Crystals

Album: Beneath The Skin (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • Brimming with metaphors, the lead single from Of Monsters and Men's second album Beneath The Skin finds the group surrendering to their own vulnerability before ultimately embracing it. "That song sums up the album, in a way," lead vocalist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir explained to Rolling Stone. "Lyrically, it's just about being open. Completely, uncomfortably open, like an open book."
  • This was one of several Beneath The Skin tracks that began to take shape while Of Monsters and Men was on the road, something new for the band. "It went through a lot of stages," Hilmarsdottir said. "The original idea is nothing like what it ended up being. The bridge was a pre-chorus, and the chorus wasn't even in there. We were always just trying to figure that one out."
  • The song's music video was filmed in Iceland by directors Arni and Kinski. The clip finds the band performing the track amid an intricate backdrop.
  • Another cut by an Icelandic singer that references crystals is Bjork's Biophilia track "Crystalline." On that song the songstress compares the process of crystal formation with her own personal growth.
  • Fancy some crystal fun facts? Here are a few courtesy of The Encyclopedia of Trivia:

    In Ancient Rome, wealthy Romans always drank from goblets made from clear rock crystal. They believed the transparent mineral was a safeguard against their enemies, as legend had it that a cup carved from the transparent mineral would not hold poison.

    Sunglasses made of colored rock crystal are supposed to have been worn in China, during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). They were popular with judges who believed that the glasses would conceal their facial expressions while questioning witnesses during court sessions.

    Henry Ford maintained that eating sugar was tantamount to committing suicide as he believed its sharp crystals cut a person's stomach to shreds.

    At the center of almost every snow crystal is a tiny mote of dust, which can be anything from volcanic ash to a particle from outer space.

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