March 5, 2008
Björk's "Tibet, Tibet" caught on Youtube
We've been looking around all day for a video of Björk's final song Declare Independence at her Shanghai concert and here it is! [Click here for another alternative video] Björk chanted "Tibet, Tibet" not once, but thrice, before yelling out "Raise your flag" again and again in a crescendo that made the crowd completely ecstatic (presumably because half of them didn't understand what she was saying?). A scan of Baidu News reports on the concert continues to show ZERO mention of the incident, so it is likely that a news embargo has been imposed. Even among the English-language mainstream media, the story is slowly gaining currency. Only two more newswires covered the incident yesterday: AP and the Press Association. We don't know if and when the tipping point will be reached, but when that does happen, one can expect Xinhua to publish commentaries denouncing Bjork for "greatly hurting the feelings of 1.3 billion Chinese".
Previously on Shanghaiist
Did Björk actually root for Tibetan independence in her Shanghai concert?
Björk in Shanghai: Our thoughts, your thoughts
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Björk, taking big RMB from China while humiliate all the Chinese by her English song. but guess what, she is just a thief and dwarf bitch. if she is of any guts, she'd say it in Chinese. it is not hard to do so. She thinks Chinese are stupid and she thinks that she knows China VERY WELL. She imagines that she is GOD and will save Tibet from China... what a good spirit...but still i believe this bitch should repect herself a bit before she worrys about Tibet.
For most foreigners, they always think they know, but the truth is, they dont know anything.
I have no idea what she said. That looked like a horrible show too.
Go, #1, Go! 为祖国争光! You are a true representative of Chinese spirit!
Yes, the Chinese spirit to crush and subjugate! Onward, brothers!
But we brought them hospitals and schools! Those ingrates! White man's burden come again, with a twist.
When a Country decides to invade and conquer another, the least it can expect is some form of controversy, it’s purely realistic. An entire population has been attacked and destroyed from a cultural, spiritual and material point of view and in a modern progressive world, this is something that has to be acknowledged and understood.
Bjork, as other millions of people in the world and in China, sends a message to raise the awareness about a historical fact. I think we should all accept this message and the challenge to understand and participate responsibly to this life. You can live in denial and be offended, or you can start thinking with your own mind, face the truth and make sure that violence will not be an option in our existence anymore.
Respect the universal rights of identity, territory, language and spirituality as if it was yours. Peace.
Am I missing something? It seems really incredibly boring (even compared to local bands like Loudspeaker), and I don't hear any "Tibet Tibet Tibet" yells. She seems to be kind of talking in Icelandic.
A Pitchfork piece includes Bjork's response to the controversy regarding her dedication of "Declare Independence" to both Kosovo and Tibet.
Regarding the above comments, it would be all to easy to draw the conclusion that "Chinese are stupid" if comments #1 & 3 were all one had to go on. Fortunately for China, reasonable people around the world don't generalize based on a couple of childish online comments.
Here's the quote from the article:
"I have been asked by many for a statement after dedicating my song 'Declare Independence' to both Kosovo and Tibet on different occasions. I would like to put importance on that I am not a politician, I am first and last a musician and as such I feel my duty to try to express the whole range of human emotions. The urge for declaring independence is just one of them but an important one we all feel at some times in our lives. This song was written more with the personal in mind but the fact that it has translated to its broadest meaning, the struggle of a suppressed nation, gives me much pleasure. I would like to wish all individuals and nations good luck in their battle for independence. Justice!"
Though maybe # 3 is being sarcastic. Hope so.
I'll take Bjork's exhortations a lot more seriously when the Vikings give back all the plunder from their raping and pillaging days...
:)
Why is Bjork a thief? The dwarf bitch part makes a bit more sense, but a thief? I hope she didn't get paid with the RMB, although maybe she set up a WFOE before the show to aid her thieving. I wouldn't be surprised: she crazy.
Also, just out of curiosity, is it possible to humiliate any less than 1.3 billion Chinese people, or do they all just kind of lump together?
#1 Why you get so mad? It like, say you advertise veal at your restaurant and someone says "hey I think this is pork really not veal" and then you go like crazy person saying "You stupid bitch dwarf! You don't know pork and veal! You shut up!" And then you shake your big knife and say "You get out of here!" You could have instead say "No, lady, you mistaken, this #1 for sure excellent veal, no pork." But you don't do that, you go crazy. So you know what I smell? PORK!
God forbid a free thinking individual express a political opinion about another country.
By your own rules winterfalling, you are no longer elligible to make comments about any events happening outside of China's borders, you misogynistic little prick.
Any Chinese person, or non-Chinese person for that matter, who can't simply say 'well she is entitled to her opinion, but I don't agree with her' and get on with life is a COWARD.
Well hey, I can understand why some Chinese people would be upset. The thing is that Bjork chose the wrong occasion to voice her opinion. I sympathise with her views, but proclaiming your support for the independence of a part of another country, occupied or not, while you are performing on a stage in that country is a bit disrespectful.
She could have made a much stronger impact by publicly announcing her views to the news media apart from the concert. Maybe this would go against her proclamation that she is just a musician. However, all I really think she did at the concert was make a bunch of Chinese people angry.
It is like going to a funeral and, during the service interrupting and saying, "Hi, you do all know that Joe Smith was a total bastard, right?" Joe might have been one, but the funeral is not the time to say it.
The embedded video isn't correct anymore. Was it edited?