Musique

Ecriture et production : Björk
Orchestration : Nico Muhly
Ingénieurs du son : Neil Dorfsman et Andy Manganello
Horns : Sharon Moe, Susan Panny, Amber Chisholm-lane, Chad Yarborough, Theo Primis, Robert Jost, Christopher Costanzi

A propos du titre

Björk says she wrote the song at the piano in one take, after seeing the film Pan’s Labyrinth (Le Labyrinthe de Pan
) — and after having pneumonia for two weeks.

« There is a physical sadness to wheezing away with that disease. That, coupled with the determination of the little girl in that film to believe in her imagination, whatever it took, even though no one believed her, struck a chord with me. »

A few days later, the song was recorded with seven horn players.
source : Björk in collaborative mood on new album, The Washington Post, 04/05/2007

Other songs, she acknowledged, are messages to herself. The elegiac Pneumonia uses only French horns, building up slow-motion chords behind Bjork’s voice, as she reflects on a bout of pneumonia she had in January and on whether she had made herself too isolated : « All the moments you should have embraced/All the moments you should have not locked up. »
source : « At Home Again in the Unknown », NY Times - 29/04/2007