Today, it's the turn of Sigur Ros' "Hoppípolla", which comes with one of my favourite video clips, and with a narrative I recognise from my childhood in Iceland and which I hope, as in the clip, I will return to in old age.
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Brosandi / SmilingHendumst í hringi / Spinning round
Höldumst í hendur / Holding hands
Allur heimurinn óskýr / The whole world a blur
Nema þú stendur / But you are standing
Rennblautur / Soaked
Allur rennvotur / Completely drenched
Engin gúmmístígvél / No rubber boots
Hlaupandi inni í okkur / Running inside us
Vill springa út úr skel / Want to erupt from a shell
Vindurinn / The Wind
Og útilykt af hárinu þínu / And the outdoor smell of your hair
Ég anda eins fast og ég get / I breathe as hard as I can
með nefinu mínu / With my nose
Hoppípolla / Jump into puddles
Í engum stígvélum / With no boots on
Allur rennvotur / Completely drenched
Í engum stígvélum / With no boots on
Og ég fæ blóðnasir / And I get a nosebleed
En ég stend alltaf upp / But I always stand up
Og ég fæ blóðnasir / And I get a nosebleed
En ég stend alltaf upp / But I always stand up
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It's a gorgeous song, with a wonderful conceit: keep coming back to what delighted you as a child. I use the song in one of my introductory creative writing units, honestly one of only two or three occasions that I bring up Iceland. The line, for me, that holds it all together is "og útilykt af hárinu þínu" - the outside smell of your hair.
There is no other description for that smell, is there, than simply that it comes from outside.
(And, while I am putting the case for Sigur Rós, I might as well add another favourite: "Ára Bátur", or Row Boat, available as a live in the studio recording here.)
