"Venus as a Boy" was written by Björk, credited as composer and lyricist, and released in August 1993 as the second single from her debut album Debut, a month after the album appeared on One Little Indian. Produced by Nellee Hooper, it was one of the last tracks recorded for the album. Described as ambient and chill-out, it reflects Björk's interest in Bollywood after she befriended people of Indian origin in London, notably tabla player Talvin Singh, who later collaborated on it. Its Indian instruments include tablas and strings recorded by a Bombay film studio orchestra, arranged through Singh. Vibraphone is prominent, and the track samples "Music for Shō" by Mayumi Miyata (1986). Björk played keyboards and wrote the bassline, which Timbaland later praised.
Björk said she wrote the song in her Icelandic living room and sang it into a dictaphone. Reception was mixed: AllMusic praised its lush strings, Melody Maker and NME both made it Single of the Week, and it topped the chart in Iceland. The video, directed by Sophie Muller, shows Björk cooking eggs in a kitchen and was inspired by Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille. It later appeared on Greatest Hits and the Family Tree box set, and Corinne Bailey Rae covered it in 2006.
