Alarm signal

In the field of animal communication, an alarm signal is an antipredator adaptation referring to various signals emitted by social animals in response to danger. Many primates and birds have elaborate alarm calls for warning conspecifics of approaching predators. For example, the characteristic alarm call of the blackbird is a familiar sound in many gardens. Other animals, like fish and insects, may use other non-auditory signals, such as chemical messages. While visual signs have been suggested as alarm signals, they are easier to pinpoint by predators and less likely to be received by conspecifics, so have tended to be treated as a signal to the predator instead. An animal who signals an alarm is called an alarmer.

Different calls may be used for predators on the ground or from the air. Often, the animals can tell which member of the group is making the call, so that they can disregard those of little reliability.

Evidently, alarm signals promote survival by allowing the receivers of the alarm to escape from the source of peril, but this ecological safety system may come at a cost to the signaller. When an animal calls attention to itself by signalling, it may be more likely to be eaten by a predator than if it had kept quiet. This intuition has been verified by experimental data on ground squirrel predation rates and the connection between this and the noisy chirping or whistling alarm calls. However, there is also some evidence that alarm calls can increase individual fitness as well.

Alarm Call

"Alarm Call" is a song by Björk released as the fourth single from her fourth studio album Homogenic, peaking at #33 in the UK.

The sped-up "radio version" of the song (which was also featured in the video) was used in the 1999 film The Mod Squad.

Background

The song speaks of re-awakening through music and is rumoured to be about Michael Jackson as it was originally labelled "Jacko" on the Homogenic demo tape. Björk explained "I think that music has the power to change the things, and that's what I wanted to show on Alarm Call". It is the only single from Homogenic that was not included on Greatest Hits.

Music video

The first music video for "Alarm Call" was directed by Paul White, who also directed the "Hunter" video, and it featured Björk in a similar dressing as the one featured on the Homogenic album cover, with a special dance scene in Los Angeles' Subway.

However, Björk was not convinced with the result and a second video was directed by fashion designer Alexander McQueen and recorded at the Asylum Studios. It features Björk floating on a raft on a river in a jungle and her scenes are intercut with footage of snakes, crocodiles, and other animals, with Björk playing with them. It was rumoured to be a sequel to "Bachelorette", because of the lyrics that make a little allusion to the events occurred in past Isobel adventures ("Human Behaviour", "Isobel" and "Bachelorette"). The video also has some signs that make people think about this fact. "Alarm Call" shows Isobel back to the nature after having disillusions in the big city, so this video is the fourth and last of Isobel's adventures.