"Viðrar vel til loftárása" ( Icelandic for "it's good weather for airstrikes"; pronounced ) is a song written and recorded by

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

band

Sigur Rós Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band that formed in 1994 in Reykjavík. It comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Jónsi, Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal soun ...

for their second studio album ''

Ágætis byrjun (, ''A good beginning'') is the second studio album by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, released on 12 June 1999. The album was recorded between the summer of 1998 and the spring of 1999 with producer Ken Thomas. represented a substantial d ...

''. The song appears as the seventh track on the album. It was also released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of Sigur Rós' debut single "

Svefn-g-englar "Svefn-g-englar" is a song by the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, from their second album, ''Ágætis byrjun''. Overview "Svefn-g-englar" was released as a single in 1999, with two studio recordings — "Svefn-g-englar" (an Icelandic pu ...

Background

The band named the song after a quote sarcastically spoken by an Icelandic weatherman during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

: "" (meaning "today is good weather for an airstrike"). The song is in the key of

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

, specifically in E

mixolydian mode Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' or ''tonoi'', based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; or a modern musical mode or diatonic s ...

Music video

The band recorded a music video for the track. Set in 1950s

, it features a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

match between two teams of young boys. As one team scores a goal and celebrates, two young boys on the same team begin to kiss. The kiss is eventually broken up by the boys' fathers. All band members appear in cameo in the video:

Jón Þór Birgisson Jón is an Old Norse common name still widely used in Iceland and the Faroes. According to Icelandic custom, people named Jón are generally referred to by first and middle names and those without a middle name are referred to with both first nam ...

is the soccer team coach, Orri Páll Dýrason is the scorekeeper,

Georg Hólm Georg "Goggi" Hólm (; born 6 April 1976) is the bassist of the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is the most prominent member of Sigur Rós in the English press, as he does significantly more press than the other members due to him being th ...

is the referee, and

Kjartan Sveinsson Kjartan Sveinsson (; born 2 January 1978) is an Icelandic musician who is the keyboardist for the post-rock band Sigur Rós. He joined the band in 1998. A multi-instrumentalist, he has also played such instruments as the flute, tin whistle, oboe ...

is one of the spectators. The

fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...

design from the ''Ágætis byrjun'' album cover is shown on a bottle from which one of the boys drinks. Production for the music video began in the autumn of 2001. A general casting call was held in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, which was also the location for principal photography. The video was directed by Icelandic directors Stefán Árni Þorgeirsson and Sigurður Kjartansson. The video won an Icelandic Music Award for "Best Video" in 2002. Music magazine ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' ranked the video 9th on their list of "100 Greatest Music Videos". The idea for the video came from Sigur Rós' former drummer Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson.

Accolades

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidrar Vel Til Loftarasa Sigur Rós songs 1999 songs LGBTQ-related songs Songs written by Jónsi Songs written by Orri Páll Dýrason Songs written by Georg Hólm Songs written by Kjartan Sveinsson LGBTQ-related controversies in music Obscenity controversies in music Music video controversies