Quicksand

The oldest song on Vulnicura, Björk originally wrote this in 2011 after her mother, Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, suffered a heart attack that left her in a coma for a week. In the two years that followed her mother's recovery, Björk underwent a surgery for vocal cord nodes (referenced in "Lionsong") and ended her long-term relationship with media artist Matthew Barney, leaving her in an emotional mess. The Icelandic songstress found herself sinking like quicksand.

Vulnicura is an intimate portrayal of Bjork's split from Barney. The album ends with this track, that finds Björk moving on tentatively from the traumas she'd experienced: When I'm broken I am whole, And when I'm whole I'm broken Asked about the above lyric by The Reykjavík Grapevine, Bjork replied: "You're always waiting for that moment when you're entirely cured. That's the black and white of things. It's maybe about thinking that someone else is broken, and that you're whole. But if you mirror it… it's a little abstract. It's about criticising people, that mirror. Or an attempt at that. And, you know, living with yourself. Being broken and whole at the same time. And learning that this is OK. You know. But, I don't know. Sometimes words just look well on a page. They'll sing."

Here are a few quicksand fun facts: Quicksand is a condition that occurs within any type of soil, but most common in sand. It happens when water in the sand cannot escape, which creates a liquefied soil that loses strength and cannot support weight. By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand. A mule won't sink in quicksand but a donkey will.