For Emma, Forever Ago

For Emma, Forever Ago

     A lone cabin. A lonely man. These are the two major flames that sparked Bon Iver’s debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago. After suffering from both a romantic breakup and a breakup from his previous band, DeYarmond Edison, Justin Vernon, singer-songwriter and front man of Bon Iver, picked up his things and retreated to his father’s isolated cabin in the woods amidst a wintery Wisconsin. In just three months of serenity and seclusion, Vernon wrote the lyrics and created the bulk of the music of For Emma, Forever Ago, the album that formed the roots for his new band, Bon Iver. The artist used minimal music equipment, only a few guitars as the main instrumentation, plus a microphone and a laptop to layer his vocals and make his voice imitate a large choir in a majority of the songs. After emerging from the cabin and returning to his home in Raleigh, North Carolina, Vernon next asked some of his friends to add instruments to the tracks, such as the trumpet and trombone. These musician friends later became the other members of Bon Iver. Then, without the help of any professional recording companies, Vernon self-released the album as the sole producer. The cliché “Less is More” could easily be used to classify For Emma, Forever Ago because the album can come off as simplistic at first glance. With a closer look however, one will find how the music is just the tip of the iceberg of Vernon’s message and there is a lot of meaning to be discovered under the surface.

     The conditions under which Justin Vernon worked on this album eerily parallel the 1845 artistic experiment of American Romantic author, Henry David Thoreau, who moved to a small, serene Massachusetts home next to Walden Pond for two years and two months. The result of this experience was the creation of his book, Walden, about the benefits of “retir[ing] to a lonely spot” in nature “--even if only in imagination--to ponder the world and [your] place in it (Witherell). In regards to his decision to isolate himself, Thoreau said, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau 90).

     By connecting with nature, many Romantics during Thoreau’s time period found their once objective reality of the world could disappear, permitting a renewed awareness of, or relationship to, society. These artists credit their ability to overcome a disconnect between “the self and the world” with their appreciation of nature and their ability to submerge in the essence of nature. (Riasanovsky 71). In the same way, Justin Vernon’s preoccupation with nature and decision to remove himself from society to create For Emma, Forever Ago could demonstrate his attempt to solve a disconnect he feels with society as well as his attempt to figure out his identity after experiencing failed love with both his band and girlfriend. With this album, Vernon is reviving fundamental ideas of Romanticism because “unable to find happiness in the world of man,” the Romanticist often took the time to reflect in only the presence of nature, which served as “an escape from man and reality” (Kravitt 99, 100). In an interview with the A.V. Club, Bon Iver’s singer-songwriter described his seclusion from the world as a form of meditation and reflection saying, “I don't think I really had any clue what was going on while I was there. I was just there” (Vernon).

     In the opening song of the album, Justin Vernon’s submersion into the secluded landscape of Wisconsin is immediately revealed as he paints a picture both lyrically and musically of a calming river. There is an even tempo of the guitar that remains consistent throughout the track, imitating the balanced, continual rhythm of flowing water. The title of this introductory song alone, “Flume,” signifies a deep, narrow stream of water, but specific lines like “I move in water shore, to shore” and “Lapping lakes like leery loons” also add to the imagery. Not only does the artist merely notice or observe these snapshots of nature that surrounds him however, Vernon also sings of a familiar connection between humans and nature with the repeated line, “Sky is womb and she’s the moon.”

      In another track, “For Emma,” the human relationship with nature is reified as the concept of being able to find comfort or refuge in nature or the physical world emerges in the repetition of the line, “Running home.” Like Vernon, Romantics recognized nature as a valuable element of our world that can be a source of inspiration for finding purpose in life (Riasanovsky 70). In this track Bon Iver also reveals evidence of how nature's beauty is an outlet that can break our close-minded, rigid perception of life to open our eyes to a new understanding of both ourselves and the world. In “For Emma,” the artist recognizes the emotional effect that the beauty of nature has on people. He gives a contrasting positive and negative view as he sings, “Saw death on a sunny snow.” Winter is the season that can achieve such a massive emotional response from people because of its gray, cold, dark, barren, dead, and dangerous qualities. Research has even proven that moods of depression, hostility, anxiety, anger and irritability are stronger in the winter months than any other time of the year (Harmatz 349). The singer himself experienced some of these negative feelings as a result of being stuck in what seems like a Winter Wonderland prison for three months. Yet by placing himself in this environment voluntarily, Vernon also witnessed a positive effect of this season by being able to discover himself and reposition his head back on his shoulders through meditating in nature.

     The references to winter reoccur in the rest of the album, working to symbolize the way the artist was viewing the world and society at the time of creating the music. In an interview with Angela Kim of Weekend America, Vernon states that, “Just winter in general was kind of a part of where I was physically and metaphysically as well” “because about February every year is when it gets really hard;” “it's when people's hearts really start to give out” (“Songs in the Dead of Winter”). In “re: Stacks” Justin Vernon sings, “All my love was down in a frozen ground.” These lyrics demonstrate how our surroundings influence us as humans, and can imply that the weight of winter makes the artist want to quit searching for meaning in relationships and give up on seeking love and happiness in life. In the reverse however, this line of lyrics can also reflect how Vernon’s state of becoming out-of-touch with love has made life seem hopeless or worthless. Thus this perspective creates a cold, bleak, and unfulfilling outlook of the world for the artist in the same way people often view life during the winter. The winter motif could show how Vernon thinks he, and the rest of society, is stuck in some sort of rut of our approach to living and in need of a renewal or thawing of both mind and heart. Just as it is difficult for people to shake their depressive moods during the empty, dull, unimaginative, and static winter, Vernon argues that people have been struggling to enlighten themselves to their place in the world and approach life with bright eyes and an open mind.

     The artist claims that society as a whole has been settling for a meaningless life rather than actively working to ask questions, contemplate, find purpose and really live. Evidence for the problem in this behavior is revealed in the track titled “Creature Fear” of the album where Vernon blatantly states, “So many foreign worlds//So relatively fucked.” This single phrase is a major turning point of the song. The melody of the song abruptly shifts from a calming, lullaby-like melody sung by one passive voice to big, busy, drum instrumentation with loud, overpowering, and haunting backup vocals. The musical switch happens so suddenly and unexpected that it mimics the sensation of a friend playing a practical joke by creeping up behind you unnoticed and screaming right in your ear in hopes of making you jump or waking you up. The contrast in music helps to emphasize a sense of urgency in Justin Vernon’s warning and advice to changing the way we view life.

     With a less alarming tone, in “Lump Sum,” Vernon gives his personal testimony that further demonstrates the need for turning to nature in order to reflect and determine our intent and role in society. The artist describes how he feels that something is missing in his life and how nothing he does is ever enough, when he sings, “My mile could not//Pump the plumb.” This song is especially important because it demonstrates the inevitable moment when everything begins to fall apart in Vernon’s life due to being idle and allowing his disorientation, distraction, and disappointment to build up. The line, “All at once//Rushing from the sub-pump,” reintroduces the water symbol from “Flume.” In this track however, the water is no longer innocent, calm, and beautiful; it is overflowing, overarching and overwhelming. But then Vernon continues with the song to reveal positivity in his message when he advises, “Color the era//Film it, it’s historical.” “Color the era” relates to breaking out of the white, wintery environment in order to paint life how we want it and go out and experience the world for ourselves. With just three words, the phrase “Color the era” sums up Bon Iver’s argument and forms a perfect anthem for neo-Romanticism. The new view of the world that neo-Romantics like Justin Vernon advocate for is all about using nature to renew our imagination, knowledge, and understanding so that we may discover fulfillment and purpose in life, as well as better ourselves and society as a whole.

     At the end of “Lump Sum,” Bon Iver uncovers more positivity when he sings, “Balance we won’t know//We will see when it gets warm.” This lyric mentions the most hopeful part of the current state of society being trapped in a winter snowstorm: it is going to come to an end. In this very last line, Vernon’s voice no longer has the cavernous quality to it. His vocals have expanded to hold new weight with both depth and substance backed by a hasty guitar rhythm, showing the artist is ready to look ahead to what will come in the future with this driven attitude of life.

     There is more evidence of healing and hope in the track “Blindsided,” where the singer notices his “feet melt the snow.” Bon Iver’s focus on winter, seasons, and elements of nature in general, all transient and impermanent components of life, shows how our perspectives are also temporary. In other words, Justin Vernon argues that if we invest ourselves in using nature as a channel by which to ponder and reason, it is possible to remove ourselves from the funk of feeling like we do not have direction in life or a place in the world. Throughout the track there are intentional, fluctuating noises intertwined with the consistent bass drum and distinguished guitar, and these crackles, snaps, and inconsistencies weaving in and out of the sound also produce the sentiment that nothing, not our mood, habits, perception, identity, has to last forever. Through the neo-Romantic ideas in For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver urges us to seek out nature and seclusion to reflect and reconsider our will and drive in the way we live life.

     In the iTunes Bonus track, “Wisconsin,” Vernon associates nature with being spiritual, holy or a piece of God’s work, which could be a way to justify his action of turning to nature as a guide for life. Vernon begs, Oh God don't leave me here//I will freeze till the end,” in a whispering voice as if he is speaking under his breath. The notes of a single guitar are muffled like the instrument is underwater, creating echoing sounds that add to the solemn mood of the track. Early Romanticism was greatly affected by and grounded in pantheism, a belief that nature and God are one and the same. This ideology implies that nature is alive, which lends itself to Romantics turning to nature for understanding and direction in finding their role in society (Riasanovsky 72). Although Justin Vernon may not address nature and God as equivalent beings in these lyrics; he does refer to the harsh winter weather as an element that is in God’s control, making him inclined to investigate nature as a means by which to learn about the world and discover a pathway leading to self-realization.  

     The last two songs of the album are “Skinny Love” and “The Wolves (Act I and II).” I chose not to go into detail on “Skinny Love” because it is Bon Iver’s most popular song with its sweeping guitar melody and recognizable chorus, (in fact it is the only song of the entire album that has a concrete chorus.) “The Wolves (Act I and II)” on the other hand, does not receive enough credit in the industry for its beautiful, intricate sound. It is by far the busiest song of the album musically, with a large presence of percussion instruments and an overlapping of Vernon’s intense voice tracks. In addition, it has a section that features dramatic, thundering firework sounds that are too powerful not to be experienced first-hand.

     For Emma, Forever Ago is a monumental piece of work. It not only is Bon Iver’s debut album, but it also laid the stones to create the band altogether. However, the music of this album is most significant in the way that Justin Vernon makes Romanticism relevant in contemporary society through his method for creating the songs as well as his argument. This Bon Iver album suggests that diving into nature as a form of meditation and reflection is effective to developing a distinct awareness of ourselves. By contemplating nature, we are able to connect with ourselves and focus on the course we want our life to follow, the role we desire to hold in the world and the ways in which we can live life to the fullest. Thus, the goal of this neo-Romantic view that Bon Iver presents does more than just promote a realization of our perspective of the world, it serves as a call to action for all of us.

Bibliography

Bon Iver. For Emma, Forever Ago. Jagjaguwar, 2008. CD.

Harmatz, Morton G., et al. "Seasonal Variation Of Depression And Other Moods." Journal Of
     Biological Rhythms 15.4 (2000): 344.Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

Kravitt, Edward F. "Romanticism Today." Musical Quarterly 76.1 (1992): 93. Academic Search   
     Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

Riasanovsky, Nicholas Valentine. The Emergence Of Romanticism. New York: Oxford University
     Press, 1992. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 9 Nov. 2015.

"Songs in the Dead of Winter." Perf. Justin Vernon. By Angela Kim. Weekend 
     America. Prod. Michael Raphael. Dir. Rob Byers. American Public Media.
     St. Paul, Minnesota, 26 Jan. 2008. American Public Media. Web. 17 Nov.
     2015.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854. Print. 

Vernon, Justin. "Justin Vernon of Bon Iver." Interview by Steven Hyden. A.V. 
     Club. Ed. Josh Modell. Onion, 21 Feb. 2008. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. 

Witherell, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth Dubrulle. "Reflections on Walden." The 
     Writing of Henry D. Thoreau. Ed. Elizabeth Witherell. U of California,
     1995. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.

Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories

     Whether the entire album is about Gwyneth Paltrow or not, Coldplay’s sixth studio album will forever be labeled as the breakup album of all breakup albums. Just a couple months before Ghost Stories’ 2014 release, Chris Martin and his wife of over ten years as well as the mother of his two kids announced that they were getting separated. One year later, the divorce papers were filed and a different sound of Coldplay music launched.

     The first song released as a teaser of Ghost Stories was “Midnight,” which painted a picture related to the name of the album through Martin’s ghost-like, echoing vocals and shuddering instrumentals. His drawn out “oohs” are reminiscent of a lone wolf howling at midnight. With this first song’s release listeners’ were initially let in on the artist’s feelings of loneliness and hopelessness, but the repetition of “leave a light, a light on,” showed Martin’s desire for his love to want him to come home as well as help guide him home. “Magic” was released next as the leading single and what would be track #2 of the album, which completely changed listeners’ grasp of what the rest of the album’s dynamics and sound would be. This track similarly contrasted Martin’s heartbreak with his still existing love for his wife. However, the short, fragmented lyrics and upbeat, pop tempo make the song have a breathy, bubbly, or light quality much different from the dark, haunting mood in “Midnight.” Despite the consistent themes of pain and longing between the two songs, the variation in music qualities revealed how Ghost Stories would contain a collection of Chris Martin’s distinct attitudes toward the current, messy, state of his love life.

     Love and relationships have been addressed in many of Coldplay’s albums throughout the years, but their past work for the most part has not overtly referenced Martin’s views on love in the way his newest album does. Ghost Stories has possibly the least ambiguous lyrics of the band’s entire collection in comparison to usual, ambiguous lines such as, “Come out of things unsaid//Shoot an apple off my head and a//Trouble that can't be named//A tiger's waiting to be tamed,” from the 2014 Grammy Record of the Year, “Clocks.” The more simple, explicit lyrics of Ghost Stories is part of the reason why so many critics have wrongly slapped a label that reads BREAKUP ALBUM on the cover of Ghost Stories, called it a day, and moved on without giving the album much more thought or consideration, especially not in the context of Martin’s position on the topics he is expressing.

            The opening song of the album, “Always in My Head,” is pretty self-explanatory. Chris Martin coos with drawn-out, hypnotic notes supported by a dream-like, enchanting melody to admit how he cannot sleep or keep his mind off of thinking about his wife. However, the more important part of the message is not revealed until he sighs, “But though I try my heart stays still.” Despite not being able to forget everything that happened between them, both good and bad, his heart will remain attached and longing for Paltrow. It is interesting how Martin is confessing to his continual, involuntary commitment to his wife when this loyalty did nothing to save the life-long, sacred commitment of marriage itself. There are many options for how this irony came into play, but almost all can be sorted into two main umbrella reasons: either Paltrow was the only one who wanted to terminate the marriage or Martin and Paltrow let other factors take precedence over their sheer love for each other in terms of the kind of bond that was holding their marriage together. In today’s society, the purpose of marriage has greatly shifted from its historic obligation of marrying for social, political, or economic benefits to now marrying out of personal choice, for love. A result of marriage’s different functionality is when love begins to fade, as it often does due to hardships and change, nothing is left to keep the institution glued together. Yet, Martin here is opposing this idea of love failing as the cause for divorce by showing how his love for Gwyneth has not faded. Therefore, the artist demonstrates that other factors fueled the divorce.

            “All I know//Is that I love you so//So much that it hurts,” is the chorus of the third track of the album, “Ink.” This cry of love for his wife again suggests the idea of an eternal, lasting love and commitment to his spouse even when the marriage has broken apart. Martin suggests that marriage begins as something great that signifies “together through life,” but that definition of marriage really does nothing to keep a couple together. Recently researchers have determined that about half of marriages today will end in divorce, and a good amount of those divorces will occur less than five years into the marriage. Although the percentage of individuals who get a divorce has experienced a sharp increase, marriage is still widely regarded as a concept that signifies a promise to be faithful to each other for a lifetime. Consequently, the idea that so many people choose to end their marriage after once viewing the institution as being sacred and forever does not line-up. There is a great incongruence or inconsistency with Americans’ beliefs about marriage and their practices or ways of carrying out their marriage. Martin touches on this new, conflicting reality of marriage in his melancholy, heavy song, “O.” In this reflection Martin’s vocals stand alone with the rolling piano serving as the only instrument as he tells how in his eyes, marriage is just considered “a flock of birds,” because “One minute they arrive//Next you know they’re gone.” He reiterates how marriage somehow has transformed into a temporary agreement that is just as fleeting and unpredictable as birds.

            It isn’t until we listen to “Another’s Arms” that a possible explanation for the breakup is illustrated. Rumors aside, this track emulates two distinct themes with its title. Through the eerie repetition of the phrase “another’s arms” in the background while he describes himself going through his normal, daily life, Chris Martin could be pleading for the comfort of another person, as in his wife’s familiarity, amidst his dark post-breakup period. However, the use of “another” rather than “you,” the almost whispering singing approach taken by Martin, and the fading additional vocalists echoing in the background all mix together to make a stranger or outside lover reference jump out at me. The possibility of Martin demonstrating how an affair continuously haunts both the adulterer and their spouse brings up an important idea of the influences on marriages today. American culture and majority opinion both demonstrate how most people are very intolerant of infidelity because monogamy is one of the promises intertwined within marriage’s lifetime commitment. Yet, at the same time, in today’s society there is an increasing percentage of individuals who have an extramarital affair. Despite a high population of Americans with values that disapprove of unfaithfulness, our high expectations for finding fulfillment and perfection in marriage, which arise from its accepted, socially-promoted definition and standards, makes infidelity all the more common.

            In “True Love” Chris Martin makes reference to this perfect, ideal image that we hold up of what we think “true love” really is. With more hard-hitting, deep beats in the instrumentation and a bass guitar solo, a sense of danger is created to emphasize the effects of trying to strive for an unattainable romance where there is no conflict and no mistakes. In the verses, the artist describes how failing to be transparent and honest does not save one’s spouse from getting hurt, it only creates more distance between the partners. (We also see this theme repeated in “Ghost Story,” one of the bonus tracks off the album. In this song Martin compares himself to “a ghost,” “a puff of smoke,” and someone that’s “not even here,” because he is struggling to get closer to Gwyneth when she does not open up to him.) Contrarily, in the chorus of “True Love” Martin changes his tone from accusing to pleading. He gives us an example of sinking back into the mindset of wanting to cover up the problems at hand in a relationship in hopes that they will all go away eventually. He begs, “So tell me you love me//And if you don't then lie//Lie to me,” even though just moments before he was upset about how Paltrow was not truthful and never “let [him] know//What’s really going on below.” This lack of wanting to open our eyes and face the actuality of our relationships arises from romantic ideals. We have been accustomed to forming high expectations which becomes problematic. In effect, the end result is that we place great demands and immense pressure on our marriages. The purpose of marriage has blindly come to be viewed as something that will serve all of our needs and give us complete happiness that reaches all corners of our life, whether or not those areas are even related to or dependent on our spouse.

     It is very difficult and extremely unlikely to rescue or continue a relationship after a divorce has already shattered the marriage, but is it better to try to put a halt to the divorce or try to prevent the marriage itself in the first place? In Ghost Stories, Chris Martin illuminates the idea of how quickly a marriage can change, and how a once serious and wonderful commitment can easily disappear right before one’s eyes. One way to resolve this discrepancy between how our American culture values and executes marriage would be to change the way we view marriage. Whether that is making it more acceptable to not get married, changing the social definition of marriage to not necessarily mean life-time and monogamous, being more tolerant of infidelity, or redefining marriage for just you and your partner’s unique relationship, it is necessary that we adapt to the changing face of marriage depicted in Coldplay’s album.