be warned, because as a bon iver fanboy i really enjoy all of these songs and it was pretty hard to pick and choose which ones I actually like best. there’s also going to be a lot of praise for bon iver so watch out. i also use the words “justin”, “vernon”, or “bon iver” interchangeably, but all of them refer to justin vernon, who is the lead singer and songwriter of his band, bon iver. below i will be giving my thoughts on each closer track from each of the five bon iver studio albums, then i’ll rank all of them. these are all my interpretations of the lyrics, all my own opinions so if you don’t agree with anything I say here that’s absolutely fine.
Re: Stacks - For Emma, Forever Ago
this is a fan favourite, and it's really not hard to see why. I feel that re stacks executes the ideas from all of for emma nearly perfectly. it's the most stripped down song on for emma, with just vernon’s voice and a guitar. re: stacks and the rest of for emma were recorded in vernon’s father’s hunting cabin after vernon’s band had broke up, and after he had gone through many health problems and relationship issues prior. the song title is in reference to stacks of poker chips, both as a metaphor for “going all in” and for actual gambling. in a new york times article vernon said “I lost $220 online, which at that point was all my money, it was a microcosm of the rest of the stuff in my life — like, yes, you are actually not able to control this.” he talks about this in the song as well: “I keep throwing it down two hundred at a time / It's hard to find it when you knew it / When your money's gone And you're drunk as hell”. before starting the recording of for emma, vernon just sat in the cabin to “to drink [beer] and watch lots of television“.
in an interview with pitchfork, justin vernon said that for emma was “about my struggles through years of dealing with the aftermath of lost love and longing and just mediocrity and just bad news, like life stuff.” not every song on for emma is “sad: in the traditional sense, but re: stacks would probably fit that description the best. the song uses a black crow as a metaphor for depression. “There’s a black crow sitting across from me / His wiry legs are crossed / He’s dangling my keys / He even fakes a toss” the “faked tosses” are the glimmers of hope that you might find in depression. the song creates this intimate, somber atmosphere. you can imagine him in this cabin, in the wisconsin winter, with his guitar. the song ends off with “This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization / It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away / Your love will be safe with me” vernon has not found some grand new enlightenment or wisdom, but he has sat down and reviewed what has happened during his life. now, he’s ready to move on, he’s ready to lift away.
Beth/Rest - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
i really have no right to like this song as much as I do. i was quite predictably not alive during the 80s, which is the time period this song takes heavy inspiration from. i don't really even listen to songs from the 80s, but the synths and the electric pianos in this song just pull me in. there’s just something about it that i just can’t get over. it feels like winter, but not the negative side of winter, the winter where you sit by the window and just watch the snow slowly, calmly fall down. bon iver has said in the past that beth/rest is “the good death”, and my personal interpretation of the lyrics is about eternity. “heavy mitted love our love is a star”, “for the light before and after most indefinitely” there's a lot of lyrics about stars, and love, and in my head the song is about how this love will last for practically all of eternity. this song is quite a different sound from the rest of the album with less focus on guitars and more on electronic pianos and synths. but it feels like it belongs there, to me it doesn't feel out of place. in the context of the album, it's preceded by lisbon, oh which is a short, almost ambient electric guitar powered instrumental that builds up to and leads into beth/rest. towards the end of the instrumental, it transitions into the synth used in the background of beth/rest. it really sells the idea that beth/rest is the end to the album. when the first note of the actual song hits after lisbon, oh, it really does feel powerful. it’s like stepping into some whole new world, it really does give the sense of finality.
during an interview with npr, bon iver said that “I love [beth/rest]. I really needed to write this song. And I need it to be last on this record.” the instrumental and vocals and lyrics just work together so well for me. it’s a really great song, and it fits together perfectly as the closer to bon iver, bon iver.
00000 Million - 22, A Million
in terms of my favourite bon iver album, it's a close race between bon iver bon iver, sable fable, and 22 a million. but if i really did have to choose a favourite it would be 22, a million. for a quite sonically complex album, it ends off with this song, which is just vernon and a piano for the instrumental. it makes the song feel mystical in a way. it’s manages to still be sonically interesting even with only this one instrument. a criticism of 22, a million, or bon iver’s work in general is while the instrumentation is great, the lyrics are far too cryptic for their own good. this song would be an example of that. but i’ll give my best personal interpretation.
22, a million is an album about duality. 22 represents justin vernon, and a million represents everything else. A million is this huge, unfathomable number, that represents god or infinity. 22, is quite small compared to a million, just as a human is quite small compared to god. 00000 million is recounting justin’s conflicts with this number. “Must've been forces, that took me on them wild courses / Who knows how many poses that I've been in” the unstoppable force of life, or fate, or god, or whoever, has taken vernon on these journeys in life. from the creation of for emma in that hunting cabin, to performing songs with kanye west, to 2016 where he was making this new, more experimental album. “I worried 'bout rain and I worried ‘bout lightning / But I watched them off to the light of the morning” vernon worries about these unstoppable forces, rain and lightning but they end eventually, and then what was the purpose for the worrying? even though these storms may seem bad in the moment, eventually they will resolve, and the good will return. it’s the yin/yang, the duality that shows itself throughout 22, a million. “I hurry 'bout shame and I worry 'bout a worn path / And I wander off, just to come back home” he tries to make change, but he eventually gives up and returns back to this status quo. trying to wander off, to move on, but he finds himself stuck. back in the same place as usual.
the final words of the song are “Well it harms me, it harms me, it harms me, I'll let it in” you could interpret this as him being too weak to stop these forces that harm him, and that’s probably the correct interpretation but i like to see it more as the acceptance. the acceptance to face these challenges from god, from the million head on. he’s ready to start the fight, the fight to change and move on. twenty-two versus a million.
RABi - i,i
i,i is my least listened to bon iver album by a decent margin, and i don’t dislike the album, in fact i think it’s a very good album, but i’ve never really gotten to the point where i would listen to it on repeat, unlike every single other bon iver album. but for me, RABi is a highlight of i,i. RABi feels free. the first line of the song is “if you wait, it won’t be undone.” this is him telling you that you need to just need to do something. waiting will do you no good, the only way to get things to change is to free yourself, to take action. “We are terrified / So we run and hide / For a verified little peace” is the last line of the first verse before the chorus hits with “So what of this release / Sunlight feels good now don’t it”. it’s nice. the instrumentation sounds like summer, with these guitars giving a carefree sound to the whole song. i like to imagine the second chorus hits after some action has been taken. they have stopped waiting. “Some life feels good now don’t it? / Don’t have to have a leaving plan / Well it’s all fine and we’re all fine anyway”. well it’s all fine is a very simple lyric to end the song on, and i think that’s intentional. it’s supposed to be a happier song, and everything seems a lot simpler when you’re happy, doesn’t it?
from apple music, justin says: “Just ‘some life feels good now, don’t it?‘ There’s a lot to be sad about, there’s a lot to be confused about, there’s a lot to be thankful for. We need that. It’s a nice way to close the record, we all thought.” not every bon iver song needs to be complex. it’s nice to enjoy simplicity sometimes, and that’s what makes this song great.
There's A Rhythm/Au Revoir - Sable, Fable
technically, there’s a rhythm and au revoir are two different songs, but i feel as if reviewing only au revoir would be unfair to sable, fable, as vernon has said before in the “sable, fable dvd commentary” that au revoir is only a separate song so people weren't forced to listen to the outro every time they wanted to listen to there's a rhythm. also if it was just au revoir it would unfortunately be the worst bon iver closer simply because it's short and has no vocals. and that wouldn't do it justice since there's a rhythm is one of my favourite bon iver songs ever. there’s a rhythm ends off fable, which vernon says is going to be bon iver’s last album. i don’t really believe that, but if it is true it’s the perfect sendoff. “no need to crow no more”, “now things really are arranged”, “get tall and walk away”. justin vernon has been writing sad songs for most of his career. he even addresses this on other songs on fable. from day one, “yes, you have just always had your band / but you get sad enough because it's all you seek” is most likely in reference to himself, and how writing these sad songs will inevitably make him sadder since to write he must seek out the sadness inside himself. but fable is designed to be the happier side of sable, fable. from his website: “Where SABLE was a work of solitude, fABLE is an outstretched hand.” and now, on there’s a rhythm he has seemingly been able to find that rhythm in his life, where he no longer needs to be sad, and can now move on to greener, or warmer pastures. “i’ve had one home that i’ve known / and maybe it’s the time to go / i could leave behind the snow / for a land of palm and gold” these lyrics are backed by this soft instrumentals, with this one warm-sounding synth powering the melody for the whole song, with some trumpets and saxophones joining in during the later parts of the song. there’s a sense of warmth that constantly radiates from this song.
there’s a rhythm slowly transitions into au revoir, which means “goodbye” in french. and for a band who’s name is french for “good winter”, it’s a pretty fitting name for an ending. it’s an instrumental with no lyrics, and it puts the final rest to sable, fable. it’s a very calming ending, with this lush hum in the background, and piano notes interspersed throughout. as a standalone song it’s pretty underwhelming, but when you listen to it alongside there’s a rhythm i think it adds quite a bit to the experience.
Final Ranking
5th: RABi. It’s a great song but I can’t place it above any other song on this list. believe me, I would if I could but I’d rather listen to any of the other four.
4th: 00000 Million. I love this song. Probably if I gave it more time it would move up on the list, but for right now 4th is not a bad position for it to be in, when it’s up against four other songs that I also love, and have been listening to for longer.
3rd: Beth/Rest. Man this song is great. I would play this song on repeat for a long while, it is somewhere up there in my favourite songs of all time.
2nd: Re: Stacks. I don’t listen to this song as much as Beth/Rest, I don’t feel like it’s as replayable, but when I listen to this song I get put in the mood instantly. I immediately think of that hunting cabin, that winter, that guitar. The atmosphere is just made so incredibly well, it’s almost unbelievable that this song was made almost entirely by one person.
1st: There’s A Rhythm/Au Revoir. I cannot tell you how much I adore There’s A Rhythm. It is one of my favourite songs ever, at least top five. This song means so much to me. It’s my most listened to bon iver song ever, probably also my favourite bon iver song ever. Everything about it just seems perfect to me. Au Revoir is a great addition as well, I just can’t see any flaws at all with this song. 10/10.
thank you for reading if you want to talk to me about bon iver send me a message on discord (you can probably guess what my username is)
