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Pagan Poetry

"Pagan Poetry"
BjörkPaganPeotry.png
Single by Björk
from the album Vespertine
B-side
  • "Domestica"
  • "Batabid"
  • "Aurora"
Released 5 November 2001
Format
Length
  • 5:17 (album version)
  • 4:01 (radio edit)
Label One Little Indian
Writer(s) Björk
Producer(s)
  • Björk
  • Marius de Vries
Björk singles chronology
"Hidden Place"
(2001)
"Pagan Poetry"
(2001)
"Cocoon"
(2002)

"Pagan Poetry" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fourth album, Vespertine. It was released as the second single from the album on 5 November 2001, by One Little Indian Records.

The single peaked at number 38 in the UK and number 15 in Canada.

It was written and produced by Björk with additional production by Marius de Vries and mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent. The music box adaptation, featured in the song, was done by Jack Perron and the full version was later featured as a B-side song on the "Cocoon" single.

"Pagan Poetry" has been highly praised by critics, with many citing it as a highlight of Vespertine. AllMusic said of "Pagan Poetry" that it "shares a spacious serenity with the album's quietest moments" and included this song as a track pick.Rolling Stone said: "In 'Pagan Poetry', she deploys the implied heaven of Zeena Parkins harp and a flotilla of music boxes with an Asian-teahouse touch."Blender said "'Pagan Poetry' sounds like the prelude to a particularly exotic sexual interlude."

In March 2006, in the number 77 of the Spanish edition of Rolling Stone, "Pagan Poetry" was ranked number 38 by Spanish music professionals and experts on a list of the best songs of the 21st century.Pitchfork Media placed the song at number 227 on its list of "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s".

The accompanying music video for "Pagan Poetry" was directed by Nick Knight, who had previously photographed the cover image for her third studio album Homogenic (1997). The video had three stages of shooting: a video shoot of piercings, a private video shoot handled by Björk, and a film shoot of Björk. The piercings video and film shoot were done in a day in June 2001 in Knight's studio in London. The sole light source was diffused sunlight shining through the ceiling windows of the second floor daylight studio. This studio gave a "northlight" look and had a rawness to it that matched the subject matter, photography director Simon Chaudoir said.


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