What comes first? The melody, always. It's all about singing the melodies live in my head. They go in circles. I guess I'm quite conservative and romantic about the power of melodies. I try not to record them on my Dictaphone when I first hear them. If I forget all about it and it pops up later on, then I know it's good enough. I let my subconscious do the editing for me.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of melodies in music creation and the value of letting them naturally come to the artist's mind.
Bjork expresses her deep connection to melodies, highlighting how they are the essence of her creativity. She believes that melodies should be allowed to emerge organically from her subconscious, indicating a romantic and conservative approach to music-making. By prioritizing the initial experience of melody over recording it immediately, she suggests trust in the creative process and the power of the subconscious mind in evaluating artistic worth.
In practice
During a music workshop, I quoted Bjork to inspire artists to trust their instincts in creating melodies.
I've always had as many powerful, creative ladies in my life as I have men, and you could probably describe some of those relationships as romantic. I think everyone's bisexual to some degree or another; it's just a question of whether or not you choose to recognise it and embrace it. Personally, I think choosing between men and women is like choosing between cake and ice cream. You'd be daft not to try both when there are so many different flavours.
I don't like records that are the same from beginning to end, that are too styled and slick. Everything is so designed and airbrushed and Botoxed, it makes us think, 'Oh, everybody's perfect except me. Everything's smooth except me.' But nothing is smooth.
My first album didn't come out until I was 27, which in pop years is late, you know. But when it came time to arrange it, I became a kid in a toy shop. I had a harp and a saxophone quartet and a symphony orchestra. I went berserk for a time.
Living in a capital in Europe but still surrounded by mountains and ocean, my relationship to music was strongest walking to school and back. I would sing to myself and very quickly started mapping out my melodies to landscapes - at the time I just thought it was very matter of fact, a common thing to do.
The reality of a poem is a very ghostly one. It suggests, it suggests, it suggests again.
It's impossible for me to say one word about all that music has meant to me in my life. How, then, can I hope to be understood?
All the charming and beautiful things, from the Song of Songs, to bouillabaisse, and from the nine Beethoven symphonies to the Martini cocktail, have been given to humanity by men who, when the hour came, turned from tap water to something with color in it, and more in it than mere oxygen and hydrogen.
The most extraordinary thing about writing is that when you've struck the right vein, tiredness goes. It must be an effort, thinking wrong.
When you read and understand a poem, comprehending its rich and formal meanings, then you master chaos a little.
In my limited experience, shows are like children. You can teach them manners and dress them in little sailor suits, but in the end, they're going to be who they're going to be.
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