If I Had a Heart
Encyclopedia
"If I Had a Heart" is a song performed, written and produced by Swedish recording artist Fever Ray
. It was released as the lead single
from her debut self-titled album, Fever Ray
(2009), marking Ray's debut single as a solo artist, after her work with previous band, The Knife
. The track was first released digitally
in Sweden and across Europe on 15 December 2008 by Rabid Records
, followed by a digital EP
release on 26 January 2009. It was later released on CD, 7"
and 12"
formats in early 2009. The single's B-side
premiered three days prior to the single release on Stereogum
and is a remix of the track done by English experimental
duo Fuck Buttons
, and has remained as the duo's maiden work as a remixers.
) for the production of "If I Had a Heart". The single, like the rest of the tracks on Ray's debut album, was written by herself. The lyrics were inspired by observation of her young children—a motif evident in the lyrics "Dangling feet from window frame / Will they ever ever reach the floor / More give me more give me more". Also featured on the single is a remix by Stockholm
-based techno
/electropop artist Familjen
.
—one of Ray's biggest influences—would make, as well as to Francis Ford Coppola
's 1979 film Apocalypse Now
. Their review went on to describe the song as "dark and hypnotic", and "[taking] an echo of a Native American cry, but still [...] maintaining the song's dark undertone." Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork Media
reviewed it as "a shivering, timely meditation on greed, immorality, and lust for power that dovetails nicely with AIG
and Madoff
." Anthony Balderrama from Consequence of Sound positively opined that "the most notable quality of 'If I Had a Heart' is its similarity to some of the quieter tracks on Silent Shout
, particularly 'From Off to On'", whilst describing it as "a four-minute dirge that bemeans inadequacy as much as it professes love." PopMatters
's Ian Mathers ranked "If I Had a Heart" among Ray's best work, boasting it as "[marrying her] more introspective side with something like the withdrawn inverse of Silent Shouts low, twinkling throb." Graeme Thomson of The Observer
labelled the track as an "ancient shamanic
chant piped through an iPhone
."
In October 2011, NME
placed it at number 145 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
Karin Dreijer Andersson
Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson , commonly known by her stage name Fever Ray, is the lead vocalist of the electronic duo The Knife, formed with her brother Olof Dreijer. Andersson was previously the vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Honey Is Cool...
. It was released as the lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
from her debut self-titled album, Fever Ray
Fever Ray (album)
Fever Ray was lauded by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim"...
(2009), marking Ray's debut single as a solo artist, after her work with previous band, The Knife
The Knife
The Knife are a Swedish electronic music duo from Gothenburg, formed in 1999. The group consists of siblings Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer, who together also run their own record company, Rabid Records. They first received international attention after their song "Heartbeats", covered by...
. The track was first released digitally
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
in Sweden and across Europe on 15 December 2008 by Rabid Records
Rabid Records
Rabid Records is a Swedish record label founded in 1998 by members of Honey Is Cool. Today the label is operated by Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer of the synthpop duo The Knife, as well as Frau Rabid. The label rarely releases anything other than works by The Knife, but it is currently...
, followed by a digital EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
release on 26 January 2009. It was later released on CD, 7"
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and 12"
12-inch single
The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
formats in early 2009. The single's B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
premiered three days prior to the single release on Stereogum
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
and is a remix of the track done by English experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
duo Fuck Buttons
Fuck Buttons
Fuck Buttons are a two-piece electronic group formed in Bristol in 2004 by Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power.-Biography:Hung and Power grew up in Worcester. Hung was influenced by Aphex Twin, while Power was a fan of Mogwai. They developed a friendship in 2004 while attending art school in...
, and has remained as the duo's maiden work as a remixers.
Background
The song takes on a generally unconventional, dark and experimental style with its slow tempo, organ backing, repetitive synth beat and distinct vocals. Ray teamed up with long-term production partner Christoffer Berg (well-known for his work with The KnifeThe Knife
The Knife are a Swedish electronic music duo from Gothenburg, formed in 1999. The group consists of siblings Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer, who together also run their own record company, Rabid Records. They first received international attention after their song "Heartbeats", covered by...
) for the production of "If I Had a Heart". The single, like the rest of the tracks on Ray's debut album, was written by herself. The lyrics were inspired by observation of her young children—a motif evident in the lyrics "Dangling feet from window frame / Will they ever ever reach the floor / More give me more give me more". Also featured on the single is a remix by Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
-based techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
/electropop artist Familjen
Familjen
-Biography:Karlsson grew up in Hässleholm, Skåne , but is currently based in Malmö. In his youth as a synthpop fan he also formed bands with Sophie Rimheden from nearby Lund...
.
Critical reception
The single received mainly positive reviews from various music critics. Daily Music Guide likened the track to scenes from a film Jim JarmuschJim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
—one of Ray's biggest influences—would make, as well as to Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's 1979 film Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
. Their review went on to describe the song as "dark and hypnotic", and "[taking] an echo of a Native American cry, but still [...] maintaining the song's dark undertone." Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
reviewed it as "a shivering, timely meditation on greed, immorality, and lust for power that dovetails nicely with AIG
American International Group
American International Group, Inc. or AIG is an American multinational insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters is located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in...
and Madoff
Bernard Madoff
Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff is a former American businessman, stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier. He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, and the admitted operator of a Ponzi scheme that is considered to be the largest financial fraud in U.S...
." Anthony Balderrama from Consequence of Sound positively opined that "the most notable quality of 'If I Had a Heart' is its similarity to some of the quieter tracks on Silent Shout
Silent Shout
Silent Shout is the third studio album by Swedish electronic duo The Knife. It was initially released in Sweden on 15 February 2006 by Rabid Records, and subsequently in the rest of Europe the following month and in the United States on 25 July by Mute Records. Silent Shout is darker than its...
, particularly 'From Off to On'", whilst describing it as "a four-minute dirge that bemeans inadequacy as much as it professes love." PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
's Ian Mathers ranked "If I Had a Heart" among Ray's best work, boasting it as "[marrying her] more introspective side with something like the withdrawn inverse of Silent Shouts low, twinkling throb." Graeme Thomson of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
labelled the track as an "ancient shamanic
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
chant piped through an iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
."
In October 2011, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
placed it at number 145 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
Track listings
iTunes EP- "If I Had a Heart" – 3:48
- "If I Had a Heart" (FamiljenFamiljen-Biography:Karlsson grew up in Hässleholm, Skåne , but is currently based in Malmö. In his youth as a synthpop fan he also formed bands with Sophie Rimheden from nearby Lund...
Remix) – 3:54 - "If I Had a Heart" (Fuck ButtonsFuck ButtonsFuck Buttons are a two-piece electronic group formed in Bristol in 2004 by Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power.-Biography:Hung and Power grew up in Worcester. Hung was influenced by Aphex Twin, while Power was a fan of Mogwai. They developed a friendship in 2004 while attending art school in...
Remix) – 8:26
- Swedish promo CD single
- "If I Had a Heart" – 3:50
- Swedish 12" single
- A. "If I Had a Heart" (Fuck Buttons Remix) – 8:26
- B. "If I Had a Heart" (Familjen Remix) – 3:54
- UK 7" single
- A. "If I Had a Heart" (Original Version) – 3:50
- B. "If I Had a Heart" (Fuck Buttons Remix) – 8:26
Nominations
| Year | Category | Genre | Recording | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Music Video Awards UK Music Video Awards The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music.... |
||||
| 2009 | Best Indie/Alternative | Music Video | If I Had a Heart | |