Chris Coyier

Bon Iver

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Mike Monteiro:

Can someone who’s not on Paxil please explain Bon Iver to me.

I don’t think music should have to be explained. You either feel it or you don’t and not everybody has to like all the same stuff, especially when it’s as emotional as music.

And I understand the “I’m just an asshole on Twitter” thing, that’s all good. But I’m sure that feeling comes from a real place so I figured I’d take a stab at “explaining” why I like Bon Iver. Here’s how I feel about the songs:

• They are really well crafted. Many of them take interesting journeys. Only few of them follow standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus structures and those feel like a nice break.
• The falsetto singing thing can be a hump to get over but once you do it feels like the only way.
• The lyrics are thought-provoking and metaphorical.
• They are very calming. They feel like Winter. He is from Wisconsin (where I am from) and it evokes home.

Beyond that, Justin seems like a really nice and smart guy. AND he personally thanked characters from Northern Exposure in the liner notes of the first album which goes a long way with me. AND the second album is just as good as the first.