I remember well the potency of running through the youthful fluster of my girlhood. kisses on trampolines, smoking in sheds. it felt big, big feelings, big chances, big losses, the way that those years are supposed to feel. “For Emma, forever ago” was a symbol. it spoke for that time, for angsty youth. I think it spoke for many of us.
and that’s a big part of it. vernon does angst skilfully and honestly. Only it goes beyond that. It is human. It is a lack of elaboration, it is emotionally unembellished. It is tragic and it is hopeful. That is the pivotal detail of creative work for me. I can like something amply, even love it, but if it does not bellow deep-seated, obvious whispers, urging me to feel something, it may not have solved the problem it was supposed to. It also happens to be one of the main internal issues I have with fashion (externally it’s got a whole lot of ’em); it can be beautiful and impressive and cool but to really get that emotional touch from it is rare. costumes have that in their favour, because when made right, it goes beyond design. music may do it best. What art does this for what people is broad and unspecific, this I know. I do not expect agreement in all respects, this is just me and whoever else wants to join me. This is an opinion piece.
I do endorse listening to “for Emma, forever ago” and exploring its backstory as well, if you haven’t already. It is well worth it and a beautiful album. But let’s not get into that right now.
Let’s talk about “sable, fable”. It reverberates similarly to “for Emma, forever ago”. like it’s from heartbreak. break up albums are important for everyone. SZA does it well, we love her because of her vulnerability. This is why we love Bon Iver too. But, where “for Emma, forever ago” feels nostalgic, “sable, fable” feels new and time specific. Vernon made something aged, just like all of us, and him. If we look at the production, it is current. It fits into popular music as it is now. Musically, I think this album is very interesting and so essential to what makes it good, but I am going to refrain from talking about this because, truely, I do not know how to talk about music like that. Ask a musician. But Vernon knows folk. Okay, ask someone else.
I was searching for something when I first listened to this album. It is nice when you find it. I ingested this project through the kaleidoscope lens of heartache, but also Transition in a larger sense. things going forward and endings. Constants. My environment established the project for me. And although that is real and important, what’s more relevant is that I am a romantic, consistently. A lot of being a romantic is tragedy, but also hope. and Vernon clearly knows this too. You do not have to be heartbroken to frame this project that way.
So let’s talk about tragedy and hope. I am a pisces. Goodbyes are just the main part. Have been for a long time. The death in the little things is all over for me. the death in the big things too. This is largely because of circumstance, but also because of my manner. It has become hard to draw the line between what’s been delivered to me and what is just me. I know it’s not very Buddhist of me. It is self-seeking and painful. I am aware of this but I truthfully do not know if I want to change it. It is me. it is not agony. I love feeling. I think I am better for it, more interesting, more human. I realise the reason I like this album so much is me. I am a dramatic bitch it is no wonder I like Justin vernon. But I also know that it is not just me, that there are a lot of us.
So I mostly write this to recommend the album, so you can enjoy it for yourself in whichever way you will. But I have to do my therapy too. I want to talk about three specific songs, the ones that felt the biggest for me, and then I will leave you alone.
S P R E Y S I D E:
its not a secret what this songs about. I think I know why this one is important to me. its the voice of something lacking in my own kismet. It is like a manifestation. a genuine understanding. this song is like a real apology, real acknowledgment. even if its a late one. It is a pretty weird feeling to get ablissment (i made that word up) from something that has nothing to do with you, when the somethings in your life that do have to do with you, can’t give it to you. if that makes sense.
everything is peaceful love:
what an absolute bop. so fucking hopeful how fricking cool. talking about climbing trees and shit. fleet-fulness too. Makes me want to really do it.
there’s a rhythm:
melancholy hopeful, this song. the embodiment of the tragedy/hope phenomenon. It is about an ending. Endings mean a lot to me. It is about welcoming and about love that eclipses endings. I think about the impermanence of that feeling, the fading of things. it is real, but also not real. It is nonlinear. Even though it is hurtful, it is not mistaken. there is a rhythm, it is part of the flow of things. Maybe things do end here, but the rhythm lets them persist, unsystematically. it becomes part of the pattern, nestling Itself in the fibres of what some of us call god (bleh). And that pattern lets you reclaim and regain.
Justin Vernon is a fluorescing example of why art is a necessity. because it helps us move into our feelings, helps us process, helps us heal. Be sad, angry, happy, hopeful. Sometimes it helps us be insane, which is important. It tells us something about ourselves and about the place we have made. Art is what connects us to the bigger thing (I won’t say god again, I have qualms with that word). It is important for us to think about this, because we have to protect it, and like a lot of things in the world right now, it is not safe. Without it we are fucked.