This is old Justin Vernon, originally released just after 'Silent Signs' by Deyarmond Edison and just prior to 'For Emma, Forever Ago' by... Bon Iver. And so, it has a similar middle-of-the-woods feel. Like you're in the room with him, sitting on the wooden floorboards in the candle-lit dark, doing nothing but listening. At times raucous, at times filled with unbearable longing, this one has carried me through the brightest and darkest of times
To me, it speaks of the desire to set out into the world and find yourself without the burdens of the past, only to discover that, for a while at least, you are comprised of nothing but what you've left behind. To deny this is a kind of death. "I have buried you / in every place I've been," he sings on "song for a lover - long ago" to a lone guitar. But: "you keep ending up / in my shaking hands"...
As a side note, for the longest time this existed for me as a file in my Google Drive. I can't recall from where or when I downloaded it, only that the songs have always lived in my mind with the most dubious of sound quality. I didn't realise until last year that he'd finally formally released it. To hear it again, now crystal clear, has been gorgeous, like watching an old film restored in 4K. Beautiful, though a part of me will always love most those lo-fi, grainy versions embedded deep in the heart of who I once was show more
