Bachelorette (song)

"Bachelorette" is a song by Björk, released as the second single from her 1997 album Homogenic. Released on 8 December 1997, the song was originally written for a film by Bernardo Bertolucci, but the project was withdrawn. The lyrics for "Bachelorette" were written by Sjón, a friend and collaborator of the singer. The music video was noted for its surrealistic art direction, leading to a win at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards.

"Bachelorette"
Single by Björk
from the album Homogenic
B-side
  • "My Snare"
  • "Scary"
  • "Jóga"
ReleasedDecember 8, 1997 (1997-12-08)
Recorded1996–97
StudioEl Cortijo Studios
(Málaga, Spain)
GenreTrip hop
Length5:18
5:26 (video version)
3:37 (radio edit)
LabelOne Little Indian Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Björk
Björk singles chronology
"Jóga"
(1997)		 "Bachelorette"
(1997)		 "Hunter"
(1998)

Background

As Björk tells in her website:

Because I wanted the lyrics to be so epic, I got my friend Sjón – who's a poet in Iceland – to write them. We sat together at the kitchen table and drank a lot of red wine and I told him the whole story for hours and days and he wrote the words from that story.

The song is emotionally charged and theatrical, following the album's theme of "beats and strings", but also includes other instruments like timbales, timpani, Alp horn, accordion, etc., that make the song stronger and more dramatic. Björk herself describes the song's story as "Isobel goes to the city."

Music video
Björk in the surreal video for Bachelorette directed by Michel Gondry

The surreal music video was directed by longtime Björk video collaborator Michel Gondry, and is an exploration of self-reference, featuring a dramatized version of the Droste effect. It features Björk as "Bachelorette", a woman who finds a book buried in her garden that begins to write itself, describing what Bachelorette does as she describes it; the book is entitled "My Story".

She takes the book to a publishing house, "Clark Publishing", in an unspecified large city that may be Chicago, and she and the publisher fall in love. (It becomes obvious, seeing and hearing excerpts from the book, that the book tells the story of how Bachelorette found the book, travelled to meet the publisher, and fell in love with him.)

The book becomes incredibly popular (at one point, all of Bachelorette's fellow passengers on a subway are seen reading it), and is turned into a musical, featuring Bachelorette as herself. The musical version includes the story of the musical itself, so at some point a mini theater is shown on the stage, featuring actors dressed as a small audience.

At some point later in the musical this mini musical features an even smaller version of itself, with an even smaller stage audience. The publisher, who is in the actual audience, becomes disgusted with seeing so many versions of himself, and breaks off the relationship; later, his character in the original musical does as well. The book becomes unpopular, and the original copy begins unwriting itself.

Because of this turn of events, a chain reaction occurs in the nested theatres, causing each to be nullified and revert to nature. Ultimately, the entire city devolves into the garden that appeared at the outset. The unwritten book finds its resting place buried in the ground once more, and Bachelorette ends up dancing and surrounded by wildlife.

The video was based on an original idea by Björk, who saw "Bachelorette" as a continuation of the character portrayed in "Isobel" and "Human Behaviour". The song lyrics of "Isobel" were also written by Björk's longstanding co writer Sjón. As Gondry describes it, "this character is leaving the forest and she decides to go to the city to have a normal life. She tries her best and it doesn't work out and she comes back to the forest and she is happier there."[1]

The art direction of the video was heavily praised. The video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction. It was also nominated to the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to Madonna's Ray of Light.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by Turkish singer Müslüm Gürses as "Aşk Tesadüfleri Sever" ("Love Loves Coincidences" in Turkish) and is given his name of album in 2006 and artist Voltaire. Tori Amos has also covered the song in concert, though not to be confused with another song written and performed by herself which shares the title.

The song has been covered by French post-black metal band The Great Old Ones in 2013.

Track listing
UK CD1
  1. "Bachelorette" (radio edit) – 3:37
  2. "My Snare" (aka "Nature is Ancient") – 3:37
  3. "Scary" – 2:25
  4. "Bachelorette" (Howie Spread Mix) – 5:49
UK CD2
  1. "Bachelorette" (Mark Bell Optimism Mix) – 4:09
  2. "Bachelorette" (Mark Bell Zip Remix) – 4:18
  3. "Bachelorette" (Mark Bell Blue Remix) – 2:52
  4. "Bachelorette" – 5:12
UK CD3
  1. "Bachelorette" (RZA Remix) – 5:49
  2. "Bachelorette" (Alec Empire Hypermodern Jazz Remix) – 5:49
  3. "Bachelorette" (Alec Empire the Ice Princess and the Killer Whale Remix) – 6:23
  4. "Bachelorette" (Grooverider Jeep Remix) – 9:11
EU CD
  1. "Bachelorette" (radio edit) – 3:37
  2. "Bachelorette" (RZA Remix) – 5:49
  3. "Bachelorette" (Mark Bell Optimism Mix) – 5:49
  4. "Bachelorette" (Mark Bell Zip Remix) – 4:18
  5. "Bachelorette" (Mark Bell Blue Remix) – 2:52
  6. "My Snare" (aka "Nature is Ancient") – 3:37
JP Bachelorette / Jóga EP
  1. "Bachelorette" (radio edit) – 3:37
  2. "Bachelorette" (Howie Spread Mix) – 5:49
  3. "Bachelorette" [Mark Bell Zip Remix] – 4:18
  4. "Bachelorette" (Alec Empire Hypermodern Jazz Remix) – 5:49
  5. "Bachelorette" (Grooverider Jeep Remix) – 9:11
  6. "Jóga" (Buzz Water Remix) – 4:21
  7. "Jóga" (Alec Empire Hardcore Mix 1) – 3:02
  8. "Jóga" (Alec Empire Hardcore Mix 2) – 4:15
  9. "Jóga" (album version) – 5:09
  10. "Jóga" (String and Vocal Mix) – 4:25
VHS single
  1. "Bachelorette" (music video) – 5:26

Remixes
  • Alec Empire Hypermodern Jazz remix
  • Alec Empire The Ice Princess and the Killer Whale remix
  • Grooverider Jeep remix
  • Howie Spread mix
  • Mark Bell Blue remix
  • Mark Bell Optimism remix
  • Mark Bell Zip remix
  • Radio edit
  • RZA remix
  • Clams Casino – Illest Alive (Sample)

VHS single
  • "Bachelorette" (music video) – 5:26

"My Story" by Isobel the Bachelorette

Based on the book in the video, Björk wrote in her website the whole story appearing on it. The story can be found here.

Charts
Chart (1997–1998) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[2][3] 95
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[4] 48
France (SNEP)[5] 17
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[6] 6
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] 96
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[8] 27
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[9] 21
UK Indie (Official Charts Company)[10] 2
gollark: You can, however, measure it.
gollark: ↑ gnobody, UTTERLY
gollark: https://tenor.com/view/cubs-abstract-cube-gif-11943139
gollark: Hello, HelloBoi!
gollark: Yes, I just haven't seen any.

References
  1. Pytlik, Mark. Bjork: Wow and Flutter, p. 132. ECW Press, 2003. ISBN 1-55022-556-1
  2. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 22 Feb 1998". ARIA. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  3. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  4. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
  5. "lescharts.com > Björk – Bachelorette (chanson)" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  6. "Íslenski Listinn NR. 249 Vikuna 27.11. - 4.12. 1997" (PDF). Dagblaðið Vísir. 1997-11-28. p. 22. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  7. "dutchcharts.nl > Björk – Bachelorette" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  8. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  9. "Official Charts > Björk". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  10. "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
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