''For Emma, Forever Ago'' is the debut studio album by American
indie folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation.
The genre has its ...
band
Bon Iver
Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon.
Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, ''For Emma, Forever Ago,'' independently in July 2007. The majority of the album was recorded while Vernon ...
. It was first self-released in July 2007, and later saw wide release on the
Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Jagjaguwar is a label included in Secretly Group, which also includes ...
label in February 2008. The album is principally the work of singer-songwriter
Justin Vernon. While living in
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...
, Vernon fell ill with
mononucleosis and a liver infection, and grew frustrated with his songwriting and life. He left Raleigh and drove to his father's remote hunting cabin an hour northwest of his hometown,
Eau Claire Eau Claire (French for "clear water", ''pl.'' ''eaux claires'') is the name of a number of locations and features in North America. The name is pronounced as if it were spelled "O'Clare".
Place names (Canada)
Communities
*Eau Claire, Calgary, a n ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, hoping to be alone.
The album was recorded at the cabin between late 2006 to early 2007. Vernon abandoned his old songwriting methods and instead focused on wordless melodies that he later set to words, which he felt evoked a more subconscious meaning. The record's lyrical subjects include lost love and mediocrity. His
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
-infused songs include heavy choral arrangements, featuring Vernon's
falsetto
''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.
It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...
, and horns. He hunted his own food and spent much of his time isolated. Though he did not intend to make an album, he received strong encouragements from friends and decided to self-release ''For Emma, Forever Ago'' in July 2007. After several performances and online exposure, he was signed to Jagjaguwar later that year.
''For Emma, Forever Ago'' attracted wide acclaim from music critics, achieving a spot on dozens of end-of-the-year lists, as well as several awards. It became a major commercial success for Jagjaguwar, an independent label, and has been certified
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA), for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of over one million units. "
Skinny Love
"Skinny Love" is a song written by American musician and songwriter Justin Vernon. It was originally released by indie folk band Bon Iver, of which Vernon is a member, in 2007. A cover version by the British vocalist Birdy was released in 2011 ...
" became the album's best-performing single and also went gold. Vernon gathered together several musicians to form a band to tour with. The album's touring cycle lasted two years, ending in late 2009, and visited several countries and music festivals worldwide. In 2020, it was ranked 461 on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''s list of the
greatest albums of all time.
Background
![Flickr - moses namkung - Bon Iver 2 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Flickr_-_moses_namkung_-_Bon_Iver_2_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Justin Vernon was born in
Eau Claire Eau Claire (French for "clear water", ''pl.'' ''eaux claires'') is the name of a number of locations and features in North America. The name is pronounced as if it were spelled "O'Clare".
Place names (Canada)
Communities
*Eau Claire, Calgary, a n ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, and grew up pursuing music.
He saw the folk duo
Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part o ...
in concert in middle school and it proved formative on his life.
He attended the
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's and master's degrees. UW–Eau Claire ...
(UW–Eau Claire), where he played in a number of bands.
One such group, Mount Vernon, consisted of ten members, including saxophonist Sara Jensen, who became his first love.
He and Jensen broke up in the middle of his college years, but would remain friends.
He studied
music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
for a time, as well as
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
,
but ended up with a degree in
religious studies.
DeYarmond Edison became his next musical project, as he graduated from college and relocated to
Raleigh
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
in August 2005.
The group chose Raleigh hoping for an adventure and a more vibrant musical scene.
Over the course of his time in Raleigh, he became frustrated with his songwriting as well as personal life. He worked at a local sandwich shop that he felt took too much time from him.
He started to have health problems: he first contracted
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
, then
mononucleosis, which developed into a liver infection that kept him bedridden for three months.
Members of the band began to fight, and Vernon was kicked out of the group.
Many of his bands had held similar members—some he had known since his adolescence—which amplified the pain of breaking apart.
Afterwards, he spent time as a band member for
the Rosebuds
The Rosebuds were an American indie rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, that recorded and performed from 2001 to 2014. (Not to be confused with the vocal group of the same name who recorded for George Goldner's Gee Records in the 1950s.) It ...
; his contributions feature on their third album, ''
Night of the Furies''.
Vernon also recorded a solo
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. , ''Hazeltons'', which he distributed in 100 self-made
CD-Rs.
He lost his money playing
online poker, which he viewed as a microcosm for his other problems.
Vernon, then 25,
felt his life had spiraled into mediocrity, as though he had lost the sense of purpose he had a half-decade prior. He sensed he had compromised with bandmates and in his personal life.
His depression was fueled by indifference, and he decided to get away from Raleigh and return to his hometown.
He broke-up with his then-girlfriend, Christy Smith,
and tossed his recording equipment into the trunk of his car.
He drove home to Eau Claire over eighteen hours through the night.
He first stopped at his parents' home while they were out. He sat on their couch and felt "claustrophobic" and "super-empty." He returned to the road, in search of silence and hoping to be alone.
Recording and production
![Eau Claire County Wisconsin A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Eau_Claire_County_Wisconsin_A.jpg)
Vernon's travels brought him to his father's hunting cabin, roughly an hour's drive northwest of his hometown.
He and his father had often spent weekends at the 80-acre rural property—an area they dubbed "the land"—when he was growing up.
In an interview, he described it as "a little
alpine-style,
timber-frame
Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
cabin."
The cabin was not necessarily ramshackle; his father had replaced its dirt floor and installed plumbing years before.
For roughly three weeks, Vernon sat alone in the shack, drinking beer and watching television.
He mulled over thoughts about his relationship with Jensen, a break-up he had struggled to get over.
He hunted his food,
a practice that he had learned from his father. He killed two deer in his period at the property, which lasted the entire three months "and then some," according to Vernon.
At one point, he faced a wild bear that entered the cabin late one night, enticed by his stew.
His father would drop by "every 10 days or so," supplying his son with beer, eggs, and cheese.
Vernon completed tasks for him, such as stripping wood, clearing brush, and stacking lumber.
He did not intend to stay for long, viewing the excursion as "an opportunity to escape the trap of society, to not pay bills, to play music and live really cheaply."
Instead, he stayed for three months in the harsh Wisconsin winter.
After three weeks, Vernon grew tired of his "self-indulgent, lazy behavior" and began forming song ideas.
He had an idea for a song and brought inside his musical equipment, which consisted of several guitars, microphones, and an old-model
Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
with
ProTools LE.
Shortly before exiting Raleigh, he had developed song ideas but ceased working on them in his depression.
He began recording songs and layering his vocals atop more vocals, imitating a choir.
He sang in
falsetto
''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.
It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...
, which he had first tried with his previous band.
He gained freedom in singing in a higher register, feeling he accessed "painful melodies" unattainable in his previous work.
He further manipulated his recorded vocals using the software
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances.
Auto-Tu ...
.
Soon, he began developing more songs, which were worked on in 12-hour "bursts" of productivity.
"I would work for 14 hours a day and start to feel a little insane," he later commented.
The work was "labor-intensive," as he often merged over a minimum of eight tracks of vocals on each song.
He likened the singularity of the process to his teenage years, where he worked alone with an
eight-track.
According to Vernon, days were hazy and began to run together for him.
He would wake each morning at sunrise, due to the light reflecting from the snow.
To help repair his 1964
Sears Silvertone guitar, he traded
venison
Venison originally meant the meat of a game animal but now refers primarily to the meat of antlered ungulates such as elk or deer (or antelope in South Africa). Venison can be used to refer to any part of the animal, so long as it is edible, in ...
in the nearby town.
By February, with winter drawing to a close, Vernon emerged from the cabin with nine songs. He left still feeling physically sick from the infection, and did not feel "renewed" from his creative catharsis.
Before heading back to Raleigh, he broke out some whisky with a couple friends and put the finishing touches on the record, recording brass on "For Emma."
While stories of the "cabin" would become oft-repeated and mythologized,
Vernon never viewed it that way: "It's sort of odd to look back and see it as magical, because it felt like a lonely few months at the cabin, where I plugged in the laptop and fucked around."
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' Josh Eells later summarized its romanticized story as "part ''
Into the Wild'', part ''
Basement Tapes'', part ''
Walden
''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...
'', part
Unabomber
Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber (), is an American domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide ...
."
Vernon later viewed the album as a victory for his mental health, a metaphor for taking "personal steps" to improve his life.
He characterized his growth as a "small internal dialogue between me and the microphone."
The album's title comes from the middle name of Jensen, though he refrained from confirming that she was the central inspiration behind the album.
He felt the titular "Emma" was evocative of "a statement, a sentiment and a closing of my own history."
He went more in-depth in a later remark: "Emma isn't a person. Emma is a place that you get stuck in. Emma's a pain that you can’t erase."
Composition
![Wiener Saengerknaben](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Wiener_Saengerknaben.jpg)
''For Emma, Forever Ago'' is a summation of Vernon's life events at the time, ranging from "lost love and longing" to mediocrity.
His lyrics on the album aspire to tell stories, which was inspired by musician
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
,
and the song structures are unorthodox.
He discarded his old method of songwriting, both metaphorically and literally: on one occasion, an old
PowerBook
The PowerBook (known as Macintosh PowerBook before 1997) is a family of Macintosh laptop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and r ...
crashed, losing dozens of unfinished old songs. Vernon buried the laptop in the snow, later remarking, "They were taken from me but it was good that they were, as it really gave me a new face."
Music came first, after which he would create
wordless vocal lines. He felt this process brought forth "weird, subconscious melodies and sounds."
He considered this method a "back-door way," as they fit more to his unintelligible syllables than words.
He expanded upon this process in a 2008 interview:
Vernon listened to little music while creating the album, but was inspired by myriad sources.
He had listened to
Vienna Boys' Choir
The Vienna Boys' Choir (german: Wiener Sängerknaben) is a choir of boy sopranos and altos based in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the best known boys' choirs in the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other countr ...
recordings months prior, which inspired him to incorporate choral arrangements into his work.
He also felt inspired by
Appalachian folk singers who employed the falsetto register, which inspired him to use his. As a result, he felt more comfortable singing certain complicated phrases, as though he could express pain or joy more clearly.
He suggested in one interview it could have been a reaction to his favorite black singers, such as
the Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21 ...
,
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to t ...
, and
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...
.
"Flume" was written at his girlfriend Christy Smith's house in Raleigh, preceding his trip to the cabin.
He later dubbed "Flume" as the "catalyst" for his move to the cabin and creation of Bon Iver: "that was the song that made me leave."
While "Skinny Love" has been considered a reference to his relationship with Smith,
Vernon countered this as "not entirely accurate
..it's about that time in a relationship that I was going through; you're in a relationship because you need help, but that's not necessarily why you should be in a relationship. And that's skinny."
"re: Stacks", meanwhile, concerns a period of
problem gambling Vernon underwent.
Release
After completing the recordings, Vernon returned to North Carolina to play guitar on tour with the Rosebuds, who toured through that spring.
It took several months for him to have thoughts on his recordings.
He viewed them as potential
demos
Demos may refer to:
Computing
* DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system
* DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR
* Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems
* plural for Demo (computer programming)
...
he would later re-record, but Ivan Howard of the Rosebuds convinced him to leave it as is, commenting, "This is your record."
He consulted friends to listen first before deciding to self-release it.
He
mixed his recordings himself, hoping to send them out to labels who would give him an advance to record a "real" album.
While at the cabin, Vernon had written to Kelly Crisp of the Rosebuds, concluding his letter with "bon iver," a misspelling of "bon hiver," which is French for "good winter."
Its origins lie in an episode of ''
Northern Exposure
''Northern Exposure'' is an American Northern comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 ...
'', wherein two characters greet one another.
Crisp encouraged him to name the project Bon Iver.
While on tour with the Rosebuds, he asked to play a small solo set, his first, prior to a performance at that year's
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
(SXSW). Encouraged, more performances followed in New York and in Wisconsin.
''For Emma, Forever Ago'' was first self-distributed on
MySpace in June 2007,
and gradually became an independent hit throughout that year.
My Old Kentucky Blog was the first to popularize the record.
A release party was held at the House of Rock in Eau Claire on July 8, 2007, marking the album's CD debut.
It was a limited run of 500 copies,
as Vernon had no idea who would be interested. He intended to send out 100 copies to press outlets.
Positive reviews increased within weeks, from music blogs such as
BrooklynVegan
''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, ...
and ''
Pitchfork''.
An appearance at the
CMJ Music Marathon
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
in New York increased Vernon's popularity among music blogs such as
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
,
and he began to see offers to release the album from record labels.
According to Vernon, major labels were "desperate" to sign him, offering contracts in which he chose the deal. He chose to sign with independent label
Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Jagjaguwar is a label included in Secretly Group, which also includes ...
in late October 2007
because he liked the label's president, Chris Swanson, who had first opened communication in the summer,
and its
Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
roots.
4AD
4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...
would distribute the album in Europe.
Reception
''For Emma, Forever Ago'' received widespread acclaim from critics. It scored an 88 on review aggregate site
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, based on 27 critics.
One of the earliest reviews came from ''Pitchfork'' Stephen M. Deusner, who praised Vernon's "soulful performance," describing the record as "a ruminative collection of songs full of natural imagery and acoustic strums—the sound of a man left alone with his memories and a guitar."
Rob Sheffield for ''Rolling Stone'' christened it a "quiet marvel," praising Vernon's "light touch, with zero interest in narrative or confessional lyrics."
''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
Jude Rogers
Jude Rogers (born 1978) is a Welsh journalist, lecturer, arts critic and broadcaster. She is a music critic for ''The Guardian'' and also regularly writes features and articles for ''The Observer'', ''New Statesman'' and women's magazines such a ...
praised Vernon's restraint, noting, "nothing is overplayed, but nothing feels throwaway either."
Steven Hyden
Steven Hyden (born September 7, 1977) is an American music critic, author, and podcast host. He is the author of the books ''Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me'' (2016, on rivalries in pop music history), ''Twilight of the Gods'' (2018, on the his ...
of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' characterized it as "quietly startling," opining, "The power is in how these songs sound rather than what the opaque lyrics don't quite spell out."
Tim Sendra of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
wrote that "''For Emma'' captures the sound of broken and quiet isolation, wraps it in a beautiful package, and delivers it to your door with a beating, bruised heart. It's quite an achievement for a debut and the promise of greatness in the future is high."
David Marchese, writing for ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'', suggested Vernon's "sturdy folk chords, earthy melodies, and plainspoken, pastoral lyrics prevent the album from descending into self-pity."
''
Uncut'' John Mulvey deemed the record "a hermetically sealed, complete and satisfying album" that "operates so securely and intensely in its own world that to listen sometimes seem like an intrusive act."
Darcie Stevens of the ''
Austin Chronicle'' described the record as a "paradigm of uninhibited closure, a gentle touch on a sad day," writing, "
ernons pain is so visceral it provides warmth, the therapeutic definition of music."
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called the record "irresistible."
On the other hand,
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
, in his review for ''
MSN Music'', stated that the album ultimately had little to say about "shared aloneness", comparing Vernon unfavorably to
Robert Creeley
Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. He was close with Char ...
and writing that Vernon's "solitary meditations ... lose definition faster than an angel's breath on a January morn".
Accolades
Commercial performance
Upon its February 2008 release, ''For Emma, Forever Ago'' sold 4,000 copies in its debut week. That placed it on several US album sales charts, including at number 182 on the
''Billboard'' 200 and a number five entry on the
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...
chart.
Sales for ''For Emma'' were "slow-building," according to music publication ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'', but eventually became a "commercial smash" for Jagjaguwar.
The album eventually peaked at number 64 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the issue dated January 24, 2009.
Prior to its official release on Jagjaguwar, the album was widely available online. The label offered sales incentives in response, including a free poster with pre-ordered copies, a bonus track on the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
edition, as well as purchasing a copy required for in-store performances.
The album was mostly successful among
triple-A radio stations in the US, including many
public stations in the Midwest, where the label focused their marketing campaign.
In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 42 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
; it was later
certified
Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...
gold by the
British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
(BPI) for sales of over 100,000 copies.
It achieved its largest international success in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, where it debuted at number 16; it was also a top 40 hit album in
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
and
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
.
In Australia, the album was eventually certified platinum by the
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...
(ARIA), denoting shipments of 70,000 copies, and it was also certified gold by
IFPI Denmark, denoting shipments of 10,000 copies.
''For Emma, Forever Ago'' has been a top-selling title on vinyl for many years during the
format's revival in the US; it sold over 102,000 copies on vinyl in the first half of the 2010s.
"If you’d told me when we put out ''For Emma, Forever Ago'' that we would sell almost 100,000 copies on vinyl, I would think that was just absolutely insane," said Nick Blandford, managing director of the Secretly Label Group.
Its overall sales were last estimated at 335,000 copies in the United States, according to
Nielsen SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
, in June 2011,
but the album was certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) in 2013 for shipments of 500,000 copies, and later,
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
in 2017 for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of 1,000,000 units.
Touring
![Flickr - moses namkung - Bon Iver 5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Flickr_-_moses_namkung_-_Bon_Iver_5.jpg)
Vernon first toured as Bon Iver along the
East Coast
East Coast may refer to:
Entertainment
* East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop
* East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017
* East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004
* East Coast FM, a ra ...
, supporting
Elvis Perkins
Elvis Brooke Perkins (born February 9, 1976) is an American folk-rock musician. He released his debut studio album, '' Ash Wednesday'', in 2007. He subsequently toured in support of the album with his band Elvis Perkins in Dearland, composed o ...
, in late 2007. One of the biggest concerts came in December 2007, when the band performed at the
Bowery Ballroom.
For the major touring cycle after the album's official release, he gathered together several musicians for the trek, including former guitar student Mike Noyce and drummer
Sean Carey. Carey, a jazz drummer from UW–Eau Claire, was a fan of the album, and had approached Vernon at one of his first performances.
Vernon felt comfortable performing the album live, though it was very personal: "It’s weird that I’m still behind these songs," he told ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
''. "It’s weird that I’m still able to float with them and be with them and find new and old pain in the song. The fact that they haven’t just run their course, that they’re not old hat after a year is really exciting."
The band toured with label-mates
Black Mountain, which allowed the two groups to attract a "diverse crowd," according to ''Billboard''.
In summer 2009, the band played various festivals, including
Bonnaroo,
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
, and
Austin City Limits. Some shows were performed with support from the Indigo Girls, one of Vernon's favorite groups.
He held one memorable show at
Hollywood Forever Cemetery at six in the morning.
The album's main touring cycle was complete by late 2009.
Track listing
Personnel
Information in this section is adapted from the album's
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
.
Bon Iver
*
Justin Vernon
Additional musicians
*John Dehaven – trumpet
*Randy Pingrey – trombone
*Christy Smith – drums, vocals
Production
*Justin Vernon — recording
*Nick Petersen – mastering
Design
*Brian Moen – art direction
*Daniel Murphy – layout
*Griszka Niewiadomski – photography
*Gilbert Vernon – photography
*Deb Sorge – hand lettering
Charts
Certifications
Release history
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
2007 debut albums
2008 albums
Bon Iver albums
Jagjaguwar albums
4AD albums
Albums produced by Justin Vernon