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"All Is Full of Love" is a song by Icelandic musician Björk from her third studio album, Homogenic (1997). The lyrics were inspired by love in spring and Ragnarök of Norse mytholo…
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"All Is Full of Love" is a song by Icelandic musician Björk from her third studio album, Homogenic (1997). The lyrics were inspired by love in spring and Ragnarök of Norse mythology.
"All Is Full of Love" is a song by Icelandic musician Björk from her third studio album, Homogenic (1997). The lyrics were inspired by love in spring and Ragnarök of Norse mythology. Björk's original version is a trip hop ballad with soul influences, harp, strings, and electronic beats; the version on Homogenic is a minimalist ambient remix by Howie B, emphasising Björk's vocals. A remix by the German IDM duo Funkstörung was released as a single in 1998.
In 1999, "All Is Full of Love" was released as a single accompanied by a music video directed by Chris Cunningham. The video uses Björk's original mix and depicts Björk as a robot being assembled in a factory, who passionately kisses another robot. The video is often cited as one of the best of all time and a milestone in computer animation; it has been displayed in art exhibitions and was on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The single reached number 24 on the UK Singles Chart and became a dance hit in the United States. The original version of "All Is Full of Love" is the opening track on Greatest Hits (2002), whose tracks were voted for by fans. It has been covered by various artists.
"All Is Full of Love", the closing track of Homogenic, was the album's last song to be written and recorded. Produced by Björk, the original version of the song was replaced "at the last minute" with a remixed version by Howie B. It was inspired by the spring while producing the album in Málaga, Spain. After living in the mountains among other people for six months, Björk felt lonely, but a morning walk in April inspired her to write the track. She had a rough winter and then she realised it was spring after she could hear the birds singing. She wrote and recorded the song in half a day.
In keeping with Homogenic's theme as a tribute to Björk's native Iceland, the track was inspired by Icelandic mythology, such as the Ragnarök. The previous track, "Pluto", stands for death and destruction, whereas "All Is Full of Love" stands for a new beginning. Björk also called it a song about "believing in love" and expressed that "love isn't just about two persons. It's everywhere around you. Even if you're not getting love from Person A, it doesn't mean there's not love there." However, she also described it as "taking the piss", considering it the most "sugary song" ever. As the song opposes the rest of Homogenic's "macho" aesthetic, Björk has said it could have been included on Vespertine.
The lyrics begin with a promise of protection and caretaking: "You'll be given love / You'll be taken care of / You'll have to trust it". The song moves towards a more reproachful tone as Björk sings, "You just ain't receiving / Your phone is off the hook / Your doors are shut", tempered by the recognition that you have to "twist your head around you" because "love is all around you". This is musically effected by Björk's vocals as she sings the lyric "All is full of love" in counterpoint with herself.
The album version of the track does not have drum accompaniment. It does not have Homogenic's characteristic electronic beats, focusing instead on "[creating] an intimacy between the growing dynamics of the instrumentation and Björk's impressive vocal abilities." It uses a long reverb, which results in a wash of sound that suggests a very large space suggestive of the "heavenly" environment Björk envisaged for the track. According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the song has a soft pulse with intervals that build up to an electronic orchestration of industrial beats. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly called it a "moony lullaby" and compared it to the music of Enya. In his review for Spin, James Hunter wrote that the track is one of the times Björk "dips her toe into the warm lake of tradition" and noted its "rockish minor-key verses traipse off into her gospel."
In August 1998, a 12-inch single of "All Is Full of Love", containing a remix by German IDM duo Funkstörung, was released through FatCat Records as a limited release. This remix had been previously distributed as a B-side for "Hunter" (1998), and another remix of the song had been released as a B-side of "Jóga" in 1998. In January 1999, it was announced that the track would be released later that year as a single and that its music video would be shot soon. It was atypical to release a single for promoting an album released two years before, but Björk purposely decided to do this so that the music video was more of a short film than a marketing move. The original release date for the single was 2 May 1999, but was later extended out two weeks to 17 May. To coincide with this announcement, Funkstörung's remix was made available again and an official logo for the release was unveiled.
The music video was released that April, although the premiere of the single was pushed back to 7 June 1999. "All Is Full of Love" was released as two 12-inch singles, two CD singles, a DVD single, and a box set, which included the CD singles and the music video in VHS format. Some publications regard the single as the first DVD single release. In the United Kingdom, it was also made available as two different promotional singles in 1999, and as two VHS singles. B-sides include remixes by μ-Ziq, Funkstörung, Plaid, Guy Sigsworth, Mark Stent and Howie B. The single's artwork consists of shots from the music video and features the official logo, which can be seen in the video as well. The song was also included as the opening track of Björk's 2002 compilation album Greatest Hits, whose songs were selected by fans
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The video version of the song is a midtempo trip hop ballad with soul influences. In opposition to the sonically minimalist mix included on the album, this version has been described as "lushly produced" and includes "fluttering" harps and "shivering" strings. Reportedly the best known and the preferred version by Björk's fans and herself, it is further known under the names of "Mark Stent Mix" and "Video Mix".
