Pagan Poetry

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"Pagan Poetry"

Single by Björk
from the album Vespertine
Released	November 2001
Format	CD
Label	One Little Indian
Chart positions
#4 (Portugal) #6 (Spain) #12 (Canada) #20 (Italy) #37 (UK)
Björk singles chronology
Hidden Place (2001)	Pagan Poetry (2002)	Cocoon (2002)

"Pagan Poetry" was the second single from singer Björk's album Vespertine. The single peaked at number 38 in the UK and number 12 in Canada. It was written and produced by Björk with additional production by Marius De Vries and mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent. The music box adaptation, featured in the song, was done by Jack Perron and the full version was later featured as a b-side song on the "Cocoon" single.

Picture taken from the "Pagan Poetry" video

The music video for "Pagan Poetry", directed by Nick Knight, was also one of Björk's most controversial. It featured Björk in a dress designed by Alexander McQueen, covering only the lower portion of her body. The video also included distorted, close-up images of sexual intercourse, fellatio, and a graphic display of body piercing. The video was banned by MTV in the United States, but was eventually shown in unedited form on MTV2 in a presentation of the "20 Most Controversial Music Videos".

In March 2006, in the number 77 of the Spanish edition of Rolling Stone Magazine, "Pagan Poetry" was ranked number 38 by Spanish music professionals and experts on a list of the best songs of the 21st century.