Take pretty much anything, really anything, and one can generally find at least one person who claims to see beauty in that thing, and another person who claims to be repulsed by it, which is an interesting phenomenon possibly relating to perception, and it wouldn’t surprise me if quantum physicists (link may be considered quite scientifically technical) are looking into it as I write this.

I’d like to apply this whole ‘perception is everything’ principle to a beautiful music video directed by August Jakobsson for Svefn-G-Englar ("Sleepwalking Angels") by the band Sigur Ros.

Sigur Ros is a really interesting group of musicians. I remember being introduced to them just before they really got wide-spread acclaim touring with Radiohead. My friend Steve played a couple tracks for me, and I was touched. They create extremely beautiful, somehow simultaneously catchy and spiritually transcendant songs.

"…music all but designed to speak for itself. The group’s sound is so meticulously composed, recorded, and performed it’s no wonder it often evinces the same sorts of reactions to its otherworldly beauty, grace, and quiet catharsis." – Joshua Klein, Pitchfork Media

Their music initially leaned towards purity, beauty, intensity, and (melo)drama, eschewing classic pop-format songs in favour of orchestral, opus-like compositions, though over the years they’ve broken that initial mold and experimented with different musical elements.

The music video for Svefn-G-Englar is of particular interest to me because its comprised mainly of slow-motion footage of the Perlan Special-needs Theatre Group – some of the ‘purest’, most innocent teenagers one is likely to see in the media – children with down syndrome, autism, or other special needs conditions.

Whether you’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with special needs kids or not, their expressions in this video speak to me of pure joy and not a worry or a care, which is a large part of what we teach at SpiritSentient, and personally, I find it touching.

Its been suggested that the song is about being born, or rebirth, physically or spiritually. Its’ title translates from Icelandic to "Sleepwalking Angels" or "Sleepwalkers."

To me the song outlines the innocence and awareness and consciousness we have prior to birth, and upon being born, we begin to be raised and cared for physically by well-intentioned yet ‘asleep’ (for the most part) adults, which is a process in life which has gone on for many generations.

The video though, takes a different look at the Sleepwalking Angels aspect as we see angelic special needs children with joyous expressions as they play on the screen to the beautiful melodies of Sigur Ros.

So how does one person perceive this incredible music and interesting video as ugly? Well one YouTube commenter described it as "a bunch of fucking retards."

What do you think?

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