Bon Iver sounds like one man, alone in the woods, learning about himself and the natural world by making music. If Henry David Thoreau had made an album, it would probably sound like Bon Iver.
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Though Bon Iver is essentially one man, Justin Vernon, the second album expanded into a complete ensemble. Following his brilliant 2007 debut For Emma, Forever, Vernon’s self-titled follow-up is an ambitious piece of chamber folk buoyed by an extraordinary group of musicians.
Holocene Epoch and a Bar
The current period of geologic time is called the Holocene Epoch, or Anthropocene Epoch, due to the global changes caused by humans. But it’s also a venue and bar in Portland, Oregon, where Vernon told Mojo he had a “dark night of the soul.”
And at once, I knew I was not magnificent
Strayed above the highway aisle
Jagged vacance, thick with ice
But I could see for miles, miles, miles
Furthermore, Vernon said to Mojo, “The title is a metaphor for when you’re not doing well. But it’s also a song about redemption.”
Christmas night, it clutched the light, the hallow bright
Above my brother, I and tangled spines
We smoked the screen to make it what it was to be
Now to know it in my memory
Be Humble
Eau Claire, Wisconsin-native Vernon talked with former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to discuss “Holocene” for GQ Sports. He said he and his brother had watched Inglourious Basterds on Christmas, smoked weed, and then walked in the icy night.
“The air’s just hanging, and we went and walked over to this bridge over I-94, and there just wasn’t a single car,” Vernon recounted. “There was nothing for miles and miles, and the air was hanging in such a way with the ice storm kinda going on, and it looked like this sheet of ice on the road and this glow of the distant lights of Eau Claire, and it was just—it really just came out, like at once I knew I was not magnificent, […] and it was one of those moments where you’re not really sure if you’re the creator of something or not or if you’ve just been handed something to share.
“It’s easy to stay humble sometimes when, you know, it’s like, I’ve worked hard and everything, but sometimes you just feel like you really are a conduit for describing an idea or something like that, but that’s really where all that came from, and the different verses are really about Eau Claire and about my people from there.”
The Good People of Wisconsin
Wisconsin shapes Vernon’s music as much as anything. It’s the cabin-in-the-woods folk heard in his collaborations with Taylor Swift on her wintry Folklore and Evermore albums.
Continuing his conversation with Rodgers, he said, “There’s a lot of humble people around. Growing up in Wisconsin, I never felt like anybody was really trying to prove too much.”
He added, “I’ve always resonated with it, and it’s another one of the reasons I can’t seem to leave.”
Some artists uniquely tether to a place, and it’s more than where they’ve come from. Bon Iver has the same geographical sentiment as Iceland’s Sigur Rós. Both artists use their landscapes as catalysts for composing music.
What is Lip Parade?
Vernon’s lyrics tend to be opaque, and Reddit is full of Bon Iver sleuths trying to break the code. The line referencing “Lip Parade” set the detectives in motion.
Automatic bought the years you’d talk for me
That night you played me Lip Parade
“Lip Parade” refers to a song written by Josh Scott, who fronts the Minneapolis band Aero Flynn. Scott and Vernon collaborated on Aero Flynn’s self-titled debut and the follow-up Madeline.
The liner notes to Aero Flynn’s debut confirm the “Holocene” lyric references the Scott song.
Scott also played in an Eau Claire-based band called Amateur Love. Vernon reissued their only album on his Jagjaguwar imprint Chigliak in 2012. Amateur Love originally released It’s All Aquatic in 2003.
A Soundtrack for “Walden”
The natural component of “Holocene’s” title fits against the geological clock. Sapiens have placed themselves at the center of the universe, but standing alone in the woods is a reminder of human smallness.
Seeing Vernon, the bearded man, alone recording music at the edge of civilization is just the kind of myth popular music thrives on. For a myth to be believable, it must be plausible.
Before Bon Iver, Justin Vernon was a not-so-secret secret among indie music fans. However, his second album reached No. 2 on Billboard’s 200 chart.
He brought the sounds of his cabin out into the world.
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Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for The New Yorker
