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Biophilia
Björk
Writer(s) Björk
Producer(s) Björk
Length 5:06

Biophilia track listing

"Mutual Core" is a song by Björk from her eighth studio album, Biophilia.

Background[]

Eruptions and earthquakes, the building of continents, the formation of mountain ranges and oceanic trenches, all are powerful geological signs of earth’s underlying structure and mechanics. In Mutual Core Earth’s geology is transformed into a metaphor for human relationships. Opposing forces of compression and release, central to continent building and to human feelings, are expressed sonically, and in the app, by the contrast between the shifting of chords in the verse and uplifting chorus. The contrast can also be seen in the contrasting visual patterns of the animation, and is evoked by Björk’s working title for this track, 'Organ Plaid', which describes an interwoven musical fabric. While the song’s themes are universal, the lyrics indicate a specific, autobiographically significant geographical region: the boundary of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, on which sits Björk’s birthplace — Iceland. — Biophilia App

Music video[]


Premiere date November 13, 2012
Director(s) Andrew Thomas Huang
Producer(s) Árni Björn Helgason
Production company N/A
Director of photography August Jakobsson, Laura Merians


Lyrics[]

I shuffle around the tectonic plates in my chest
You know I gave it all
Try to match our continents
To change seasonal shift
To form a mutual core

As fast as your fingernail grows
The Atlantic ridge drifts
To counteract distance
You know I gave it all
Can you hear the effort
Of the magnetic strife?
Shuffling of columns
To form a mutual core

This eruption undoes stagnation
You didn't know that I had it in me
Withheld your love, an unspent capsule
I didn't know you had it in you
You hid the key to our continuity
I didn't know you had it in you
This eruption undoes stagnation
You didn't know, you didn't know

What you resist persists
Nuance makes heat
To counteract distance
I know you gave it all
Offered me harmony
If things were done your way
My Eurasian plate subsumed
Forming a mutual core

This eruption undoes stagnation
You didn't know that I had it in me
Withheld your love, an unspent capsule
I didn't know you had it in you
This eruption undoes stagnation
You didn't know I had it in me
This eruption undoes stagnation
You didn't know, you didn't know

Credits[]

  • Music & lyrics by Björk
  • Organ arrangement by Björk
  • Beat by 16bit, Matthew Herbert & Björk
  • Programmed by 16bit, Matthew Herbert & Björk
  • Choir arrangement by Björk
  • Engineered by Damian Taylor & Sveinn Kjartansson
  • Mixed by Damian Taylor & Björk
  • Produced by Björk

References[]

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