 Genius Meanings
|
|
Bon Iver – U (Man Like)
|
|
“U (Man Like)” is a piano-driven ballad that touches on modern social issues. The Gospel-influenced song features silvery backing vocals from Jenn Wasner, Moses Sumney and Elsa
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Hey, Ma
|
|
“Hey, Ma” is a nostalgia-evoking song with sentimental imagery of childhood and a mother’s affection. The song features subtle instrumentation behind Vernon’s gliding falsetto with
|
|
Bon Iver – Skinny Love
|
|
Released as the first single from For Emma, Forever Ago, “Skinny Love” is a song about a failed relationship and the regret that stems from it.
The term “skinny love” has two
|
|
Taylor Swift (Ft. Bon Iver) – exile
|
|
“exile” describes two ex-lovers seeing each other following a break-up. Justin Vernon describes feelings of confusion about how quickly a lover moved on, while Swift offers a
|
|
mxmtoon – bon iver
|
|
“bon iver” is the first single from mxmtoon’s 2020 EP dusk. The first song released by mxmtoon since her EP dawn, “bon iver” is a track that introduces the theme of dusk and the
|
|
Bon Iver – 715 - CRΣΣKS
|
|
“715 – CRΣΣKS” focuses on the love of another person, the love of god, and a loss of faith.
The number in the title – 715 – is the Area Code of Central/North Wisconsin, which
|
|
Bon Iver – Re: Stacks
|
|
“Re: Stacks” laments love frozen in the ground.
When asked about the purpose of “Re” in the song title, Justin Vernon replied:
It’s ‘Regarding.’ People use it in letters and
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Faith
|
|
“Faith” is an ethereal and uplifting song in which Vernon sings about faith, both in a spiritual sense and within personal relationships. Vernon opens up about how the faith he
|
|
Bon Iver – Beach Baby
|
|
During the Philadelphia stop on Bon Iver’s 2011 tour, Justin introduced this song by saying that it’s about when your ex-girlfriend is sleeping with someone else, but you get to
|
|
Bon Iver – Michicant
|
|
[Verse 1] / I was unafraid, I was a boy, I was a tender age / Melic in the naked, knew a lake and drew the lofts for page / Hurdle all the waitings up, I know it wasn't wedded love
|
|
Bon Iver – Holocene
|
|
Regarding “Holocene”, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon told NPR:
Holocene is a bar in Portland, Ore., but it’s also the name of a geologic era, an epoch if you will. It’s a good example
|
|
Bon Iver & St. Vincent – Rosyln
|
|
“Rosyln” a melancholic ballad by the indie folk band Bon Iver and rock pioneer St. Vincent. The collaboration itself was used in the second movie of the Twilight trilogy, Twilight
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Sh'Diah
|
|
Sh'Diah is the twelfth track on Bon Iver’s upcoming album, i,i.
Prior to its surprise release on August 8, the lyrics were posted on the official Bon Iver website following a
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Blood Bank
|
|
The title track to Bon Iver’s 2009 EP, Blood Bank, describes a blossoming love between Justin and a woman. In the song, he goes into detail about various interactions and moments
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Wash.
|
|
[Verse 1] / Climb / Is all we know / When thaw / Is not below us / No, can't grow up / In that iron ground / Claire, all too sore for sound / [Verse 2] / Bet / Is hardly shown
|
|
|
Bon Iver – 29 #Strafford APTS
|
|
“29 #Strafford APTS” is the fifth track on Bon Iver’s third album, 22, A Million. The track was first performed at Eaux Claires 2016.
Vernon is accompanied on the vocals by Bon
|
|
Taylor Swift (Ft. Bon Iver) – evermore
|
|
The titular closing track on the standard edition of evermore is a meditative piano ballad tracking the narrator’s journey from a seemingly unending period of deep depression and
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Perth
|
|
Lead Justin Vernon said this about Perth and the inspiration behind the track:
The first thing I worked on, the riff and the beginning melodies, was the first song on the record
|
|
Francis and the Lights (Ft. Bon Iver & Kanye West) – Friends
|
|
On “Friends,” Francis and the Lights combines with rapper Kanye West as well as Bon Iver (the two of which have worked together on multiple occasions including the songs “Lost in
|
|
Bon Iver – Flume
|
|
“Flume” has an eerily interiorized sound, which matches his unsettling similes. “Lump Sum” begins with a choir of Vernons echoing cavernously, which, along with that rhythmically
|
|
|
Bon Iver – 8 (circle)
|
|
“8 (circle)” sticks to the numerical theme throughout 22, A Million, referencing the fact that it is the eighth song on the album, and how the number “8” consists of two circles.
|
|
Kanye West (Ft. Bon Iver, JAY-Z, Nicki Minaj & Rick Ross) – Monster
|
|
One of the most highlighted posse cuts of 2010, Kanye, Rick Ross, JAY-Z, and Nicki Minaj boast on how they’re a “Monster” on the mic. Fittingly, the song comes with a couple of
|
|
Bon Iver – AUATC
|
|
The new Bon Iver track “AUATC” – an acronym for “Ate Up All Their Cake” – was released on 5 August 2020 and is characterized by a surprising vocal blend featuring appearances of
|
|
|
Bon Iver – The Wolves (Act I and II)
|
|
Perhaps the most lyrically direct song on the album. It is also the most musically elaborate. It features auto-tune, densely multi-tracked vocals and significant use of percussion
|
|
|
Bon Iver – 33 “GOD”
|
|
33 “GOD” is the fourth track off 22, A Million, released on August 29, 2016. The official lyric video opens with an epigraph quoting Psalm 22:
Why are you so FAR from saving me
|
|
Kanye West (Ft. Bon Iver) – Lost In the World
|
|
According to Kanye, the verse began as a poem he emailed to Kim Kardashian because he had the beat but no lyrics. He made the revelation at his Glastonbury 2015 headline set.
This
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Blindsided
|
|
The intertwining bass-drum note in “Blindsided” gives the song a suspenseful rising towards a climax, which come in waves as the five-minute track plays out.
Justin Vernon said at
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Yi
|
|
“Yi” is the airy instrumental introduction to Bon Iver’s 4th studio album i,i. The intro has some foreshadowing, using chopped sounds that can be heard in other songs to follow on
|
|
|
Bon Iver – For Emma
|
|
Boston-based musicians John DeHaven and Randy Pingrey add horns to “For Emma”; surprisingly, their company doesn’t break the album’s spell of isolation, but rather strengthens it
|
|
Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar – The Hillbillies
|
|
“The Hillbillies” is a collaboration between Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar on which they go back and forth, comparing themselves to Neymar and Messi respectively. The cousins rap
|
|
|
Bon Iver – 22 (OVER S∞∞N)
|
|
The opening track of Bon Iver’s third album, 22, A Million, “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” introduces the album’s more electronic-centric sound. The song features a sample of Mahalia Jackson’s
|
|
Bon Iver – PDLIF
|
|
“PDLIF” (Please Don’t Live In Fear), is the first glimpse of new material from Bon Iver since 2019 album i,i. The song was created by Justin Vernon and a handful of collaborators
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Salem
|
|
“Salem” was the tenth track to be separately released from Bon Iver’s fourth studio album i,i and is the eleventh track on the actual album. The track was released on August 8
|
|
Zach Bryan (Ft. Bon Iver) – Boys of Faith
|
|
[Chorus: Zach Bryan & Justin Vernon] / High tide, it's been risin' up / I've been gettin' up with some boys I used to know / We're tryin' to get our pockets up / This year has just
|
|
Bon Iver – Heavenly Father
|
|
“Heavenly Father” is the fifth track off of the soundtrack for Zach Braff’s 2014 film Wish I Was Here.
This is the first song released by the band since their 2011 self-titled
|
|
|
Bon Iver – 00000 Million
|
|
The closer for Bon Iver’s 22, A Million. It was premiered live on August 12th, 2016 at Eaux Claires music festival. The attendees were all given a small hymnal-like booklet with
|
|
Bon Iver – Calgary
|
|
[Verse 1] / Don't you cherish me to sleep, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh / Never keep your eyelids clipped / Hold me for the pops and clicks / I was only for the father's crib / [Verse 2] / Hair
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Beth/Rest
|
|
In an interview with NPR, Vernon said about Beth/Rest:
You know, I might’ve messed up not expecting them to latch onto it. I think that it makes sense that people are latching
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Jelmore
|
|
Released with “Faith” alongside a general official album announcement for i,i, “Jelmore” is an near-apocalyptic commentary on climate change and social inequality. The discordant
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Towers
|
|
[Verse 1] / For the love, I'd fallen on / In the swampy August dawn / What a mischief you would bring, young darling / When the onus is not all your own / When you're up for it
|
|
|
Bon Iver – iMi
|
|
“iMi” is the fifth track to be released from Bon Iver’s fourth studio album i,i. The track was released on August 8th, 2019, the day after fans were able to hear i,i in its
|
|
|
Bon Iver – Naeem
|
|
“NAEEM” is a song which, like “Hey Ma,” was first performed in Washington, D.C. in December 2017. Since then, it has been used in Bon Iver’s collaboration with TU Dance on “Come
|
