"I've Seen It All" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

for the '' Dancer in the Dark'' soundtrack, ''

Selmasongs ''Selmasongs: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Dancer in the Dark is the first soundtrack album by Icelandic musician Björk. It was released on September 18, 2000, by One Little Indian Records to promote and accompany the film ''Dancer i ...

'' (2000). It was written by the singer, along with Sjón and Lars von Trier, who also directed the film. It was released as the first promotional single from ''Selmasongs'' on 21 July 2000, by One Little Indian Records. The song features vocals from

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

frontman Thom Yorke. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Lyrically, it speaks of one coming to terms with the fact that they are going

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. The version from the soundtrack album ''

'' is a duet with

singer Thom Yorke while the version performed in the film '' Dancer in the Dark'' is a duet with actor

Peter Stormare Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm (born August 27, 1953), better known as Peter Stormare (), is a Swedish actor who holds both Swedish and American citizenship. He played Gaear Grimsrud in the film '' Fargo'' (1996) and John Abruzzi in the television ser ...

Background

Björk invited

singer Thom Yorke to record vocals in the album version. This new version was recorded over a four-day span in March 2000, with Björk recording her vocals in Las Vegas. In an interview with ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' magazine, she said: "It was my idea to work with Thom. We spent four days in Spain just singing as and when we felt like it. He's a very pure soul and I know he doesn't do things lightly. So it was great that he agreed". The song was made available for download through Björk's website on 21 July 2000.

Reception

Alexandra Flood from

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

gave a positive review, saying "The centerpiece of the record is, "I've Seen It All", her duet with Radiohead's Thom Yorke. Björk describes the song as Selma's manifesto. It's a beautiful and eerie track, the pair's vocals careening over a techno beat, but just under a lovely set of strings. It's a minor masterpiece". On the other hand, Ryan Schreiber from '' Pitchfork'' said "the paired vocalists also seem an odd match here; when Björk's soaring, intense delivery meets Yorke's general disinterest, the chemistry is far from convincing".

Music videos

There are two music videos for this single. The main version of the video is an excerpt from the film '' Dancer in the Dark'' in which Björk,

and others sing the song on a train. The second version was directed by

Floria Sigismondi Floria Sigismondi (, born 1965) is an Italian-Canadian film director, screenwriter, music video director, artist, and photographer. She is best known for writing and directing ''The Runaways'', for directing music videos for performers includin ...

and was an interactive "webeo" (a web animation) for an

promotion. Björk appeared with her face painted and the viewer could change the scenes and special effects by clicking on the video. A third version was going to be directed by M/M Paris, but there were several problems with the distribution of the song, and finally the video was cancelled. Later, the idea for this video was used for the "

Hidden Place "Hidden Place" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fourth studio album '' Vespertine'' (2001). Written and produced by Björk herself, "Hidden Place" was released as the lead single from ''Vespertine'' on 30 July 2001 by One ...

" video.

Live performances

"I've Seen It All" was performed by Björk and the

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for the very first time in December 1999 at the Union Chapel in London, almost a year before it was released. Björk performed "I've Seen It All" at the 73rd Academy Awards, where the song was nominated for Best Original Song, with a 55-piece orchestra wearing her

swan dress The swan dress is an iconic dress resembling a white swan worn by the Icelandic artist Björk at the 73rd Academy Awards on March 25, 2001, as well as on the cover of her album ''Vespertine'', photographed by Inez and Vinoodh. Designed by Mar ...

. She said before performing on the show, "I'm really excited

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I won many awards ndI've been to a lot of wardshows. This is the most exciting one for me. I'm not just gonna go and grab a fancy frock. It's about singing, so it's a completely different headspace, which is sort of why I'm doing it. I'm really excited. Really, really excited". ''Billboard'' ranked it as the ninth "most awesome" Oscar performance of all time, saying that Björk's "outfit may have cemented her place in Oscar lore, but Bjork's performance was just as memorable, and refreshingly unconventional".

Cover versions

"I've Seen It All" has been covered by

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

in his 2007 album '' Ask Forgiveness''. It was covered by Tristan Tzara on their 2001 album Omorina Nad Evropom. It was also covered by the jazz organ trio Karl Orgeltríó and singers

Ragnar Bjarnason Ragnar Bjarnason, also known as Raggi Bjarna, (22 September 1934 – 25 February 2020) was an Icelandic singer. He was born in a small attic apartment at Lækjargata 12a in Reykjavík. He is the son of Bjarni Böðvarsson, a conductor of a ...

and

Salka Sól Eyfeld Salka Sól Eyfeld (born 18 April 1988), sometimes known simply as Salka Sól, is an Icelandic singer, actress, voice actress, radio host and TV-presenter. She is known as the front figure of bands AmabAdamA and Reykjavíkurdætur and for her ro ...

in 2017.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Björk's official website. *

– vocals, songwriting, production, choir arrangement * Sjón – songwriting * Lars von Trier – songwriting * Thom Yorke – vocals * Vince Mendoza – arrangement, orchestration, conduction * Guy Sigsworth – arrangement * Mark Bell – production * Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing

References

{{authority control 2000 singles Björk songs Thom Yorke songs Songs written by Björk 2000 songs Songs with lyrics by Sjón Music videos directed by Floria Sigismondi Song recordings produced by Björk Male–female vocal duets Lars von Trier