"Virus" is a song by Icelandic artist Björk released as the third single from the album '' Biophilia''. Each song in the album features a theme related to nature. In "Virus", Björk explores "fatal relationships" such as the one between a

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsk ...

and a cell, as Björk explained in an interview: "It's a kind of a love story between a virus and a cell. And of course the virus loves the cell so much that it destroys it."

Background and composition

"Virus" features a gameleste (a hybrid between a celesta and a

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

that can be controlled by midi and that was also used in "

Crystalline A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

", built exclusively for these songs) base that plays through the whole song. The gameleste represents the 'virus' that continues multiplying until it takes control at the end of the song. Also,

Manu Delago Manu Delago (born 31 July 1984) is an Austrian Hang player, percussionist and composer based in London. Biography Delago was born in Innsbruck, Tyrol, and took music lessons as a child in accordion and piano. As a teenager he mainly played dru ...

plays

hang drum The Hang (; plural form: Hanghang) is a type of musical instrument called a handpan, fitting into the idiophone class and based on the Caribbean steelpan instrument. It was created by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer in Bern, Switzerland. T ...

. Since Björk wanted the album to break the typical 4/4

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...

, "Virus" has a time signature of 3/4, running at a tempo of 120 beats per minute. The lyrics to "Virus" talk about "dangerous relationships", symbiotic relationships in which one organism is parasite for the other and takes a benefit, even changing the other's behaviour. This fact is used as a metaphor between 'love' and 'parasiting'. Björk took inspitation from a

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes refere ...

educative video about mind-controlling parasites and from

candidiasis Candidiasis is a fungal infection due to any type of '' Candida'' (a type of yeast). When it affects the mouth, in some countries it is commonly called thrush. Signs and symptoms include white patches on the tongue or other areas of the mouth ...

, illness that she suffered:

App

The "Virus" app is a video game where a virus attempts to infect healthy cells; the user can control the cells and flick nuclei into the healthy cells, or watch the infection occur in "Video" mode. The user can also try to stop the infection, but if the virus is defeated, the song stops playing. If the virus is prevented the song will stop playing. By tapping on the cells, the user can also make his or her own music.

Official versions

*Album version – 5:26 *Single version – 5:20 *

Hudson Mohawke Ross Matthew Birchard (born 11 February 1986), better known by the stage name Hudson Mohawke, is a Scottish-American producer, composer, and DJ from Glasgow. He is known for his influential work in 21st century hip-hop and electronic music. A ...

Peaches and Guacamol Remix – 4:51 released on Part 3 of the Biophilia Remix Series * Matthew Herbert's Fever Mix – 7:07 released on Part 6 of the Biophilia Remix Series *MIF live version – 5:47 (Biophilia: Manual Edition CD2)

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virus (Bjork Song) 2011 singles 2011 songs Björk songs Songs with lyrics by Sjón Songs written by Björk Song recordings produced by Björk One Little Indian Records singles