At the End of Quarantine, There’s Light (and, Maybe, Art): Bon Iver’s ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’

As the world sits isolated within their homes,Vernon’s For Emma, Forever Ago is relatably harrowing yet optimistic, as we all try to figure out our next steps. 

Written by Sloan Wyatt

Illustrated by Darrina Green

“I was just there, letting myself be bored, allowing myself to have a day where nothing happened for the first time in my life and not have any guilt about it.” — Justin Vernon

There’s a universal understanding that echoes throughout Bon Iver’s first album, For Emma, Forever Ago — one that holds true now more than ever.  Lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Justin Vernon speaks of loneliness, hopelessness, and feeling lost, emotions which any listener can empathize with. The album, crafted during a four-month-long, self-induced quarantine in rural northern Wisconsin, outlines Vernon’s ‘emotional exorcism’ after breaking up with his ten-year-old band, DeYarmond Edison, and moving home. Tired of compromise and riddled with homesickness, a nostalgic Vernon retreated from the outside world to his father’s cabin with the intention of letting himself ‘be’ for a couple of months. 

Some days were passed by mindlessly watching hours of the classic TV show “Northern Exposure” while throwing back a few beers or smoking a freshly rolled joint. Other days were spent outside, performing manual labor, and tending to cabin chores. “I was just there, letting myself be bored, allowing myself to have a day where nothing happened for the first time in my life and not have any guilt about it,” Vernon said on an episode of music podcast Broken Record. There, Vernon explained to Rubin that it was the first time he’d been completely on his own for months on end. Days blended together, Mondays transitioned into Thursdays; the world felt timeless. “I don't recall a lot of very concrete memories of it, because I think I was a little bit out of my head, a bit," Vernon told PopMatter. But, as the weeks went on, Vernon sought comfort in his guitar and a notebook of incomplete lyrics. Three months later, he’d emerge with nine songs and a new name: Bon Iver.

Sounds of silence and isolation play throughout For Emma, Forever Ago. The songs are light and instrumental, incorporating a consistent use of a nostalgic and folksy falsetto that gives the music a soft and comforting feel. Vernon invites you to immerse yourself in his space, offering a glimpse at the feelings and thoughts experienced in his cabin. The lyrics are simple and brief, yet metaphorical and elegant. Vernon opens the album with campfire-style guitar strumming in “Flume,” quietly singing, “I am my mother’s only one / It’s enough.” This homage to his mother — a prominent female figure in his life — sets the stage for the heartbreak and self-reflection to come. 

With For Emma, Forever Ago, Vernon washes himself clean of his old life and grievances, giving up on chasing. “Once you’re done with chasing, you’re arriving,” he tells Rick Rubin of Broken Record. The feeling of arriving — that rush of reaching a mountain peak or crossing a finish line — is felt through the project. There’s so much hurt in his words, but it’s intertwined with personal growth. In “Skinny Love,” he grieves a failed relationship, begging the love to “just last the year.” The song plays off of both definitions of ‘skinny love’: a relationship where two people are in love yet too shy to admit it, and an existing relationship that is devoid of the love or emotional fulfillment once there. He bitterly retorts “what happened here,” then cathartically proceeds to list all of his demands to his lover that could’ve kept their relationship afloat. 

“Skinny Love” seamlessly transitions into “The Wolves (Act I and II),” where Vernon wrestles with his isolation and break-up from his ex. The song is lyrically focused — speaking directly to the lover whom he blames for their relationship’s failure and how it will later haunt them both. Yet, musically, “The Wolves (Act I and II)” is the most complex song on the record, featuring autotune, multi-tracked vocals and more percussion than other tracks on the project. He begins to come to terms with his new reality in For Emma, Forever Ago as he tells his love to “go find another lover / To bring a … string along.” 

Image courtesy of Jagjaguwar

Given his self-imposed isolation, Vernon cites very few influences for the album. The artist had entirely removed himself from the outer world, secluding him from the musicians and works he usually drew inspiration from. It was a time of stillness and solitude, a concept that’s become all too familiar for the rest of us nowadays. It’s depressing, to say the least, and unlike Vernon’s experience, ours isn’t voluntary. No one asked to isolate in their homes for months on end, unsure when normalcy would return. While social media influencers and the like encouraged us to make the most of a global pandemic, many of us spent those first few months binging our unique versions of “Northern Exposure.”

It was a time of communal growth, and, maybe, we’re all still growing. Together (but apart), we’ve been lonely, painfully claustrophobic, and sometimes isolated, even in a house full of people. We’ve thought for hours on end about everything: the state of the virus, the condition of our hometowns, the course of our lives. 

Vernon explained how For Emma, Forever Ago carried both new and old pain in its lyrics even years later. Vernon, then riding on his newfound fame under his Bon Iver moniker, was no longer immediately troubled by the emotional turmoil he felt in that cabin, but that didn’t mean the feelings and thoughts didn’t linger. The same may hold true for our time in quarantine. The scars of COVID-19 will live well beyond any vaccination or herd immunity; its ramifications will be felt in our daily interactions, our economy, and our lifestyles. Eight months locked away in your house changes you. It brings up pain and forces self-reflection. 

Vernon willingly chose to give up everything to have nothing. He chose simplicity and silence over stability and success. And yet, from that isolation came art. We did not choose this life for ourselves, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth experiencing. It’s important to appreciate the simplicity of life: morning coffee, absurdly long walks, suburban fathers waking up at 6 a.m. for no reason. It reminds us that it’s okay to take a break. Sometimes, a break is exactly what we need.