Björk - "Who Is It? [Live in Rome]". I'm like you; I really want this to be a Björk remake of the Michael Jackson song. What it is instead is one of the two extant recordings of a myth that belongs to the lost-song lore of Björk . There's even an entire fan web page devoted to this song and what is known about its history. Leave it to me, however, to give you the real deal, the dish, the down-low dung.

"Who Is It?" began as a tune that Björk wrote during the formative days of Vespertine. While attending a Bogdan Raczynski, she literally bumped into Rephlex' UK-based, US-raised, Japan-schooled Polish drill and bass genius-terrible. A few months later, the two caught up with each other in New York and worked on Björk 's "Who Is It?" together, along with a couple other tracks. The results were rumored to be quite extraordinary and intense. It was a musical match made in Valhalla. When word first got out that the two had recorded together, '"Who Is It?" went by the name "Embrace Fortress" and apparently was a duet between Björk and Boggy, layered over his beats. All of this began a flurry of debate and misnamed mp3s when Vespertine first leaked onto P2P networks. As it turned out, the fruits of their efforts were so miraculous—so frenetic and joyous—that the tracks didn't fit in with the mood of Björk's forthcoming album, a meditation on solitude and the paradise of introversion. "Who Is It?" was given a rest.

Björk picked up a little later and recorded a version that brought in her trusty Icelandic String Octet. Somehow it didn't all fit, and Bodgan's beats were dropped. Suddenly the song was missing a big part of its meat. By the time the Vespertine Tour rolled around, "Who Is It?" had undergone its fifth treatment, this time slowed down a bit and set to beats programmed by Matmos's David Drew and their friend, electronic thug Jay Lesser. The song was only performed twice—once in Parma and once in Rome [the version heard here]. Rome was far superior: the Inuit soloist was more secure, Björk remembered the words and sang in-tune, and a glorious orchestral part with tympani and horns was added.

When fans first caught hold of the two mp3s, some remarked in Björk's official fan 4UM that it sounded a bit like world music. One even said it was Peter Gabriel-esque. Naturally, when a song begins and lives its life with such fire and then gets comments like that, the fire has to be quelled for a bit. Björk shelved the song right away, much to the chagrin of most fans, who agreed that it was one of the most exciting tunes and lyrics that she'd ever written.

The good news is that the tracklist for her next album, Medúlla, was released on Wednesday. And what's track #6? "Who Is It? (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)." Who's to say what sort of cacophonous ambience it's taken on in this version. I'm fairly confident that this will be Björk's best work to date—a pastiche of musique concrete, vocal acrobatics, beatboxing, and really nerdy humour—a party record for the eccentric.

Björk will be singing at the Opening Ceremonies for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens on August 11th. She, like the thousand-something other opening-ceremony guests, will be draped in the creations of designer Sophia Kokosalaki and will reportedly sing what may be the first single from the Medúlla, "Oceania."

Oh, Elektra Marketing. The largest TV audience in the world watches and hears your iconic musician set ablaze one of the most important international and historical events of the past 100 years. Her album drops nineteen days later. Brilliant.

his embrace: a fortress
praises me
and places
a skeleton of trust
right beneath me
bone by bone
rock by rock

and if you ask yourself
patiently
who is it?

who is it
that never lets your down?
who is it
that gave you back your crown?
and the ornaments are
they're going around.
now they are handing him over.

we all have been to the still place
we all have learned
a lightness
i carry my pain on right
but i carry my joy on my left.

and if you ask yourself
patiently
who is it?