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128. Sigur Ros – Hoppipola

Sigur Ros songs take basic universal human emotions, like happiness, frustration, wonder, or remorse, and project them up onto a giant widescreen in vibrant color and washes of sound that translate into any language, Icelandic, Hopelandic, English, whatever. I don't need Babelfish to figure out how it feels to have hot air washing through a car on a freezing morning, or what it sounds like to watch kites fly overhead blocking out the sun. Or to tell me what the pure elation of jumping in big puddles with someone you love feels like.

Although I don't like looking at translations of their songs because it distorts some of the original intent, "Hoppipola" from their 2005 album Takk... literally translates to "Hopping in Puddles". Listen to the song once through and tell me that isn't the most accurate and fulfilling song title of this decade. What amazes me is how a band, basically four guys, find a way to consistently translate emotional micromoments and personal intimacies into the grandest music of our generation. Like a fly on the overhead projector in math class, tiny things become giant and illuminated for everyone to see.

Enough has been said about the majesty and elegance of this band. The burbling tape noise underneath growing and gleaming strings, cymbal crashes that rise and fall like tide pools, the best use of horns from a band notorious for ancillary instrumentation, and lead singer Jonsi holding his croon underneath warm, crocheted blankets of tonal euphoria. And when the strings power their way into the mix at 2:30 and the bells soon follow, "Hoppipola" marches itself over the edge of sublime and cuts through any heart strings you might have left.

From the opening piano twinkle of this song, I hear Innocent Love. I hear the beginning of a relationship, and spontaneity, and discovery. I hear taking the person you love by the hand and pulling them into the rain to jump in puddles, getting soaked and dirty and only caring about the sounds of your own laughter.