R-U-N
Icelandic avant-pop female vocal, elfin soprano with huge dynamic range. Whispered close-mic verses that snap into volcanic full-voice belts and playful yodel slides. Elastic phrasing, breathy consonants, glottal stops, childlike giggles between lines. Production: 1988 to 1997 art-pop hybrid. Skittering breakbeats and warm trip-hop drums under lush chamber strings, harp glissandi, muted brass stabs, vibraphone, music box, analog synth bass. Organic found sounds: footsteps on black sand, water droplets, inhale. Tempo 108 BPM, shifts from 4/4 to loose 6/8 in bridge. Mood: feral joy, tectonic intimacy, deeply weird but deeply human.
R-U-N
Icelandic avant-pop female vocal, elfin soprano with huge dynamic range. Whispered close-mic verses that snap into volcanic full-voice belts and playful yodel slides. Elastic phrasing, breathy consonants, glottal stops, childlike giggles between lines. Production: 1988 to 1997 art-pop hybrid. Skittering breakbeats and warm trip-hop drums under lush chamber strings, harp glissandi, muted brass stabs, vibraphone, music box, analog synth bass. Organic found sounds: footsteps on black sand, water droplets, inhale. Tempo 108 BPM, shifts from 4/4 to loose 6/8 in bridge. Mood: feral joy, tectonic intimacy, deeply weird but deeply human.
Lyrics
Intro - mouth percussion, close mic, tiny giggle
tik-tik, shh, haa... pitter pitter
Verse 1 - whispered, conspiratorial, lips on mic
I woke with a run in my tights
silver ladder climbing my thigh
and outside the river runs
milky fast, not asking why
my nose runs too, the air is minus three
glacier kiss on my upper lip
I run slow, like sap in June
sticky gold inside a twig
Pre-Chorus - voice building, strings enter, breathy
You say run the numbers, run the plan
I say run the moss between my hands
Chorus - sudden octave leap, full belt, brass hit, playful yelp
RUN! fast as reindeer over stone!
RUN! slow as lava finding home!
RUN! wild till my ribs unfold!
RUN! free, and the world runs hot then cold!
ti-ti-ti, run-run-run, I'm a fountain, I'm a flood!
Verse 2 - bouncy, yelpy, post-punk energy, percussive consonants
I used to run away from boys
now I run toward the noise
heartbeat runs a drum machine
boom-tik, boom-tik in my toys
time runs out, the milk runs sour
I run the bath till it overflows
you run your mouth like a motorway
I run my tongue on melting snow
Chorus 2 - bigger, add layered self-harmonies a third above
RUN! fast as thought through fiber veins!
RUN! slow as continents learn names!
RUN! wild, my shoes untie themselves!
RUN! free, and everything else runs with me!
Bridge - switch to 6/8, harp gliss, vocal improv, free time
runny, runnel, runner, rung
all the little runs belong!
[shouted ad lib] shh-ah! pah! hoo-ee-ah!
if I stand still, does the earth run under me?
if I run still, do I become the sea?
[soft giggle] whoosh...
Breakdown - whisper over strings only, intimate
run slow, run deep, run root
run through the wire, run through the fruit
run the code, run the blood, run the road
Final Chorus - ecstatic, layered choir, crack the top note on purpose
RUN! fast, RUN! slow, RUN! wild, RUN! free!
I'm not running from, I'm running as
ti-ti-ti, ah! run-run-run!
Outro - music box, footsteps fading, breath out
pitter, pitter, pitter... stop.