Bachelorette (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Bachelorette


Artist = Björk
from Album = Homogenic
B-side = "My Snare"
"Scary"
Released = December 8, 1997
Format = CD, 12"
Recorded =
Genre = Alternative, Electronica
Length = 3:37 (radio edit)
5:11 (album)
Label = One Little Indian
Writer = Björk, Sjón
Producer = Björk
Certification =
Last single = "Jóga"
(1997)
This single = "Bachelorette"
(1997)
Next single = "Hunter"
(1998)

"Bachelorette" is a song by Björk, released as the second single from her 1997 album "Homogenic". The song is emotionally charged and theatrical, following the album's theme of "beats and strings". Björk herself describes the song's story as "Isobel goes to the city."

Music Video

The surreal music video was directed by longtime Björk video collaborator Michel Gondry, and is an exploration of self-reference. It features Björk as "Bachelorette", a woman who finds a book buried in her garden that begins to write itself, describing what Bachelorette does as she describes it; the book is entitled "My Story". She takes the book to a publishing house, "Clark Publishing", in an unspecified large city that may be Chicago, and she and the publisher fall in love. (It becomes obvious, seeing and hearing excerpts from the book, that the book tells the story of how Bachelorette found the book, travelled to meet the publisher, and fell in love with him.) The book becomes incredibly popular (at one point, all of Bachelorette's fellow passengers on a subway are seen reading it), and is turned into a musical, featuring Bachelorette as herself. The musical version includes the story of the musical itself, so at some point a mini-theater is shown on the stage, featuring actors dressed as a small audience. At some point later in the musical this mini-musical features an even smaller version of itself, with an even smaller stage audience. The publisher, who is in the actual audience, becomes disgusted with seeing so many versions of himself, and breaks off the relationship; later, his character in the original musical does as well. The book becomes unpopular, and the original copy begins unwriting itself. Because of this turn of events, a chain reaction occurs in the nested theatres, causing each to be nullified and revert back to nature. Ultimately, the entire city de-evolves into the garden that appeared at the outset. The unwritten book finds its resting place buried in the ground once more, and Bachelorette ends up dancing and surrounded by wildlife.

The video was based on an original idea by Björk, who saw "Batchelorette" as a continuation of the character portrayed in "Isobel" and "Human Behaviour". As Gondry describes it, "this character is leaving the forest and she decides to go to the city to have a normal life. She tries her best and it doesn't work out and she comes back to the forest and she is happier there." [Pytlik, Mark. "Bjork: Wow and Flutter", p. 132. ECW Press, 2003. ISBN 1550225561]

"Bachelorette" is the third part of a song cycle that includes "Human Behaviour" and "Isobel". And as with the latter two its lyrics were written by Björk's longstanding co-writer Sjón.

The song has been covered by Turkish singer Müslüm Gürses and artist Voltaire.

Track listing

UK CD1

#"Bachelorette" [Radio Edit] (3:37)
#"My Snare" [aka "Nature is Ancient"] (3:37)
#"Scary" (2:25)
#"Bachelorette" [Howie Spread Mix] (5:49)

UK CD2

#"Bachelorette" [Mark Bell Optimism Mix] (5:49)
#"Bachelorette" [Mark Bell Zip Remix] (4:18)
#"Bachelorette" [Mark Bell Blue Remix] (2:52)
#"Bachelorette" (5:12)

UK CD3

#"Bachelorette" (RZA Remix) (5:49)
#"Bachelorette" (Alec Hypermodern Jazz Remix) (5:49)
#"Bachelorette" (Ae the Ice Princess and the Killer Whale Remix) (6:23)
#"Bachelorette" (Grooverider Jeep Remix) (9:11)

EU CD

#"Bachelorette" [Radio Edit] (3:37)
#"Bachelorette" (RZA Remix) (5:49)
#"Bachelorette" [Mark Bell Optimism Mix] (5:49)
#"Bachelorette" [Mark Bell Zip Remix] (4:18)
#"Bachelorette" [Mark Bell Blue Remix] (2:52)
#"My Snare" [aka "Nature is Ancient"] (3:37)

JP Bachelorette / Jóga EP

#"Bachelorette" [Radio Edit] (3:37)
#"Bachelorette" [Howie Spread Mix] (5:49)
#"Bachelorette" [Mark Bell Zip Remix] (4:18)
#"Bachelorette" (Alec Hypermodern Jazz Remix) (5:49)
#"Bachelorette" (Grooverider Jeep Remix) (9:11)
#"Jóga" (Buzz Water Remix) (4:21)
#"Jóga" (Alec Empire Hardcore Mix 1) (3:02)
#"Jóga" (Alec Empire Hardcore Mix 2) (4:15)
#"Jóga" (Album Version) (5:09)
#"Jóga" (String And Vocal Mix) (4:25)

Remixes

*Alec Hypermodern Jazz remix
*Alec Empire The Ice Princess and the Killer Whale remix
*Grooverider Jeep remix
*Howie Spread mix
*Mark Bell Blue remix
*Mark Bell Optimism remix
*Mark Bell Zip remix
*Radio edit
*RZA remix

Charts

References

External links

* [http://unit.bjork.com/77island/77island/bachelorette.htm List of "Bachelorette" releases]
* [http://unit.bjork.com/specials/gh/SUB-05/index.htm "Bachelorette" at Björk's official site]