The Dull Flame of Desire (song)

Björk (feat. Antony Hegarty) Writer(s) Fyodor Tyutchev Björk Producer(s) Björk Length 7:30 singles chronology Singles "Earth Intruders" "Innocence" "Declare Independence" "Wanderlust" "The Dull Flame of Desire" Volta track listing "Wanderlust" "Innocence"

"The Dull Flame Of Desire" is a song by Björk featuring Antony Hegarty from her seventh studio album, Volta. It was released as the fifth and final single from the album.

Background

Other new songs have their own convoluted stories. Björk visited Jamaica with Antony Hegarty, the brooding-voiced lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons, to record a lovers’ duet with lyrics from a poem by Fyodor Tyutchev, The Dull Flame of Desire. They sang together, improvising back and forth, for a full day; then Björk edited their duet into a smoldering seven-minute drama, worked up a brass arrangement and decided to set the whole thing to an electronic beat.

Björk on the song in a NY Times interview:

It didn’t work. Eventually she brought in Brian Chippendale, the drummer from the rock duo Lightning Bolt. She told him: “I’ve tried so many beats on this song, but I think it should start with silence, and I think it should build up and then you should sort of take over. And it should be a beat that’s not a normal drumbeat but more like a heartbeat or something that you feel.” He improvised it in one take.

In another interview:

In your duets with Antony [Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons], especially "The Dull Flame of Desire," his voice is more "feminine," and you have a very "masculine" side to your voice -- did you play off these contrasts intentionally? We had tried to sing a lot of stuff, but it was too whispery and sweet. We were two people trying not to step on each other’s toes. So one morning I arrived with a melody I had written in the middle of the night and a lyric by a Russian poet. The [translated] syllables fit perfectly, and we joked about now it was time to belt it out like two divas, be singers. There was a sensation of merging vocally, moments where we didn’t know whose voice was whose.

As part of the Volta podcast, Björk and ANOHNI discussed their collaboration in depth. Watch it here.

Lyrics

I love your eyes, my dear Their splendid, sparkling fire When suddenly you raise them so To cast a swift embracing glance Like lightning flashing in the sky But there’s a charm that is greater still: When my love’s eyes are lowered When all is fired by passions kiss And through the downcast lashes I see the dull flame of desire And through the downcast lashes I see the dull flame of desire I love your eyes, my dear Their splendid, sparkling fire When suddenly you raise them so To cast a swift embracing glance Like lightning flashing in the sky But there’s a charm that is greater still: When my love’s eyes are lowered When all is fired by passions kiss And through the downcast lashes I see the dull flame of desire And through the downcast lashes I see the dull flame of desire Dull flame I see the full flame of desire I see the dull flame I see the full flame I love your eyes, my dear Their splendid, sparkling fire When suddenly you raise them so To cast a swift embracing glance Like lightning flashing in the sky But there’s a charm that is greater still: When my love’s eyes are lowered When all is fired by passions kiss And through the downcast lashes I see the dull flame of desire Through the downcast lashes I see the dull flame of desire Dull flame I see the full flame of I see the dull flame I see the full flame I love your eyes, my dear Their splendid, sparkling fire When suddenly you raise them so To cast a swift embracing glance Like lightning flashing in the sky But there’s a charm that is greater still: When my love’s eyes are lowered When all is fired by passions kiss Through the downcast lashes I see the dull flame of desire And through the downcast lashes I see the dull flame of desire And through the Downcast lashes I see the Dull flame Of Desire

Music video

Premiere date 2008 Director(s) Christoph Jantos, Masahiro Mogari, Marçal Cuberta Juncà Producer(s) Production company Director of photography

Björk revealed in an interview that she and Anohni had recorded themselves singing the song against a green screen in New York, and that she had sent the raw footage to three directors who had taken part in the video contest for her previous single "Innocence".

We recorded our part in front of a green screen, and sent it by email to the directors, one in Japan, one in Spain, and one in France. They're collaborating via email. I don't know how long it will take. I was being pressured by my record company [to make videos] for the more up-tempo songs, but I have great love for "Dull Flame of Desire", and it was very emotionally special for me to make that with Antony. I thought this would be a good way of doing it.