Bon Iver’s “Naeem” Lyrics Meaning

“Naeem” uses the type of heavy, personalized metaphors that fans of Bon Iver have grown accustomed to. That is to say that trying to derive the meaning from a song by this band can prove to be quite a challenge. However, this track in particular seems to have a relatively-perceptible narrative, which we will try to decipher.

First off the song is named after an artist who goes by the monikor Naeem and is a friend and collaborator of Bon Iver’s. And it seems that the second verse in particular may be based on Justin Vernon’s, the lead singer of Bon Iver, relationship with him. And if such is the case, the idea he is apparently putting forth is that whereas they may occasionally have tiffs, in general they also enjoy a strong friendship.

 The other two verses seem to be based on a theme of at first the singer and then later he and his compatriots engaged in the arduous task of trying to induce upward-social mobility. And the way it reads is that while Justin acknowledges that they may currently be stuck in a certain unenviable position, due to their incessant drive and high-latent potential, they will eventually overcome the situation.

Meanwhile the song begins with the singer expressing “more love”, and the phrase which highlights the chorus is “I can hear crying”. Thus in general it is logical to conclude that this track is based on Justin Vernon expressing some type of sympathy towards “Naeem”. In other words, the titular character appears to be in some distraught emotional state which his friend, the singer, is trying to alleviate. And all things considered it is arguable that, with Justin Vernon being White and Naeem a Blackman, the sentiment that the singer is really trying to put forth is one of sympathizing with a friend of the lower “caste”, as in one who is inherently disadvantaged within the context of the American social system.

Who wrote “Naeem”?

Justin Vernon and Brad Cook contributed to both the writing and production of this track.

On the production side they were aided by Chris Messina. And the additional co-writers are:

•  J.T. Bates
• BJ Burton
• Noah Goldstein
• Trevor Hagen

Release Date

Bon Iver released “Naeem” on 8 August 2019. The label behind its issuance is Jagjaguwar. And the song is featured on Bon Iver’s fourth album, “I, I”.

I, I produced the following singles:

• “Hey, Ma”
• “U (Man Like)”
• “Jelmore“
• “Faith“