The subject matter, as ever, is vague: “There’s finding love, not needing love, and then there’s sleeping with your buddy’s girlfriend,” Vernon said. Not that you’d ever be able to guess that from listening to the lyrics. The songs revolve around the melodies — big, spectral, swooping things — and the words are secondary to the feelings they evoke. Often when singing, Vernon lands on cryptic words: “acrost,” “melic,” “noachide” and so forth. The meaning is in the melody, the texture, the implication. “I’m not really asking you to hear what I’m saying too much,” he said, “because I would have spoken the words harder."
The meaning is in the melody, the texture, the implication.“You can place yourself inside his songs and his music, because he leaves space for you,” said the alt-country singer Kathleen Edwards, who is Vernon’s girlfriend. “I mean this respectfully, but most of the time I have no idea what Justin’s songs are about.” But that vagueness has the effect of inviting people in.
Maybe it is just Wisconsin pride about a kid from Eau Claire that became an international pop sensation, or my visit home for the holidays, but i have felt that Bon Iver, and functional pottery have a lot in common. What, you ask? His songs, and good pots, are both multi-layered objects that both invite interpretation and deny it. They are both excellent at invoking emotions and not so good at communicating clear ideas. Both are beautifully crafted.
This week was a week off. The next two weeks will include two papers, two presentations, an artist statement, salt-firing, and a committee review. Also, a few electric firings. Busy. Stay tuned. Week 15 might just be epic.
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