美国国家公共电台 NPR Björk Invites You To Her 'Utopia'

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Have you felt like the last couple of years have been particularly heavy, hard - made you want to run away? Well, our co-host Rachel Martin sat down with the Icelandic musician Bjork, whose new album is designed to take you somewhere you've never been so that you might be able to let some of the weight go.

(SOUNDBITE OF BJORK SONG, "UTOPIA")

RACHEL MARTIN, BYLINE¹: Bjork's music has always had this otherworldly quality to it. She's maybe the world's best-known avant-garde musician. This time around, the feeling of just jetting off to another planet is explicit². This time, Bjork is searching for Utopia.

(SOUNDBITE OF BJORK SONG, "UTOPIA")

BJORK: Because the subject matter was Utopia, I wanted to feel like you've entered this - come to this island and there were all these sounds and birds and plants that you've never seen or heard before.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UTOPIA")

BJORK: (Singing) Utopia...

MARTIN: It is an interesting intellectual exercise to think about what Utopia sounds like.

BJORK: (Laughter) Yeah, I think so. We did a lot of research into, like, mythological³ stories from South America and Africa and from all over that had flutes⁵ in it. And they all seemed to have that sort of same kind of story where all the women escape with the flutes and the children. And they go to some place where there's no violence and no aggression⁶. And they form a new society that's utopian. But then always three quarters into the story (laughter), the males return.

MARTIN: The men ruin their Utopia?

BJORK: No, I think in the end - like, first they come in some aggressive way. But then they have to kind of negotiate. The stories always end, like, on some sort of turn where the sexes have found a new way to communicate. So it has a happy ending.

But I think the beginning of this album and the utopian idea is very much about escaping aggression and escaping - as almost like a radical⁷ protest to say, OK, I'm going to go with the children and my flutes (laughter) over to that corner over there. And that's where I'm going to define my Utopia. And then once I've defined it, we can talk.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ARISEN MY SENSES")

BJORK: (Singing) Was all there is.

MARTIN: Bjork made her own radical departure after her last album. It was called "Vulnicura," and it was about the pain of separating from her long-term partner. For the album "Utopia," she assembled a 12-women flute⁴ orchestra to create what Bjork calls a sound that is light and fluffy⁸ - maybe.

(SOUNDBITE OF BJORK SONG, "COURTSHIP")

MARTIN: The flute, it is an instrument that you have worked with for a really long time. This was your first instrument growing up. Am I right on that?

BJORK: Yeah. I started playing the flute when I was, like, 5.

MARTIN: So many people learn the piano first or maybe the violin, a string instrument. But when the flute - when that is the first instrument, I wonder if it has influenced how you compose music.

BJORK: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I started writing melodies really young. I would always walk a lot outside. And I lived on the suburbs of Reykjavik. And that generation, we would walk in any weather. And I would sing a lot. And that would be, like, my friend - like, how I would sort of cope with all the different weathers and the darkness.

I think when you walk and sing at the same time, you know, you're probably regulating your breath - it's like a certain rhythm. And I still - kind of that's my most preferred way of singing still is walking - not fast or anything, just like slowly but - and actually very horizontally. I'm not much of a vertical⁹ hiker.

MARTIN: (Laughter) What is your - can I ask you what is your go-to song when you're just walking around the city?

BJORK: But I think most of the time when I'm singing, it's just more - I just make things up. I don't really sing other people's songs - not even my old ones. I usually always try to walk somewhere where nobody can hear me. So I usually - I'm not really comfortable with people hearing. It was - because I think for so long it was a secret of mine so I think I'm probably quite good at hiding it.

MARTIN: I have to say there's something funny about the idea of Bjork walking around singing to herself and then being so embarrassed that you then stop when someone walks up (laughter). I mean, you are Bjork. You're pretty good at singing.

BJORK: But I'm not Bjork to myself. I'm just - nobody is an icon¹⁰ to themselves.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BLISSING ME")

BJORK: (Singing) Cliffhanger like suspension - my longing¹¹...

MARTIN: But Bjork is an icon to artists and fans around the world. So when she took to Facebook in October to describe sexual harassment¹² she had faced, the world noticed. Bjork says she did it to stand beside the growing number of people who are publicly naming their perpetrators.

BJORK: All the women now that are coming out, they knew that if they would stand up, they would just be ridiculed¹³. And what's so beautiful about this moment now is it's changing. And it's wonderful also for me to have a young daughter. And I feel just confident about that she's not going to have to take this on, you know. I think it's - really feels like there's a big change in the air.

MARTIN: Do you think Utopia is possible? I mean, did you pick that title because you are inherently an optimist¹⁴? Or is it a more cynical¹⁵ interpretation¹⁶, casting it as a sort of naive¹⁷ expectation?

BJORK: I think it's all of the above. I like the complexity¹⁸ that the title "Utopia" brings. I have six younger siblings¹⁹. I was the oldest one. And then I had a child when I was - I was a single mom very early. I've always had a lot of kids around me. And, you know, when you are bringing up children, you have to have a spiritual plan with optimism. There has to be a way out.

And I feel - I am a stubborn optimist in that way. But I don't think I'm unrealistic. I think with any situation - especially the tough ones - you have to have an imagination to think of a Utopia. And then if only half of it or even just a quarter of it comes true, that's still plenty. That's still a lot.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE GATE")

BJORK: (Singing) I can care for you - care for you.

MARTIN: The new album is called "Utopia." We've been speaking with Bjork.

Thank you so much for talking with us.

BJORK: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE GATE")

BJORK: (Singing) I care for you - care for you.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

3 mythological   

adj.神话的

参考例句：

• He is remembered for his historical and mythological works. 他以其带有历史感和神话色彩的作品而著称。
• But even so, the cumulative process had for most Americans a deep, almost mythological significance. 不过即使如此，移民渐增的过程，对于大部分美国人，还是意味深长的，几乎有不可思议的影响。

4 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。

5 flutes   

长笛( flute的名词复数 )； 细长香槟杯（形似长笛）

参考例句：

• The melody is then taken up by the flutes. 接着由长笛奏主旋律。
• These flutes have 6open holes and a lovely bright sound. 笛子有6个吹气孔，奏出的声音响亮清脆。

6 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

8 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

9 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

10 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

11 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

12 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

13 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 optimist   

n.乐观的人，乐观主义者

参考例句：

• We are optimist and realist.我们是乐观主义者，又是现实主义者。
• Peter,ever the optimist,said things were bound to improve.一向乐观的皮特说，事情必定是会好转的。

15 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

16 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

17 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

18 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

19 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分