Musician apologises to Icelandic cultural elite over new song version
Monday 7th September 2026 on 23:30 in
Iceland
Musician Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson has apologised to Iceland’s “cultural elite” over a new version of Söngur villiandarinnar, mbl.is reports. The song, recorded with GDRN, drew harsh criticism after an unreleased recording was played on the radio.
Magnús discussed the release on the Spursmál programme after the new version came out on Thursday.
Söngur villiandarinnar is a Swedish folk song with Icelandic lyrics by Jakob Hafstein. It was highly popular in Iceland during the last century.
Magnús said he had wanted to record the song for years. He had considered including it on the album Tíu íslensk sönglög, which he made with GDRN several years ago, but the song was ultimately left off the record.
The opportunity came later when Magnús composed music for the film Fuglar og menn, which premieres in September. The film needed a closing song, so he contacted his friend Guðrún, known professionally as GDRN, and asked her to sing it.
The recording attracted strong reactions before its official release. Magnús recalled appearing in an interview with Árni Matthíasson when the unreleased version was played. Visual artist Jón Óskar heard it and wrote that he found the song beautiful.
Others disagreed, Magnús said, describing the recording as a disaster and “one of the worst” pieces in Icelandic music as a whole. He named Egill Helgason, Illugi Jökulsson, Jónas Sen and Jón Viðar Jónsson among the critics.
The programme’s host asked whether the song should instead be called Svanasöngur villiandarinnar, or “The wild duck’s swan song”, after the criticism it received.
Magnús said he took the criticism lightly.
“Probably nobody dares to make another version. It is quite remarkable that Guðrún and I dared to release it,” he said. “Of course, I apologise to this cultural elite for our act.”
He encouraged listeners not to let the critics’ opinions determine their view, but to listen to the recording and form their own opinions.
Söngur villiandarinnar is now available on Spotify and will also serve as the closing song for Fuglar og menn.
Magnús Jóhann also said during the programme that he will hold a birthday concert at Háskólabíó on September 17, when he turns 30. He will also celebrate 10 years in music, having released his first album a decade ago.