So Vernon kept on rebelling against it on his next release, the 2009 EP Blood Bank. “Woods”Įven though the songs on For Emma, Forever Ago don’t really conform to the musical conservatism of modern Americana, the album’s signifiers - the cabin, the woods, the sensitive songs about heartbreak - caused critics and fans to put it in that camp anyway. This isn’t songwriting, perhaps, as much as it is a magic trick. But when I hear those words, I somehow understand that Vernon is suffering from an existential crisis, and he’s working through it in real time as this song unfolds, and it’s unclear whether he will ever find a way out to the other side. Take this verse from “Creature Fear”: “I was teased by your blouse / Spit out by your mouth / I was loud by your lowered / Seminary sold.” I have no idea what “I was teased by your blouse” means as a combination of words when I read them. Now, it must be acknowledged that Bon Iver lyrics often read as gibberish on the page. And I was actually able to pull out more meaningful stuff, personally speaking, because of that.” I would get lyric ideas from the sound of the voice. I would create a space for the vocals, then transcribe vocal sounds and listen to what it sounded like. As Vernon explained to me in 2008, “With these songs, I was creating sounds first.

And those sounds as well as the feelings they evoked took precedence over literal-minded lyrics. Instead of utilizing a manly growl, Vernon sang pained, free-associative wails from his upper register. Before that record, a bearded, guitar-slinging dude from the upper midwest was expected to adhere to conventions laid down by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and John Prine, in which plainspoken, narrative-driven lyrics are relayed with a solidly masculine twang. Justin Vernon is one of the most influential indie singer-songwriters of the last 15 years, and that distinction goes back to his 2007 debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. After all we’re in Milwaukee, so off your feet as we dive deep into this band’s career! Nevertheless, I am prepared to list my top 25 Bon Iver songs. Many of these tracks I prefer in the context of their albums. This makes counting down my favorite Bon Iver songs a little tricky. Nearly everything the band has put out feels essential. While Bon Iver’s catalogue is relatively small - including four studio albums and one 1 EP in the past 14 years - Vernon has made each release count. But in the past decade, he’s proven to be one of the least predictable and most adventurous artists of his generation, putting out albums that initially confound listeners before eventually shifting their tastes in decisive ways. Bon Iver was the LP that solidified their status after the sleeper success of 2007’s For Emma, Forever Ago, eventually garnering the band the Best New Artist Grammy.Īt the time many might have suspected that the head of Bon Iver, Justin Vernon, had peaked at that very moment. Next week is the 10th anniversary of Bon Iver, the second album by the Wisconsin-based band who remains one of the most popular and artistically significant indie acts of the early 21st century.

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