Birthday

"Birthday" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic band The Sugarcubes for their 1988 debut album Life's Too Good. It was their first international single and the first single released from the album. The Icelandic-language version "Ammæli" was released on an Iceland-only single Einn Mol Á Mann (One Cube Per Head) the previous year and was included as the B-side on the international single. After "Birthday" became the single of the week in Me... more

"Birthday" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic band The Sugarcubes for their 1988 debut album Life's Too Good. It was their first international single and the first single released from the album. The Icelandic-language version "Ammæli" was released on an Iceland-only single Einn Mol Á Mann (One Cube Per Head) the previous year and was included as the B-side on the international single. After "Birthday" became the single of the week in Melody Maker magazine and NME in August 1987, and was selected as number one in John Peel's Festive Fifty list, the band attained worldwide recognition and success. According to Björk, "Birthday" is a "tasteless pop song" about a five-year-old girl who has a love affair with the man next door, who is celebrating his fiftieth birthday. The chorus features Björk singing a wordless melody with a distinctive loudness and force of voice. This song was most recently covered by The Mars Volta. less