I've been a Sigur Rós fan since ( ) came out in 2002. Until just now, I figured, naturally, that the songs on ( ) were sung in Icelandic, the band being from Iceland. But I just read that they were all sung in "Hopelandic" which is what the singer, Jón þór Pirgisson, uses when he hasn't written the lyrics for a song yet. He just makes sounds that sound like a language and that fit the song, but it's not an actual language. Apparently a lot of singers and bands do this. Once they'd finished all the music for ( ), the band decided to leave the lyrics in Hopelandic and never wrote or sang the songs in any other language. It's really beautiful! My favourite track on ( ) is Njósnavélin which translates to, The Nothing Song.
Sigur Rós, by the way, is the name of the singer's little sister. It means "victory rose" and is apparently a popular girl's name here, though I haven't met anyone by that name; pretty nonetheless.
All this time I've been singing along, thinking someday I'll have to find a translation for the lyrics and now I've learned it's all in Hopelandic.
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1 comment:
Hi Michelle!!
I can't believe that you are in Iceland! That's so crazy and exciting!
I had no idea that the lyrics meant nothing- I also thought the songs were sung in Icelandic! I look forward to your next post! Have fun!
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