Continuing with yesterday’s topic of Icelandic artists, for this week’s #throwbackthursday entry we have this classic song from Sigur Rós: Hoppípolla. You’ve probably heard it hundreds of times even unknowingly, as its piano-based melody has been used multiple times in TV ads and music festivals. It was even used on BBC‘s Planet Earth documentary. However, it is so good that it is well deserving of its ubiquity. It certainly has a relaxing and soothing vibe that makes it almost impossible to get tired of it.
Many, if not all, of the songs from this band led by Jónsi have lyrics on Vonlenska, also known as Hopelandic, which is a “language” invented by Sigur Rós that resembles Icelandic but has no semantic meaning at all. The idea is that the listeners give the songs whatever meaning they want to give them. Hoppípolla is no exception to this and I think that makes it even better, as it cannot get more universal than that.
The band, who appeared on an episode of Games Of Thrones singing The Rains Of Castamere (Sansa and Joffrey‘s wedding), is currently on a hiatus. They have had some legal issues recently and Jónsi has just released his second solo album after 10 years. Hopefully, they will make new music as a band pretty soon.
In the meantime, let’s enjoy once more this classic tune.
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