22nd
I know. Two Björk songs in row is a little weird. But, I think this song is an excellent example of musique concrete coopted for the modern pop song. Like Pierre Schaeffer’s ’ Étude aux chemins de fer,’ the tune is built around the rythmic sound of a train running along its tracks. ‘I’ve Seen It All’ was composed by Björk for the movie musical ‘Dancer In The Dark.’ The main character, Selma, is slowly going blind, and thus the noises around her become her source for beauty. ‘I’ve Seen It All’ is sung along the tracks which Selma uses to find her way home, thus the tune opens with a train whistle and the ‘thwump a thwump thwump’ of the wheels.
It differs from Schaeffer’s tune soon enough, however. An electronic beat drops to embellish the rhythm of the train, while strings add an emotional element missing from a formal musique concrete composition. Instead of building music exclusively from the outside world, the song attempts to recreate the music being built inside Selma’s head. ‘I’ve Seen It All’ (as well as many other Björk songs) is perfect example of the Sound Unbound Dj Spooky referred too. A string octet could never really play alongside a moving locomotive, but both can exist simultaneously in our heads and on the computer.
