?)
Running blood in the veins

On the skin
All over
Hitch claws in
And scratch in[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsty.com/siguinn-lyrics.html ]
Now drag and stretch oneself
And drag out the arm
Try to receive
And brake over falling places (?)
Raise by the abdomen
Spine
Running blood in the veins

Don't tell anyone
Don't tell anyone

Don't tell anyone
Don't tell anyone

Don't tell anyone
Don't tell anyone

Now drag and stretch oneself
And drag out the arm
Try to receive
And brake over falling places 
Raise by the abdomen
Spine
Running blood in the veins

The lyrics seem to be talking about escape and freedom especially when shown in conjunction with the visuals. Also the lyrics carry a semantic field of physical body parts e.g. “arm, skin, abdomen, spine, veins” this gives a very organic, corporeal impression to the narrative rather than Sigur Ros’s regular spiritual sentiments. The primordial animalistic language such as  “ Claws” make the song seem almost carnivorous, in the sense that it deals with people as vicious animals. Also the line “Don’t tell anyone” which is repeated for effect, shows a conversation between two parties; possibly lovers kept apart? The fact that it is repeated means it has a certain gravitas to the narrative, a certain importance as it shows trust and secrecy. As the song is sung in Icelandic the English speaking audience will struggle to understand the impact of the Icelandic lyrics (right). Therefore we will need the make the visuals more vibrant and clear.

As far as ideas for our own music video are concerned we will be focusing heavily on the separation and surreal elements of Brennisteinn. For example, our group intends to mix industrial settings for one character with natural settings for another to show the contrast between the two individuals. The lyrics really talk about secrets being hidden then revealed and people being trusted then turning on you, admittedly it being quite a twisted scenario at first.

Because the primary connotations with the lyrics are about 2 people being kept apart and feeling trapped we have decided to base our final video around this idea. We are going to use 2 locations and 2 characters being isolated from one another and then have another location in which the two lovers are reunited.