Andy's Anachronisms Time Travel Songs

I Miss You
Bjork

From the Album POST ©1995


Disclaimer:
In case I accidentaly offend any fans let me say that this is ONLY one interpretation of the song and not necessarily what the artist or anyone else beside myself thinks the song means.

The diminutive Icelandic singer Bjork knows how to belt them out, and this song doesn't hold back. A song that on the surface appears to be a love song, albeit a confusing one rapidly becomes one about time travel upon closer examination. Before I get to the lyrics, allow me to set the scene for my interpretation of this song.

A time traveler travels to the past to a time before she met her current love. She looks for him and perhaps follows him watching him from a distance. Since she only knows him in the future she sings about watching him and missing the love they have yet to share.

Let's take a look at the lyrics and I think you'll see what I mean

I miss you
But I haven't met you yet
so special
but it hasn't happened yet
you are gorgeous
but I haven't met you yet
I remember
but it hasn't happened yet

In the first verse she sees her lover in the past and wants to be with him, but reminds herself that at this time they hadn't met yet. She remembers the future that she came from and how special their relationship is, but it hasn't happened yet.

and if you believe in dreams
or what is more important
that a dream can come true
I will meet you

She wants to reassure her lover that dreams can come true. Perhaps she is encouraging him to not be afraid to make the first step. He has seen her, but doesn't yet know her and is hesitating to break the ice. She knows what the future holds so, confidently states that she will meet him.

I was peaking
but it hasn't happened yet
I haven't been given
my best souvenir yet
I miss you
but I haven't met you yet
I know your habits
but wouldn't recognize you yet

She admits she's looking in on her lover and perhaps even herself, before they met. She realizes that one of the keepsakes of their relationship that she carries with her, hasn't been given to her yet. It reminds her of how much she misses him. She knows where to find him, his favourite haunts and the like, but realizes the person she sees now is not the same person she's come to know in the future.

and if you believe in dreams
or what is more important
that a dream can come true
I will meet you

I'm so impatient
I can't stand the wait
when will I get my cuddle?
who are you?

She's repeating her encouragement to him or perhaps herself to stick with it and it will happen. She can't stand the suspense of waiting for the two of the to get together. She eagerly anticipates that moment of contact when he gives her the first hug. When she asks who are you, she is perhaps asking herself who did she think he was then, and does she really know him even now after all these years.

I know by now that you'll arrive
by the time I stop waiting

I miss you

She realizes that time is all relative and that their love will happen the moment she stops expecting it. Awww, true love knows no bounds. Not even time.


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Review Modified: 2003-08-29