For Emma, Forever Ago

                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.