Minnesota WI by Bon Iver Lyrics Meaning – Decoding the Enigma of Heartland Wisps
Lyrics
Borne the arboretic truth you kept posing
Sat down in the suit
Fixed on up, it wasn’t you by finished closing
Ramble in the roots
Had the marvel, moved the proof be kneeled fine’s glowing
Storing up the clues
It had its sullen blue bruised through by showing
Settle past a patience
Where wishes and your will are spilling pictures
Water’s running through
In the valley where we grew to write this this scripture
Never gonna break, never gonna break
Never gonna break, never gonna break
Not for a part in any gamut of the dark
Doubled in the toes
Annex it, it minute closed in the morning
Did not lose it in the stack’s stow
I’ma lay that call back on you
You know it won’t beseech you
We’re laying in an open field
I will let you grow
No need to know this
So carry on, my dear
What is clear up in the daylight is we’re hung here
Fall is coming soon
A new year for the moon and the Hmong here
Never gonna break, never gonna break
Never gonna break, never gonna break
All that it seems
Bellows tracing through the streams
Never gonna break, never gonna break
Never gonna break, never gonna break
All at its seams
Swallows swelling for the beams
Bon Iver’s ‘Minnesota, WI,’ off of their eponymous album, is more than just a melodic voyage through folktronica landscapes—it’s an introspective expedition through memory, identity, and transformation. Justin Vernon, the creative force behind the band, weaves lyrical tapestries that have long perplexed and enchanted listeners.
This track, rich with cryptic poetry, invites us to dissect its layers. What may seem at first listen to be an ode to a Midwestern state, unfolds into a narrative on personal growth, existential musings, and the immutable flow of time.
The Arboreal Truth Unraveled: From Roots to Realizations
Vernon’s opening lines, ‘Armour let it through, borne the arboretic truth you kept posing,’ suggest a revelation that has pierced through a veneer of protection. An admission of the ‘arboretic truth,’ a metaphor for organic, perhaps painful growth, sets the tone for a song steeped in natural imagery and emotional unveiling.
As listeners, we accompany the artist on a journey ‘Ramble in the roots,’ hinting at a personal quest, an odyssey through the tangled beginnings that shape us. In his rambling, we find the ‘marvel’—perhaps the awe of self-discovery—and ‘proof be kneeled fine’s glowing,’ possibly evoking a humbled acceptance of one’s own imperfections.
Between the Lines: The hidden meaning of Bon Iver’s Heartland Hymn
‘Settle past a patience where wishes and your will are spilling pictures’ might be the most confounding yet visually evocative line in the song. It speaks to an almost meditative state, a point at which desire and intent overflow into a mosaic of life experiences—each a snapshot, a ‘spilling picture.’
The lyrics ‘Water’s running through, in the valley where we grew to write this scripture’ anchors the song in a personal geography. Here, Vernon isn’t just singing about a place; he’s describing a setting intrinsic to his narrative identity, where water—the source of life and metaphor for change—continues to flow, shaping and recording history.
Duality in Verse: The Dance of Darkness and Light
‘Never gonna break, never gonna break, not for a part in any gamut of the dark,’ becomes the chant-like mantra throughout the song, suggesting resilience against trials and darkness. This repetition galvanizes the notion that despite life’s inescapable challenges, there’s an underlying conviction in one’s own unbreakable spirit.
The intertwining of light and dark themes is a stalwart literary device used by Vernon to illustrate the complexities of human experience—how we can be steadfast in our will to endure even when faced with the ambiguous ‘gamut of the dark,’ a metaphor for the unknown or the trying facets of life.
Lyrical Landscapes: The Evocation of Nature’s Mirror
Nature is a recurring motif in Bon Iver’s discography, and ‘Minnesota, WI’ is no exception. Phrases like ‘I will let you grow,’ ‘fall is coming soon,’ ‘a new year for the moon,’ all serve to liken personal evolution to the cyclical and enduring patterns of nature.
Moreover, Vernon’s homage to nature is not just an aesthetic choice but a philosophical stance. It reflects an understanding of human nature as deeply interconnected with the natural world, mirroring its rhythms and subject to its immutable laws of change and growth.
The Swelling Crescendo: Memorable Lines that Sing to the Soul
The impact of the song’s cleaner, stripped-down moments comes with lines like ‘All that it seems, bellows tracing through the streams,’ which possess an ethereal quality. Vernon’s enigmatic word choice demands reflection—what does it mean to trace one’s existence through the ephemeral streams of time and consciousness?
With ‘Swallows swelling for the beams,’ the imagery conjures the swelling of emotions, perhaps of hopes or dreams reaching for the light—the ‘beams.’ These lines stand out as emblematic of the song’s larger themes: the transcendence of personal history and the pursuit of light amidst the encroaching shadows of existence.
