Most people didn't know the members of The Sugarcubes outside of Iceland.
However, for most of these musicians, this wasn't their first band. It was, for most of them, at least their third, and some of their past projects had some renown in Iceland. They were, by most measures, a supergroup.
This was their first English-language single that got some pretty heavy rotation on worldwide alternative radio. It all started when renowned British DJ John Peel heard it and played the HELL out of it. Written by Einar Örn Benediktsson and Sigtryggur Baldursson, it literally was the catalyst that propelled Björk Guðmundsdóttir into such a superstar status that she could drop the Guðmundsdóttir.
Also, the song is really cool and full of weird horns. And some really odd lyrics.
But guys.
They were Icelandic, not English.
The band was actually called Sykermolarnir. And this song was called "Ammæli".
In a lot of ways, the song sounds more natural in Icelandic. Probably because it was written in Icelandic and the English version is absolutely a direct translation. Yep, that's right. Those lyrics were there all along. That five year old girl was always threading worms on a string and keeping spiders in her pocket.
So, the Sugarcubes broke up in 1992, but they reunited for one night only in 2006, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of "Ammæli"! And yeah, Björk's voice and Einar's horns were just as fresh as they were 20 years prior.
But yes, during their initial run, they did perform the song in English, and it sounded so amazing, too. It speaks to the talent of these musicians that they could so effortlessly perform in two languages.
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