Icelandic musical oddity Björk recently dove headfirst into the world of science with her musical project Biophilia, consisting of an album, an app, and a series of live performances. The songs featured all deal with some aspect of science — Dark Matter, Moon, and Crystalline are but a few of the titles.
Even more recently, she teamed up with everyone’s favorite nature show narrator, David Attenborough, to create a documentary about the evolution and science of music and its relationship with us and the natural world. Titled The Nature of Music, the program just aired on the BBC’s Channel 4 but has yet to make its way to other countries. (Have you seen it? Let us know how it was in the comments!)
Today’s Lab Track comes from Björk’s aforementioned art-and-science melding project and poetically explores the everyday life of viruses. Enjoy!
Virus
BjörkLike a virus needs a body
As soft tissue feeds on blood
Some day I’ll find you, the urge is hereLike a mushroom on a tree trunk
As the protein transmutates
I knock on your skin, and I am inThe perfect match, you and me
I adapt, contagious
You open up, say welcomeLike a flame that seeks explosives
As gunpowder needs a war
I feast inside you, my host is youThe perfect match, you and I
You fail to resist
My crystalline charmLike a virus, patient hunter
I’m waiting for you, I’m starving for youMy sweet adversary, ooh
My sweet adversary, oh
My sweet adversary
