From Mother Oceania
Your nimble feet make prints
In my sand
Good for yourselves
Since you left my wet embrace
And crawled ashore
Every pearl is a lynx is a girl
Made into flesh
You dance by my side
Children sublime
I see the islands
You count the centuries
I blink my eyes
Race in my waters
Stingrays are floating
Across the sky
My sons and my daughters
Your sweat is salty - I am why
I am why
I am why
Your sweat is salty - I am why
I am why
I am why
I think the gist of this song has been explained, so I'm just offering my two cents on one line:
"Every boy is a snake is a lily/Every pearl is a lynx is a girl"
Snake- phallic symbol, masculine Lily- gynous symbol, feminine Pearl- symbol of femininity- sometimes linked to the clitoris Lynx- this one is a bit less obvious. The lynx is a "hunter", associated with the virile male gods Dionysus and Lugh, so it is a masculine symbol.
With this, it's obvious that this line is a transgression of gender boundaries and states that there is a feminine and masculine part to all of us.
"You count the centuries/ I blink my eyes"
This is such a beautiful line. One of my favourite moments in any song.
I swear Bjork is an unearthly creature who has come to teach human kind of our fundamental flaws.
This song is genius. I was listening to Medula one day and had an epiphany about the meaning of this song.
It's about how all life (humans included) originated in the oceans. We are still connected through the ocean because our sweat is salty (our blood also has a sodium chloride content of 0.9%)
I didn't know that the song was written for the Olympics but that makes a lot of sense.
I totally agree with you! In her album "Debut" the first song is "Human Behaviour," which I think she did intentionally... She's an alien, and her true form is shown in her third album, "Homogenic," but here's the thing: HOMO=SAME GENIC=GENETIC/DNA. Although she's not from this world she still shares our genetic structure...
I totally agree with you! In her album "Debut" the first song is "Human Behaviour," which I think she did intentionally... She's an alien, and her true form is shown in her third album, "Homogenic," but here's the thing: HOMO=SAME GENIC=GENETIC/DNA. Although she's not from this world she still shares our genetic structure...
LOL! Just a crazy idea of mine. :)
LOL! Just a crazy idea of mine. :)
what i get from it, Bjork is trying to imply that we all originated from the ocean and now as time has passed, we have accomplished allot "You have done Good for yourselves Since you left my wet embrace And crawled ashore" She (the ocean ) still feels and reminds the land creatures that she is our true mother and she still loves us
this song's just amazing!!!!!my favorite Bjork song ever. It's geat that she recorded Medulla (and Oceania, too) using "mouth music" - definately a big step in her musical career
From bjork.com:
"Basically, the Olympics people asked me to do a kind of 'Ebony and Ivory' or 'We Are the World' type song. Those are smashing tunes and all that, but I thought, 'Maybe there's another angle to this.' ...the song is all about how the ocean doesn't see boundaries between countries and thinks everyone is the same."
This song really works as a plea for peace, which fits with its usage at the Olympics, because Bjork just states that we are all the same to the ocean. It really is a beautiful message that every kind of life, whether it is a snake or a person, is equal. The final lines, "I am why" is a great reminder that we all descended from the ocean. Also the remix with Kelis is fantastic, her verse is really good. The Kelis remix works as a kind of love song between the continents and their mother, the ocean. Their voices are perfect together. It's Kelis' best work since 'Milkshake' at least.
Now there's several different versions of Medulla that have different track lists. I for myself prefer the one where Oceania directly follows Submarine. It just fits perfectly, like you dive deep with the submarine and there in the depths of the ocean you'll find Oceania. Seemingly, Björk sees this as a part of the Isobel saga. That's quite interesting though, since the lyrics obviously aren't sung by the character Isobel but by Oceania. I've come to the conclusion that Oceania might be the mother of Isobel - Björk stated that Isobel doesn't have real parents, she just appeared in the woods, like mythological figures do. So maybe Oceania is the goddess that gave birth to her ... just like the ocean gave birth to mankind (and life in general).
the first time i heard it i assumed it was about an exboyfriend or something. like, 'your sweat it salty i am why' meant 'im making you sweat' or something, and the person being talked to is closed minded while bjork is open to possibilities (stingerays in the sky?)
but as it turns out, the actual meaning is much better-- it's sung in the point of view of the ocean, directed towards humans. it was written for the olympic performance
This song is really beautiful. I love the personification that the ocean takes as the mother of life. It's really a beautiful thought. Bjork writes such amazing songs. I loved this preformance at the olympics.
"one breath away from mother oceania" "since you left my wet embrace"
sexual undertones anyone?