“A joke”: Why Björk came to regret her biggest hit
Any artist will likely know what it feels like when they suddenly start creating for other people. And not in the commissioned way, when you’re making something based on a request: in the way that feels like you’re completely pandering, and stepping away from what you actually want to do to make someone else happy. You end up accepting the short stick to serve others, and it’s likely that Björk knows this feeling better than most.
Any artist who has ever been called “experimental” will also know what it feels like to start moving into more commercial territory. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing that if you’re someone who feels comfortable with it. But if your experimental tag is based on creating art that serves only your creative vision, then being seen as someone who does the opposite will likely sting, at least a little, in one way or another.
That said, this is also what makes Björk one of the most genuinely experimental artists, not only because of what constitutes as accessible but because she makes things for herself and no one else. Her art is a reflection of her thoughts, feelings, and memories, and if they resonate with others, that’s merely a bonus. She isn’t just experimental because her sounds are innovative and unexpected, which is also there, but because it’s all about her, as indulgent or navel-gazing as that may seem.
Which is why, despite it being one of her most popular songs, ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ started to become that unwanted memory that follows you around no matter where you go, lingering in faded notes like an old perfume that won’t stop clinging to your clothes no matter how many washes. The track wasn’t Björk creating art for herself and only herself; it was meant to be a fleeting joke that came up, lingered momentarily, before hiding itself away, never to be seen again.
Of course, we all know that wasn’t actually the case. But Björk wishes it were: not only did she leave it off her later greatest hits compilation, she also told Record Collector it was “a joke”, explaining, “I almost regret doing it because I wanted to put so much importance on making new music. So many people are doing old music, and you’ve even got new bands doing old music. If I put something out in this world, it would be the courage to go ahead and invent things, so it’s ironic ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ became my biggest song.”
The only difference between other artists hating art they know wasn’t entirely their own and Björk hating her track is that it actually opened up doors, pushing her following singles onto the charts and introducing her other music to a wider listener base in a way that played on expectation to show off her experimentalism. ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ might be a persistent annoyance, but there’s no denying the ways it helped her career, even if it wasn’t a true picture of the artist she wanted to be, not then or ever.
That said, it’s easy to see why it’s her least favourite. Anyone would likely also disown a piece that doesn’t feel like a part of their broader vision, even if it helped them get to building a community to share the vision with. It’s a fight you’ll never win, one that was necessary to have but will always come with its drawbacks, and unfortunately for Björk, it’ll always be there, like an ugly piece of inherited furniture in the corner of the room.
