"Isobel" is a song by Icelandic singer Björk

Björk

Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

. It was released as the second single from her 1995 album Post. The lyrics describe a primitive girl who seems to be a personification of Mother Nature, and who tries to warn the technological world of its potential dangers. The music is underscored by lush strings

String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

, electronic beats, and a jungle-influenced introduction. The song was rumored to have been inspired by the piece "The Wonderful Widow of 18 Springs" by John Cage

John Cage

John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...

.

Background

Björk has stated that a track on Homogenic

Homogenic

Homogenic is the fourth studio album by Icelandic musician Björk, released in September 1997. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B and Markus Dravs, it was released on One Little Indian Records...

, "Bachelorette

Bachelorette (song)

"Bachelorette" is a song by Björk, released as the second single from her 1997 album Homogenic.The song was originally written for a film by Bernardo Bertolucci, but the project was withdrawn...

", is a continuation of "Isobel". In an interview with Paper in September 1997, Björk explains, "So Isobel decides to return to the city and to take a train, like in the 30's, in South America somewhere. She decides to confront love with love and confronts the cowards that don't have the guts to fall in love with love. So you see - it's like Isobel has returned."

The lyrics to both "Isobel" and "Bachelorette" were penned by long-time collaborator, Icelandic poet Sjón

Sjón

Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson , known as Sjón , is an internationally known Icelandic author and poet. His pen name is formed from his given name , and means 'Sight'....

. The repeating phrase "moth delivers her message/unexplained on your collar" in the chorus is a reference to when Björk found a moth on her favourite shirt. She wore the shirt all day, and even removed it to go swimming, but the moth remained.

"I Go Humble"

The B-side "I Go Humble" is an exact replica of an electronic composition by the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 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...

 band LFO albeit with vocals by Björk being sung over it. The original track can be found on the LFO album Advance

Advance (LFO album)

Advance is the second album by the British techno act LFO, originally released on Warp Records in 1996. It would be the last LFO album to feature Gez Varley before he left and went on to form Feedback shortly after the release of this album....

, and is titled "Shove Piggy Shove". "Declare Independence

Declare Independence

"Declare Independence" is an industrial-nu metal song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The track was released as the third single from her sixth full-length studio album, Volta. The single was released on January 1, 2008...

" (Björk's 28th single, and third from her album Volta

Volta (album)

Volta is the seventh studio album by Icelandic musician Björk, released in May 2007. It was produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Timbaland and Danja. The music of Volta was a new style for Björk, focusing on similar sounding music combining African beats and other instruments with songs in tribute to Africa...

) was originally conceived as an individual electronic composition, without any vocal track, by Mark Bell and was played at his live LFO shows over a year before Björk's release of the "Declare Independence" single.

Music video

The surreal

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

 music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 was shot in black and white, near Dolgellau

Dolgellau

Dolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of the former county of Merionethshire .-History and economy:...

, by director Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...

. It features a number of dream-like images. Björk plays a piano that is full of pipes that fill it with water. Children play in the water, and wear masks. Björk is later shown lying beside a river wearing a dress with lights in it. She pulls some light bulbs off her dress and plants them in the ground. The light bulbs grow and act as incubators or cocoons for toy airplanes inside them. When the airplanes grow big enough, they break out of the bulbs and fly away. At the same time, numerous skyscrapers grow out of the ground and eventually are covered in cockroaches. Björk is also shown walking through the countryside, up a mountain, and beside a river.

Speaking on Eurotrash

Eurotrash (TV series)

Eurotrash is a 30-minute magazine-format programme in English produced by Rapido Television. It was shown in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 from 1993 and was a late-night comical review of weird and wonderful topics from around the world...

she explained the song this way: "It's the story of Isobel. She was born in a forest, by a spark, and as she grew she realised that the pebbles on the forest floor were skyscrapers, and by the time she was a grown up woman and the skyscrapers had taken over the forest she found herself in a city and she didn't like all the people there so much because they were a bit too clever for her. She decided to send to the world all these moths that she trained to go and fly all over the world, to go inside windows of people's houses, the ones that are too clever, and they sit on their shoulders and remind them to stop being clever and start to function by their instincts. And they do that by singing 'Na, na na, na na na, na na..' to them. And they say 'Oh, sorry, I was being all clever there', and they start functioning on instinct." She told the programme that she worked well with Gondry: "I guess I've got a soft spot for scientists. When I was in school I used to fall for the boys with the thick glasses who sat at the back of the class and had insect collections round their house, and I guess, in a certain way, Michel fits on to that."

Track listing

UK CD1
(172TP7CD; Released: August, 1995)

1. "Isobel" – 5:48
2. "Charlene" – 4:45
3. "I Go Humble" – 4:46
4. "Venus as a Boy
   Venus as a Boy
   "Venus as a Boy" is a song by Björk, released as the second single from her 1993 album Debut.-Background:Björk explained in an interview with David Hemingway:...
   
   " (Harpsichord) – 2:13

UK CD2
(172TP7CDL; Released: 1995)

1. "Isobel" – 5:48
2. "Isobel" (Deodato Mix) – 6:11
3. "Isobel" (Siggtriplet Blunt Mix) – 4:50
4. "Isobel's Lonely Heart" (Goldie Remix) – 8:09

UK CD promo
(172TP7CDR; Released: 1995)

1. "Isobel" (radio edit) – 3:38
2. "Isobel" (Radio, Radio Edit) – 3:08

UK 12" vinyl
(193TP12GH; Released: 1997)

Side A

1. "Isobel's Lonely Heart" (Goldie Remix)

Side B

1. "Hyperballad" (Robin Hood Riding Through the Glen Mix)

EUR CD
(579850-2; Released: 1995)

1. "Isobel" – 5:47
2. "Charlene" – 4:44

EUR CD
(579851-2; Released: August, 1995)

1. "Isobel" – 5:47
2. "Isobel" (Deodato Mix) – 6:09
3. "Isobel" (Siggtruplet Blunt Mix) – 4:49
4. "Isobel Lonely Heart" (Goldie Mix) – 8:09

DEU CD promo
(NO 1; Released: 1995)

1. "Isobel" (radio edit) – 3:38
2. "Isobel" (Radio, Radio Edit) – 3:08

FRA CD
(577 703-2; Released: 1995)

1. "Isobel" – 5:46
2. "Isobel" (Deodato Mix) – 6:09
3. "I Go Humble" – 4:44
4. "Sweet Intuition" – 4:42

FRA CD promo
(3185; Released: 1995)

1. "Isobel" (radio edit) – 3:35
2. "Isobel" (Radio, Radio Edit) – 3:08

FRA CD promo
(3219; Released: 1995)

1. "Isobel" (Deodato Mix Edit) – 4:10
2. "Isobel" (radio edit) – 3:35

FRA 12" vinyl
(2580; Released: 1995)

Side A

1. "Isobel" (Dim
   Dimitri from Paris
   Dimitri from Paris is a French music producer and DJ of Greek origins. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk and disco sounds that spawned contemporary house music, as well as original soundtracks from 50s and 60s cult movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, La Dolce Vita and The Party,...
   
   's Enchanted Forest) – 9:31

Side B

1. "Isobel" (Transfunk Mix) – 8:40
2. "Isobel" (LN's Remix) – 6:40

Side C

1. "Isobel" (Dim's Ol' School Instrumental) – 7:35

Side D

1. "Isobel" (Dim's Hi Contact French Touch) – 7:24

US CD promo
(PRCD 9236-2; Released: 1995)

1. "Isobel" – 5:49

Remixes

• Deodato
  Eumir Deodato
  Eumir Deodato is a Brazilian pianist, composer, record producer and arranger, primarily based in the jazz realm but who historically has been known for eclectic melding of big band and combo jazz with varied elements of rock/pop, R&B/funk, Brazilian/Latin, and symphonic or orchestral music.Mainly,...
  
   mix
• Dim's Enchanted Forest
• Dim's Hi Compact French Touch
• Dim's Old School Dubstramental
• Isobel's Lonely Heart (Goldie
  Goldie
  Clifford Joseph Price, better known as Goldie is an English electronic music artist, disc jockey, visual artist and actor. He is well known for his innovations in the jungle and drum and bass music genres, having previously gained exposure for his work as a graffiti artist...
  
   remix)
• Ln's remix
• Radio mix
• Siggtriplet Blunt mix
• The Carcass
  Carcass (band)
  Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
  
  mix
• Transfunk mix
• Xiu Xiu

Charts

{| width="0%"
|- valign="top"
| width="25%" |
{|class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Chart
!align="center"|Peak
position
|-
|align="left"|Finnish Singles Chart
|align="center"|18
|-
|align="left"|UK Singles Chart
|align="center"|23
|-
|align="left"|New Zealand Singles Chart
|align="center"|47
|-
|}