Song · Björk
“Hyperballad” by Björk
From the album Post (1995)
“Hyperballad” by Björk appears on 10 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1996 and 2024. It was first released in 1995 on the album Post. Its best result is #41 on The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #215 alternative song of 1996.
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"Hyperballad" sits on Post, Björk's second solo album from 1995, and went out as its fourth single in February 1996. She wrote it alone and produced it with her longtime collaborator Nellee Hooper, and it's a thrilling collision of folktronica, acid house and synth-pop: Björk and Marius de Vries on keyboards, an arrangement by Gavyn Wright with Anthony Pleeth on cello and Robert Smissen on viola, and a beat that keeps building until the whole thing takes off. Mark "Spike" Stent and Al Stone mixed it.
The lyric is a dream: she slips out before her lover wakes, hurls things off a cliff to watch them shatter, then climbs back into bed. Björk said it stood for the pieces of yourself you surrender to keep a relationship going. Critics rated it the best thing she'd done yet, and Michel Gondry's video sent a digitised Björk running and tumbling off a cliff.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 53 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 624 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2018 | 386 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2019 | 138 | KEXP | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time | 627 |
| 2021 | 431 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
| 2022 | 41 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2022 | 263 | KEXP | KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) | 491 |
| 2023 | 81 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2023 | 1134 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2024 | 1033 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
Also listed as: Hyper Ballad; Hyper-ballad.
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