Day After Day #112: Army of Me

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Army of Me (1995)

When it comes to artists who march to their own drummers, it's hard to find someone more unique than Bjork. The Icelandic singer has been doing her own thing for close to 40 years now (and really, probably her entire life). 

She was 11 when she released her first album and 21 when her band The Sugarcubes made its debut in 1986, eventually releasing three albums over the following six years. Her off-kilter yet distinct voice and three-octave range stood out as the Sugarcubes garnered some interest on MTV's 120 Minutes and had minor hits with "Birthday," "Motorcrash" and "Hit." 

She left the band in 1992 to go solo, moving to London and working with producer Nellee Hooper. Her debut album, 1993's Debut (duh) had a hit with "Human Behaviour," the video of which was directed by Michel Gondry and got plenty of play on MTV. 

For her second album, 1995's Post, Bjork worked with Hooper, Tricky, Graham Massey of 808 State and Howie B, immersing herself in dance and techno. The lead single was "Army of Me," a powerful industrial-sounding song that was inspired by the singer's brother, who was struggling at the time. She's essentially challenging him to get off his ass and take charge of his life.

"Stand up/You've got to manage/I won't sympathize/Anymore/And if you complain once more/You'll meet an army of me/And if you complain once more/You'll meet an army of me."

Musically, the song booms, sampling its drum part from Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" (which is massive in its own right) and working in grinding synth bass to create a wall of sound behind Bjork's manifesto to her brother.

"You're on your own now/We won't save you/Your rescue squad/Is too exhausted/And if you complain once more/You'll meet an army of me."

I first heard of the song because it was on the Tank Girl soundtrack. That movie bombed, but "Army of Me" got lots of airplay in the Boston area on WFNX. The video was again directed by Michel Gondry and it's wonderfully weird: Bjork is driving a tanker truck through town, goes to a gorilla dentist who finds a diamond in her mouth. She then goes to a museum and blows it up to save her a young man in a coma (her brother?). He wakes from the coma and they hug, with Bjork crying tears of jewels. The video was removed from MTV's playlist before it aired because of the Oklahoma City terrorist bombing; later it was broadcast but edited to end before the bombing scene.

The album Post ended up being a big hit around the world, going platinum in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia. In addition to "Army of Me," the album had hits with "Isobel," "It's Oh So Quiet" and "Hyperballad." Her follow up, Homogenic in 1997, was more experimental but still did well, albeit not as well as Post. She wrote the score and acted in the 2000 Lars Von Trier film Dancer in the Dark and won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. She performed at the 2001 Oscars and wore a dress that looked like a swan, which got her plenty of attention.

Bjork has continued to stay busy since then, releasing seven very different albums and occasionally acting. She's maintained her pixie image even into her late 50s. Her voice can vary from shrieks to whispers to speak-singing. Bjork is nothing if not interesting.