Following
some personal setbacks including the breakup of his previous band, De Yarmond
Edison, and his girlfriend, the infamous Emma, Justin Vernon secluded himself
in his father’s cabin in Medford, Wisconsin (population: 4,321). In doing so, Vernon was able to target a clear state of mind and focus on his music. At the time,
he had been suffering from mononucleosis, a disease more commonly known as
mono, which can leave you feeling tired and weak for weeks or months. During
his “hibernation”, Vernon developed lonely folk songs, sung in a falsetto voice
production, that would later make up the album “For Emma, Forever Ago”.
Vernon’s intentions prior to his “hibernation” were simply to recover from his
recent conflicts that led him astray.The
secluded cabin in northern Wisconsin where Vernon stayed rests on a quiet patch of
wilderness. This allowed Vernon to easily block out the outside world and focus on
his music. Vernon surrounded himself with work that
included wood cutting and other tasks, quiet, and mere space, the foundation
for a clear mind. During his three month isolation, Vernon was able to target a
candid musical focus that was somewhat inaccessible to him before. His days
evolved into incessant twelve-hour recording blocks that were only broken to do
chores. Vernon inexplicably targeted his longing, heartache, love, and guilt
that had evolved for six year, and purged them into the form of a song. The
record was created entirely by Vernon, using no more than few microphones and
some aged recording equipment, adding to the originality of his work. “For
Emma, Forever Ago” was the end result of his three month seclusion. The album’s
nine songs that Vernon composed have struck worldwide, impacted people across
the globe.
The
majority of the album’s tracks were sung by Vernon in falsetto, a voice production
used by male singers to sing notes higher than their normal range. This affect
emphasized the meaning behind the songs’ explicit and entangled words. When
questioned on this new method of singing, Vernon responded with, “…I feel so
much more comfortable being able to access painful melodies. I feel freer
singing the high stuff”. The tracks had littler structure, sometimes no more
than an ancient acoustic guitar or the occasional bass drum. The album is
commonly dubbed as a sad and lonely record. Vernon justifies this fact when he
explained that at the time, he was in a depressed state and he was confused
about his musical identity. Before his trip he stated, “For the first time in
my life, I don't have a real musical identity, and I'm really worried about
that. Maybe I need to take some time and do nothing." Vernon also
explained that when it comes to the actual writing of the songs, he compares
himself to Bruce Springsteen. Vernon tells story’s in his lyrics and shows a
similar style of writing literally.
The
brilliance of this album is evident through the lyrics as well as the melodies.
The subconscious melodies and sounds Vernon extracted contribute to the album’s
uniqueness. In his release from the support of the outside world, Justin Vernon
generated an album that will continue to impact the musical world.
