Label Fat Cat, Smekkleysa | Length 10:13 Producer(s) Ken Thomas | |
Writer(s) | ||
"Viðrar vel til loftárása" (Icelandic for "Good Weather for an Airstrike"; pronounced [ˈvɪðrar vɛl tʰɪl ˈlɔftʰaʊraʊsa]) is a song written and recorded by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós for their second studio album Ágætis byrjun. The song appears as the seventh track on the album. It was also released as the B-side of Sigur Rós' debut single "Svefn-g-englar".
Contents
Background
The band named the song after a quote spoken by Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, historian and a former reporter at RÚV (The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service in Iceland). Guðni was referring to weather condition during NATO bombing of Belgrade. "Viðrar vel til loftárása" literally means "good weather for an airstrike".
Music video
"Viðrar vel til loftárása" spawned a cinematic and controversial music video. Set in 1950s Iceland, it features a football match between two teams of young boys. As one team scores a goal and celebrates, two young boys on the same team begin to kiss. The kiss is eventually broken up by the boys' fathers. All band members appear in cameo in the video: Jónsi is the soccer team coach, Orri is the scorekeeper, Georg is the referee, and Kjartan is one of the spectators. Moreover, the fetus design from the Ágætis byrjun album cover is shown on a bottle from which one of the boys drinks.
Production for the music video began in the autumn of 2001. A general casting call was held in the city of Reykjavík, Iceland, which was also the place of principal photography. The video was directed by Arni & Kinski, Icelandic directors Stefán Árni Þorgeirsson and Sigurður Kjartansson (Siggi Kinski). The video won an Icelandic Music Award for "Best Video" in 2002. Music Magazine New Musical Express ranked the video 9th in their article "100 Greatest Music Videos".
The idea for the video came from Sigur Rós' former drummer Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson.