Working/Alternative Titles (albums, songs) - UPDATES

[digitalsky]

so unravel was called "ball of yarn" once?

[martin]

so unravel was called "ball of yarn" once?

yupp.... you're right... updated on the 1st page of this thread...

[Magnetar]

Here's a few Martin ...

THANKS! This is what I was looking for... maybe we could post additions to this list in this thread...

New: Volta = Voltage/Voodoo (<-- can anyone approve this?)

"I am always looking for words that have some sort of energy. Usually the name just comes, from a magazine or somebody says something. I had waited for years while working on the album but it didn't come. In the lyrics there are words like "voltage" and "voodoo", which I found to be too common somehow.

I have always tried to choose titles which are kind of latin or something, which aren't english, which is a little funny because we europeans find latin to be sort of neutral language... But I found Volta... I don't recall how it came about, but I Googled it and found that it is both the name of a scientist in Italy who invented the battery, and also a river in Africa which had been built by men, and a lagoon built by men called Lake Volta. So several parts come into it"

— from the bjork.com Volta album special.

So I suppose they weren't alternative titles, just keywords for the theme of the album.

[bucetinah]

arisen my senses: arisen
the gate: gate
body memory: dance of death
features creatures: kindred spirits

https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/1 ... y_O_S8esz4

[arucinluv]

cvalda appears as "the clattersong" in some music register databases

[untone]

Volta = totempole

[mostico]

Volta = totempole

haha I rememer that! totally believed it for a while. Then people said it was the oli placeholder name.

[Apex]

Volta = totempole

haha I rememer that! totally believed it for a while. Then people said it was the oli placeholder name.

would have fit the album too.

[mostico]

Volta = totempole

haha I rememer that! totally believed it for a while. Then people said it was the oli placeholder name.

would have fit the album too.

if i remember correctly, i was disappointed it wasn't totempole in the end

[arucinluv]

isobel = na na na
you've been flirting again = icelandic folk

[Burnface]

Hyperballad with tablas...

[judaschrist]

isobel = na na na
you've been flirting again = icelandic folk

hi there

how do you know that "icelandic folk" (as mentioned on the tape) is "you've been flirting again"? do you own this cassette?

if so, could you eventually upload its content?

[arucinluv]

isobel = na na na
you've been flirting again = icelandic folk

hi there

how do you know that "icelandic folk" (as mentioned on the tape) is "you've been flirting again"? do you own this cassette?

if so, could you eventually upload its content?

haha i wish it was mine! someone who worked with eumir deodato posted on instagram, but he deleted the post.

[ultramarine]

which song is "cowboy lemmings" again?

[shane]

which song is "cowboy lemmings" again?

hyperballad

[arucinluv]

a little fun fact he shared: she changed part of the lyrics of isobel after eumir orchestrated the song, because she liked the name of the contractor (isobel griffths). cowboy lemmings (hyperballad), like the cassette says, was just strings and indian tablas, and the lyrics were pretty much the same.

[arucinluv]

a few more alt titles i haven't seen mentioned here

human behaviour = marsinn minn
the anchor song = hafnar-lag
mouth's cradle = ghost
thunderbolt = lightning
mutual core = form mutual core

[Magnetar]

arisen my senses: arisen
the gate: gate
body memory: dance of death
features creatures: kindred spirits

https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/1 ... y_O_S8esz4

Could anyone please give another source for these? Because these are all copyright claims from OLI and if websites freely share official songs and just name them 'Arisen' and 'Gate', it doesn't mean Björk used those as working titles. Especially if there's also claims for 'The Gate'. Although ASCAP and some others do mention 'Gate' as well. But not 'Arisen' or 'Prism' (mentioned in the Nowness interview), strangely enough. It's al very confusing. Björk using Kindred Spirits as a working title makes sense, since that is the title of the original Sarah Hopkins track, but are we really sure? And I still refuse to believe 'Dance of Death' is NOT Notget unless proven otherwise. ^^

a few more alt titles i haven't seen mentioned here

human behaviour = marsinn minn

Thanks, I forgot about this one.

cvalda = the clattersong
anchor song = hafnar-lag
mouth's cradle = ghost
thunderbolt = lightning
mutual core = form mutual core

Could you also share some links for these, because well, for example, are we really sure Hafnar-lag = The Anchor Song? It literally translates to 'Harbour Song' and some releases during the Debut era (mostly bootlegs) still used Atlantic's working title 'The Harbour'. Also, The Anchor Song/Um Akkeri has a working title called 'Um Amir'. Are there perhaps photos from MoMA, from one of her notebooks with the Icelandic lyrics to The Anchor Song, titled Hafnar-lag? Or an old direct quote from Björk or a song registration somewhere? Anything would be great.

[childwithlepro]

Could you also share some links for these, because well, for example, are we really sure Hafnar-lag = The Anchor Song? It literally translates to 'Harbour Song' and some releases during the Debut era (mostly bootlegs) still used Atlantic's working title 'The Harbour'. Also, The Anchor Song/Um Akkeri has a working title called 'Um Amir'. Are there perhaps photos from MoMA, from one of her notebooks with the Icelandic lyrics to The Anchor Song, titled Hafnar-lag? Or an old direct quote from Björk or a song registration somewhere? Anything would be great.

https://flic.kr/p/rUaQDz

[arucinluv]

arisen my senses: arisen
the gate: gate
body memory: dance of death
features creatures: kindred spirits

https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/1 ... y_O_S8esz4

Could anyone please give another source for these? Because these are all copyright claims from OLI and if websites freely share official songs and just name them 'Arisen' and 'Gate', it doesn't mean Björk used those as working titles. Especially if there's also claims for 'The Gate'. Although ASCAP and some others do mention 'Gate' as well. But not 'Arisen' or 'Prism' (mentioned in the Nowness interview), strangely enough. It's al very confusing. Björk using Kindred Spirits as a working title makes sense, since that is the title of the original Sarah Hopkins track, but are we really sure? And I still refuse to believe 'Dance of Death' is NOT Notget unless proven otherwise. ^^

a few more alt titles i haven't seen mentioned here

human behaviour = marsinn minn

Thanks, I forgot about this one.

cvalda = the clattersong
anchor song = hafnar-lag
mouth's cradle = ghost
thunderbolt = lightning
mutual core = form mutual core

Could you also share some links for these, because well, for example, are we really sure Hafnar-lag = The Anchor Song? It literally translates to 'Harbour Song' and some releases during the Debut era (mostly bootlegs) still used Atlantic's working title 'The Harbour'. Also, The Anchor Song/Um Akkeri has a working title called 'Um Amir'. Are there perhaps photos from MoMA, from one of her notebooks with the Icelandic lyrics to The Anchor Song, titled Hafnar-lag? Or an old direct quote from Björk or a song registration somewhere? Anything would be great.

"the clatter song" = i found it on sacem database https://repertoire.sacem.fr/en/work-det ... #searchbtn

"hafnar-lag" = moma songlines exbition https://www.flickr.com/photos/christian ... 6999296651

"lightning" = biophilia live artwork, it seems like the bio galaxy with early titles (neptune is dark matter) https://m.imgur.com/92hxHR5?r

form mutual core = this one is in the biophilia live artwork, written on the wall among other working titles that i can't remember. i couldn't find a hd scan tho.

ghost = couldn't find the exact source, but in the moma songlines exhibit, it is written "ghost's cradle" instead of "mouth's cradle". https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/imag ... w&usqp=CAU

about "gate" and "arisen", for example, let's say i upload bachelorette with a different title, the lumen database register the original title and not the made up one. also, the copyright claims dates from before utopia's tracklist even came out, so i'd say they're legit.

kindred spirits also seems legit, just as i go humble was "shove piggy shove" and quicksand was "apologies" etc.

couldn't find anything on "dance of death" aside from it being registered since 2015.

there's also this https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/se ... SVW&page=1
hope working title?

[fox19]

I think the term working titles is used in an slightly abusive way on here:

for kindred spirit, shove piggy shove or apologies or crabcraft these are not so much alternative titles she wanted but final titles of the tracks she used.

for the shorter ones it's most likely a short way to name them but not an actual working title, also for lumen the titles written on the complaints don't necessary mean there are actual ones, for instance there's a lot of these: "Arisen my senses CD1", "Future Forever CD14"....

and btw new & our hands are wrong working titles, the vespertine leak had the files in alphabetic order with these being crabcraft & it's in our hands, most likely a mistake when the leaker uploaded the files on Napster, "new" being a generic word for "new file name" and the person didn't wrote it in, and our hands just a shorten title written quickly

[Magnetar]

Thank you Arucinluv and Childwithlepro for all the information!

I think the term working titles is used in an slightly abusive way on here

I get what you're saying, that's why I had some questions about Arisen and Gate. And still have about a few other titles, but we will probably never have a complete and correct list. It has always been and will stay a work-in-progress since 1993. And to be fair, this thread contains a mix of basically any song title but the album title. So in the spirit of 'not killing off the little enthusiasm there is left on the 4um, I'm going to leave this list I've been working on and let anyone who wants to correct (like I corrected April) and add to it.

[Magnetar]

Working titles / Alternate Titles / Demo Titles / Misprints:

107 Steps = 141 Steps
5 Years = Dare / I Dare You
Alarm Call = Jacko / Joy
All Is Full Of Love = April / All Is Real
All Neon Like = Techno Prayer
An Echo, A Stain = Crave
Ancestors = Piano II
Arisen My Senses = (Arisen)
Army Of Me = If You Complain Once More / Army Of Love
Army Of Me (ABA All-Stars Mix) = Reggae Can
Atlantic = The Harbour
Bachelorette = Bertolucci / Shape Shifter
Batabid = Bati
Bath = Aposiopesis
Charlene = Shiny / Surprise Me
Cocoon = Mouth
Cosmogony = Solar System Song / Melody
Cover Me (Cave Version) = Cover Me (Messiaen Mix)
Crying = B3 / Crying In My Bedroom / Crying Demo
Cvalda - The Clatter Song
Dark Matter = Pneuma / Neptune
Declare Independence = (Declare)
Desired Constellation = Opended
Domestica = Lost Keys
Features Creatures = Kindred Spirits [Sarah Hopkins]
Frosti = Musicbox Intro
Generous Palmstroke = (Palmstroke)
Gratitude = Giftwrapping
Heirloom = Crabcraft [Console]
Hollow = Double Helix / DNA
Holographic Entrypoint = Field Inversion
Homogenic = Homogeneous
Hope = Eternal Whirlwind
Human Behaviour = Marsinn Minn / Murder For Two
Hyperballad = Appreciate / Cowboy Lemmings / Hyper Ballad / Hyper-Ballad
I Go Humble = Shove Piggy Shove [LFO]
I Miss You = Gail Biffen
In The Musicals = In the Musicals Part 1 + In The Musicals Part 2
Isobel = Na Na Na
It's In Our Hands = (Our Hands)
It's Oh So Quiet = Blow A Fuse
Jóga = State Of Emergency
Losss = Loss
Medúlla = Ink / The Lake Experience / The Lake Album
Miðvikudags = Wednesday
Mouth's cradle = (Ghost / Ghost's Cradle)
Mutual Core = Organ Plaid
Nature Is Ancient = My Snare
Notget = (Dance Of Death) / Not Get
Oceania = Olympia Sirens
Oxygen = Oxygen (Evelyn Glennie Mix)
Pagan Poetry = Blueprint / A Different Kind Of Love
Play Dead = Stop Confusing Me
Prayer Of The Heart = Jesus Prayer
Quicksand = Apologies [SPACES]
Scatterheart = Smith & Wesson
Selmasongs = Selma Songs
Show Me Forgiveness = Acapella
Solstice = Ad Lib 1 / Solar Eclipse
Sonnets/Unrealities XI = E.E. Cummings / Sonnets/Unrealities X1
Stonemilker = Soundfield / StonemilkerXtraHQ 360New (360 Video Version)
Storm = Nameless
Sun In My Mouth = (Sun In)
The Anchor Song = Hafnar-Lag / Um Amir / Um Akkeri
The Best Mixes From The Album Debut For All The People Who Don't Buy White Labels = All The Remixes From The Same Album For Those People Who Are Not Into White Labels / Björk's Affairs
The Dull Flame Of Desire = (Dull Flame)
The Gate = Prism [Arca] / (Gate)
The Modern Things = Modern Things
Thunderbolt = Tesla / Lightning
Trance = Now
Unravel = Ball Of Yarn
Utopia = Utopia
Verandi = Chess
Vertebræ By Vertebræ = Energy
Vespertine = Domestika
Vökuró = Vukoro
Who Is It = Embrace Fortress / Who Is It (Carry My Joy On The Left, Carry My Pain On The Right)
You Have Been Flirting Again = Icelandic Folk
You Have Been Flirting Again (Flirt Is A Promise Mix) = Flirt Is A Prom

To Figure Out:

? = Atom
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Valgeir Sigurðsson
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Not Atom Dance

? = Berg
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Not related to Mount Wittenberg Orca

? = Bjork Scratch
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Jóga bridge?

? = Broken Heart
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Black Lake?

? = Coba #1
Written by:
Performer:
Publishers:
- Related to Kobayashi 'Coba' Yasuhiro

? = Dance In The Dark
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- I've Seen It All? Selmasongs?

? = Dance Of Death
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Notget?

? = Dismembered
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- KUKL song and/or working title solo song?

? = Don Kiki
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = Emotional
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Jóga?

Green Machine
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Björk song (Vertebrae by Vertabrae?) and/or this song by Brant Bjork?

? = Hymn
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Universal Music Publishing Ltd
- Saint?

? = I Came To America
Written: by Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = I Would Like To
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = Icelandic Gibberish Techno
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Simon Fisher
Performer: No Performers Found
Publisher: Superb Songs Limited
- Crying related

? = Incidental Music
Written by: Nellee Hooper, Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Graham Massey
Performer: No Performers Found
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Army Of Me, The Modern Things, Violently Happy Long or Other Mix related?

? = Inside
Written by:
Performer:
Publishers:

? = Instru
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Paradisa? Frosti?

? = Johannes Kjartan
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: No Performers Found
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = Kantos
Written by:
Performer:
Publishers:
- Medúlla related

? = L Envers A L (= The Reverse A L)
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = Little Indian
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = Movie Action Tr (as in: 'Movie Action Track'?)
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Related to Selmasongs?

? = Premix
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = Professional Cue
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = Remix
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = Song Of The Wat (as in: 'Song Of The Water'?)
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Early working title for Oceania?

? = Sound Of Music In Prison
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Cvalda? In The Musicals? Selmasongs?

? = Sven Vath Barba (as in: Sven Vath Barbarella)
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = Unseen Sea Scen (as in: 'Unseen Sea Scene'?)
Written by Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing

? = When I Once Was A Child
Written by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & E.E. Cummings
Performers: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publisher: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- Not Innocence - Sun In My Mouth? Sonnets? Mother Heroic?

? = Who's Gonna Love You Now?
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Valgeir Sigurðsson
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
+ Additional Non-ASCAP and Non-BMI Publishers

? = Why I Love You So Much
Written by Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing
- In The Musicals?

? = You Have Everything In Your - (In your what?)
Written by:
Performer:
Publishers:
- No Further Information

Covers / Sampled / Non-Björk Songs:

Abismo
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Celtas Cortos
Performer: Celtas Cortos
Publishers: Universal Music Publishing Ltd
- Hyperballad Cover

Aşk Tesadüfleri Sever (= Love Likes Coincidences) (Turkish Movie, 2011)
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (aka Sjón), Murathan Mungan
Performer: Müslüm Gürses
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Ltd
+ Additional Non-ASCAP and Non-BMI Publishers
- Bachelorette Cover

Evocations of Björk
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Gary Husband
Performer: Gary Husband
Publisher: BMG Rights Management Ltd (UK)
- Listen Here

Jag Spelar Dod
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir, David Arnold, John Joseph Wardle (aka Jah Wobble) / Emma Caroline Brostrom
Performer: No Performers Found
Publishers: 30 Hertz Ltd, Neue Welt Musikverlag GMBH, Universal Music Publishing Ltd
- Play Dead Cover

Mutual Slump
Written by: Josh Davis (aka DJ Shadow) / Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Nellee Hooper & Marius De Vries
Performer: DJ Shadow
Publishers: Concord Entertainment Ltd, Mo Wax Music Ltd, Universal Music Publishing Ltd, and others
- Sampled Possibly Maybe

No Bystanders
Written by: A whole bunch of people / Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (aka Sjón)
Performer: Travis Scott
Publishers: BMG Gold Songs, Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Ltd
- Sampled Jóga

No Place To Hide
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Evil Activities
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Evil Activities
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, Cloud 9 Music BV, Sony Music Publishing
- Sampled Hidden Place

Evil Activities - My Hidden Place (Early version of 'No Place To Hide' feat. Björk vocals)
Evil Activities - No Place To Hide (Album version feat. Rachel Kramer vocals)

Nowy Swiat
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (aka Sjón) & Lars Von Trier / Michał Chludziński
Performer: Janusz Radek
Publishers:
- New World Cover

Variations On A Theme / Variations On A Theme by Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir / Damir Sertić
Performer: Björk Guðmundsdóttir / Damir Sertić
Publisher: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing /
- Six Variations For Piano On "Overture"

Volochici Papers (Alternate Title: Volochic Papers) (from the movie 'Black and White', USA, 1999)
Written by: Superb, Baby Thad, Chip Banks, Raekwon, Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Sjón
Performer: American Cream Team
Publishers: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Ltd + Additional Non-ASCAP and Non-BMI Publishers
- Sampled Bachelorette

Some Random Polish Covers:

CMA
Milosc
Oddech
Perly I Kosmos
Ten Sam Sen
Urwisko
Wrzask
Zbrojna
Written by: Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (aka Sjón), Nellee Hooper, Marius De Vries, etc / Dorota Klamka
Performer: No Performers Found
Publishers:

[arucinluv]

thx for this detailed list, magnetar. i've been wanting to dissect those titles for a while.

one important thing is that most of those odd titles were registered in 2015, after vulnicura was released. (except "hymn", registered in 2020).

berg = black lake? she mentioned wanting black lake to resemble a ingmar bergman drama. i'm really reaching.
bjork scratch = sample? as in a turntable scratch?
broken heart = so broken?
dismembered = kukl song
dance of death = 107 steps?
emotional = stonemilker?
green machine = kyuss song, written by brant bjork, not a björk song
hymn = ??, registered in 2020
i came to america = selmasongs related? interview excerpt?
icelandic gibberish techno = produced/co-written by simon fisher, if i remember correctly, this is a live performance with björk improvising over a techno beat similar to "crying". recorded in reykjavin in 1990. it is available somewhere on the internet.
inside = co-written/co-produced by sam zaman from state of bengal, recorded in november 1999. early version of cocoon?
i would like to = selmasongs related? interview excerpt?
johannes kjartan = this? it's "johannes kjarval" but who knows https://youtu.be/jfv5y4lys3u
l envers a l = i think this might be a interview excerpt, on sacem database there is other french titles like this.
movie action tr = army of me sucker punch mix?
sound of music in prison = selmasongs related? interview excerpt?
unseen sea scene = dr9 related? maybe related to "song of the water"?
when i once was a child = i couldn't find this being a e.e. cummings poem. might be a interview excerpt?

[fox19]

icelandic gibberish techno = produced/co-written by simon fisher, i remember this being around 10 minutes long, there was a live recording on youtube, it might be on the bootleg blogspo

what's that ?

[arucinluv]

icelandic gibberish techno = produced/co-written by simon fisher, i remember this being around 10 minutes long, there was a live recording on youtube, it might be on the bootleg blogspo

what's that ?

it was a live recording of björk improving vocals over a techno beat similar to crying. if i remember correctly, it was recorded in reykjavik in 1990.

[arucinluv]

dance in the dark = overture


another unknown title "not so quiet"


arca said in her discord server that "allow is pierced orchid". alt title perhaps?

[arucinluv]

"hymn" is also registered on iswc as "hymn/background - dancer in the dark"

and "Með mann á bakinu" was recently registered as "man in the back"