Be A Body (侘寂)

Album artwork

**Be A Body (侘寂)** is a song by Grimes. Appearing on her third studio album, *Visions*, it is the 8th track on the album.

## Background

The song was written partly in response to "Post Physical", Denver producer Pictureplane's ode to the internet age, and partly due to a newfound love of R&B following a tour with Brooklyn's lo-fi R&B crooner How to Dress Well. "It's probably the song on the record that takes most from the contemporary dialogue, I would say," she told *Dazed*.

The song's name was based off of a quote said by Italian Dominican friar and Scriptural theologian Thomas Aquinas regarding the Medieval Christian mentality.

Grimes also said the following about the song:

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> ❝ I don't have a phone. Everyone I know is always on their f\*\*\*ing phone on the Internet all the time. I just wanted to write a song about being alive in the real world — "be a body. ❞
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In a retrospective track-by-track commentary, Grimes said about the song:

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> ❝ I adore this song. I feel so weird about it now. We shot a video for it starring my beautiful friend Hannah Myrberg who was a ballerina, and then she passed away before we could put the video out. And so we just never put it out because it felt exploitative of her death or something. I think everyone was just really traumatized and didn't know how to handle it. I remember she stick-and-poke tattooed "Be A Body" onto her knuckles while we were making this. Miss her a lot, and she's always tied to this song for me. Dedicated to her for sure. ❞
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## Media

Posted to Tumblr on April 11, 2011:

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> ❝ Be a Body Video stills
> this might never see the light of day cuz it’s a pre-4ad video (budget of $136!) ;)
> am thinking of using the footage for an elite gymnastics video? have to work it out with everyone else involved ❞
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*censored*
## Trivia

* The title features the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi, (侘寂), which represents a Japanese worldview that beauty is impermanent.
* In 2012, she called it her favourite song.
* At one point Grimes wanted to use the footage of the scrapped music video for an old song of a friend of hers, but didn't because "it wouldn’t have made sense in the press cycle".
* It was the second-to-last song to be written for *Visions* and one of the only songs to not be written in a single day.

## Lyrics

[Verse]

Ooh, what peace of mind

What a night, what a sight

Cause I want to call home

Ooh, what peace of mind

What a night, what a sight

Cause I want to call home

(Be a body)

[Refrain]

I close my eyes until I see

I don't need hands to touch me

Be a body

I lean on walls until I stand

I touch my face with my hand

Be a body

I close my eyes until I see

I don't need hands to touch me

Be a body

I lean on walls until I stand

I touch my face with my hand

Be a body

[Interlude]

(To the rhythm I go)

Be a body

So then what am I?

(To the rhythm I go)

Be a body

So then what am I?

Be a body

So then what am I?

Be a body

So then what am I?

(To the rhythm I go)

[Verse]

Ooh, what peace of mind

What a night, what a sight

Cause I want to call home

Ooh, what peace of mind

What a night, what a sight

Cause I want to call home

(Be a body)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/19961/1/grimes-ready-to-fly
2. ↑ https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-visions-the-voice-an-interview-with-grimes/
3. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20120509042813/http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Grimes+spotlight+with+brilliant+Visions/6175085/story.html#ixzz3PmpHo8WX
4. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Grimes/comments/sr5yay/listening\_note\_booklet/
5. ↑ https://www.tumblr.com/grimespostarchive/703322709918138368/actuallygrimes-be-a-body-video-stills-this?source=share
6. ↑ https://japanobjects.com/features/wabi-sabi
7. ↑ https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/60-seconds-with-grimes
8. ↑ https://gothbarbie.medium.com/interview-with-grimes-2012-3b20f26206ca
9. ↑ https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-visions-the-voice-an-interview-with-grimes/