Bon Iver’s “Holocene” Lyrics Meaning

Holocene is the name given to the geographical epoch, as they are called, which we are currently living in, i.e. the physical Earth’s history from the end of the Ice Age up until now. Within the context of this song, Holocene happens to be, by the way, the name of a drinking spot in Portland that Justin Vernon apparently favors. 

And if you’re asking yourself how can a song be simultaneously named after something as incomprehensible as a global epoch, coupled with something else as relatively-insignificant as a bar, then dear reader, you also have the overarching gist of this track.

Justin Vernon is, shall we say one of the more-introspective artists as far as popular musicians are concerned. So as explained, this piece is the result of an epiphany, if you will, he had one night while walking down a sparsely-populated road in his home state of Wisconsin. 

And as for Wisconsin, it is a part of the United States, up there by the Great Lakes, which is more or less considered to be backcountry anyway. Or as deduced by Vernon, the cold in the region makes it slower than some faster parts of the nation, like California for instance. It’s a place, as he described, where human ambitions are more fueled by the desire for togetherness rather than making it big in the world. Furthermore, the people there are humble accordingly.

The Lyrics

And it’s a good thing that the songwriter made that backdrop publicly available, as it would likely be challenging for most listeners to ascertain all of that solely from the lyrics. The pre-chorus alludes to such a notion, and the chorus itself, especially with that backdrop in tow, becomes more understandable to that effect. 

But as for the verses, well, we know that the third one is based on the fact that the night Justin had the aforementioned epiphany while he and his brother were indeed smoking. But as usual, most of the lyrics of this piece are very indirect. They are so indirect that you’d likely have to possess some kind of intimate knowledge of the artist to fully appreciate what he’s getting at.

So conclusively, “Holocene” is a track with a really-deep meaning. Some listeners, i.e. those who have been enraptured by the tune, seem to be able to probably ascertain said meaning without doing any additional research. But based on the lyrics alone, that’s probably not an achievable goal, i.e. understanding this song without resorting to Vernon’s explanation, as is more of the norm when it comes to Bon Iver tracks.

Facts about “Holocene”

This track is from Bon Iver’s self-titled LP, which is the second in their catalog, as issued by Jagjaguwar. 

The official release date of “Holocene” was on 17 June 2011. 

“Holocene” has had a humble showing chart-wise. It appeared on a handful of Billboard lists stateside, in addition to charting in Japan. But it marks one of the bigger commercial success’s Bon Iver has ever put out. It has been certified platinum in the US and silver in the UK. It has also received gold certification in a couple of other European countries.

And with that in mind, even though “Holocene” didn’t particularly hit with the masses at large, it was highly regarded amongst professional critics. It even received Grammy nominations for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 2012. In both instances it lost to Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep“.

This song has also popped up in a couple of films also including:

• Matt Damon’s We Bought a Zoo (2011)
• Robert Downey Jr.’s The Judge (2014)

As usual with Bon Iver tracks, this one was written and produced by Justin Vernon.

In the US, this song has so far sold no less than a million units.

Where was the Music Video of “Holocene” filmed?

This track was inspired by Vernon’s home state of Wisconsin. However, the music video, as supervised by director Nabil Elderkin, was filmed in Iceland.

Holocene’s music video happens to be one of Nabil’s most famous works (from a videography standpoint). His other famous videos include:

• Travis Scott’s “YOSEMITE”
• Kendrick Lamar’s “DNA”
• Billie Eilish and ROSALÍA’s “Lo Vas A Olvidar”
• Bruno Mars’ “Grenade”
• Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now”

What genre is “Holocene”?

It is an indie folk song. “Holocene” also fits into the baroque pop genre.