"Play Dead" is a song by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk, released by the labels Island and Mother as the only single from the soundtrack of the 1993 crime drama The Young Americans, starring Harvey Keitel.

[2] "Play Dead", inspired by the main character of the film, was released on 11 October 1993 and charted within the top 20 in Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

I had written a song called 'Play Dead' for my very first film The Young Americans and I wrote that after seeing Tori Amos do a songwriter's showcase in London before she was well known.

Björk wrote it from the main character's point of view: "In the film, he had a girlfriend who just wanted him to be happy and in love and he just couldn't get his head around it.

[7] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote that it's "a haunting beautiful piece of music to rank alongside anything she ever did with the Sugarcubes and becoming a bigger hit than she ever had with her former band in the first place.

"[8] Ian Gittins from Melody Maker named "Play Dead" Single of the Week, praising it as "a rare triumph.

"[9] Pan-European magazine Music & Media noted that "the clamour of Iceland's siren is in the air again, beautifully floating above superb rhythm tracks.

"[10] Roger Morton from NME named it "Cracking Good Single of the Week", writing that "it's probably going to do more for Björk than anything she's so far released."

He added, "Re-mixed by Tim Simenon from Bomb the Bass, and glittering with trad movie score grandeur, it's a swooping orchestral piece which dares her to go for the big performance.

"[11] Tom Doyle from Smash Hits gave "Play Dead" four out of five, viewing it as "a grand sweeping groovy orchestral thing which sounds like an unhinged Bond theme and will make the hairs on the back of your neck tingle.