The title track, the truncated “For Emma” opens with a sort of stage direction “So apropos.” As well as establishing the referential theme which will extend into the album’s final track, this direction guides the listener to consider the song from within the framework of what has gone before. By giving only a slight reference to the images he has established throughout the album, Vernon is able to bring together a whole host of associations and connections in the mind of the listener. This type of compression allows the final images of the album to be invoked with almost the briefest of nods. The primary genius of Bon Iver’s post-breakup record is the subtlety with which Vernon layers his imagery and metaphor throughout the album in order to effectively bring his themes to a climax in For Emma, Forever Ago’s last two tracks. Vernon is haunted by Emma and steadily moves the listener through the remnants of their relational failure to the point of the lift away. Emma floats just below the surface of each of the album’s nine tracks, out of reach but felt throughout. There is something raw and powerful from the first strumming of “Flume” right through to the last notes of “Re: Stacks” that enraptures the listener into the world of singer/songwriter Justin Vernon’s heartbreaking failed relationship. I can still remember where I was when I first heard the song “Skinny Love.” For all the times I’ve heard it since there still something recalled in me when I think of that first time I heard Bon Iver’s debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago.” While I think that Bon Iver’s self titled album is his best album from a technical standpoint, For Emma, Forever Ago still ranks for me as his best collection of songs.
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