Wisconsin

love can be everything but sometimes love isn't enough

i don't know why

I'm in love with this song and here's what I think the lyrics are. Seems to make a little more sense this way. But thanks for posting it!)

~

You're out in the park and you're peeking Piss pools in your seat She's standing inside but you surely repeat Oh God don't leave me here I will freeze till you leave Love is love's reprieve

Winter is come and you're stacking All your summer sheets Now when the wind blows you cover your tooth And our tool shed Where you trade in your blues Love is love's sad news

That was Wisconsin, that was yesterday Now I have nothing that I can keep 'Cause every place I go I take another place with me Love is love's mystique

You're up on the bar and you're shaking With every grimy word Who will you love? What's love when you've hurt? The winter as your scene The snow kissed the curb Love is love's return

That was Wisconsin, that was yesterday Now I have nothing that I can keep 'Cause every place I go I take another place me Love is love's critique

A typical wisconsin bar scenario that happens every else too...

He broke up with his girl. He tried to make it easy 'cause he still loves her and she's decided to blatantly "live it up" now despite the hurt it might cause him... getting wasted, dancing on the bar for every grimy word from every grimy guy ("show us your tits! Woo! etc."). Love is all you get for investing in love, kind of like the saying "no good deed goes unpunished" where if you're nice you get screwed over in the end. Now Wisconsin has nothing for him, yet he has no choice but to take this sad memory with him where ever he goes.

Everybody has been in something similar and/or had to listen to a sad-sack friend cry over such an experience. Another probably element given the author: Eau Claire, WI isn't that big of a town and if your ex is out making a scene you're gonna hear about it if not actually see if for yourself.

I really feel like this song has a Springsteen or Arcade Fire influence to it-- especially every line that comes right before a "love is love's ___" line. The whole song feels so powerful in a more traditional songlike way (unlike other Bon Iver songs, equally powerful but it a different manner), with its clear-cut choruses and verses and such, but with a special Vernon influence. It's such a beautiful song and I really love it so much.

The idea that some people will be a part of you forever seems to be a theme with Bon Iver. Just because a relationship is over, the time that you spent together doesn't become redundant - love makes every second worthy of a memory. This song also sort of attempts to explore the ways that people deal with the breakdown of relationships, she's out getting drunk, dancing on bars, and trying to forget something that was worth remembering. He takes another place with him everywhere he goes, and that place is memory, that place is HER, and yet her way of dealing with their being apart has soured the memory of their relationship.

"Now I have nothing that I can keep."

This is really bautiful song. A great B-side. This song is clearly about love and loss, and finding yourself without anything: "That was Wisconsin, that was yesterday"

i'm glad someone finally got these up.

i think a few of the lyrics are:

"I will freeze til the end"

and

"winter has come and you're stuck here oh and so is she"

and just to add... "cause every place i go i take another place with me" may be some of the best lyrics ever. so very true.

oh, also,

"you're up on the bar and you're shaking with every grimy word"

the last line is definitely: "love is love's critique" I'm working on deciphering the rest, what a difficult song to figure out! But, hauntingly beautiful.

Sorry guys Ill make the changes I found it really tough to figure it all out when I tried to do this but I think its one of his best and deserved to be posted